It all started from a simple connection. Two young men, who attended different schools, Clark Atlanta University  and Morehouse College, in the Atlanta University Center (AUC) met while doing community service at the Belafonte TACOLCY Center in Liberty City. Their bond was instantaneous due to this connection and during a conversation, they said it would be dope if they had an AUC Picnic. Quickly, they realized that vision was too small and hosted the First South Florida HBCU Picnic in 2015. At the first picnic, they met Melody Miller from Howard University and she jumped into action and began helping to assist them with the setting up. 

As Co-Founders of the picnic, Melody,  Josh  and Matthew have worked each year and seen tremendous growth from the first picnic of a couple of hundred to the current picnic of more than a couple of thousand. 

Again realizing the vision was too small, the three of them worked together with a small group of volunteers to create a nonprofit, The Black Experience, Inc. now doing business as The South Florida HBCU Picnics in . This organization’s purpose is to connect HBCU students and alumni, expose local students to HBCUs and most importantly, raise money to support HBCUs and local HBCU students.