By Hazel Scott and Kenneth Mullinax/ASU
Die-hard Alabama State University Hornet, Brandon J. Hurst, is the speaker for the 2025 Founders’ Day Convocation. The 125th Founders' Day will be held at 10 a.m. on February 7, 2025, in the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
ASU Founders' Day celebrates the University's legacy and history makers. It's a time to honor the University's values and traditions and rededicate oneself to the school's vision and mission.
Hurst, one of the nation’s youngest Chick-fil-A franchise owners, began his career with Chick-fil-A while pursuing his undergraduate studies at ASU, where he graduated magna cum laude in 2010.
While at ASU, the Atlanta native was actively involved in several student organizations, including serving as co-head drum major for the Mighty Marching Hornets band, treasurer for the Beta Upsilon chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and vice president for the Kappa Phi chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity.
Immediately after graduating, Hurst accepted a position as director of Operations for Chick-fil-A in Chicago, Illinois. He joined Chick-fil-A’s Leadership Development Program in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was responsible for partnering with franchise owners across the United States. In October 2014, Hurst was selected to become a Chick-fil-A franchisee at the age of 26, opening his first location in Baltimore, Maryland (the city’s first downtown location) in April 2015.
Today, with more than 15 years of experience in the hospitality and restaurant industry, Hurst is a multi-restaurant Chick-fil-A owner in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he opened the borough’s first location across from the Barclays Center and a second location in the Clinton Hill neighborhood.
Hurst has received numerous accolades, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Outstanding Community Service. An inspirational speaker, he shares his life’s journey and emphasizes the importance of community service, youth education, financial responsibility, and leadership development with university/college students across the country.
ASU'S RICH LEGACY
ASU is the global entity of higher education that it is today due in part to the fortitude of a group of formerly enslaved men, known as the Marion Nine, who founded what is now Alabama State University on July 18, 1867 in Marion, Alabama.
Founders' Day will commemorate the founders and original trustees of this great institution, which includes:
Joey P. Pinch,
Thomas Speed,
Nicholas Dale,
James Childs,
Thomas Lee,
John Freeman,
Nathan Levert,
David Harris and
Alexander H. Curtis.
First incorporated as the Lincoln Normal School, ASU became America’s first state-sponsored liberal arts institution for the higher education of Black citizens, beginning ASU’s rich history first as a teacher’s college. William Burns Paterson, ASU’s longest-serving president, was appointed to the position in 1878 and held the office for 37 of its first 48 years.
Founders’ Day is traditionally held on or near Paterson’s birthday in honor of his being recognized as the “architect” of the modern Alabama State University and because he was instrumental in its move from Marion to Montgomery in 1887, explained Cromwell Handy, director of ASU's Office of Alumni Relations.
"The legacy set forth by the Marion Nine, William Burns Paterson and other key founders and developers of the University endures even now," Handy stated. "Today, ASU is a comprehensive institution of higher education with high-demand graduate and undergraduate programs in multiple academic disciplines and is proud to be the University ‘Where History is Made,' " he added.
A bell-ringing ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. in front of the Levi Watkins Learning Center.