Love the Hair You Wear scholarship winners with LTHYW founder, from left to right, Serena Taylor, Dylan Johnson, Sydni Madden, LTHYW founder Vecoya Banks, Damenia Smith, and Azzurai Rainey, at the LTHYW event in Deese Ballroom on the campus of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
Beauty tips, self-care, confidence and wellness: All the facets of the Love the Hair You Wear event, held in N.C. A&T’s Deese Ballroom, helped students and other attendees feel good about not just their natural hair, but their whole selves.
The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences partnered with alumna Vecoya Banks and her team to present Love the Hair You Wear, a national hair care and wellness event aimed at helping young people feel comfortable wearing their natural hair and celebrate overall wellness.
“We just celebrated our ten-year anniversary, and I’ve had the opportunity to take it here at A&T for the past four years,” said founder and N.C. A&T alumna Vecoya Banks. “It’s been able to transition into a wellness opportunity. When you feel empowered about your hair, you feel empowered about yourself.”
Love the Hair You Wear was founded in 2015 as a platform for natural hair education, empowerment and brand education through immersive events. In 2025, Banks and her team formed the LTHYW Foundation Inc., a 501 (C) (3) Nonprofit Organization, to expand the program’s impact through charitable giving and student-focused initiatives.
The organization is sponsored by such hair care and lifestyle companies as Circana, Wasserman Impact, Janet Collections, and Esha, and has awarded more than $7,500 in scholarships and multiple internship opportunities to students since its founding in 2015.
This year, students from each college – including CAES fashion major Serena Taylor – received scholarship checks totaling $3,000.
“In the Black community, natural hair is a big part of our culture,” said fashion major MaShayla Lide. “This event is showcasing being comfortable with your hair, loving that comfortability and loving yourself.”
Guests listened to panel discussions and participated in group activities on natural hair care and self-esteem building at the day-long wellness event. They could also get their hair styled on-site or walk away with “swag bags” of hair care products and merchandise.
Natural hair specialist and Aggie alumna Shanika Blackmon gave the excited crowd natural hair care tips.
“I see a lot of natural ladies – I see these girlies wearing their natural hair,” she said as she looked around the room. “I want to applaud you, because it takes a lot of confidence for you all to wear your natural hair.”
Outside Deese Ballroom, student presenters, such as human nutrition major Aniiya Turner offered information on the impact of nutrition on hair health.
“This whole program is about empowerment and natural hair,” said Turner. “We just wanted to show that what you put into your body can affect (your hair’s) overall health. Hair is important for everybody, especially Black women, so I wanted to show the different types of foods and vitamins that go into your body to help reach your goal for your natural hair.”
In featured panels moderated by Banks and Miss N.C. A&T Mariah Couch, such industry professionals as singer and actress Aqyila, digital content creator Morgie Mone and actress Apryl Jones offered the audience professional development advice.
“I think that self-love in the last decade has really become a huge buzzword,” said Mone. “Self-love is actually a hard, daily, intentional practice…but you can wake up, look in the mirror and say, ‘You know what, I don’t love this right now, but we’re okay.’ ”
A featured highlight was a fashion runway show of styles created by students, courtesy of the college’s fashion merchandising and design program.
“Our mission in the (Family and Consumer Sciences) department aligns very closely with Vecoya’s vision: Our work centers on improving health, well-being, and quality of life through the study of fashion, food, child and family studies,” said Beth Newcomb-Hopfer, Ph.D., an associate professor in the program. “For Vecoya, it’s never been just about the hair. It’s about empowerment, self-expression, professional development and giving back to the next professional Aggie.”
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