Upon its formation, the Black Student Society (BSS) urged President Burgess and administrators to integrate African American history into curriculum for the entire student body. As a result, the administration worked to solicit prominent local African American leaders such as Rev. Freeman of Hickory Log Baptist Church, and scholars from the Atlanta University Center such as Dr. Benjamin E. Mays and Bishop Cornelius Henderson as convocation speakers. Whereas many African American students in Georgia pursued higher education at local Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the Atlanta University Center, Reinhardt University cultivated relationships with these institutions and their leaders to support its students. Significantly, these leaders were also heavily involved in their respective local Civil Rights movements. Rev. Freeman participated in the integration of the Canton Theater while both Dr. Mays and Bishop Henderson had a notable influence on the Atlanta Student Movement.