By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
The 2025 BEYA STEM Conference concluded on Feb. 15 at the Baltimore Convention Center after assembling thousands of students, industry experts and business and government leaders to explore opportunities and celebrate accomplishments in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. However, one notable attendee was missing this year: the U.S. Armed Forces.
Since BEYA’s inception in 1987, the Army and other service branches have used the conference to recruit talent. This year was the first that they did not have tables at the career fair. Their absence comes after the 47th president signed an executive order in January abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the military.
Conference leaders believe the decision could have repercussions not just for people interested in military service but for U.S. national security.
“We hope that greater angels will reexamine the policy that allowed the military to pull out of BEYA this year,” said Tyrone Taborn, founder of the conference. “We hope that there will be people reassessing the loss it is to our national security. They lost so many talented kids with STEM backgrounds, which is one of the most difficult areas to hire. Students won’t get another shot. They’re going to industry now.”
“BEYA” stands for the Black Engineer of the Year Award, which is presented at the close of the conference. But, the gathering has always been one that is open to all professionals and students regardless of their race.
Though 35 percent of attendees are not Black, Taborn believes the military pulled out because “Black” is in the conference’s name.
“BEYA is one of the largest job fairs in the nation to match talent with opportunity,” said Taborn. “My fear is that they’ve lost that opportunity. The message seems to be that no matter how hard you work and no matter how smart you are, you can be swept under a DEI issue and be denied opportunities.”
The AFRO attempted to speak with a number of military students and armed forces members at the BEYA STEM Conference about the absence of recruitment tables. Many said they were afraid of facing retaliation or were forbidden from speaking about it.
Some, however, spoke with the AFRO under the condition of anonymity.
Two military college students, who hail from Lexington, Va., expressed their disappointment over the decision.
“Coming from a military school, you expect to speak or network with top generals and individuals from your desired branch, so I just felt disappointed,” said one of the students who is 21. “I felt concerned too because if they have the audacity to pull tables from a prestigious conference like this it shows their feelings toward minorities who are aiming to enter the military.”
They also expressed their uncertainty about the future for people of color, like themselves, who want to serve their country.
“It’s discouraging and scary to think about what the future is going to be,” said one of the students who is 19. “If they are already pulling tables at an event like this for DEI purposes, how is that going to impact the military and those of color trying to go into the armed services? A lot of people are interested in doing it, and pulling tables just gives the military a bad reputation.”
A 49-year-old intel officer for the Air Force with 23 years of service under his belt also discussed his feelings on the decision. He did not discover that the military pulled its recruitment tables until arriving at the conference.
“They’re just missing an entire talent pool and opportunity to help our country as you look across this space, which is probably 50,000 square feet of talent,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Black, White, Asian or whatever. You have all races here right now, and you should always be recruiting and going to where the talent is. It’s a shame that they missed out on the opportunity to recruit these fine Americans here.”
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