Let me start off by saying I DID NOT attend a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). Howard was my first choice but I wasn't accepted so I went to the school that offered me the most scholarship money (Ohio University).
This blog post is inspired by a recent conversation I had with the Founder of Students2Scholars. This program is designed to help minority students in public schools apply to and, hopefully, get accepted into private schools in our area. (I am a part of her academic advising team). This article isn't written to criticize the Founder but rather to show how her thinking is a good example of what well-meaning white folks really don't know about us and how, even with their good hearts, they can get things twisted.
During a telephone conversation we somehow got on the subject of her volunteering to register students to vote at an HBCU----North Carolina Central University (NCCU), where I presently work as a Professional Writing Consultant.
Founder: You know I always wondered why anyone would go to an HBCU. I mean if you're going to spend $20K or more on tuition, wouldn't you think they would want to spend it on a big name college or university. There's better opportunities for networking and connecting for jobs after graduation. (We call them PWI's: Predominately White Institutions).
Me: If you knew the history of HBCU's you would know they were created because blacks weren't allowed to go to the other schools. In order to further our education, that was the only choice we had.
Founder: Oh, I understand that. But I have to tell you I changed my opinion when I went onto the campus. I got such a feeling of camaraderie amongst the students. There was a true sense of activism and community and not like anything I ever experienced at my own alma mater.
Me: I totally agree. In hindsight I wish I had gone to an HBCU. But would I have been afforded the same opportunities to advance my journalism career as I had by going to OU? Probably not because back in the day getting a journalism degree from Ohio University carried a lot more weight in the professional world than a degree in broadcast journalism from any HBCU in the country. I got my first job because the Program Director of the radio station where I applied was willing to take a chance on me because he knew of the school's reputation for producing quality candidates and I was the first black to work there.
After a few more exchanges we ended the conversation but I hung up thinking how this woman was trying to do her part in making a difference in the lives of others but she really had no clue of our struggle and the hurdles we have to jump over constantly just to prove we are worthy of an opportunity. But she's not alone. As she has shared with me, a number of her friends see what they are doing as a "charitable cause" to help us advance in an unfair system but at the end of the day she, and many like her, remain blind to the challenges we are always facing professionally AND socially.
This is the same woman who told me she thought racism had ended when Barack Obama became President. I kid you not!
Here are some other HBCU Facts she probably doesn't know:
60 percent of all Engineering degrees are earned by black students
70 percent of black dentists and physicians earned degrees from an HBCU
40 percent of blacks in Congress come from HBCU's
HBCU's only have 1/8 of the average size of endowments that PWI's have
Cheyney University of PA was the first HBCU founded in 1837.
Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey (Tennessee State), Samuel L. Jackson (Morehouse College), Taraji P. Henson (NC A&T/Howard University) and CHADWICK BOSEMAN, who graduated from Howard University in 1995 and went on to star in the Black Panther, which went on to become the top grossing superhero movie of all time! (RIH)
These are just a few examples of what makes going to an HBCU so special.
