Exchange program offers unique experience for black students

The USC Historically Black College and University exchange program, sponsored by the USC Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs, allows students to spend a semester at a historically black college or university for an abroad experience different from those generally offered by the University. Black students are able to attend many of the top HBCUs around the country including Spelman College and Howard University, allowing them an experience they simply cannot find at USC.

Since the Higher Education Act of 1965, HBCUs have been recognized as institutions dedicated to the education of African American students. The 105 nationally recognized HBCUs, which represent only 3 percent of the nation’s colleges and universities, graduate nearly 20 percent of African Americans who earn undergraduate degrees, and 27 percent of all STEM field degrees for black students.

USC’s exchange program addresses a distinct issue with diversity and inclusion at the university. Elle Anderson, a senior majoring in business administration, found a home away from home when she attended Howard University during the fall of her junior year.

“What made me want to do it was just the fact that I’m from Tennessee, so I’m not actually from California, and I guess going to a PWI — a predominantly white institution — I guess I just felt a little out of touch and needed a break from USC for a while,” she said. “Howard is a lot closer to my home, a lot closer to my family, and it was my equivalent of going abroad.”

Though most modern universities emphasize and celebrate diversity, PWIs by their very nature have difficulty creating an environment of genuine inclusion. The HBCU exchange program not only allows students a unique experience outside of Southern California, but also gives them a better sense of belonging.

“It was like being in a different atmosphere and environment altogether, because not only was it D.C. versus LA, but at Howard, for once I felt like I was just a student, not necessarily a black student or minority student at school,” Anderson said. “I just came back with a better understanding of myself as a black American and black student.”

Dionna Walker, a senior majoring in business administration, also studied at Howard at the height of protests regarding the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of police.

“In the heat of the Mike Brown controversy and the Eric Garner ‘I can’t breathe’ protests, when all that was happening, it was good to be in an environment where you don’t feel personally attacked,” Walker said. “Even when there were different opinions about how things should be handled or the real issues at play, everyone was interested in being involved in the discussion.”

Though the exchange program gives black students a much-needed and often unforgettable opportunity, issues regarding credit transfer and graduating on time prevent some students from attending the program. Study abroad programs are notorious for forcing students to decide between taking their required classes and having an abroad experience, but the University’s lack of recognition of the HBCU exchange program credits further detracts from an important opportunity offered to black students.

“They sent out an email to black students advertising the program, and, surprisingly, they didn’t get a lot of responses because a lot of people didn’t have credits that would transfer between Howard and USC,” Anderson said. “I think there could be more transparency and communication between the programs.”

Walker even had to drop her minor as a result of attending the program.

“I’m a business major, theater minor, and took all my theater upper divisions over there, and they all came back as three units rather than four, and they all came back as general electives, rather than theater upper divisions,” she said. “USC did not do a lot of work fixing that or working with me on that, and so I’m dropping my minor.”

Issues regarding credit transfer, however, should not prevent students from applying. Attending college at an HBCU, Walker said, is an invaluable and significant experience for black students.

“It’s an experience everybody should have,” Walker said. “It was awesome.”