Historically black colleges should not lose relevance
As the nation continues to mark the achievements and contributions of African Americans in the celebration of Black History Month, the historically black colleges and universities that educated and fostered many legendary African Americans, such as civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, are struggling to maintain their financial stability. Since 2009, nine HBCUs have lost their accreditation or been put on probation for not meeting educational standards, according to a Ford Foundation study. Despite the economic difficulties, HBCUs should not lose relevance within the nation.
In the past 20 years, five HBCUs, which are institutions of higher learning founded with the mission to educate black Americans during times of legalized school segregation, have closed. The financial failings came after years of government funding being scaled back and administrative faults in budgeting, according to The New York Times.
The 2008 recession also took a particularly hard toll on the HBCU system because those institutions usually have smaller endowments and receive fewer private donations than other schools to begin with. The repercussions of the recession are still impacting the schools; last week, Howard University, one of the top-performing HBCUs, announced that it would be eliminating 200 staff positions by the end of the year.
As an unintended consequence of desegregation in the mid-20th century with rulings such as Brown vs. Board of Education in 1950, many top-performing black students opted to attend highly ranked universities outside of the HBCU system. Since then, the enrollment at most of the 105 HBCUs in the nation has seen a severe decline. At Fisk University in Nashville, TN for example, enrollment in the 1970s was at 1,500. This year, 645 students attend the university, according to The New York Times. In addition, only 3 percent of graduating high school seniors enrolled in HBCUs in 2013, resulting in fewer black students receiving degrees from HBCUs.
The struggle these colleges and universities are currently experiencing technically only affects 3 percent of all the country’s universities, but the impact of their closures will resonate nationwide. In the 21st century, HBCUs are reaping a greater diversity of students. Though black students make up 81 percent of HBCUs, the student body is also made of 11 percent white students, 3 percent Latino students and 1 percent Asian students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Therefore, if HBCUs failed to exist any longer in the United States, it could have a cross-cultural impact.
In addition, these colleges, which are largely concentrated in the South, are models of educational aspirations for communities that often have extremely limited access to education. Proximity of quality schools can help students succeed. Furthermore, the makeup of HBCUs will soon reflect the shifts in demographics of the U.S. to a majority of citizens coming from minority groups. With their rich history in cultural studies, these schools will be amply prepared to serve the needs of future generations.
Though HBCUs would benefit if they were funded through federal government funding and private donations from alums, this transition period for HBCUs could be a Renaissance moment. Previously regarded as a place for middle-class students to attend school, these southern colleges and universities can modernize their curriculum and make it applicable to the students around them. Currently, approximately 34 percent of the student body at HBCUs are low-income students. If HBCUs focus on educating lower-income students and providing them with skills that will serve their communities, then they will continue to serve their function by aiding underserved communities.
Despite HBCU’s lower enrollment numbers, their relevance — especially to the black community — remains high. USC, for example, maintains a yearly HBCU Exchange Program through which undergraduates can study at Howard or Spelman College for a semester. Directors at the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs said the exchange program offers students an opportunity to experience a school culture and climate that is different from one they are used to at USC.
HBCUs filled a void in educational opportunities when there were no other options for disenfranchised students of color. In the same way today, these colleges and universities that, once given the financial assistance to lift themselves, can continue to uplift communities lacking access to higher education. Because with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other greats as listed alums, HBCUs have a pretty good track record going for them.
Jordyn Holman is a sophomore majoring in print and digital journalism. Her column, “Making the Grade,” runs Wednesdays.
Don,
I don’t know who told you that HBCUs are segregated institutions. HBCUs have white, Latino, and Asian students, there are just more black students; much like we here at USC have a majority of white students. And I don’t understand your “vehement” displeasure with their existence. Both of my parents went to an HBCU and thoroughly enjoyed the culture and experience they had. There is something about the experience that you will never understand because you didn’t attend one. As for your statement about “Historically White Colleges,” well that’s the same reason there’s no such thing as White History Month. It’s because every college in the United States is pretty much considered Historically White when you consider their past.
HBCUs already receive pitiful funding and to make a statement that they need to disappear as if they are hurting somebody just seems a little overboard and unaccepting. They do not turn away applicants because of race and are not “segregated” institutions. If you take the time to research their recruiting process that you seem to believe is biased toward blacks, you’ll discover that they recruit in southern high school just like any other college would. And lastly, I wish you wouldn’t try to make HBCUs out to be villains and white people the victims when you know for a fact that blacks struggle to get accepted into the other 97% of colleges nationwide. If white people truly wanted to attend an HBCU, they would, there is nothing holding them back from getting accepted into one.
Not that it matters, but USC does not have a majority of white students. Here are the most recent demographics I could find on an official USC site, from Fall 2012:
Asians 23%
Black/African-American 5%
Hispanic 14%
White/Caucasian 39%
International 12%
Other 7%
The demographics you just provided confirm that Whites are indeed the majority, comprising the largest percentage of the student body out of any other race in at the school.
I think after looking up the definition of majority, you’ll realize your mistake.
If you want to split hairs, enrollment by race is greater among whites. Good job completely missing the point of what I was saying.
Also, I’m sure you’re familiar with the fact that some words have multiple definitions. If you look up “majority” in the dictionary you’ll discover that one of three definitions is “the greater number.”
Jordyn Holman writes well, but I disagree with her vehemently. The historically black colleges belong in the unhappy past, with other institutions and symbols of racial discrimination. How would we feel about “historically white colleges” that take pride in being only for the white race? Correct. Few would regard that as desirable, regardless of what was “historical.” To uphold a racially separate college makes no sense today and is contrary to what blacks and whites have fought to achieve. So what should happen? All colleges and universities should recruit in such a way as to promote diversity among qualified applicants.
As for “relevant,” relevant to what? To a continued sense of alienation and separateness from other races? How can that be good? If these colleges provide a good and helpful education to their students and graduates, they should be advanced and marketed as that for all races, not as “special” for “this selected race” because that was the only way they could operate in the past.
No, Jordyn. Black colleges, white colleges or any other racially segregated institutions should disappear as quickly as possible in favor of equal opportunities for qualified entrants of any race. Continued racial discrimination for “historical,” “traditional,” “sentimental” or any other reason is a repugnant idea to be discarded as quickly as possible. .