Black Community Takes Charge in Reaffirming Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Historically Black Colleges, acclaimed for offering Black students an opportunity to develop during an era that afforded little educational options, are still sought out as the “villages” with which many students and their parents feel more comfortable in seeking quality education. Black college recruits looking for the school that will provide the greatest chance of success often look to one of the 103 HBCUs. These colleges and universities were the ones established prior to 1964 as a way for Black people to get a formal education. Students have a variety of formal education choices today, but HBCUs are still the place Black students often feel the greatest sense of community, push for students to succeed and see the greatest abundance of Black role models on campus. In the 80’s when Eunice Hill attended Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Al., her opportunities were still limited. In the small, poor community in Letohatchee, where she grew up, segregation was a blatant reality. “We didn’t think of it as an HBCU back then. It was just where you went. At Stillman, you had to attend chapel. You had to make curfew. You had to learn about Black history. The opportunities were not many, but we learned to work hard with what we had,” said Hill, now President/Principal of Hill Motor Company, Inc. in Enterprise, AL. The state of HBCUs today is not bleak, but hopeful, according to William R. Moss III, President and CEO of HBCUConnect.com, an online community that connects more than 300,000 HBCU students, alumni and friends. Funding is down for many of these schools, and some are experiencing accreditation and reputation issues, but the reality is that the schools get grouped together. Others are providing an excellent education and leading the way, Moss said. “Black Americans need to be self reliant in their expectations of the work in keeping HBCUs relevant. As we work to support our schools, help fix our schools and take responsibility for our schools, then we place ourselves in the position to oversee our schools. We guide the direction of HBCUs and their impact on America,” Moss, a Hampton University graduate, said. Moss believes the education he received was excellent. It empowered him to thrive in corporate America and provided him with the confidence to leave the corporate arena for the work with HBCUs that he has spent much of his adult life with. He made some lifelong friends that he may not have ever bonded with as closely at a mainstream school, he said. Moss is not willing to pretend that an HBCU is right for every student. Different students have different needs. All the needs, along with some wants play a factor in educational preference. However, HBCUs are an important piece of America that should be kept available. Keeping these HBCUs relevant requires the work of Americans to preserve and maintain the ones remaining, Moss highlighted. Even today HBCUs enroll 14 percent of all Blacks in higher education although they constitute only three percent of America’s 4,084 institutions of higher education. According to the United Negro College Fund:
• Over half of all African American professionals are graduates of HBCUs.
• Nine of the top ten colleges that graduate the most African Americans who go on to earn Ph.D.s are HBCUs.
• More than 50% of the nation’s African American public school teachers and 70% of African American dentists earned degrees at HBCUs.
• UNCF members Spelman College and Bennett College produce over half of the nation’s African American female doctorates in all science fields.
• As ranked by Black Enterprise in 2003, seven of the top ten “Top Colleges and Universities for African Americans,” including the top six, were HBCUs.
• HBCU Xavier University is #1 nationally in placing African-Americans into medical school.
• The first Time Magazine/ Princeton Review “College of the Year”, Florida A&M University, is an HBCU. It is the #1 producer of African Americans with baccalaureate degrees.
• Tuskegee University is the only college ever to be designated a national historic site by the U.S. Congress. If you are interested in making a contribution in support of a specific historically black college or university, please find that school online, to find lists and profiles of all HBCUs. If you are interested in supporting the advancement of HBCUs and the continued effort to keep them a relevant part of the African American community, register as a member of HBCUConnect.com or contact William Moss at 877.864.4446 to coordinate efforts. About HBCU Connect: HBCU Connect is an online based community formed in 1999 to link graduates and students of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The community now consists of HBCU students, alumni, family and friends. The company has extended to not only link graduates, but students; offering money for college, graduates with employers as well as maintaining an active presence in the HBCU community.