“The end of education is to know God and the laws and purposes of His universe and to reconcile one’s life with these laws. The first aim of a good college is not to teach books, but the meaning and purpose of life. Hard study and the learning of books are only a means to this end. We develop power and courage and determination and we go out to achieve Trust, Wisdom, and Justice. If we do not come to this, the cost of schooling is wasted.”
As a freshman at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, we were required to learn the “Philosophy of Education,” made popular by our first president, John Brown Watson. Each week, I recited it loudly and proudly and hoped one day to gain clarity on exactly what it all meant. Well, nine years post graduation, I think my alma mater would be proud; I finally understand.
It seems that President Watson knew then what so many higher education leaders struggle to understand almost 100 years later. That is, college is not only an institution where students go to gain academic knowledge, but, most importantly, college is an experience designed to help students gain a sense of self, a sense of comfort for whom they are, a sense of pride for where they come from, a sense of responsibility to the world around them, and a sense of direction for where they will go and whom they will ultimately become.
While Minority Serving Institutions—namely, historically Black colleges and universities—have been noted for their ability to contribute to the success of Black students, predominantly White institutions have struggled. Particularly, PWIs have struggled in their ability to foster environments where Black students can successfully develop their identity.
Defined as how an individual comes to define and make meaning of oneself, identity is not only a complex construct that is influenced by factors like gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation, but identity also plays a critical role in how college students develop and negotiate subsequent social and academic identities. For example, researchers have found that some Black students feel the need to become “raceless” in the classroom to achieve academic success.
Furthermore, research has demonstrated that a key reason that students of color who demonstrate success in the sciences but eventually depart is due to the dissonance they experience between their emerging science identity and their enduring cultural sense of whom they are and want to become. This is especially concerning because, although HBCUs enroll approximately 9 percent of all undergraduate Blacks in higher education and award more than 20 percent of baccalaureate degrees to Blacks in the U.S., the larger percentage of Black students are attending and graduating from PWIs. Hence, the larger percentage of Black students is attending universities that have struggled historically to provide environments where Black students can successfully develop their identity.
This begs the question, “How are Black students who attend PWIs successfully developing their identity?” Moreover, “Are they leaving PWIs sure of their disciplinary knowledge as demonstrated by their degree, but unsure of the “meaning and purpose of life” as emphasized by President Watson in his “Philosophy of Education”?
