Historically Black colleges and universities continue to be needed and relevant. That was the sentiment expressed by higher education and political leaders who convened virtually on Wednesday to participate in Virginia Union University’s (VUU) “The Continuing Significance of HBCUs Today” event.
“I was made aware first-hand just how HBCU education can turn dreams into realities,” said United States Congresswoman Dr. Alma S. Adams of N.C. “Because of these experiences throughout my career, I have worked to ease the burdens that prevent students of color from accessing a quality education.”
In 2015, Adams, a former professor at Bennett College, founded the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus to create a national dialogue, educate members of Congress and establish bipartisan legislation to address the needs of HBCUs.
Adam’s said that her advocacy for HBCUs first stemmed from her own education at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
“[N.C. A&T] took a poor Black girl from the ghetto of New Jersey, [that] was not prepared fully for college work but saw something and made an investment in me,” she said. “They molded and shaped me into what they knew I could become.”
Though HBCUs only make up 3% of all postsecondary institutions, they educate 80% of all Black judges and lawyers, 50% of all Black doctors, one-fifth of all Black CEOs and about one-third of Black individuals who hold a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degree, according to Dr. Terrell Strayhorn, associate provost for research, innovation and graduate education and professor of urban education at VUU.
“You are seeing that now with so much that’s going on in our country that these kids have options and they are choosing HBCUs first,” said Dr. Melva Williams, vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at Southern University at Shreveport. “We are nobodies second chance, nobodies afterthought. In this day and age, our best and brightest are choosing HBCUs.”
