President H. Patrick Swygert, 54, assumed the helm of the nation’s
only historically Black Research I institution in 1995. Since his
arrival at Howard University, he has been crafting a strategy to carry
the institution into the twenty-first century on a more stable
financial footing, from which it will be poised to lead the nation in
shaping and implementing the academic and research agenda for African
Americans in the next millennium.
Swygert came to Howard from another Research I institution, the
State University of New York-Albany, where he was president for five
years. An alumnus of the institution he now leads, Swygert appears
committed to sustaining Howard’s stature as a leader among
postsecondary institutions serving African Americans.
Black Issues spoke to him in February. The following is an excerpt from that interview.
Do you see a lot more African Americans being groomed at White schools and then going to HBCUs to teach?
You touch upon one of the critical issues confronting higher
education today. There is a sense that some of our best and brightest
find their way to majority group institutions as opposed to the stream
running in the other direction. As I travel around the country and as I
visit with colleagues elsewhere, I’m finding that more and more
colleagues understand that the future is with the historically Black
colleges, and that one can have a full and satisfying professional life
at a historically Black college.
Are there challenges that scholars face when working at HBCUs that
they don’t necessarily encounter at traditionally White institutions?
And if there are, can you talk a little about what it is that Howard is
doing to address this, both at the administrative and faculty levels?
I come to the question with the perspective of someone who spent
twenty-three years on the other side of the mountain. There’s no
mystery to me in terms of what those schools have to offer. Indeed, I
have led one of those institutions, and I think many of them are
overselling. As many colleagues find when they move to those
institutions, it’s simply not a bed of roses.
