Not a week goes by where those of us in the HBCU community are confronted with the question of the continued relevancy of HBCUs. We’ve heard them all: Do we still need HBCUs in a post-racial America? Isn’t it reverse discrimination to have race-based colleges like HBCUs? Does the education provided at HBCUs compare in quality and rigor to the non-HBCUs?
All too often we find ourselves “defending” our existence and relevancy with some version of the following two-step: first, we highlight our most famous alums: Justice Thurgood Marshall (Lincoln University and Howard University Law School); civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (Morehouse); HARPO CEO and media proprietor Oprah Winfrey (Tennessee State University); and Black Enterprise publisher Earl G. Graves (Morgan State University).
Then, we roll out the stats that describe how many African-Americans are HBCU graduates: 22 percent of bachelor’s degree holders; 40 percent of members of Congress; 12.5 percent of CEOs; 40 percent of engineers; 50 percent of professors at non-HBCUs; 50 percent of lawyers; and 80 percent of judges. Without a doubt, the data are clear: HBCUs are iconic institutions that will forever be historically significant and relevant. Different questions are being asked now, though: Are HBCUs currently necessary?
Are they relevant today?
The truth of the matter is that a very compelling case can be made that HBCUs are actually more relevant and necessary today.
As America “browns and grays,” HBCUs are uniquely positioned to educate an America where people of color will need to fill the corporate boardrooms, government offices, judicial chambers, K-12 classrooms and hospital operating rooms. Our past success educating people of color—many of whom entered college with academic deficiencies resulting from poor secondary school preparation—is a strong indication of our ability to deliver positive outcomes; the question is how we will transform ourselves to deliver career-ready and globally prepared talent in a 21st century postsecondary environment that is being up-ended and disrupted at every turn.
I met with a senior U.S. government executive not long ago who put it best: “I looked at me and my other [White] colleagues during a meeting the other day and said: ‘There are not enough of our children to replace us. We must find a way to develop minority students if America is to remain the world leader.’”
