As the Black Alumni Collective National Conference convenes on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus under the theme, “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Black Advocacy from Campus to Corporate to Congress,” Dr. James R. Martin II, chancellor of North Carolina A&T University, says that despite the setbacks of the present “post-DEI environment” higher education is staring down, he sees a historic opening for some institutions.
The landscape has shifted, Martin argues — economically, technologically, and politically — and while institutions, their leaders, and their alumni cannot afford to respond slowly, Martin says he does see an opportunity for historically Black institutions to reassert their importance to the national agenda.
“We’re making this country better faster than a lot of other institutions,” Martin said in an interview with The EDU Ledger. He added that the conversation around the importance of HBCUs should focus squarely on return on investment, social justice imperative aside.
“What we are underplaying is how much, traditionally, this country has depended on us and our population for national defense and how much national defense has been more of an equalizer than most other programs for the Black community,” Martin said. He pointed out that HBCUs should be claiming significantly more funding from the U.S. Department of Defense as the 1890 Land Grant institutions are key producers of military talent through their ROTC programs alone.
“We’re very represented in the Armed Forces, but we haven’t gotten our share of funding from the Department of Defense,” he said. “The same top [Research 1] universities are essentially doubling their budgets.”
And it’s not just the military. From Black intellectual capital helping to advance the space race, to the impact of Black patent holders and businessmen and women on the national per capita gross domestic product (GDP), Martin points out that the economic future of this country is reliant on the Black intellectual labor force.
A relationship economy
