The Impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities

http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v52/n11/tatl.html
What can Penn Learn from our Nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)?
Marybeth Gasman

Dr. Gasman makes many interesting assertions; some we have heard in connection to AFS, others not. What I like is that she gives specific suggestions (which I have bold-faced).

• Despite the influx of Blacks into historically White institutions (HWIs) in the 1970s—a result of the Civil Rights Movement—HBCUs still enroll 24% of Black students today. Moreover, they are more successful at graduating Black students than their White counterparts. For example, Spelman and Bennett Colleges, both Black women’s institutions, together produce 50% of the Black women who pursue science-related graduate degrees. Moreover, Xavier University of Louisiana educates more of the African Americans who enter medical school (and succeed, passing board exams) than any other university in the country (AMA, 2004).
• Within an HWI, there are numerous factors working against the success of Black students and hindering their chances at graduation. For example, according to higher education scholars, African American students who attend HWIs face limited economic assistance, cultural isolation, lack of Black role models, culturally uninformed staff and students, and even hostile campus climates (Allen, 1992; Fleming, 1984). HWIs like Penn were founded for Whites and have traditionally operated according to White cultural norms—everything from the art in the campus museum to the portraits on the walls of academic buildings to the readings assigned in the classroom tends to reflect Whiteness.
• As minority students gained access, these cultural norms did not necessarily change—all students were [implicitly] expected to assimilate to the “White world.”
• Because these institutions have a commitment to racial uplift, HBCU faculty members and administration take a strong interest in their students’ overall success. At HBCUs, faculty members are closely involved in retention efforts and consider themselves retention agents as well as researchers and teachers. Seeing oneself in this role at a place like Penn—with its rigorous publication and tenure demands—might seem unrealistic to some. However, these retention efforts can be linked to good teaching, careful advising, and even one’s research agenda. Ultimately, a professor’s voice is amplified by relationships with students and colleagues who carry on in that professor’s wake.
• With increased emphasis on faculty-student relations as well as better infrastructure for supporting these collaborations, Penn could play a larger part in sending African American students to graduate and professional programs.
• At Black colleges, student success is bolstered not only by faculty members but by the curricula they teach. These institutions offer a curriculum that is multicultural, aiming to include the views of all rather than privileging Western White male perspectives. While the push for multiculturalism in the early 1990s produced some broadening of the curriculum at HWIs, much of this movement has lost its momentum. Exposure to diverse ideas and in particular voices that resonate with African American worldviews can be empowering to Black students, especially at an HWI such as Penn.
• Of course, one of the main assets that Black colleges have to offer is African American role models. The fact that at Black colleges students see so many people like themselves succeeding at intellectual pursuits is one reason these institutions have played an enormous part in creating the nation’s Black leadership base.
• One final area in which HBCUs excel is in providing opportunities for Black students to gain leadership experience. This comes through student organizations and the commitment that HBCUs make in the larger African American community.
• We need to make sure that service efforts address African American issues here in the local neighborhood and throughout Philadelphia. Moreover, we need to involve more African Americans in the design and administration of community partnerships.
• We often place too much emphasis on assimilation, rather than allowing African American students to come as they are and contribute their unique perspective to campus and classroom.