HBCU DIGESTAugust 2014 Volume 1 Issue 9

LEARNING THRIVES AT ALCORN.BUT SOME DISCOVERIES DON’T HAPPEN IN THE LAB.

In Alcorn's dynamic living and learning environment, students develop the skills they need for lasting success in todays's global marketplace. As they do, they often find something more: an inner strength and sense of purpose they never knew they had.

For financial aid and enrollment information, call 800.222.6790 or visit alcorn.edu

DISCOVERYour True Potential.

@AlcornStateU

Publisher

Jarrett Carter Sr.

Contributors

Gwendolyn Boyd

Imani Jackson

Christina Sturdivant

Timothy Wiggins

Cover ArtNorth Carolina Central University

Magazine DesignLa Keita D. Carter

HBCU Digest is published monthly byCarter Media Enterprises, LLC.

Reproduction in whole or in part withoutwritten permission is prohibited. HBCUDigest and the HBCU Digest logo are

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HBCU DIGEST

Back To School

5 Letter from the Publisher

6 PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVESBy Dr. Gwendolyn Boyd

8 THE PIPELINEHBCUs Forge Recruiting Partnerships

NationwideBy Christina Sturdivant

12 HBCU GENTRIFICATIONBlack Colleges Fight For Campus

DevelopmentBy Timothy Wiggins

16 MY SISTERS' KEEPERWomen Head NewWave of HBCU

LeadershipBy Imani Jackson

20 BACK TO SCHOOL: IN PICTURESHBCUs Welcome Students,Community Back to Campus

CONTENTS

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HBCU DIGEST

Letter from the Publisher

Greetings,

As we return to another school year at historically black colleges anduniversities nationwide, our community confronts a unique set ofchallenges and opportunities, ripe for our students to confront and seize,respectively.

Campuses are grapplingwithharsh reminders of racism, civil injustice, andeconomic marginalization, all stemming from conversations around themurder of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, MO.Students and faculty have given voice and support to mobilization effortsaround the country to answer one of America’s most persistent problems -stereotyping and violence against black men.

At the same time,HBCUs are establishing new strengths in recruitment, leadership and sustainability in theface of dwindling federal and state support. In this issue, you’ll read about new partnerships beingmade byHBCUs with some of the nation’s top high schools, and perspectives on the growing number of womenleading the way in HBCU reform.

We also hope you will enjoy a special feature in this month’s edition: a view of HBCUs around the countrywelcoming students and families back to their campuses. As you read through these pages, know that everygood and bad thing we see, hear and read about HBCUs begins with resources. We hope that as this newacademic year begins, you will reaffirm your financial, social and political commitments in support of youralma mater, or an HBCU campus community nearest to you.

We are all that we have, and truthfully, we are all that we’ll ever need.

Yours in Advocacy,

!

5

By Gwendolyn E. Boyd

Presidential Perspectives

As I embark upon my first fall semester as the 14thand first female President of Alabama StateUniversity, I return emotionally to the feelings ofexcitement, purposeandawe,which I feltwhen I firstbegan my undergraduate studies here at ASU as afreshman.I am also experiencing the same resonance, courageand determination that I felt as a freshman who wasthen, and is now, dedicated to excellence, leadership,andthepursuitofscholarlyadvancement.Allof thesecharacteristics employed today will allow me to bethe very best that I can be as the President and CEOof this venerable and magnificent HBCU calledAlabama State University.This is indeed the pivot point of a new day, as weembark upon a new semester with a new presidentand new governance on our Board of Trustees and insenior leadership.Weareempowered, energizedanddedicated to academic excellence, student success,transparency, fiscal accountability, and integrity aswe promote our mission of producing the best andbrightest students in the world.I feel, as do many others, that Historically BlackColleges andUniversities are the very bedrock of theeducational opportunities for all our students.Additionally, HBCUs present a strong case forstudent retention and positive graduation rates thatwe see among black students in America.I am proud of the fact that since my arrival inFebruary, we have a new Biomedical Engineeringdegree offering here at ASU, whichwewill expand tootherdisciplinesonourcampus.Asanengineer, I ama huge proponent of all of the STEM. disciplines andwant toexpand themmany timesoveronourcampusso our students are prepared for the future growth inemployment opportunities that STEM degreesrepresent.We also just completed our first ’30 Days of Giving’campaign and raised over $140,000 from 700donors, 37 percent of whom were first-time givers!As I continue towork to accomplish andenhance thismission with our invigorated Board of Trustees,

outstanding faculty and staff; and our excellentstudents, we know that working together; there isnothingwe cannot accomplish. Opportunity isHere.Dr. Gwendolyn E. Boyd is a summa cum laude 1977graduate of ASU; the first African-Americanwoman to graduate from Yale University inMechanicalEngineering,andwasatJohnsHopkinsUniversity Applied Physics Lab for over 33 years.She served from 2000-2004 as National Presidentof Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.

6

The Pipeline: HBCUs ForgNatio

While fall semester for high school seniors is a pivotal timefor those seeking to further their education, collegepreparation begins much earlier for students at many topperforming high schools across the country.

“We are a college prep school so as soon as we get ourstudents in the 9th grade, we begin to talk to them aboutpreparing for college,” says Valerie Wilson, guidancecounselor at McKinley Technology High School inWashington, DC.

Although interests maychange, freshmen andsophomores begin tothink about intendedmajors. They researchentry requirements ofinterested schools andstrive to maintaindesirable GPAs. Juniorsand seniors take morerigorous courses topresent marketabletranscripts and preparefor a higher level ofacademics. Guidancecounselors meetcollectively andindividually with studentsto assist them in narrowing down their choices to includereach, match and safety options.

“As a graduate of an HBCU, I definitely always includesome HBCU suggestions for them that I think would be agood fit,” says Wilson, a graduate of Howard University.

At a school with a 97 percent black student population, notall McKinley students are expected to transition smoothlyinto more diverse environments. For those who may needthe extra support and nurturing associatedwith theHBCUexperience, Wilson nudges the option a little harder.

The presence of admissions officers and recruiters isconstant at McKinley throughout the school year. Duringcollege awareness month in October, the school hosts a

college night with representatives from at least local andout-of-state 30 colleges.

A collection of at least 10 HBCUs each year also visitMcKinley to host on-site admissions processes wherestudents can apply to colleges and be accepted on the sameday.

Representatives from Bowie State University areconsistent in interacting with McKinley students. They

seek candidates whohave shown academicpreparedness bytaking challengingcourses and achievinghigh scores onstandardized testswhile focused onachieving a collegedegree, says Derrick L.Davis, director ofadmissions at BowieState.

Davis and his team ofrecruiters hit the roadeach fall, visiting highschools, college fairsandpanel discussions

throughout theWashington, DCmetropolitan area. By theendof the school year, they have visited approximately 100schools in the region.

“There's a lot of rich history on campuses that are HBCUs,saysDavis, “And I think it’s important for them to know it’san option when seeking a college degree.”

When speaking with students, Davis discusses the family-oriented nature of the school, opportunities inside andoutside of the classroom and benefits of attending auniversity in proximity to the nation's capitol.

Students at the School Without Walls Senior High School,ranked 1st in D.C. by U.S. News and World report, alsoreceive attention from college recruiters—from the Ivy

By Christina Sturdivant

8

Guidance counselors nationwide say HBCUs are making progress in reaching out to high

achieving students.

ge Recruiting Partnershipsonwide

League, to religious institutions to HBCUs.

“We make sure we introduce our students to all types ofschools because every student is different and has his ownpreference,” says Hafsatu Iro, professional schoolcounselor at theSchoolWithoutWalls,whowelcomedover100 college representatives into the school last year.

Florida A&M University has been instrumental inintroducing the HBCU experience, says Iro, as theuniversity president recently visited and addressed 60students from ninth to tenth grade—not only speakingabout the advantages of FAMU, but attending HBCUs as awhole.

In the Midwest, where black colleges are less abundant,more hindrances to entry exist for students. Proximity tohome and financial constraints are frequent concerns forthese students.

“I think what keeps some students from actually going [toHBCUs] sometimes is fear of the unknown, having neverbeen on the campus,” says Norma V. Chinn, director ofcounseling and guidance at Whitney M. Young MagnetHigh School in Chicago, Illinois.

Whitney is ranked 4th in Illinois by U.S. News and WorldReport, with a 26 percent Black student population.

“We strongly encourage fly-outs—we have found that ifthey have seen and been on a campus, they make betterdecisions,” says Chinn.

Additionally, each year, the Chicago Peoples Union ofHoward University hosts the Escape To Mecca CollegeTour for Chicago public school students. Now in its 11thyear, the tour has traveled over 400 juniors and seniors toWashington, DC, resulting in nearly one fourth of thosestudents enrolling in Howard.

Anextrapush thatChinnhas founduseful ispairing formerWhitney students who attend HBCUs with currentstudents who are interested.

“They can talk toanother studentwho is alreadyhaving theexperience and have conversations about any concerns orreservations theymay have. That seems to be really helpful

for our students,” says, Chinn.

Helene Kunkel, head college advisor at Palisades CharterHigh School in Pacific Palisades, California, has also foundthat finances and distance are major prohibitors for herBlack student population—about 15 percent of the studentbody—to attend an HBCU.

With 100 black students in any given class, only amaximum of five will enroll in an HBCU. Many decide toremain close to home as the state of California’s publicuniversity system offers substantial financial aid benefits.

And while outreach to HBCU recruiters is widespread,attendance is low.

“Howard comes every year. I've hadMorehouse come on apretty regular basis, but beyond that, they really don’t havereps in the LA area on a regular basis,” says Kunkel.

Due to the relatively low population of African Americanstudents, and traffic patterns being a major obstaclebetweenrecruiters andstudents, he chancesare even lowerfor Palisades students to speak directly with HBCUrepresentatives, she added.

Much exposure comes by way of Greg Delahoussaye of theEducational Student Tours (EST) who partners with theschool’s village nation program.

“Village nation was founded about 4 to 5 years agospecifically to address the achievement gap for AfricanAmerican students, so they bring in a lot of guest speakersandtry toprovidesupport systemsforstrugglingstudents,”says Kunkel.

Each year, Delahoussaye speakswith students at Palisadesabout HBCU options and EST’s Black College Tour fliesstudents fromLAXairport to almost adozenHBCUson theeast coast. Since its inception almost 30 years ago, ESThastaken over 3,000 students on the tour, with close to 90percent of the students enrolling in a visited school.

Overall, Kunkel believes students’ decisions for higherlearning boil down to life after college. “In our currenteconomic climate, students are thinking about specificmajors that will lead to employment,” she says.

9

Historically black colleges and universities have served asa generational antidote to effects of urban gentrification.Throughout theMid-Atlantic andSoutheast, blackmiddleclass communities have been built and have survived forgenerations as a result of HBCU education andemployment opportunities on their campuses.

But with cuts to federal student loan programs and stateappropriations to black colleges, changing economicpower has marginalized the HBCU impact on civicdevelopment, and in some respects, may claim blackcolleges as its greatest casualty.

Gentrification occurs when the make-up of an urbanenvironment typically housing members of the middle tolower classes shifts towards residents of the middle toupper classes. With new residents with more disposableincome, the gentrified town becomes attractive forindividuals looking tobuild stores, hotels, andbusinesses.Real estate owners are able to capitalize on the higher rentand property taxes that the new residents can afford topay.

Similar practices are changing today’s higher educationlandscape.Ascollegebecomesmoreaccessible tostudentsand families with wealth, HBCUs, while still among thenation’smostaffordableoptions forhighereducation, findthemselves pressed into critical retooling in theirrecruitment and outreach strategies.

“HBCUs are beginning to lose their historical base,” saysAllie-Ryan Butler, assistant professor of Journalism andCommunications at Hampton University. “Black collegesmust consider that students who have been pushedthrough segregated school systems may want toexperience something more diverse in their highereducation.”

A 2013 study from the Georgetown University Center on

Education and the Workforce (C.E.W.) supports Butler’sopinion, suggesting that while enrollment is up at HBCUsover the last 20 years, graduation rates for higherachieving black students is higher at more selective,predominantly white institutions.

“The market for education is shifting away from openaccess schools, and is shifting towards more selectiveschools,” said Jeff Strohl, study co-author and Director ofResearch at the Georgetown C.E.W., in a 2013 interviewwith the HBCU Digest. “There’s definitely a place forHBCUs because they’re giving opportunities to those whootherwise may not have it. We know that there is acontinuing ratcheting up of education needed on the job.Atwo-yeardegree isn’tenough,so inthesense thatHBCUsaregivingpeoplebetteraccess toa four-yeardegreemeansthey serve a great niche.”

As poor secondary education and economic inequalitypersists, a pool of under-prepared student populationswill grow, while droves of high achieving students willincrease minority enrollment at predominantly whitecolleges with more scholarships funds, better facilities,and more programs. The result; losses in retention,graduationrates, and limitedaccess to federal fundsbasedupon new rating programs.

Between 2011 and 2013, HBCUs lost more than $300million collectively in lost tuition revenues and cuts to thefederal Parent PLUS Loan and Pell Grant programs.According to research from the United Negro CollegeFund, loan denials have resulted in about 17,000 fewerstudents attending black colleges over the last three years.This reality poses a great threat to the future of HBCUs.

As issues likegentrification,poverty,andclassstrugglearebarriers to young African Americans seeking highereducation the importance of historically black collegesand universities becomes even more pivotal.

HBCU Gentrification: Black CollegesFight For Campus Development

By Timothy Wiggins

12

Johnson C. Smith University's Mosaic Village is an example of community development and investment. But like many HBCUs, it is fighting a prolonged battle toattract students, and to receive equitable funding from federal resources.

You’re sitting in your first class. After initial introductions, you learn that right in front of you is a veteran who has served his country for decades abroad. To your right is a shy young man on his first extended stay since leaving his hometown of Laurel, Mississippi.

To your left is an extroverted evangelist and physics major from Nigeria who’s doing research you’ll never be able to pronounce. Finally, just behind you is a biology major from Chicago whose sole passion is to quickly get the foundation from which she someday will return to her neighborhood as a doctor.

And you? Well, you immediately realize that you, too, are special. You are an Alabama A&M University student with a powerful mixture of dream, potential and the drive to make it all happen. You are A&M.

Nestled in the final stretches of the Appalachians, this hillside campus boasts a location within one of the most liveable cities in the world. Its academics are bolstered by a gifted faculty with a thirst for research and learning. And, diverse undergraduate and graduate degrees offer the more than 5,000 students curricula leading toward Ph.D. degrees in several areas.

Join us. Make your first class first-class. From community and regional planning to apparel, merchanising and design to food science and physics--AAMU brings together the world and its views, handing both to you one classroom at a time.

Experience Engagement ... Fulfillment ... Celebration!

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My Sisters' Keeper: Women Head

Audriana Osborne garnered headlines last summer whenshe earned nearly $1 million in college scholarships andannounced that shewill beginEnglish andPre-law studiesat Florida A&M University this fall. Osborne is one ofthousands of high achieving black women who will beginor continue studies at HBCUs this fall, but with nationalinitiatives like President Barack Obama’s “My Brother’sKeeper,” gaining attention and financial support, somehave begun towonderwhat institutional or organizationalmeasures will be created to ensure success for blackwomen alongside their male counterparts.

The answer may be HBCUs themselves.

Several black colleges have reversed male-dominatedhighereducationtraditionswithpresidential selections. Inthe last three years, ten HBCUs have appointed femalepresidents, and all but one of the women were the first toserve as permanent selections at their respectiveinstitutions.

Debra Saunders-White at North Carolina CentralUniversity, Roslyn Clark-Artis at Florida MemorialUniversity, Valerie Montgomery Rice at the MorehouseSchool of Medicine, and Elmira Mangum at Florida A&M

University this year; Glenda Baskin Glover at TennesseeState University and Juliette Bell at the University ofMaryland Eastern-Shore in 2013; Cynthia Jackson-Hammond at Central State University, Pamela Wilson atAllen University, Cheryl Davenport-Dozier at SavannahState University in 2012; and Carolyn Meyers at JacksonState University in 2011, highlight a new movement ofwomen breaking the glass ceiling at HBCUs.

Dr. Bell, an alumna of Talladega College and AtlantaUniversity (now Clark-Atlanta University) graduateadded, “ Although all HBCUs share a common history,each has its own mission and goals. I believe that asleaders, our job is to identify the unique character andstrengths of our institution and to build upon thoseattributes.”

Dr.CynthiaWarrick,GramblingStateUniversity’s interimpresident and former interim president at South CarolinaStateUniversity, is aHowardUniversity,Georgia Instituteof Technology and George Mason University alumna.

She said Gramblinites responded favorably to herappointment because the local community views her as “achange agent” and recognizes the inevitability of change.

Dr. Bell also received a warm reception as UMES

By Imani Jackson

16

d New Wave of HBCU Leadership

president. She said, “I came into the community with anopenmind, focusedongetting toknowthecommunity andletting them know me. I did a lot of listening, and thathelpedme to learn how to best serve the university and thecommunity.”

HBCUs seem to be serving their populations withrepresentational realities.

“It’s important when you start looking at university andcollege students in general, [to remember] women are themajority,” Dr. Warrick said before adding, “We arereflecting our populations in the leadership positions.”

As people from diverse backgrounds occupy spacespreviously unavailable to them, female presidents remainspecial in large part because of trends. In 2012, theAssociation of American Colleges and Universitiesreported that while “more women occupy the presidencytoday than ever before,” women “remain in the minority.”

For one president, serving as campus CEO has been adifficult proposition in her first six months.

In a keynote address at the SouthernChristian LeadershipConference, Alabama State University PresidentGwendolyn Boyd said, “We know that as we climb, there's

new levels, new devils." Dr. Boyd’s comments followedmonths of controversial remarks made by current andformer board members, who alleged improper travel andleadership habits against her.

In an unprecedented display, former trustee DonaldWatkins authored a scathing editorial in theMontgomeryAdvertiser, apologizing forhis endorsementofDr.Boydasa presidential candidate.

Weeks later, at ASU’s faculty convocation, professorssaluted the president with a standing ovation.

Overall, resilience seems to be a common trait amongfemale HBCU presidents.

Dr. Bell said, “As women leaders, our challenge is to beauthentic and to remain true to ourselves.”

Pictured from left to right:Morehouse School ofMedicinePresident Valerie Montgomery Rice, Florida A&MUniversity President Elmira Mangum, North CarolinaCentral University Chancellor Debra Saunders-White,and University of Maryland-Eastern Shore President

Juliette Belle

17

We’re looking for the best and the brightest.Do you have the brains, street smarts, compassion, and commitment to make sure those on your watch thrive?

Grounded in a tradition of research and innovation, the Johns Hopkins School of Education offers doctoral and graduate programs that allow you to begin or advance a challenging and rewarding career with impact in mind.

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Jackson State University has a distinguished history that is rich in the tradition of educating young men and women. Jackson State University is committed to educating and empowering men and women to excel in leadership capacities on

every front. We provide an accepting, caring environment where students of all ages, races and backgrounds can flourish

intellectually, socially and culturally.

Throughout our 136-year history, Jackson State has remained committed to our founding mission of challenging minds

and changing lives.

Apple Distinguished School for 2013-2015Recognized by Apple as a distinguished school for innovation, leadership and educational excellence.

Back To School:The 2014-15 semester began in form this month,with thousands of new and returning studentsventuring to historically Black college campuses

nationwide.

In these pages, you will see the best elements of theHBCU experience - legacies of learning passed downbetween parents and children, community service,and civic engagement - all on display in the early

days of the fall 2014 semester.

Enjoy your tour around the national HBCUcommunity's Back to School activities.

In Pictures

Hampton University

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FloridaA &M

University

FayettevilleState

University

North Carolina Cen

ntral University

SouthernUniversity

AlabamaState

University

HowardUniversity

PaulQuinnCollege

TennesseeState

University

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