I have visited quite a few HBCUs in the last 5 years (at least 10) and probably been on 20 HBCU campuses overall… Here is my 1st review and I will come out with a list of more HBCUs soon.
North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University NCAT (Greensboro, NC)
NCAT was the school that is a revelation for me personally. I did not know of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University when I was college aged, but the impression they made on me recently is immense. The campus and new student center is amazing, and the students were bar none the nicest student body that I have ever interacted with. My entire family fell in love with NCAT and I always recommend students taking a look if you are considering HBCUs.
Morehouse College (Atlanta, GA)
My family has visited Morehouse many times over the years, but the Accepted Student Day was on Valentine’s Day in 2020 and reminded me about my own time at Morehouse. There is just something about seeing young black men dressed up in suits (Business majors at the House dress up every Friday) and the campus was buzzing with students from all over the AUC giving gifts and enjoying the beautiful February day. Although my son ended up choosing a different HBCU, I just believe that there is no place for a young Black man wanting to be educated like Morehouse. I think about going through Morehouse traditions and think about some of the Morehouse Men before me who went through the same thing and I can not believe that I am part of that family.
Howard University (Washington, D.C.)
Howard University has changed a lot over the years. The area around campus has gone through quite a bit of gentrification which has change the vibe somewhat from my late 90’s college days. Both of my kids chose to attend Howard (recent HU22 graduate and HU24 student) and their generous financial aid to my family and spending more time on that campus has given me an appreciation of Howard and it’s history (the history of the Divine 9 flows through the campus, Howard Law School’s immense contribution to Civil Rights, etc.). Howard’s surrounding area has always been a little bit too much of the big city for me personally, but it is hard to be bored with all that is going on (Hands down the best Homecoming out of HBCU Homecomings that I have attended). Out of all of the HBCUs that I have visited, Howard student body may be the most “competitive” or “slightly cutthroat” but I believe that it is the students and that “Howard Hustle” that make Howard alumni so valuable out in the workforce. One thing to watch out for is the imbalanced male to female ratio (28 males: 72 females overall)…
Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL)
Tuskegee University is in an area where its campus is the only thing around, but the campus is absolutely gorgeous to me (Top 3 in my book), with nice dorms and is a well kept campus. The history of the campus and the legacy of Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver are all through the campus and the small museum on campus just made me proud of the many accomplishments achieved at Tuskegee. We toured during the summer session, so there where not many students on campus, but the tour guide was a senior from Los Angeles and he may have been the tour guide out of all of the schools that I have ever visited who just loved his school (that always means something to me).
Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta, GA)
Clark Atlanta always holds a special place for me (my wife is an alumnus and visiting her in her very nice campus apartment was one of my favorite things to do). The campus and student body is much smaller today than it was when I lived in the AUC, but I have always believed that Clark Atlanta students are the heart of AUC and I can tell that is still the case today. Clark Atlanta’s campus is in the city of Atlanta more than Morehouse and Spelman so it gives a different vibe. One thing that still irks my wife today is that Clark Atlanta students had a curfew her entire freshman year (11pm on weekdays and midnight on Friday and Saturday) or you were locked out of your dorm or got in trouble. I wonder what they do today?
Xavier University of Louisiana (New Orleans, LA)
I normally put Xavier near the bottom of my campus rankings because the campus is in a residential neighborhood with no gates in the middle of New Orleans. But the school and the academics at XULA are intense, especially for the students planning on going into any medical based field. My oldest did a summer program after her junior year in high school at XULA for 3 weeks and they worked those students almost all day, every weekday that they were in town. The amount of work that those students went through in 3 weeks was shocking and my student was exhausted when she came home, but she saw what college could be like and absolutely “manhandled” her early college classes just based on the work ethic that the XULA program was trying to instill in students. XULA does not have a football team so the vibe is a little different from the HBCU schools with football team based homecomings. That campus has maybe the most “serious” HBCU students because XULA expects excellence.
Hampton University (Hampton, VA)
What a beautiful campus (Top 1 in my book) Hampton University is right off of the Chesapeake Bay and it is just so beautiful. It is not a particular large campus and Hampton is one of the last “old school” HBCUs that doesn’t allow freshman to have visitation most years until Homecoming week (if they are good or sometime after Homecoming if they are not) and freshmen have a curfew which always angers freshmen every year. There are not a lot of things to do off campus, so off campus parties at students apartments was one of the few ways for students to let loose. Some of the freshman dorms needed to be remodeled when we visited, but I personally like seeing students not always living in luxury.