<p>
[quote]
Times columnist and editorial board member Bill Maxwell kept a promise to himself, to become a professor at a small historically black college, to nurture needy students the way that mentors had encouraged him as a young man. His second year started with promise but ended in despair.
<p>^^^
A depressing read, but really informative, too.</p>
<p>I thought this was a very sad but well-written account about one of the toughest challenges in college education, which sometimes doesn't get as much attention as it deserves. Thoughts?</p>
<p>that is a great article-
But- I have advised students from Ds high school to look at Stillman- who may not have become interested in attending college- till midway through high school & are even more interested in attending school in an area, where they are the majority population.</p>
<p>However- the article saddened me. Some of the kids will do great- but how much farther could they go, if they could have been cheered on by their peers, instead of more of the same thing that they had to face in high school?
How can Stillman have a lower admittance rate than ** six** year graduation rate?</p>
<p>This is a great article, as was your post, EK, in the "elite college open their doors to low income youths" thread, which linked to this article also.</p>
<p>thanks HH- this is where I saw the article- I don't usually read the florida papers ( although I did look when d was thinking of going to Eckerd)</p>
<p>Its a tough row-but my god it must be frustrating for those profs.</p>
<p>It also sounds like the school doesn't have its act together either. One parent whose child attended Stillman this year and will be transferring, said that her sons dorm didn't have water for a month and the school wouldn't prorate her charges for the dorm!
That is just crazy-</p>
<p>There were a few parts to his experience, including and epilogue. It was really a very sad read. While the problem included employees of the university (such as the belligerent financial aid staff, untimely payments, etc.), one of the main issues that Maxwell pointed out was the student body. And by its very open admission policy, that's a problem unlikely to be fixed. I was, however, really impressed with the dedication of the professors. </p>
<p>Some of the reader comments I found interesting since they chided him for giving up and leaving. I don't blame him. He seemed to be often forced into the role of cajoler and babysitter in a thankless and alienating task.</p>
<p>For a period of my life I worked at a predominately African American (faculty, administration, and students), largely open admissions college, and it was nothing like what the author described. The students, often under prepared for college, tended to be focused and worked hard, often under extreme hardship. They had fun, and were fun. There were gang issues, but that was largely controlled by forbidding hats (except those worn for religious reasons) and colors inside college buildings. Almost the entire faculty and administration was dedicated to providing the very best educational experience possible. The school was immaculate; the floors shined with the pride of the school. The college staff worked insanely hard, they were driven. Students were treated with the upmost respect, particularly by student services personnel. Much of the success of a school is determined by its particular academic culture. One can have such a culture when the administration and faculty work to make it so.</p>
<p>I have taught journalism at an HBCU and I have encountered some of the problems that he describes. It was heartbreaking. The bright light, however, was the students whom I was able to inspire and make a difference with. Unfortunately, it took some years to realize that I was trying to teach them, and was not being cruel to them by insisting that they use proper grammar and read newspapers and learn to interpret literature.</p>
<p>Some of their rejection and outright hostility aimed at me was very painful for me because like Maxwell, I am black, and chose to teach at an HBCU to make a difference.</p>
<p>Way back in the late 60s I visted a white friend who was teaching at an HBCU in rural Alabama. I sat in on some classes and remember being particularly impressed by the students' involvement in a discussion of Oedipus Rex-- not only had they read and understood the play but they took Oedipus's predicament very much to heart and expressed their points of view with a lot of personal passion.</p>
<p>But these kids had been selected for their "promise" to be in an intensive college preparatory summer program stressing English and Math. So probably today such kids would not be found at HBCUs but at the top tier schools. Nevertheless, they faced many of the difficulties related to poverty that are expressed in Maxwell's article.</p>
<p>I don't think this is limited to HBCUs. If you read the CHE forums, you come realize professors everywhere (and by everywhere I'm including Ivys and top LACs) to be lazy, dishonest, entitled, arrogant, unprofessional, and/or, well, just plain stupid. It's depressing, really.</p>
<p>The situation at Stillman should be considered unacceptable. This sad tale makes me angry. The nihlists are keeping down motivated and hardworking students. To paraphrase Bill Cosby, this nonsense has got to stop. Places like Stillman and the discredited Morris Brown College must be held to account.</p>
<p>There aren't sufficient words to describe the despair this article causes me to feel. How does one even begin to address such an academic wasteland?</p>
<p>I shared this article with a couple of people after seeing it here. While both were sad for Stillman, both had positive experiences teaching at other HBCs in the past, though neither do now. One's black, one's white.
Both expressed the feeling that people should not give up on such schools, and much of the experience depends on the particular institution.</p>
<p>In reading his article, it's important to realize that Stillman is one of the weaker HBCUs. Things are far better at many of the other HBCUs that are better funded and better able to attract stronger students and faculty. I taught at one HBCU that was much stronger than Stillman, my husband has taught at 2 such HBCUs, and I also have consulted with HBCUs running from the top of the line HBCUs (which are ranked tier 2 institutions by U.S. News) to some very weak ones.</p>