"The Blacker the College the Sweeter the knowledge"

College Confidential Community
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<p>"i think historically black college were created because it's the only place where some black students feel comfortable studying."</p>

<p>Wow! Please read some more history.
Historically black colleges were created because most colleges in this country up until at least 1940 or so were founded as being only for white people.</p>

<p>It was white people who were uncomfortable going to college with people of different races. It was white people who imposed legal segregation so that whites and blacks, Asians and Hispanics could not attend school together in many parts of the country. They also couldn't legally live near each other, sit near each other, marry each other in much of the country.</p>

<p>Places like Harvard, Princeton, Davidson, University of Virginia all are historically white colleges that rejected black students simply for racial reasons regardless of how intelligent the black students were. Mainstream colleges that accepted black students may not have let them live in the dorms. That's what happened to my great uncle who attended Syracuse around 1915. </p>

<p>At Florida State University, not only could blacks not attend it until the 1960s, they couldn't even work menial jobs on campus until then or even walk across the campus until then!</p>

<p>That's why, for instance, Princeton didn't have any black students until 1945. Davidson didn't have black students until the 1960s as was the case for places like University of Georgia and University of Mississippi.</p>

<p>In fact, the main reason that many black people prefer to go to historically black colleges even now is that many have a reality based fear that they will not be accepted at a historically white college. They've heard true, recent stories, for instance, of white students who decided to move out of dorm rooms after realizing that they had been assigned a black roommate.</p>

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<p>Caucasians need not worry about the business of the Black Community...</p>

<p>African-Americans - go to an HBCU, preferably the AU, and your life will be much better.</p>

<p>Morehouse Man '05</p>

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<p>haha. </p>

<p>you ARE joking, right?</p>

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<p>joking about which part?</p>

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<p>um, nevermind...</p>

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<p>drewblue: Why would my life be much better? I believe it is quite a blanketed statement that needs elucidation. I am from Atlanta, and I was quite certain the AU nor any other HBCU would be to my liking--hence I did not apply to any of the aforementioned.</p>

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<p>yeah i was going to mention that but i'd rather not start another cc argument.</p>

<p>"aforementioned" ahhh. it's summer stop using long, formal vocabulary. haha.</p>

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<p>Lol I cant help it :)</p>

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<p>HBCU's might not be appropriate for all.....Many students who choose to attend HBCU's have traditionally lived in predominately white communities and have had predominatly white schooling. If I were originally from Atlanta I probably wouldn't want to attend an HBCU either Majayiduke09.
drewblue tends to exaggerate issues but to make the statement less blanketed...An HBCU, particularly the AUC (Clark Atlanta University, Spelman, Morehouse, ITC), will make life better for some.</p>

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<p>


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<p>are you sure? so you're saying that most of the black students that were raised in a white community gather at HBCU's? and where do all the black students that were raised in predominately black communities go? to "white" colleges and universities?</p>

<p>wouldn't most of the black people at HBCU's be from black communities? i would guess so, but all i have as a source is common sense.</p>

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<p>The people who want to attend just want to discover their roots deeply whether they live with whites or not. Besides i doubt that living in a predominantly black will give u much access to ur culture regarding the fact that hip-pop and rap has very little correlation to the black culture rooting from the days of slavery.</p>

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<p>true. i just wasnt' buying the whole "Many students who choose to attend HBCU's have traditionally lived in predominately white communities and have had predominatly white schooling" statement.</p>

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<p>Coqui: Read closely...I said many not most. As an HBCU alum I can tell you with much confidence that this is true.
Also what would make you assume that people from HBCU's would be from all black communities???</p>

<p>Living in an all black community might not give you much access to your culture but LEARNING in one can. Anyone can live in an all black community, but being able to learn amongst young black scholars who share similar goals and experiences is one of a kind.</p>

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<p>"Many students who choose to attend HBCU's have traditionally lived in predominately white communities and have had predominatly white schooling."</p>

<p>As a person who has consulted with a lot of HBCUs, I can say that the above is true, particularly as pertains to the top HBCUs, places like Morehouse, Spelman, Howard, and FAMU. That's because such colleges offer merit aid to students with high SAT scores, and black students with such scores typically are either in schools with low numbers of black students or are in classes such as AP/IB/honors with low numbers of black students.</p>

<p>They may choose HBCUs because they long for the opportunity to finally be around lots of black people who are serious about education. </p>

<p>There are, however, many black students who go directly from predominantly black schools, classes and neighborhoods to HBCUs. They may pick HBCUs because they have had little experience with whites, no experiences with college, and feel more comfortable going to college with other black people.</p>

<p>My experience is that due to the disparity in funding of education in this country, such students tend to be weaker than are the black students who attended classes in which they were the minority. </p>

<p>Students coming from predominantly black environments also are more likely to be first generation college. </p>

<p>As is the case in general in colleges of all kinds, students tend to hang out with students from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Thus, a black student who comes from a middle class, professional background, is likely to have gone to school with lots of white students, and is likely in college to hang out with other black students who come from backgrounds similar to theirs. This includes Greeks (which if you think about it are likely to attract the more affluent students from educated backgrounds).</p>

<p>They also may not be that comfortable socializing with students from lower SES backgrounds whose manner of speaking and dressing and whose interests may difffer greatly from their own. I have, for instance, heard middle and upper middle class black students making fun of students from less professional backgrounds, calling their dress and speech "ghetto" or "country."</p>

<p>The students who come from predominantly black neighborhoods, schools and classes, are more likely to be first generation college and/or to have parents who aren't in professional jobs. They are likely to become friends with others from backgrounds similar to theirs. </p>

<p>They are likely to regard the students from middle/upper class backgrounds as being snobbish and "acting white" due to their way of dressing, interests and speech patterns. They also may not be able to afford to hang out with students from more affluent backgrounds who have expensive cars, can afford to dine out frequently, and who have free use of Daddy's credit card while the poor student may have to work and may have to send some of that $ home to help their families.</p>

<p>Consequently, each type of student could have the mistaken impression that the campus is filled with students with backgrounds similar to their own.</p>

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<p>ead, i didnt mean "all" either. just used the word for sake of exagerration.</p>

<p>wow. i didn't think that would be true about most students at HBCU being from white communities. i just thought that most would be excellent students from blacker communities, just because, i dont know, because it would be a similar learning environment. </p>

<p>anyway, it makes more sense now why black students from white communities go to HBCU's. thanks northstarmom and eadams83.</p>

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<p>Northstarmom did a great job of explaining it!</p>

<p>Coqui I wasn't sure if you were exagerrating or not but I see you were. I'm happy you have a new understanding of HBCU students. : )</p>

<p>I hope everyone is having a great day!!!!</p>

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<p>filmoxo wrote:</p>

<p>The only reason why HBCUs are around is because when they were created they were the only places for blacks to go to college, because they certainly couldn't go to Harvard, Princeton, or any other schools that were... wait for it... All white! Haha, Harvard is a HWCU, but everyone wants to go there so it quickly diversified. Howard and other schools like that are open to everyone, it's just that people of other races don't much want to go there...</p>

<p>Let's see if I can shed some brief FACTS on this incendiary subject:</p>

<p>Private Universities in the Northeast did admit Black students. Example: Alpha Phi Alpha, the first college fraternity for African-American men, was founded in 1906 at Cornell University. They were not permitted to join the exisiting fraternities on campus.</p>

<p>WEB Dubois is a notable Black Harvard graduate. In June 1890, he received his bachelor's degree from Harvard cum laude in philosophy. He was one of the five graduating students selected to speak at commencement. The FIRST black graduate was Theodore Greener in 1870 - just five years after the abolishment of 200+ years of slavery.</p>

<p>Regarding HBCU's:</p>

<p>The South is home to 85 HBCU's, compared to 4 north of the Mason-Dixon line, 5 in the midwest, and 1 in California. The south has been especially hostile to advances in education for Blacks, despite court cases such as Brown vs. the Board of Education, which involved schools in Topeka, KS.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that it was 1962 before the former McNeil-Lehrer Newshour correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault, and Hamilton Holmes became the first Black graduates from the University of Georgia (the state's premiere research institutiuon). They were born in 1942! Many of you reading this post have parents of grandparents that age.</p>

<p>Even after public University doors were open in the south as alternatives to HBCU's, Black students were far from welcomed.</p>

<p>Charlie Scott was the FIRST black student to play basketball on scholarship at the University of North Carolina. He graduated in 1970 and is the parent of a HS senior this year. He is commonly referred to as he "Jackie Robinson of UNC" because of the his experiences in breaking the UNC color barrier.</p>

<p>African-Americans have only had access to higher education after slavery was outlawed in 1865. While that seems like ancient history to many people and plenty of time to "move on and forget the past" - it really only represents 3-4 generations of families. And, when one considers the examples listed above regarding full, open, and non-discriminatory access to non HBCU's since the late 60's or early 70's - we only have to look to our parents generation for a shift in the racial attitudes. </p>

<p>IMHO, we have to examine where people LIVE to better understand the problem. When the Emancipation Proclamation was signed less than 8 percent of the African-American population lived in the Northeast or Midwest. Even by 1900, approximately 90 percent of all African- Americans still resided in the South. Today, 56% of Blacks still live in trhe South according to 2002 Census data. Cultural norms and attitudes continue to drive students to HBCU's. The remaining Black population is spread out 18%, 18%, and 8% in the Northeast, Midwest, and West respectively.</p>

<p>If we collectively take a deep breath, step back, and look at the history of our country and think about how long does it take to effect real cultural change, its easy to see that not enough time has passed to eliminate the NEED for HBCU's.</p>

<p>My daughter is a senior this year and we live in north suburban Atlanta. Her HS is predominately white with a Black population of less than 5%. She is a great student and is considering both HBCU's and other institutions. During her college visits over spring and summer, she has taken particular notice of the presence of Black students and how they interacted with her and other students. She has an interest in pledging in a sorority and looked for Black greek life and other activities. In her opinion, some schools appeared to be more "inviting" than others. She is considering not only academics, but also student life as part of her college experience.</p>

<p>I've read a lot of angry, venomous posts that are mad a Black students for being admitted to a non-HBCU because they feel the spot belongs to them and that SAT scores and grades should be the only criteria. Don't think that there aren't Black student s who feel this anger towards them. They want no parts of being where they're not welcomed. So, I'm perplexed that these same people are also mad because HBCU's exist. Would whites prefer that HBCU's not exist? Why??? Only 214,000 or 16% of all Black students attend an HBCU. Black students are welcomed there most receive an excellent education.</p>

<p>(Now... I'll jump off the soapbox) Thanks for taking the time to ready my post :-)</p>

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<p>If I were African American, I would have no problem going to Morehouse or Spelman, but those are the only good historically black colleges in Atlanta. Clark (Atl) is terrible.</p>

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<p>Hoo: Clark (Atl) is not terrible!
Just in the post before yours a former notable professor was mentioned i.e. WEB Dubois....It is not for you to judge any HBCU.</p>

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<p>dude all the top companies(consulting, ibank, wutever) hire from very good schools(top 30) and historically black colleges. they get diversity in the workplace too.</p>