Saving HBCUs

                                                    From the Ramparts

                                                    Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                                       Saving HBCUs

“Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to provide a substantial role in the black community and in higher education by providing a culture of excellence. Yet, their role in higher education is the center of many academic and political debates. Defining this role has been thwarted with questions of HBCUs relevance in society, in the African American community, and in higher education. The relevance of HBCUs is neither the dilemma nor the question for higher education and HBCUs. The conundrum for HBCUs is ensuring that they are equipped with the necessary tools to address global and economic 21st century challenges.” HBCU Sustaining A Culture of Excellence in the 21. Century Tennessee State University Sociology, Social Work, & Urban Professions Faculty Research Department of Sociology, Social Work, & Urban

Professions

            HBCUs are under a vicious nationwide attack and unless it is thwarted and countered soon, many HBCUs will falter, fail and disappear. In the past year and a half we’ve seen St Paul’s College in Lawrenceville Virginia close its doors, there were rumblings about closing Elizabeth City College in North Carolina and South Carolina State was under threat of closure just a few months ago. Cheyney University finds itself in dire straights due to decades of bi-partisan underfunding and deliberate neglect by the Commonwealth and federal governments; the very agencies charged with insuring its survival and viability.

            Historically Black Colleges and University across the country find themselves being questioned existentially in a most insidious manner; their authenticity as academic institutions, their relevance; quality and value are doubted and challenged by whites and blacks! The people calling for the abolishment of HBCUs say HBCUs are irrelevant in a “post racial society”  ; they say HBCUs are inefficient, outmoded and unnecessary. Critics cite fiscal problems, lack of innovative leadership, lack of technology and modern facilities and a malaise of dysfunction compared to Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). While on the surface some of these charges might appear valid, a deeper examination reveals the nefarious causes of the problems HBCUs are facing.

            First, critics of HBCUs view them from a distorted lens, they place more emphasis on the notion of “racial progress” than the actual facts support. For anyone to call the United States of America a “post racial society” demonstrates an unrealistic outlook at best or one bordering on total delusion at worst. Yes some things are better today for Black people than they were sixty years ago, nevertheless America is far from being race neutral, it is certainly not a color blind society and across the board socio-economic progress for the masses of Blacks has not materialized.

  In fact racism, exclusion and privation are the primary reasons HBCUs are in the tenuous positions they find themselves. “There are two main reasons why the current economic crisis has hit HBCUs so hard. First, these institutions serve a student population that is disproportionately low income. According to data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, in the 2006–07 academic year, 90 percent of HBCU students received financial aid. Reflecting the institutions’ commitment to educating low-income students, HBCU tuition rates tend to be 50 percent lower than those of their historically white counterparts. Lower tuition equals fewer operating dollars, which means less flexibility during tough times. Of course, one might ask why HBCUs do not increase their tuition. In fact, HBCUs have increased their tuition over the past decade but not at the exorbitant rates of their historically white counterparts. To do so would mean leaving behind the very group of students for whom these institutions were created. Moreover, HBCUs cannot afford to alienate potential students; a drop in enrollment can have dire consequences. Low-income African Americans might decide to attend community colleges or historically white state institutions, both of which boast relatively low tuition. For the 2008–09 academic year, many HBCUs experienced decreases in their enrollments. They foresaw more of the same for 2009–10.

The second reason HBCUs have been hit substantially harder by the economic downturn is that they have historically had smaller endowments. Of the nation’s 103 HBCUs, only three—Howard University, Spelman College, and Hampton University—have endowments in the top three hundred of all U.S. institutions of higher education. Smaller endowments mean fewer dollars available for operating costs and institutional financial aid.” Historically Black Colleges and Universities In A Time of Economic Crisis by Marybeth Gasman http://www.aaup.org/article/historically-black-colleges-and-universities-time-economic-crisis#.VR7Z6EGRaQk

Africans in America are on the lower rungs of the scoio-economic ladder because of the enduring vestiges of slavery, racial animus, economic apartheid and a modern system of de facto racial discrimination/oppression. Amidst a social milieu like this naturally HBCUs would serve a lower socio-economic demographic many of whom are from underfunded underperforming public schools which are caused and maintained by that very system of de facto discrimination! It’s a vicious cycle.

An equally damaging cause of the HBCU’s economic crisis is, government support and funding for HBCUs has declined precipitously. “In FY 2010, Institutions of Higher Education (IHE), including HBCUs, received $191.77 billion in federal agency funding, representing an increase from $174.47 billion awarded in FY 2009. While federal agency funding awarded to HBCUs and IHEs has increased over the past four years, the percentage of the total federal agency funding for IHEs distributed to HBCUs dropped from 3.10 percent of the total in 2007 to 2.65 percent of the total in 2010. Funding to HBCUs in FY 2010 was at its lowest percentage of total IHE funding since 2003, when HBCUs also received 2.65 percent of the total federal agency funding to IHEs.” Fiscal Year 2010 Annual Report to the President on the Results of the Participation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Federal Programs www.ed.gov/…/whhbcu/…/Fiscal-

            On the state level HBCUs have suffered even more Draconian cuts in revenue for higher education while state governments have invested heavily in building prisons. In Pennsylvania for example, Governor Tom Corbett came into office and went on a rampage cutting funding for higher education which impacted both Cheyney because it is part of the PASHEE system and Lincoln because it is a state supported school.  “Since Governor Tom Corbett came into office, the past two years have been dismal for public higher education. Last year, Gov. Corbett proposed a 50% cut in basic funding for the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and for the four state-related universities (Lincoln, Penn State, Pitt, and Temple). Eventually the General Assembly mitigated the proposed cuts down to 18% for the PASSHE schools (Millersville, Cheney, West Chester, et al) and to 19% for the state-related ones.

This year looks near as bad. First, in January, the Governor cut all the universities’ current year’s available funding by an additional 5%, making the total cut for this year 24%. Then, in February, he proposed an additional cut of 20% for the 2012-2013 appropriations for PASSHE and 30% for Penn State, Pitt and Temple. Granted, almost all states have been cutting or freezing appropriations to their public higher education institutions during the long recession the US has been suffering. But an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called Gov. Corbett’s proposal ‘the nation’s most onerous.’” Fighting Back Against the Defunding of Four Year Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania Art Hocher  www.taup.org/…/DefundingHEinPA-Hochner20120316FINAL.pdf  Corbett’s assault on primary secondary and higher education is probably what cost him the election; that and the fact he was the Attorney General who looked the other way during the Penn State sex scandals.

While defunding is problematic for Predominantly White Institutions it is catastrophic for HBCUs. Looking at the trends and results of the battle to destroy American apartheid from the 1930’s to the late twentieth century we notice when Houston, Marshall et al won the cases in the state and US Supreme Courts,the local, state and federal governments failed to appropriate the needed funds to overcome centuries of inequality and privation, that small numbers of Blacks were admitted to select white schools, but there was no push to equalize funding for all Black schools!

The same situation exists today. What would it take for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to make Cheyney University competitive with the other schools within the PASSHE system? One solution says to focus on the students not their race or color by funding Cheyney just like you fund the others.

HBCU sustainability will require innovative leadership and a willingness to do something drastically new. “The growth of enrollment for HBCUs can come in several ways, including increasing enrollment targets, increasing transfer student enrollment, and increasing retention of students. Increasing external funding is also important for HBCUs. HBCUs must increase alumni giving and find ways to engage and reengage alumni to support the institutions. This could have a major impact on the viability of HBCUs. This requires HBCUs to build system to reach their senior alumni while developing strategies to engage younger alumni. For example, if an institution has 20,000 graduates and each graduate gave $1,000 over a one-year period, that institution could raise $20 million from alumni. This much needed revenue could be used to fund scholarships for students, provide support for new programs and faculty, etc. Alumni giving must increase in order for HBCUs to remain viable…HBCUs must find creative ways to engage alumni and other benefactors and establish partnerships with corporations and foundations that will en­hance the ability of these institutions to accomplish their social justice missions. HBCUs must also engage with federal and state governments to increase the amount of grants, resources, and research dollars available to HBCUs. Because HBCUs serve high numbers of students from low-income backgrounds, it is critical that the funding is available to ensure access and support for these students…Unless HBCUs can competitively attract African Americans to enroll at HBCUS, attracting students from other growing demographic populations (e.g., Hispanic students, American Indian, Asian, White, foreign, etc.) will become necessary. HBCUs could possibly become centers of access and opportunity for a more diverse set of students and still maintain their mission, focus and culture as HBCUs. This is the power of the proverbial ‘and’ instead of the dichotomous ‘or’.” Repositioning HBCUs for the Future A Discussion Paper, Association of Public and Land Grant Universities John Michael Lee and Samaad Wes Keys www.aplu.org/…hbcus…

            Lastly if HBCUs are to survive we need the support of the global community those of us here and our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora.  We can support HBCUs through our churches and fraternal groups. Several HBCUs were founded and maintained by Black denominations we can still do this.  Ordinary Black folks who had been sharecroppers, tenant farmers, domestics etc. gave their nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars to support HBCUs.  If they could do it so can we.

We can market HBCUs throughout the Diaspora, our brothers and sisters throughout the Diaspora can send students to HBCUs.  It can be done all it will take is ingenuity, work and effort. In the final analysis the survival of HBCUs is up to us.

                                                            -30-