Historically Black Colleges and Universities have proven to be an essential part of African American culture and history. Their role is often overlooked and in current times, even considered obsolete. Marc Lamont Hill has even suggested that HCBUs have a declining significance in the African American community, although he never attended an HBCU and received his undergraduate degree from Temple University.
The reality is that the contribution of HCBUs cannot be questioned, neither in the past nor presently. Their importance emerged as a function of a collective and communal social responsibility to serve the communities they reflect and represent. They offer supportive and nurturing environments in which their intellectual prowess is not overtly questioned. In addition, they have a higher student retention rate when compared to large white institutions. They offer supportive and nurturing environments in which their intellectual prowess is not overtly questioned.
Moreover, HBCU alumni complete their Ph.D.s faster (5.57 years) than their peers who attended traditionally white institutions (6.14 years) according to data published by the Educational Testing Service using GRE data. According to the same data, African American males who attended HBCUs were more likely to choose a graduate major in science than their peers at traditionally white institutions (22 percent vs. 15 percent). A higher proportion of African American HBCU students also attend graduate school than African American students at traditionally white institutions.
Not only do undergraduate students who graduate from HCBUs account for the majority of blacks that obtain Ph.D.s and M.D.s (more than 70 percnt), according to the national Science Foundation HBCUs educate a disproportionate share of African American women and men who go on to earn Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Although HBCUs only account for 3 percent of the nation’s colleges, they graduate over 50 percent of black professionals. Tuskegee University graduates 80 percent of blacks who practice veterinary medicine, while Xavier University places more blacks into medical school than any other college in the U.S. More than half of the black women with science doctorates received their undergraduate degrees from Bennett or Spelman colleges. Morehouse, Meharry, and Howard University continue to produce a larger proportion of physicians than white universities.
HBCUs are experts at educating black people and provide students with a sense of heritage by constantly reminding students of their history. While I was a student at Morehouse, there was never a day I was not reminded that I attended an institution that produced Martin Luther King Jr., Edwin Moses, Samuel M. Nabrit, Howard Thurman, Thomas Kilgore Jr., Lerone Bennett Jr., David Satcher, Louis W. Sullivan, Spike Lee and Walter E. Massey.
The contribution HBCUs make to society extends far beyond the classroom. They will always be relevant and continue to produce the bulk of leadership that serve and enhance African American communities. –torrance stephens, ph.d.
