РефератыИностранный языкBlBlack Colleges Essay Research Paper In the

Black Colleges Essay Research Paper In the

Black Colleges Essay, Research Paper


In the world we live in today a person can almost choose any college or


university they want to to continue their education upon graduation from high


school. It really doesn’t matter if it is a four year, two year, or technical


school, there is a school for any person in any major. What draws a person to


attend one certain kind of school compared to another? In this case why is there


an increase in Black students attending Black colleges in the past decade? One


might say, "Well how can you tell that more students are getting into these


colleges, rather than these schools accepting an increased number of students


each year?" These are all important questions to ask, and there are


numerous reasons and causes for schools to increase the number of students they


allow and the number of students wanting to attend these colleges. I have an


older brother and an older sister who both attend a historically black college (HBCU),


Central State University in Wlberforce, Ohio. I have always had a lifelong dream


of attending an HBCU. In fact I was accepted to both Virginia Union in Richmond


and North Carolina A&T in Greensboro before I was accepted into Wright State


University. My main reason for wanting to attend these schools was the history


that they have and the way they made me feel when I went for visits. Those are


my personal reasons for wanting to attend these schools, but there are more than


personal reasons people are starting to have a higher interest in attending


these schools. Lowery 2 For the past three years my church back home in Columbus


has held an annual Black College Tour. It is designed to garner the interest of


the young people at my church and all around Columbus in HBCU’s. I was a student


the first year and a chaperone the last two. In visiting these schools one can


find that the administration at these colleges and universities do anything they


can to get you admitted to these schools. Almost all of them are rated among the


best schools in the nation, too. These are no small time schools. Some students


are finding it easier to go to HBCU’s because of the recent Supreme Court


rulings on Affirmative Action. They feel that it will be harder for them to have


an equal chance of being accepted to non Black colleges and universities. Most


of those people don’t want to put up with all the mess that goes on in those


universities today, where even still, in 1997, people are admitted because of


physical appearances and not mental capabilities ("Straight Talk" 122


123). Speaking in those terms people just do not want to deal with downright


racism. Some HBCU’s in areas with lots of non Black colleges usually have


increased enrollment due to past histories and events that happened at the


schools. An example was in Florida in 1988. Incidents of racism on the major


White college campuses caused a 19 percent increase at Florida A&M


University in Tallahassee, another HBCU. It was recorded as the largest increase


in enrollment of any of the colleges in the state. Of the 1,876 coeds in the


system, 1,327 were enrolled at Florida A&M, while the other universities


enrolled the rest ("Racism" 22). Even now Florida A&M has


increased enrollment at the school. They reported about 100 more freshman in


this year’s class than last year’s (Geraghty A46). There are some students who


are starting to attend HBCU’s because of their feeling of deprivation of black


culture in their lives. In an article in The Lowery 3 Black Collegian last year,


a young man, only referring to himself as "The Invisible Man" to


readers, wrote to the editor about attending an HBCU after having gone to


predominantly White schools all of his life. He chose to attend a Black school


because, "I felt very intimidated by my ignorance of Black history,


culture, language, and everything else that I have missed in my previous


education" (qtd. in Parker 21). After attending his first semester in


school, "Invisible Man" found he was what he called a "Cultural


Zombie." He chose to stay at the school to educate himself about the


culture that he was left in the cold by his family. He says his family is Black,


but never emphasized being black and the culture that comes with it. One thing


he say’s he has learned from his unnamed school is who he is and his role as an


African American male (Parker 21). The one main cause for increased enrollment


in HBCU"s is the attention students get from people they feel understand


them. Most Black colleges have that "hospitality factor" that a person


can"t get on a bigger campus. Even the bigger Black universities recognize


this helps students achieve better. Black students are beginning to realize that


the students who attend these colleges display greater gains in academic


achievement, higher rates of Bachelor’s Degree attainment, greater social


integration, and higher occupational aspirations than those Black students who


attend predominantly White institutions. Blacks at HBCU"s report being


accepted, encouraged, and engaged in all aspects of campus life, unlike Black


students on White campuses, who report often feeling alienated and marginal


(McDonough 10). An example of the "hospitality factor" I referred to


earlier is from a tiny Black school in east Texas called Jarvis Christian


School. In an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Pam Taylor, a senior


at the school said, "If Lowery 4 your discouraged and you don’t know if you


can keep going your teachers are there to pick you up" (Managan A8).


"I’ve got spring fever bad right now, and I can call my teacher and


she"ll talk me into getting to class. I can talk to her about anything


schoolwork, men, anything," she continued (Managan A8). It does not happen


just when you get there either. Administrators at Tennessee State and Florida


A&M say that an important technique in keeping their enrollment numbers up


has been to call students who have been admitted and talk to them about what the


university has to offer (Geraghty A46). Even though HBCU’s represent less than 4


percent of all U.S. colleges, they enroll 20 percent of all Black undergraduates


and present about 33 percent of all African American Baccalaureate degrees. All


of this despite predictions in the 1960’s that improved access at predominantly


White schools would indicate the end of HBCU’s. Enrollments at these schools has


been consistently up since 1976, and in the period between 1987 1991 alone,


Black college enrollment rose about 10,000 students per year (McDonough 10 11).


All of this goes to show that because of social, political, and economic causes


in the world today, these figures are tiny compared to what’s projected to


happen. And as more and more Black students become aware of what these colleges


have to offer them, whether it be personal or financial, some of these


predominantly White schools will be aching for Black students, from which we


might see the beginning of a new trend, the plan to terminate or try to totally


segregate Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Lowery 5 Brian Lowery


Lowery 1 May 7, 1997 Kennedy Eng. 102 05 The Increase in Enrollment in


Historically Black Colleges and Universities In the world we live in today a


person can almost choose any college or university they want to to continue


their education upon graduation from high school. It really doesn’t matter if it


is a four year, two year, or technical school, there is a school for any person


in any major. What draws a person to attend one certain kind of school compared


to another? In this case why is there an increase in Black students attending


Black colleges in the past decade? One might say, "Well how can you tell


that more students are getting into these colleges, rather than these schools


accepting an increased number of students each year?" These are all


important questions to ask, and there are numerous reasons and causes for


<
p>schools to increase the number of students they allow and the number of students


wanting to attend these colleges. I have an older brother and an older sister


who both attend a historically black college (HBCU), Central State University in


Wlberforce, Ohio. I have always had a lifelong dream of attending an HBCU. In


fact I was accepted to both Virginia Union in Richmond and North Carolina


A&T in Greensboro before I was accepted into Wright State University. My


main reason for wanting to attend these schools was the history that they have


and the way they made me feel when I went for visits. Those are my personal


reasons for wanting to attend these schools, but there are more than personal


reasons people are starting to have a higher interest in attending these


schools. Lowery 2 For the past three years my church back home in Columbus has


held an annual Black College Tour. It is designed to garner the interest of the


young people at my church and all around Columbus in HBCU’s. I was a student the


first year and a chaperone the last two. In visiting these schools one can find


that the administration at these colleges and universities do anything they can


to get you admitted to these schools. Almost all of them are rated among the


best schools in the nation, too. These are no small time schools. Some students


are finding it easier to go to HBCU’s because of the recent Supreme Court


rulings on Affirmative Action. They feel that it will be harder for them to have


an equal chance of being accepted to non Black colleges and universities. Most


of those people don’t want to put up with all the mess that goes on in those


universities today, where even still, in 1997, people are admitted because of


physical appearances and not mental capabilities ("Straight Talk" 122


123). Speaking in those terms people just do not want to deal with downright


racism. Some HBCU’s in areas with lots of non Black colleges usually have


increased enrollment due to past histories and events that happened at the


schools. An example was in Florida in 1988. Incidents of racism on the major


White college campuses caused a 19 percent increase at Florida A&M


University in Tallahassee, another HBCU. It was recorded as the largest increase


in enrollment of any of the colleges in the state. Of the 1,876 coeds in the


system, 1,327 were enrolled at Florida A&M, while the other universities


enrolled the rest ("Racism" 22). Even now Florida A&M has


increased enrollment at the school. They reported about 100 more freshman in


this year’s class than last year’s (Geraghty A46). There are some students who


are starting to attend HBCU’s because of their feeling of deprivation of black


culture in their lives. In an article in The Lowery 3 Black Collegian last year,


a young man, only referring to himself as "The Invisible Man" to


readers, wrote to the editor about attending an HBCU after having gone to


predominantly White schools all of his life. He chose to attend a Black school


because, "I felt very intimidated by my ignorance of Black history,


culture, language, and everything else that I have missed in my previous


education" (qtd. in Parker 21). After attending his first semester in


school, "Invisible Man" found he was what he called a "Cultural


Zombie." He chose to stay at the school to educate himself about the


culture that he was left in the cold by his family. He says his family is Black,


but never emphasized being black and the culture that comes with it. One thing


he say’s he has learned from his unnamed school is who he is and his role as an


African American male (Parker 21). The one main cause for increased enrollment


in HBCU"s is the attention students get from people they feel understand


them. Most Black colleges have that "hospitality factor" that a person


can"t get on a bigger campus. Even the bigger Black universities recognize


this helps students achieve better. Black students are beginning to realize that


the students who attend these colleges display greater gains in academic


achievement, higher rates of Bachelor’s Degree attainment, greater social


integration, and higher occupational aspirations than those Black students who


attend predominantly White institutions. Blacks at HBCU"s report being


accepted, encouraged, and engaged in all aspects of campus life, unlike Black


students on White campuses, who report often feeling alienated and marginal


(McDonough 10). An example of the "hospitality factor" I referred to


earlier is from a tiny Black school in east Texas called Jarvis Christian


School. In an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Pam Taylor, a senior


at the school said, "If Lowery 4 your discouraged and you don’t know if you


can keep going your teachers are there to pick you up" (Managan A8).


"I’ve got spring fever bad right now, and I can call my teacher and


she"ll talk me into getting to class. I can talk to her about anything


schoolwork, men, anything," she continued (Managan A8). It does not happen


just when you get there either. Administrators at Tennessee State and Florida


A&M say that an important technique in keeping their enrollment numbers up


has been to call students who have been admitted and talk to them about what the


university has to offer (Geraghty A46). Even though HBCU’s represent less than 4


percent of all U.S. colleges, they enroll 20 percent of all Black undergraduates


and present about 33 percent of all African American Baccalaureate degrees. All


of this despite predictions in the 1960’s that improved access at predominantly


White schools would indicate the end of HBCU’s. Enrollments at these schools has


been consistently up since 1976, and in the period between 1987 1991 alone,


Black college enrollment rose about 10,000 students per year (McDonough 10 11).


All of this goes to show that because of social, political, and economic causes


in the world today, these figures are tiny compared to what’s projected to


happen. And as more and more Black students become aware of what these colleges


have to offer them, whether it be personal or financial, some of these


predominantly White schools will be aching for Black students, from which we


might see the beginning of a new trend, the plan to terminate or try to totally


segregate Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Lowery 5 Works Cited


McDonough, Patricia M., Anthony Lising Antonio, James W. Trent. "Black


Students, Black Colleges: An African American College." Journal For a Just


& Caring Education. January 1997: 9 36 Geraghty, Mary. "On Campuses


Coast to Coast, Trends In Freshman Enrollment Vary Widely This Fall." The


Chronicle of Higher Education. 20 October 1996: A46 Mangan, Katherine S.


"Turnabout at a College In East Texas." The Chronicle of Higher


Education. 6 February 1996: A8 Parker, Linda Bates. "Campus Advisor Helps


Invisible Man." Black Collegian. October 1996: 21 22 "Straight Talk


From the Top: Presidential Candidates Answer Tough Questions…." Black


Collegian. October 1996: 128 "Racism on White Campuses Boosts Enrollment at


FAMU."


69c


McDonough, Patricia M., Anthony Lising Antonio, James W. Trent. "Black


Students, Black Colleges: An African American College." Journal For a Just


& Caring Education. January 1997: 9 36 Geraghty, Mary. "On Campuses


Coast to Coast, Trends In Freshman Enrollment Vary Widely This Fall." The


Chronicle of Higher Education. 20 October 1996: A46 Mangan, Katherine S.


"Turnabout at a College In East Texas." The Chronicle of Higher


Education. 6 February 1996: A8 Parker, Linda Bates. "Campus Advisor Helps


Invisible Man." Black Collegian. October 1996: 21 22 "Straight Talk


From the Top: Presidential Candidates Answer Tough Questions…." Black


Collegian. October 1996: 128 "Racism on White Campuses Boosts Enrollment at


FAMU." Jet. 21 November 1988: 22

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