HBCU high school to open in September
SEQ residents worry about how Trump’s DEI stance impacts Black universities
02/27/25
At a Community Board 13 virtual meeting on Monday, it was announced that a HBCU high school will open in Southeast Queens in the fall.
As people were happy about most aspects of the new educational institution, many residents expressed their concerns about students who attend historically black colleges and universities overall due to President Trump’s attack on programs, scholarships and grants that support anything related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The HBCU Early College Prep founded by Asya Johnson, a seasoned educator at the city Department of Education, is set to open in September, said Lorraine Gittens-Bridges, CB 13’s vice chair of the Youth, Education, Libraries & Special Needs Committee.
The high school is slated to be co-located within the Susan B. Anthony Academy, also known as IS 238, at 88-15 182 St. in Jamaica.
The school will start off with 100 students, said Gittens-Bridges. Forty percent of the seats are dedicated to School District 29 students, 40 percent to District 27 and 28, 10 percent for those from other parts of Queens and the remainder for others from throughout the city.
The school will offer a high school diploma and an associate’s degree from Delaware State University, one of the more than 100 HBCUs in the country, at no cost to the students or their families. Scholars will be guaranteed admission to DSU once they have obtained their associate’s degree and have the opportunity to visit the university and other HBCUs.
“We are very excited about this school,” said Gittens-Bridges. “We’ve been advocating for a high-quality college access course school in our community for many years ...Unfortunately, it is going to be a co-located high school ... We are hoping that somewhere down the road, we can get it into a different space.”
One resident asked if Trump’s attack on DEI programs will impact the school, but Gittens-Bridges said thankfully the funds for it were secured before the president entered office.
CB 13 Chair Bryan Block was most concerned about how the president’s attempts to end DEI programs would impact Pell grants distributed to HBCU students.
Gittens-Bridges said she understood his concern and pointed out that many students from the Southeast Queens area want to attend HBCUs, but some are below the poverty line and would need the federal subsidy to pay to attend.
“Right now everything is up in the air for today,” she said. “Tomorrow ... it can change. We are listening to see what could happen.”
Gittens-Bridges said she is also paying attention to how Trump’s DEI cuts could impact special needs children.
“Nothing has come down yet saying that they actually will,” said Gittens-Bridges. “We are listening and watching.”
According to the United Negro College Fund, 70 percent of HBCU students are eligible for Pell grants. About 75 percent rely on them for their college expenses, said the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In 2021, about 56 percent received them.
Gittens-Bridges also emphasized the importance of HBCUs to the Black community.
“Although HBCUs only make up 3 percent of the nation’s educational system, they are responsible for 80 percent of Black judges, 40 percent of people working in Congress and 50 percent of lawyers and 40 percent of engineers,” she said
