Unprecedented has come to characterize so many of the actions of the rise of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States. Consistently unconventional, the president has brought light to many issues that as a nation we have not always discussed. Now in my 13th year as a college president, I can say that the recent events surrounding historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) also are unprecedented.
Who would have imagined that President Trump would become a catalyst for national press about HBCUs? Recently, the presidents of these institutions were invited to the Eisenhower Building for a listening session with new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, as well as representatives for a number of governmental agencies. The fact that more than 60 presidents gathered together for that discussion was again, unprecedented.
The consistently unconventional president invited the group to come visit the Oval Office just as we were preparing to begin the scheduled agenda. After greetings by his senior staffers, this group found itself in the Oval, with Trump, all the lights and cameras. Almost immediately, the cable news feeds shared the video of the group and for days historically black colleges and universities were a trending topic.
Whether you support the president or not, or believe he'll deliver for HBCUs or not, he unquestionably brought our institutions front and center to the nation's consciousness. With this new platform, allow me to reintroduce you to HBCUs.
We are uniquely American. Part of the greatness of this nation has been the ability to find a way or make one, sometimes in spite of ourselves. With slavery being core to the founding of this nation, diverse groups of citizens not only fought to end this inhumane system but then find ways to educate the formerly enslaved. For example, in New Orleans a multi-racial coalition specifically pooled funds to combine Straight and New Orleans Universities to form Dillard University.
We are the crucible of black leadership development. It is impossible to discuss any aspect of the black experience in America without involving graduates of HBCUs. When the heroes and sheroes are honored every Black History Month, most don't realize that many are products of these institutions. Legendary local figures like Dr. Norman Francis, Dr. Millie Charles, Mayor Ernest "Dutch" Morial, A.P. Tureaud and Justice Revius Ortique were educated at black colleges. Today's leaders like Michael Smith of the Hyatt Regency, Erika McConduit of the Urban League, Charles Rice of Entergy, Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Johnson and Rose Hudson of the Louisiana Lottery are HBCU graduates.
We are under-resourced, yet overproduce. With the advent of Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, black students explored a wider range of options for higher education. Incidentally, the key actors who pushed for those reforms were also HBCU graduates. At that time, more than 90 percent of black students attended HBCUs especially since Southern universities were still segregated. Today, about 9 percent of black students attend HBCUs, yet HBCUs produce about 20 percent of black undergraduate degrees.
The past two years has seen a wealth of studies providing strong evidence for the HBCU value proposition. This includes research by Gallup indicating that black students who completed black colleges versus predominantly white ones have a well-being edge. The study found HBCU grads to be stronger in purpose and financial well-being, and that "Black graduates of HBCUs are more likely than black graduates of other colleges to strongly agree they had the support and experiential learning opportunities in college" which lead to well-being.
We are a great investment. Most recently, The New York Times published a database from a study that measured economic diversity and student outcomes for more than 2,000 colleges and universities. When looking specifically at overall mobility, defined as "access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at Dillard moved up two or more income quintiles," of the 26 Louisiana schools in the study, the state's five HBCUs occupy five of the top six spots!
I fully understand the hesitancy of philanthropists and people of means and good will to financially support HBCUs. The feeling that you might be funding segregated schools makes people uncomfortable. But if our goal is to ensure our kids go to schools that are the best fit for them where they can graduate and live their fullest lives, doesn't it make sense to support the places that do this best? The reality is that our K-12 system is tax-supported segregation while those with means pay for equally segregated private schools.
Part time New Orleans resident Jay-Z has a song called "Public Service Announcement" where he says, "Allow me to re-introduce myself, my name is HOV." President Trump has allowed black colleges to reintroduce ourselves as well.
We are HBCUs, an American success story that we all should be proud of and support.
People still think he's trying to help anyone but him and his group of real criminals.
Don't let your Trump hate blind you.