Who coming to Hampton homecoming next week?
The Official HBCU Thread
- Thread starter SupaVillain
- Start date
Theolodius_Black
Whoopin suckas with a bag of oranges
We read a lot about struggling HBCUs, well here is a positive article.I'm going to keep it 100, I had NEVER heard of this school before.
(the graduation rate numbers seem shaky, though)
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excerpt, full article is in the link
Claflin University distinguishes itself as it joins the ranks of well-regarded HBCUs
The Secret’s Out
Claflin is not well-known outside South Carolina, but the liberal arts institution stands out among seven other HBCUs in the state and is raising its national profile.
By
Marjorie Valbrun
October 1, 2019
8 Comments
Claflin University
Henry Tisdale
For those in the know, Claflin University has always been a bright spot in a landscape of bad news about dwindling resources, decreased state funding and declining enrollment at many colleges that predominantly serve black students.
To the uninformed, the private liberal arts institution in Orangeburg, S.C., is just one of many small, indistinguishable historically black colleges, or HBCUs, struggling to keep their doors open and remain relevant at a time when some question if such colleges, or at least as many of them, are still needed. (There are eight HBCUs in South Carolina alone.) Never mind that Claflin is financially secure, its enrollment numbers stable and its reputation strong.
This conflict between perception and reality was always top of mind for Henry Tisdale. He spent considerable energy pushing back on the misperceptions even as Claflin reached one milestone after another, meeting and sometimes exceeding goals big and small that he set for the university when he became president 25 years ago.
“When I arrived at Claflin, I knew firsthand the excellence that already existed there,” he said. “It was considered one of America’s best-kept secrets. I was determined not to keep it that way.”
By the time Tisdale retired last June, the secret was decidedly out -- and others had taken note.
Today Claflin, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, is among the most highly regarded HBCUs in the country. It has a freshman retention rate of 78 percent and a job placement rate of 86 percent, among other good academic outcomes.
Its average four-year graduation rate for the last five years is 40 percent, and the average six-year graduation rate for the same period is 50.4 percent, which is higher than the average for HBCUs.
Enrollment has also climbed steadily over the decades. The university had 1,023 students enrolled when Tisdale arrived in 1994; that number had more than doubled to 2,172 by the time he left.
As Claflin’s reputation has risen, outside benefactors have come calling with offers to help build on the university’s momentum. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation gave the university $1 million in unsolicited grants to help it revise and improve its general education program by aligning the School of Humanities and Social Sciences’ curriculum more closely with workforce needs. The old program required students to complete 46 credits; the new program requires 39 credits and gives students more flexibility to customize their courses and add minors and certificate programs based on their career goals.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lilly Foundation are also supporting various initiatives on campus to help more students graduate, better prepare them for careers and improve their employment prospects.
Tisdale said representatives of the foundations told him they had been tracking the university’s progress and wanted to encourage its efforts.
“They’re recognizing the climb of the university and the student success of the university,” he said. “They not only want to support us financially but to partner with us to share what we do with other institutions.”
Claflin is right next door to SCSU. We used to go thru a hole in our fence and be on their yard. Little kinda raggedy school when I was in orangeburg, but they’ve obviously made some serious improvements since.
m0rninggl0ry
All Star
m0rninggl0ry
All Star
my HBCU goes hard asf
newworldafro
DeeperThanRapBiggerThanHH
What year did you graduate?
todd1
Rookie
1994What year did you graduate?
There goes me thinking I knew you
I got fam who went there around that time. You may or may not know them. That’s a convo for the PMs
Class of 2015 myself, +rep always lit to see a fellow centralian here
I wanna go to boombox so bad
hope it aint no bad weather this aint the time for bad weather
so much piff gonna be played on this day 
hope it aint no bad weather this aint the time for bad weather so much piff gonna be played on this day
Theolodius_Black
Whoopin suckas with a bag of oranges
I haven't been to a boombox in forever. Matter of fact, last one i went to i was participatingI wanna go to boombox so bad
2006
I'm getting old ju
staticshock
Veteran
I wanna go to boombox so bad
Planned on going this year but I’ll be at the bayou Classic in a few weeks instead.
Hopefully it isn’t too cold Saturday in Mississippi! The game will be in September next year, so it’ll be a little warmer
Theolodius_Black
Whoopin suckas with a bag of oranges
I just got in Montgomery today and it was showing 39 in the car so i imagine Jackson bout the same
We skipped fall
Summer Winter my boy
which band?I haven't been to a boombox in forever. Matter of fact, last one i went to i was participating
2006
I'm getting old ju
Theolodius_Black
Whoopin suckas with a bag of oranges
Boom