Discussion
  • Read More
    BrynandNessaAnne Branigin
    1/29/18 12:14pm

    When I studied out of state at a major flagship Southern state school, I was shocked that 10% of the student body was Black... and this was in the 90s.

    UCLA and Berkeley, in my home state, currently have Black students in just the hundreds. UCLA has more Black athletes than Black students now. Thanks a lot, Ward Connerly.

    That some schools are holding at ten percent is amazing to me.

    Reply
    • Read More
      BrwnskngurlBrynandNessa
      1/29/18 1:16pm

      This is also an important point to highlight — black athletes at top NCAA programs is not the same as school’s with a robust non-athletic black student population. Those students are not really part of the fabric of a regular black student’s experience and should be distinguished for that reason.

      Reply
    • Read More
      BrynandNessaBrwnskngurl
      1/29/18 1:34pm

      Good point. I felt they were woven in to our community when I was in college but, again, that was 20 years ago. Now that most flagships have basketball players doing one-and-done in college, it’s definitely not the case.

      Football players stay longer and may be more of the larger Black community, but if SEC schools have that few Black students it’s going to be just as you posited.

      Reply
  • Read More
    bobettyAnne Branigin
    1/29/18 12:45pm

    Why should intelligent young people go to state schools when they can go to more prestigious colleges and universities. In PA, there is very little difference between Penn State and any county community college.

    “Unless you need the stigma of child rape, in which case, pay for what you want and live your truth.”

    Reply
    • Read More
      Great House Dagothbobetty
      1/29/18 1:01pm

      Trust me (and you probably already know this), the cult of PSU is so vast that any stigma of child rape doesn’t mean much.

      Reply
    • Read More
      The Turkey Better not be BurntGreat House Dagoth
      1/29/18 1:40pm

      I went to PSU not knowing much about the school at all. I applied on a whim and literally didn’t know it existed until I applied. I do admit it is cult like the way they cheer football, but PSU didn’t get that way by themselves. Media promoted it also and kind of decided that college football programs were some kind of amazing feat to behold Nationwide. Then they made Joe Paterno a god in the way they worshipped him. Penn State became a cult because Americans idolize football instead of things that bring actual value to the world. Penn State fanaticism is a byproduct of America’s twisted take on entertainment where you make people hit each other repeatedly to get an oblong object over a line or a goal post. I don’t think one can have a commentary on PSU until one talks about how we treat sports in America. Because the same shit exists in other schools for wrestling, basketball and a bevy of other sports. We just haven’t highlighted it yet.

      Reply
  • Read More
    JustPassingThroughAnne Branigin
    1/29/18 12:36pm

    This is surprising to me because I felt like UMD-CP was basically a pseudo HBCU when I was there; but, also I’m old so I guess times have really changed at Maryland.

    I will say that several of my friends from high school (we all graduated Maryland high schools) went to Howard, Morgan, Bowie State, Hampton, and VSU - and this was...ahem... a long time ago (I’m not telling y’all my age!). So, Maryland does have a lot of competition from nearby HBCUs.

    Reply
    • Read More
      Nina LemoneJustPassingThrough
      1/29/18 11:44pm

      It definitely changed by time I went there (like 10 years ago). One of the 4 black students in my small undergrad program transferred to Morgan. I couldn’t blame her.

      When I was there it was like 14% Asian or Asian-American, 13% Black/Black African, around 10-13% Latinx, and then the rest, with about 25% of the students being Jewish and the school was the southernmost school with the highest Jewish population.

      Reply
  • Read More
    Not Enough Day DrinkingAnne Branigin
    1/29/18 1:12pm

    This is something we’re actively trying to address. Not only is enrollment low for that demographic, but so is retention. I work at a public institution (not on the flagship campus) and we’ve set up a working group looking specifically at black male students to try to identify any roadblocks that particular demographic faces and to see if we can remove them.

    I have worked on this problem personally and by looking at the data, I can tell you at least part of the retention problem is due to students who are not prepared for college level courses. I’m not sure if there’s more social promotion going on in high school than before, or if minority serving public schools are simply doing a terrible job teaching the fundamentals, but it’s noticeable right away.

    If you’re a parent or a potential student, I highly recommend attending some community college courses first (particularly in math). This will not only make sure you’re prepared for college level work, but it will also save you money. If you can take 2 years of community college courses and then transfer into a 4 year school, you will save thousands of dollars and receive exactly the same degree. The reward is the same, but the risk is smaller.

    Reply
  • Read More
    kitcat479Anne Branigin
    1/29/18 1:52pm

    Let’s not forget about Georgia State University my alma mater which awards the most bachelor’s degrees every year to african americans in the country. While not an official HBCU GSU is an amazing school for african americans and other minorities in Georgia. #justsayin

    Reply
    • Read More
      LookAtThoseCavemenGokitcat479
      1/29/18 2:32pm

      Yay, GSU! I got my MA there and started teaching there and GSU students are still the best I’ve ever taught.

      Reply
  • Read More
    jystadAnne Branigin
    1/29/18 5:20pm

    Going to a school where 10 percent or less of the student body looks like you can be an isolating experience. The recent uptick in hate incidents on majority-white college campuses means that isolation can also be dangerous.

    Two weeks into my freshman year at Xavier, Hurricane Katrina had sunk the city, and the school. Two weeks later, I got a call from the University of Idaho (random!) saying they would give me a full ride for a year. Color me surprised that they were actually hype to have myself and about a dozen other students there who were impacted by Katrina. I had grown up near Seattle, so while I was aware Idaho was a place, I did not have an opinion on it at the time.

    Upon arrival, the only black faces I saw belonged to either the football or basketball team. They were not the friendliest until I befriended the ONE black girl in the entire school. Of course she looked like a young Tyra Banks, and of course she had a secret white boyfriend. Naturally, said black menfolk were none too pleased about this particular couple, but rest assured I was there to comfort them. Trollop! In any event, I aced that fall semester, and happily went back to Xavier in the spring.

    Going from an HBCU to one of the whitest schools in the nation, and back again was a strange experience that made me appreciate Xavier that much more. I am a curiosity wherever I am, but I definitely felt as if I was a part of something every day at Xavier, whereas at the U of I, I was definitely a curiosity of sorts. I never felt as if I were in any sort of danger on that magical mystery tour, and people were genuinely nice, but it sometimes felt very much like Stepford Wives.

    Years later, while in grad school at NYU, I would recognize that feeling, as there were only maybe 4 or 5 black students in my program, out of 200. We all knew what time it was, but I was glad it was not a shock to me. I say all this to say that school is what you make of it, BUT I can understand if the young ones do not exactly want to stay south of the Mason-Dixon line while you-know-who sits in the Oval Office. Furthermore, if they have the grades to go to Harvard, Columbia, Yale, or MIT, who in their right mind would deny them that opportunity?  

    Reply
  • Read More
    Tyler D 67Anne Branigin
    1/29/18 12:20pm

    not suprised especially for a school like University of Mississippi, that would be about the last college most black people would attend unless your an athlete

    Reply
  • Read More
    citecheck2Anne Branigin
    1/29/18 7:11pm

    I know the article points out the HBCU effect on Maryland, but wouldn’t it also have some effect on most of the Southern states? Most of the states on that list have one or more public HBCUs. At least for black people, I could see that having a big effect on one’s decision to attend the flagship state school. The Latinx gap, I can’t explain, except for just racism.

    Reply
  • Read More
    Eville1Anne Branigin
    1/29/18 1:48pm

    As a former resident of about 8 towns in Mississippi (including both Oxford and Starkville) I highly recommend not going to either college. If you have to or want to go to a southern college, pick LSU or UT at Austin.

    Reply