HBCU’S CONTINUE TO STAND AS A BEACON IN DARK TIMES
In existence since the 19th Century, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were established with the mandate to ensure that Black students would be afforded the opportunity to pursue higher education, despite attempts to prevent them from doing so by a society practicing legal segregation and barring them from attending many state and private colleges and universities. In fact, outside of HBCUs, Black students wouldn’t receive full-fledged access to education in general, higher or otherwise, until after the 1950’s when learning institutions were legally ordered to integrate, thanks to the Brown v. Board of Education decision by the United States Supreme Court in 1954.
Ironically, some seventy years after that decision, this same judicial body has altered the course of higher education for Black students and students of color once again with its decision to ban race-conscious considerations for college admissions.
Members of the US Supreme Court, comprised of a majority of justices harboring a vastly different collective mindset than their 1954 counterparts, sided with the special interest group “Students for Fair Admissions,” to say that considering race (among other factors) for admission, is both unfair and a violation of the US Constitution.
The argument against the very foundation of this decision – with its inherent supposition of a colorblind and equitable society – is supported by several decades with multitudes of studies, containing thousands of facts, figures and statistical rebuttal and would require its own separate editorial. Instead, let’s reflect upon the words written and undersigned by no fewer than twenty-seven Liberal Arts College Professors in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s ruling:
“To fulfill the promise of economic and social mobility, we need to continue rectifying the systemic barriers that have kept so many talented students of color out of higher education.”
As the Sheriff of Suffolk County, I am a daily witness to some of the drastic consequences that these systemic barriers can produce. With a majority population of people of color that ranges between 70% and 75%, and an overall population that averages somewhere between a 5th and 6th grade reading and math proficiency level, along with numerous studies and reports linking low access to education with a higher likelihood of incarceration, it is clear that any additional obstacles to opportunity – educational or otherwise – could have disastrous consequences.
In fact, the negative fallout has already begun, just a little over one year removed from the Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision. In admissions data released by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) back in August, it was revealed that the number of undergraduate enrollees identifying as Black, Hispanic, and/or Native American and Pacific Islander dropped from an average of 25% in recent years to just 16% for last year’s freshman class. As additional admissions data from other schools around the country continues to roll out, expectations for better news are understandably bleak.
There is, however, a widening arc of light for students of color emanating, once again, from a familiar place: According to multiple reports, HBCUs have seen a marked rise in enrollment numbers in the wake of the 2023 SJC decision.
In both my work as Sheriff and in my other role as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Roxbury Community College (RCC), I find this news to be particularly heartening. For decades before and after Brown v. Board of Education, HBCUs have provided Black students, students of color, and even white students with not only a place to learn and a place to belong, with more access for lower-income students than other institutions, but they have been crucial in helping to bridge the gaping opportunity chasm that has persisted in this country since the end of slavery in 1865.
While RCC isn’t technically an HBCU, it carries a student body that is more than 60% Black and approximately 80% people of color, and it has qualified for scholarships that typically target HBCU students. Additionally, RCC was designated as a Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) by the federal Department of Education in 2021, making it the only community college in the Northeast with such a distinction.
Though HBCUs have been historically underfunded despite past legislation that includes laws requiring certain states with land-grant HBCUs to equitably fund each of its institutions, there is hope. An effort initiated by the outgoing Presidential administration aimed to enforce the law to recoup the $12 billion currently outstanding from recalcitrant states, and more than $16 billion was provided for HBCUs through the American Rescue Plan.
Clearly, more can and needs to be done to aid these institutions in the continuation of their vitally important work, especially in light of the growing need to meet the times. But, if past is, indeed, prologue, there is no doubt that our HBCUs will continue to be the beacons lighting the way toward success and prosperity for future generations.
Steven W. Tompkins is the Sheriff of Suffolk County and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Roxbury Community College.
