Stereotyping HBCU's
 

I attend a Historically Black College in Texas, recently I caught up with some of my former high school classmates and we did the usual catching up, "Where do you go to school", "Are you seeing anyone" yadda, yadda.

Well, when I mentioned what school I attend one of the girls said, and I quote "oooh no I couldn't go there girl, too many Black people(yes she is African-American) I don't know how you put up with it" Needless to say I had a few choice words for her.
First of all I am very proud of my school and this young lady(and I use the term loosely) http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/rolleyes.gif made it seem like I am settling for less. I was recruited and offered scholarships by "Ivy League" schools but I chose the one I did because I felt I would be more than a number to the faculty. While I don't feel I should have to justify my decision to her or anyone else, it still angered me that she thought she was recieveing a higher quality education just because her school is predominantly white. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif

Has anyone else out there ever dealt with this type of ignorance?

Luv,
Me

Hello Ladies of DST:

I would like to respond.

Nubian...I have been there and DONE THAT! It was not friends, but FAMILY. Anyway, I went to an HBCU and my cousin did not. Well, the family members thought that she was ALL that cause of the university she chose to attend. Anyway...I bothered me at first, but I just used it TO MY advantage.

IN 4 years I had become an AKA, and obtained my Bachelor's degree, finished my first year working on my Master's...AND where was she...still at "big league" university just trying to make it!

My thought is..it doesn't matter if you attend THE UNIVERSITY OF TIMBUCKTOO, the money you make in the end will still be GREEN! HELLO!

Press on Sister!

I am proud to say that I have attended the Best HBCU in the Nation and it is also located in TEXAS. Remember this, when you graduate from an HBCU.. there is nothing the world can put before you that you can't handle! So to your friend who is so unaware of what the real world is going to be like. I take my hat off to you because I know you are a SURVIVOR, and trust me you may have to save and re-educate that sister one day.

Keep the Pride Alive!

i am on the other side of the coin, i attended a large state university. it should be noted that we endure trials as well regarding our choice in schools. constantly having your blackness questioned is unfair and wrong. being called a sell-out is wrong. many blacks who attend state schools do so because of finances. i know it was cheaper for my parent to send 3 kids to school at a state school than a more expensive hbcu. while, i did't have the 'hbcu experience' i value my undergraduate years dearly. i made great friends, had lots of fun and got a good education. i wouldn't change a thing! i suppose what i am saying is that we need to stop judging one another. people do what is best for them, as well they should.

[This message has been edited by dstbrat (edited August 10, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by dstbrat (edited August 10, 2000).]

Just to clarify:
I wasn't judging the young lady in my first post based on the fact that that she attended a predominantly white school, I think each individual should make the choice thats right for them, as a matter of fact I STRONGLY considered attending Baylor(predominantly white) before reaching my final decision. However I was slightly (ok, a little more than slightly) upset when she felt the need to belittle my choice, and my people, to justify her own educational choice. I chose what was right for my individual needs, as everyone should, but we all owe it to each other to respect those decisions. I applaud anyone who seeks higher education, but its people like her who make me wonder if its actually working.

Luv,
Me

[This message has been edited by Nubian (edited August 10, 2000).]

Soror TX:

THE BEST HBCUs are in your neighboring state, LOUISIANA! LOL

They play each other in the BAYOU CLASSIC http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

yes ma'am i have....i ride hard for my HBCUs, I am a proud alum of one and come from a family that attended various fine HBCUs. I've received more flack and suprised stares from people (moreso Black people,...that either went to mid-tier universities or didn't go to college at all the White people are like "oh where is it located?"...the ones that went to school or resided in that state say "oh, ok..i've heard of that school and may ask questions".) when I tell them....yes, i matriculated from an HBCU, yes I did it in 4 years and yes I use my degree daily. I also did my graduate study at a PWI...would I trade that experience, nope...not in a heartbeat. I've also had to show and prove that i received a quality education from my wonderful HBCU and have thought circles around coworkers that snubbed their nose at my degree because i didn't attend a PWI.

I have nothing against PWI's, that just wasn't what I wanted when i was choosing a school. However, I will not let anyone insult or spread falsehoods about any HBCU. Sure some of our schools are in dire need of rehabilitation and that's another matter at hand, but some of the greatest Black minds ever to walk this planet matriculated from HBCUs....so obviously they aren't all that bad.

So true!!! ;)

It's funny because as a senior I made my decisions this year. I still receive crap from classmates and friends for choosing an HBCU over a PWI. "You're such a smart girl... etc." Why is it that our schools are seen as substandard? I feel like I/we will receive a more well rounded education (Life experiences outside of the classroom) at an HBCU than I will at a PWI.

When I was choosing my school, way back in the day, I had a guidance counselor tell me that HBCUs were for people who didn't know themselves or their heritage. She told me that I would do better at insert ivy league school here. Later I found out that our school had a relationship with that institution and received some sort of benefit for every student that went there.

HBCUs are wonderful schools were you can receive a wonderful education. They have their advantages and some disadvantages--just like every other school. Anyone who questions the quality of the education that you might receive at such an institution just by virtue of that designation merely demonstrates how they have internalized firmly engrained racist ideologies. Forget them.

That's right...if you can survive registration at a HBCU...you can survive ANYTHING! j/k (but serious)

I tell everyone who will listen to me (mostly my students) that I wouldn't replace my undergrad years at an HBCU for NOTHING IN THE WORLD. I went to both types and my HBCU kept me grounded. I hope my kids will have the same opportunity.

Plus...where are you going to find a HBCU football game experience??? You need that in your life.

YUP! Jags baby!!

No if you can survive Morehouse College's "Dr." Gore's Analysis II class where he teaches integrals and get a "passing grade" on his tests, then you can survive anything... ;) :cool: :D

Amen! I am completing my masters at my 2nd SWAC school and about to enroll at a third SWAC school to begin my doctorate program! 3 schools all operating the same! :rolleyes::)

I went thru this situation when I made the decision to go to an HBCU. My father's family to this day (this was back in '99) still makes comments. "You need to learn how to be around white ppl" Don't go to a N*$#^($ school. :mad: I'm from Indiana... I don't think that's a problem. I got alot of support from my mother, and HS teachers (white). At the time at IU, white supremicists were posting flyers and shouting the n-word at ppl. Sorry, not interested in that game.:rolleyes:

My dad is still angry that I decided to go to an HBCU instead of IU. Still makes snide remarks about my school, my friends and will just break out with "Do you think you would be doing non-pretigious job/grad program/have bad car if you had gone to Ivy League". I'm his only child with a college degree!! :rolleyes: :mad: My family thinks it was a second class education nevermind the fact that I'm one of 5/30 grandkids with a degree. 3/5 of us went to HBCUs. I, like the original poster, was offered admissions to Ivys and didn't go. I have 2 cousins at Univ. and they aren't doing anything significant.. no volunteering, no groups. I don't think they really have mentors or older students to really talk to and get advice. Otherwise someone would have told them that those wrist tattoos weren't a good idea.:rolleyes:

Looking back, one good thing about HBCUs is that you have mentors and continuous encouragement about what black ppl CAN do. You see it everyday in class and those around you. Black ppl studying science, law, business. It's empowering.

But on the other hand, I totally understand not everyone being able to afford it. I know I wouldn't have been able to go w/o my scholarship. But in the end college is what you make of it. Seize every opportunity.

I've learned alot already just calling up the three schools I applied to every other day to check up on my paperwork. It paid off too. I got accepted to all three and I learned people skills.

Just stay on top of your paper work and you will be okay well even if you stay on top of your paper work you still may have some issues. :rolleyes:

This takes me back to the day went I when I first took my daughter to Howard. I scheduled myself stay the week at the Howard Inn next to the school. You HU alumni/ae know how long ago that must have been - LOL.

The first day was orientation and getting settled in her dorm room. She, a high school friend of mine whose son was starting there, too, did the obligatory rent the mini-fridge, by bedding and accessories from JC Penny, get cleaning materials, get a fan since there was no AC, etc.

The next day was registration. My daughter was like okay Mom I can handle this you should not have planned to stay so long. When i told her I wasn't leaving early she became a little disgruntled. And the fact that the dorm room looked like crap didn't help her mood.

Well we go to the Admissions Office to make sure all the money is paid so she can register for classes. We stand in a long line and the whole time she is like rolling her eyes with the attitude I can't believe I am here with my Mom--I'm not a child anymore. We finally get to the desk and lo and behold they had no record of my tuition payment--the dorm room payment, yes, the tuition, no. So we were sent over to another line. I am getting p***ed and she is getting scared. We are standing in line and I know I had THE LOOK on my face.

Suddenly a woman came up to us and said come with me and took us out of the line. She said I noticed your Delta necklace. I am a soror, how can I help you? I told her the problem, she searched found the info all in the matter of a few minutes. She then hugged me and told me if we needed anything else just ask for her.

Well, because of the delay, by the time she got to the front of the registration line which had wound around the campus, most of her classes were filled. I went back to the soror in Admissions, she connected me to the then Interim Dean of the School of Communications who was also a soror. Daughter got her classes.

Needless to say she was estactic to have me there the rest of the week. LOL

Hmmmm, I guess this really is more than just about registration at a HBCU. It probably also belongs in the 1913 thread, huh?

^^^Draw within the lines... The lines are our friends... (mesmerizing and hypnotic tones...)

Also, you all starting these schools, they have a whole new concept of getting financial aid checks!!! While I was not on financial aid, many of friends were. Best you can do is "squeakiest wheel gets the oil first"...

Your classes will include an unlisted class call "Phinagling 101: HBCU Style". Now, if that unlisted class does not teach you about accomplishing your goals in life, you will NEVER learn it...

And don't get me started in the direction of "retention rates" of AfAms at non-HBCU's. Let's just say these schools rates are piss poor too, including Ivy Leagues...

I stayed on top of my paperwork all 4 years and didn't have nearly as many problems as my friends, however my classes were dropped and my loan payment was lost at least one time each. Then, there was the wonderful experience of being told I couldn't graduate because I had 4, count 'em, 4 INCOMPLETES. I looked that woman straight in her face and said, "With all due respect, ma'am, THE DEVIL IS A LIAR." She did the :eek: face at me, but I was so nice about it, she couldn't help but laugh. Turns out my name had somehow been electronically slapped on someone else's transcript. :rolleyes:


I applied only to HBCUs and my parents were thrilled. They were sad that I was going to have to go so far away--my dad wanted me to go to UC Berkeley or Davis so that they could visit me, but I wanted to see some black people! Aside from my family and my church, I never had the opportunity to learn about my own culture (they sure weren't teaching it in school) and interact with people who looked like me. I craved that HBCU experience because, even though my friends were great, we could never really bond on that level. I wanted to be around people who shared my views and experiences, which (admittedly) were minimal. I never knew what it was like to live in a close-knit community who understood each others' struggles and triumphs because we all share the same history. I wanted that more than anything else. At first, it was tough. I wasn't accepted by my peers: many felt that, because of where I'd grown up, I "talked too white" and "acted too white" to be at their school. A surprising number of people told me to "go back with all the other white people." :mad: I almost withdrew 2 months into freshman year! But, my mom refused to bring me home; I had to stay where I wanted to be no matter who said what. And I found A LOT of students who'd come from neighborhoods like mine and were having the same things said to them. Those were my first friends that I made and I definitely made more. I got the experience that I was looking for, in spite of those few hateful people trying to steal my joy. And I don't regret it because you find those types of people at every school, no matter what color the majority is. Now that I've graduated, I'm a little sad to leave that community behind, but I'm definitely more secure in my identity now that my history isn't a mystery. I can maintain that no matter what environment I'm in. I'm glad this thread was bumped because I think we younguns feel better being reminded that this stuff is nothing new!

yes indeed....attending an HBCU forced me to stay on top of my paperwork and document...document...document. i take that skill with me to this very day. my coworker's and supervisors tease me and say..."if ageniuschild doesn't have it filed away in her office, it doesn't exist"

It's disappointing how so called "white" schools get stereotyped in reaction to HBCU stereotyping.

true...two wrongs don't make a right. it's only been recently that i've noticed and experienced the stereotyping of Black PWI alum by Black HBCU alum. When I was in school a lot of the Black students from the local PWI ended up hanging out on our campus and there was no tension or issues at hand. We know and realize that we are here for the same thing....to graduate, whether you do it at UVA or VUU is really not important.

Personally, I'm happy when any Black person gets accepted and matriculates from any college or university.

I think the only thing that disturbs me more than anything are the Black people that have the "white is right" mentality in regards to these institutions...whether they are alums of PWIs or may have heard through the grapevine of isolated incidents that occured at HBCUs. All universities have their fair share of problems when you really look at it.

I am not so sure I can agree with you here. I think life experiences are unique to each person. For example I went to predominately Black schools through high school and I loved that experience. However for college I felt as though I needed a change so I went to a PWI and for me it gave me a well rounded education. The reality is that college is what YOU make it and you can learn as much or as little about life anywhere you go. The determining factor is how open or closed you mind is.

I have heard alot of different stereotypes from friends who went to HBCU's. Being smarter, I believed half of what people said! In looking for colleges I went on two college tours, one for HBCU's and one for PWI. There were pros and cons to both. Needless to say that money, Mommy, and level of comfort were what made my ultimate decision.

You have a point. My daughter grew up in MN needed the HBCU experience. I on the other hand grew up in St. Louis, lived in an all Black neighborhood and attended an all Black high school. I needed the PWI experience to understand that not all White folx were like the ones in the Lou.

True true. I've been going to mostly white schools my whole life. HBCU's just seemed like the only option for me. One of my friends is opposite. She's a rising senior who has been going to mostly black schools. She's looking at all PWI's.

At least you saw white people!! ;)

I have the greatest respect for HBCU's and the many extraordinary leaders they've produced, but what you're saying about the Ivy League just isn't true. As of 2005, the black graduation rate at Harvard is the highest in the country, higher than any HBCU. In fact, all 8 Ivy League schools have higher black graduation rates than the HBCU with the highest black graduation rate (Spelman).

http://www.jbhe.com/features/50_blac...gradrates.html

To each his own. I remember when I was a junior in high school and was preparing for college visits and filling out applications and all that jazz....I had a teacher of mine who was a white guy come up to me and tell me that I was too smart to go to an HBCU and that I should go to a PWI so that I could get a better education! I was appalled to say the least! Now I did choose to go to a PWI, but it was definitely not because of that. I love my university and I wouldn't take it back for the world and I had plenty of friends attend HBCU's and I would never say something like that to them! People choose their schools for different reasons, but I think the main one is the name. Some schools look better on resumes to employers than others-- it's sad but true. I interned for a company and I was having a talk with one of the head guys about what he looks for employees and he told me he hires based on your school........PWI (large then small) and then he looks at HBCU candidates...:eek:

LOL!! At least she had a room. When my mom drove me from Chicago to Baton Rouge...SU didn't have any record of my room reservation. Needless to say, my mom got all "westside of Chicago" on them and went on to tell them that she DID NOT drive her daughter 900+ miles to leave her here without a room. LOL! I was soooo glad my mama was there because not only did they find me a room but they put me in the upperclassmen dorms which ment 2 things (SU Alum may know what I am talking about)

1. No Curfew
2. No "Mama Boley" (The lady in charge of the girls freshmen dorms)

Thanks Mom!!!;) See LG, 1913 and a Mom...you are the Bomb Soror!;)

Not only do I know this situation all to well I am still PO'd. When I was sophmore the day we came to get our rooms we had until like 3pm, I got there at noon becuase I was coming back from home (Califirnia) why when I got there they were like all the rooms are gone. I was like WTH! It took 6 days to get thet foolishness striaght and trust me it took me calling housing being my "mama" to get that resolved! Ahhhhh SU.......

Lucky you.:p

See what I'm sayin. BUT...I wouldn't change my experience at SU for NOTHING in the world and I always tell my students about the importance of a HBCU education. My sister is jealous because she chose U of I Champagne and my brother chose FAMU...oh well...shoulda listen lil girl...:D

You like punishment...don't you?;)

I must, case in point God Love em, I have four classes this summer which started last week:

1.Tuesday drove all the way to PVU and guess what no teacher!
2. Wendeday Drove to the remote site guess what no teacher!
3.Thursday drove back to the remote site, yes a teacher! Moving very fast in statistics but atleast he was there!
4. Monday drove to the remote site teacher was 45 minutes late!

I am going to be honest I am one who appreciated a good class cancellation/dismissal but don't have me drive 60 miles one way and 60 miles back another or waste my time and you ain't there. Gas is high! :mad:

Alas I still love the SWAC! :p:rolleyes::o

^^^This story reminds me of something. Why did schools (or at least my school) mandate you wait 10 minutes for a teacher (15 minutes for a professor) before you are allowed to assume class is cancelled and leave? What's more, if the teacher shows up more than 15 minutes late, why are they allowed to shove you back into class and continue? If I'm more than a second late, I get points marked off, or not even allowed into class at all. If they are supposed to lead by example, why can't we say, "Too bad, you're not here so class is cancelled for today?" :mad:


(I know it'd never happen, and there'd be material lost, but it'd be nice. ;))

I too was a member of the no reservation or no room in the inn. I had to stay at the Bellmont for 3 weeks until students were dropped for non payment. No car (freshmen were not able to have cars on campus), no family (from California) and no room. I had to learn to adapt and adapt quickly. Southern taught me life experiences that I would have never recieved at any other college. I was pretty much sheltered through out my childhood years. The schools i attended were a melting pot. I lacked that Black experience. Although I may have complained about the experience while I was there at SU. I would never give it back. (even the long lines in Seymour Gym through registration)

Much love goes out to HBCU's who are building our youth today......especially go JAGS

Find me a school that has that as an official rule. I've never seen it written down. It's one of those unwritten assumption things that everyone operates on.
The only times I've ever had that problem have been on days where the weather was too bad for an individual teacher to get in although school wasn't canceled or some sort of other emergency, car wreck or something. In those situations I don't mind waiting.

Administration TOLD us that's the rule, but I've never seen it written down, either!