Well I believe the stereotyping also comes into play when there becomes a pattern of HBCU's not being on their job ( financial aid packets, housing, etc.) I say this do to my experience and those of friends and family members. I started off at a PWI because my mother wasn't trying to send to an HBCU although HBCU's were my first choice. She stated that the world isn't made of just African Americans and that I needed to go to a school that had a diverse student body and that provide "better opportunities
". So I started off at a PWI and eventually got my mom let transfer to a HBCU.
I applied to FAMU and got accepted ( after repeating checking with school when huge amounts of time had passed), got my room assignment, plane ticket to Tallahassee..... A week before I was set to leave something told me to just double check everything and when I called the Financial Aid office I found out that my financial aid have been jacked up and they weren't cooperative with trying to assist me. The funny thing is I have frat that this has happen to also and he had to transfer schools. I ended up back at a PWI (Southern Illinois University in Carbondale after my mom went off on FAMU Chicago style "westside") and obtained my degree there. After that ordeal, during my second semester at SIUC I received a call from FAMU saying they had straighten out my finanical aid and it was a mistake on their part. They stated that if I still wanted to attend the their university I would be able to and I am thinking
.
My point is that I have been on both sides of the fence and I would entertain the opportunity to do my grad program at an HBCU, but as stated in previous post all HBCU's aren't the best, just as all PWI's aren't either. I just dislike seeing HBCU's not on top of their game in every way possible. These schools should mean alot to our community, but they sometimes get tarnished by negative things or people involved at the institution (Morris Brown). As a result parents don't want to send their child and hard earned money to an institution that isn't going to provide the basics.
Now before anyone says these things happen at PWI's too; that may be true, but I can say from my experience it doesn't occur as often. When it does occur it is usually taken care of in a timely manner. Investing in HBCU's is a great start, but there is a need for checks and balances with regard to the people who run the institutions. With all that being said, I still want to pursue grad studies at a HBCU. Not going to let one bad experience change my view!!
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