Commentary – Leveling Up – HBCUs must reclaim place as original

LEVELING UP

HBCUS MUST RECLAIM POSITION AS INTELLECTUALS AND ORIGINAL TEACHERS OF THE WORLD. BY PAMELA KEYE, PH.D.

The levels of social unrest due to the continued exploitation and mistreatment of melanated people have agitated a height of consciousness reminding us that the goals of the Civil Rights Movement have not been reached. In response to the collective consciousness of “Black Lives Matter,” there has been a worldwide outcry to address hundreds of years of torment targeting people because of their skin tone. The causes and effects of racism as a disease created a social pathology at odds with equal opportunity in America. While democracy suggests politically that this should not occur, the reality of capitalism ensures that the continued denial of access to quality education and economic mobility is an injustice that Historical Black Colleges and Universities, (HBCUs), sought to address at their inception.

The birth of HBCUs was a response to the use of skin tone discrimination to block access to education for African Americans. In Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965, Congress officially defined an HBCU as “a school of higher learning that was accredited and established before 1964, and whose principal mission was the education of African Americans.” The four schools that formed the foundation for the continued existence of today's HBCUs are: • 1837 – Cheyney University, the nation’s first and oldest HBCU—established in Pennsylvania. • 1854 – Lincoln University, the first degree-granting HBCU—established in Pennsylvania. • 1865 – Wilberforce, the first Black-owned and operated HBCU—established in Ohio. • 1865 – Shaw University, the first HBCU in the south—established in North Carolina.

The establishment of two HBCUs was noteworthy before the American Civil War (186165). The Cheyney University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1837 and Lincoln University, was founded in 1854. I am connected to both institutions. I currently serve at Cheyney as a senior advisor to the president, and as director for Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Responsibility, including the development of an applied research center, called the Institute for the Contemporary African American Experience.

I attended Lincoln as an undergraduate student and recently provided leadership to the School of Adult and Continuing Education. Ironically, both schools have gone through tumultuous periods over the last decades, where the continued existence of Cheyney as an HBCU came under fire. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, there are 101 HBCUs located in 19 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virginia Islands. Of the 101, 52 are public institutions and 49 are private. At one point, there were 107 HBCUs. What happened?

Suppose today’s 101 HBCUs’ survival is not a given. In that case, they must be committed to examining why current levels of performance as pathology have become so entrenched, often providing less than stellar outcomes. The current climate elevates the need to modernize and capitalize on the resurgence of interest in the atrocities plaguing communities of poverty. The role of HBCUs as the great equalizer and economic social mobilizer must be our competitive advantage based on excellence. How are we going to save ourselves from ourselves to continue to enlighten, equip, and empower the minds of the marginalized and disenfranchised, and not just those minoritized to assist with healing all of humankind?

We must remember and reclaim our position as intellectuals and original teachers of the world. The first universities in the world were created in Africa as the center for learning. The University of Al Quaraouiyine is the oldest existing, continually operating degree-awarding educational institution in the world according to the United Nations Education SCO and the Guinness book of World Records, founded in 859. It was founded by a woman, Fatim bint Muhammd in Fez, and is located in Fex, Morroco a North African country south of Europe. The centers of learning in Alexandria, located in Egypt taught the Greeks and Romans, who have been celebrated as thought leaders of Western civilization. In truth, they were educated by Africans and they plagiarized ideas and stole the knowledge as their own, much of which is preserved in the Vatican’s library.

Leveling up means striving to garner the same respect that Harvard University holds internationally. Harvard University was founded on September 8, 1636, and is considered to be the higher education standard in academia. Their alumni assume positions of power in government, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses worldwide. Faculty often are sought after as thought leaders in every field you can imagine. Harvard harnesses intellectual prowess incubators for innovation. Their work and a well-organized network of faculty, staff, and students serve as ambassadors of the brand and reverberate the messages of what makes Harvard “Harvard.” Strategically through substantive performance metrics of quality and student success, they are to tell their story.

However, even Harvard has recognized that it must also level up by intentionally becoming more diverse and inclusive. They have committed $100 million to study the role of slavery

Famous dedication statue to Booker T. Washington named Lifting the Veil located on the campus of Tuskegee Institute.

as part of its founding and to make amends to descendants of those who built the university. They wish to increase access to educational opportunities to a much larger population, by formulating partnerships with HBCUs through the “Du Bois Scholars Program,” named after W.E.B. Du Bois, who was a graduate of Harvard, to “subsidize” learning experiences. I found myself asking, “If W.E.B. Du Bois were alive today, would he consider the offer of partnership with Harvard an opportunity or an insult?”

I then recalled his response to Booker T. Washington’s proposal called the “Atlanta Compromise” in 1905 with 31 HBCUs in existence. The Atlanta Compromise was an agreement crafted by Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee University, another HBCU. The compromise would have provided that Southern Black people would be laborers for their white employers and submit to a white political rule if Southern whites guaranteed that Black people would receive essential educational and economic opportunities. Du Bois, on the other hand, insisted on full civil rights and increased political representation, which he believed would be brought about by the African American intellectual elite, which he referred to as the Talented Tenth. Viewing advanced education as the mechanism to develop its leadership that would address discrimination in education and employment, HBCUs should seek “to have their own” and find ways to secure their legacy through strategy. HBCUs must be cautious in the wake of renewed post-George Floyd’s death. The goal should be to become self-reliant so our existence is not dependent upon philanthropic gifts as financial one-offs. We must be able to use this time to be self-reflective to build capacity to be in control of our own destinies.

We must remember that integration was about accessing quality resources, yet somehow, we have become largely complacent and allowed assimilation to become the goal, a more subtle form of social control via indoctrination. Fast forward to the present day, many of us who have attended HBCUs, do not speak of, nor support the way our alma maters operate when compared to our Academia counterparts. When we speak of HBCUs, the largest and crème de la crème of the elite within this group do not hold the same branding as Harvard internationally. Some challenge the need for our beloved HBCUs given all the options afforded by integration.

The impact of discriminatory practices has not ended. The original mission of HBCUs must expand to be more than first-generation opportunities for students whose economic status or educational attainment PK-12 makes scholarship questionable. We should not be seen as less than competitive, because we provide first chances, but we must also not remain complacent or think that our continued existence is a given. Look at schools that have already closed or are on the brink of closing—Lincoln College closed in May 2022 after 157 years. To thwart those efforts, we should look to improve the business of schooling.

We must insist that Trustees are held accountable for their fiduciary responsibilities and execute governance functions that demonstrate their understanding of fiscal matters. We must embrace technology not only as a teaching tool but as a mechanism to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of all processes. Academic freedom should be contained within the boundaries of the 21st Century curriculum that is neuroscience-based, preparing students for a world driven by data, information technologies, and the ability to demonstrate interpersonal acumen evidencing cultural competency through the lens of academic and emotional intelligence.

While all institutions have been challenged to dismantle the deliberate structural oppression caused by using race as a social control construct, educating minoritized populations is the mission of HBCUs. The historical underpinning of the use of racism, a non-scientific term, has been propagandized and weaponized to discriminate against a select group of people was an intentional economic strategy forged by capitalism to ensure that those with wealth keep it. They hide behind the curtain of democracy that has been used to support the injustice in the first place. The denial of people to have the agency to have life, liberty, and the ability to pursue happiness, is at its very core structural violence and the denial of human rights. Loyalty to lackluster performance and acceptance of this poor behavior by HBCUs must stop.

With over three decades as a teacher, principal, superintendent, professor, and consultant, what I know for sure is “No one, not even a school, ever rises to low expectations!” HBCUs must maintain the mindset of our ancestors who, although illegal, sought to be educated because it remains “A rich man’s friend but a poor person’s salvation!” We cannot afford to remain comfortable being status quo, nor complacent making it easier for the other institutions to keep us stagnant.

Our failure to innovate—settling for less than is required out of loyalty—as a cultural norm, will be catastrophic. HBCUs, with the resurgence in attention and increased attendance, must remain vigilant and even more mindful that we cannot be lulled into complacency absent capacity to survive by capitalizing on the opportunities this moment in time presents. Even if HBCUs target first-generation students who may or may not be prepared, their collegiate experiences must guarantee that they are more than prepared and will continue the legacy of social justice and civic engagement as additional evidence of prosperity. Self-destruction of HBCUs because we refuse to remain in the field fighting against social injustice by delivering an unjust education is an insult to our ancestors, the original educators of the world, and a self-fulfilling prophecy of death to our relevancy.

Dr. Pamela Keye is the founder and CEO of Keye Global Group, LLC. Her company’s tagline is “Knowledge Empowers Your Execution!” She is a resolute consultant and cognitive justice advocate who works tirelessly to unlock the human potential within individuals and organizations. “JUST THINK!” is a call to action and an invitation to imagine what is possible, which is core to how she coaches those in her care, to leave people and places better than she found them as her ministry. Visit www.keyeglobalgroup.org