#takebackhu

Watch the Howard University Showtime Band protest performance, in which band members formally announce a suspension of performance until matters of scholarship, financial funding are addressed by university administration. 

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Why don’t you?

I could talk about how HBCUs were established by white Americans in the wake of the civil war, how they were ostensibly a mechanism for the education of freedmen to provide them the skills for inclusion into mainstream society , but how they often served a more illicit function of indoctrination and social control of black folks (Just like everything else).

I could talk about how black educators and administrators were barred from leadership at these very same institutions, facilitating and perpetuating a culture of racism and white supremacy, at the very same organizations that were supposed “havens” for black intellectualism.

I could mention how these “historically” black institutions were never intended to be institutions of higher learning, never intended to practice Classic Greek and Roman Mythology, Advanced Mathematics, and Medew Netcher, all under the same roof. I could mention that their entire purpose was to cater to the needs of the American population for a skilled, yet still subservient and docile underclass, segregated from the general population. I could talk about how Howard and Hampton, Tuskegee and Xavier, were never supposed to be Universities, but were always intended to remain institutes.

I could talk about all of these factors fed into the fundamental Black Christian distrust of institutions outside of the church, that motivate affluent African-Americans to tithe to their local pastor, but stop them from saving money to aid their ailing HBCU.

I could mention the sad fact that many of the benefits of donating to an HBCU are intangible, and unfortunately, due to the chronic mismanagement and toxic bureaucracy that pervades so many of our schools - often immaterial. I could talk about alumni that have shared horror stories of missing transcripts, misplaced referrals, housing denials and scholarship rejections, of unreported sexual harassment and homophobic attacks, of undercurrents of misogyny and internalized racism, and administrative ignorance, or worse, indifference.

I could even mention those hundreds upon thousands of empathetic, yet pragmatic individuals, many of whom I could name, alumni who love their school and yearn to give back, yet don’t, feeling, in spite of their affection, a deep concern for the perceived direction of their university. They fear the waste in giving to a school that they believe might not exist in a few years’ time, or exists as something unrecognizable.

I could write about all of these things, and more, until my fingers wore down and your laptops died. The fact of the matter is, there are an infinite number of reasons, real and fabricated, justified and misguided, that a person would choose not to donate money to their HBCU. But before you ask me why alumni don’t give, let me ask you a question:

Have you?

Instead of telling me to tell people to give back, why not give back? I haven’t yet graduated, but I’ve already set aside a portion of my (very) meager savings to put my skin in the game. Now I’m not only a supporter in mind, but in body. I’m invested now, so I will do all that I can to ensure this school fulfills its mission: educating the smartest black minds into the smartest Black Leaders.

Historically black colleges have always been incubators of black leadership; in the 1990s, the last time data was collected, graduates of these schools accounted for 80 percent of the nation’s black judges, 50 percent of black doctors and lawyers and 40 percent of black members of Congress.

[Xavier] has some 3,000 students and consistently produces more black students who apply to and then graduate from medical school than any other institution in the country. More than big state schools like Michigan or Florida. More than elite Ivies like Harvard and Yale. Xavier is also first in the nation in graduating black students with bachelor’s degrees in biology and physics. It is among the top four institutions graduating black pharmacists. It is third in the nation in black graduates who go on to earn doctorates in science and engineering.

The average black family has managed to accumulate about $7,000 in wealth, compared with $111,000 for the average white household, making it difficult for historically black colleges to find parents and grandparents affluent enough to write big checks for buildings, programs and scholarships. Alumni do give, Francis said, but the donations are often small.

...

This nation needs more black doctors. The number has stagnated, and declined as a share of population. I will be joining that number soon.

Just 515 black men entered medical school last year. Even though the nation’s black population is much larger now, that number is 27 fewer than the 542 black men who went to medical school in 1978.

When I completed the college application process, I found myself with the opportunity to attend an Ivy-League institution. Even though the tuition likely would have dragged my family and I into debt, I still considered enrolling, believing that it would have afforded me the greatest shot at becoming a doctor.

For my first semester at Howard, despite falling whole-heartedly in love with this experience, I was wracked with doubt. I often considered transferring, as my mother encouraged. I saw many of my black friends attending Ivy League schools, and I wondered if I would ever be as well-prepared as they were for graduate school. I was still caught up in the dusty conventional wisdom of white prestige and power.

It took me almost a year to realize I had made the right decision. No PWI- not Georgetown, not Harvard, not Columbia, not Brown- would be able to afford me the same opportunities as Howard University. Not for all of their resources, or connections, or international acclaim.

There’s a reason why Howard, Xavier, Morehouse, Spelman, and even Hampton  are some of the top incubators of black leadership in the world. It’s not because of our huge endowments (nonexistent) or our fancy research centers (under construction) or our generous alumni (poor) or our close connections with top graduate programs (tenuous at best). It’s a simple reason, one that is often overlooked, even in the excellent article above.

These schools make you feel like you belong. 

Simple as that. They make you feel at home, at peace with yourself, and with your place at this university. There are no sidelong glances at Howard University; no insinuations of affirmative action. No one assumes that you don’t deserve to be exactly where you are. There’s no sinister and diffuse expectation for you to speak for your entire race, or prove yourself, or justify your existence at every turn.  Just the expectation of success.

I will go to medical school. I will graduate, and enter the cohort of less than 36,000 black doctors. Then I will come back, whether it be to DC, New Jersey, New York, or across the country. I will give back. I will heal. I will teach. I will uplift those behind me. Not because it is some sacred calling, but because it is my duty.

By: Jarrett Carter Sr. - @jlcarter_sr

Howard University President Wayne Frederick wrote to the campus community this evening, outlining several issues which yesterday prompted the student launch of a social media campaign, #TakeBackHU. 

SHORT ANSWER: Howard University has no money because we (Black people) have no money.

LONGER ANSWER: Howard University has no money because we have no money, and it spends all of its money to attempt to provide for its students in a way that only really Ivy League schools and highly-selective PWIs do.

RANT:

Let’s look at the statistics:

40% of our students are First Generation in College 95% of our students are supported by some type of scholarship, grant, loan, or other type of student assistance 48% of our students pay nothing out of pocket to attend this school.

MEANING: Through scholarships, grants, or other financial aid (Not including loans) Howard is FULLY financing the education of nearly half of its student body.

They could take away the awarding of automatic scholarships, and make that a separate application. It would save millions of dollars a year, but it would also drive away some of the best and brightest students to highly selective PWIs.

And that's not the goal.

The goal is to educate the smartest black minds into the smartest Black Leaders.

So why is Administration in a continual state of disrepair? Because this school laid off about a third of its staff over the summer to be able to hire new teachers to instruct one of the largest classes in school history

Why have the scholarship requirements been raised? Because this incoming class is so brilliant that had the requirements not been increased, nearly every freshman would have some type of scholarship, something we DEFINITELY can't afford.

Why have so many scholarship appeals been denied? Because Howard plainly does not have the money to sustain a growing pool of scholars for 4 years. Fucking tragic, but blame the Republicans in Congress who love cutting Howard’s funding, not the university itself.

Why is financial aid closed/dysfunctional? Why does the Wifi/cable not work? Why are the buildings crumbling? Because in spite of all the cutbacks, there still isn't enough money to go around. There are staff out here essentially being asked to volunteer their time in order to provide the infrastructure for us to get an education, and still we can't keep everything operational. This University has decided to prioritize putting an instructor at the front of every classroom over a television at the foot of every bed precisely because it wants to minimize the impact these budget cuts have on a driven student's ability to get an education.

Why are all the freshman intake orgs banned? OPINION: Lol with the possible exception of FLA (because it provides the opportunity for students to travel abroad that many would never otherwise get) and a couple of others that I won’t name, I honestly couldn't give a damn. Too many promising freshmen are getting pledged out of college for me to be that bothered by the moratorium. And if GPAs are higher after this year, maybe ya'll won't miss them either.

No doubt. There is laziness, and a shitload of mismanagement, and incompetence THROUGHOUT HU. But beneath that scummy exterior is the fundamental drive to provide every student with the OPPORTUNITY to become a Black Leader. Not an ASSURANCE, not a GUARANTEE, but the opportunity to succeed, with the expectation that once they have succeeded, they'll lift a few people up behind them.

Don't believe the hype?

Howard Univeristy is 25th out of the 539 top institutions of higher education when it comes to lifting people out of poverty (Social Mobility Index).      Harvard and Yale? 438th and 440th, respectively.

Howard University Hospital loses $100 million dollars a year because it is the only remaining university hospital in Washington, D.C. that continues to cater to low- and middle- income patients.

Howard University Medical School is one of the top educators of doctors that go on to serve underserved and disadvantaged communities. Period.

Howard University’ s Moorland Springarn Research Center has the second-largest collection of African American historical texts in the world (previously the largest, until many of its documents were donated to help found the upcoming Smithsonian African-American history museum). And this collection can be browsed for free, at any time, by any student.

Howard University’s W. Montague Cobb Research Lab has two of the largest collections of African-American human archaeological remains, and the third largest collection of any sort of human remains in the country, available for students to research.

Howard University produces more black doctors (PhD and MD combined) than any other school in the world, and has a disproportionate number of its undergraduates go on to seek advanced degrees. This is true for most HBCUs.

Howard University is one of the top producers of Teach For America participants, and no school produces as high a ratio of TFA participants per student.

No other school sent Alternative Spring Break participants to the heart of black anguish in Ferguson to help with voter registration, and at no other school do literally thousands of students wake up at dawn and shuffle to Cramton to give back to DC in the completely voluntary Day of Service Activities. 

This School Takes Black Excellence and Builds Black Leaders.

Want to know why Howard University is so broke?

Because that's what it looks like when a University devotes ALL of its resources to lifting up its students.

Because this is what it looks like when a University gives till it hurts.

Because that’s what it looks like when a quarter of your funding is derived from a government of old rich white men who don’t understand the reason for your continued existence.

So absolutely, get your protest on. I’ll be out there with you, demanding the  university fix all of the things it can control.

But as for the things that it can’t, not only is it counterproductive to blame this institution, it plays into the dripping racism of larger society.

Howard University Students fight for their HBCU with the “Take Back HU” Campaign.