C-LeB28
Moderator
B. N. Shaw
Associate Professor
English and Foreign Languages
Mississippi Valley State Univ.
AFTER reading several letters to the editor in newspapers suggesting the closure or merger of some state universities, I believe that the proponents of the closure of Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) and Alcorn State University (ASU) are now sending trial balloons suggesting the merger of MVSU with Delta State University, a predominantly White university in Cleveland, about 40 miles from MVSU. However, whether closure or merger, the objective of the College Board to eliminate two Black colleges, remains the same.
David G. Sansing in his book, Making Haste Slowly, The Troubled History of Higher Education in Mississippi, writes, ?No public institutions in antebellum Mississippi provided formal education to its slave population or to its small number of free blacks. Mississippi was in fact the only southern state that reported no free black children in school in 1850.? Black colleges in Mississippi were not established to educate the Blacks, but to maintain a segregated system of higher education.
In an article, ?State of the HBCUs,? in the September-October issue of the Crisis, writer Catherine W. LeBlanc, a business and education consultant, writes: ?. . . even with only 16 percent of the Black students who attend college, HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) confer 28 percent of the bachelor?s degrees received by Black students nationwide. . . . In some southern states, HBCUs graduate even greater percentages of African Americans.? It is a fact that for most Black students, Black colleges and universities provide better cultural and educational environments than any predominantly-White universities could.
Although I could not find any statistical data on how many Black students drop out of predominantly White universities to enroll at historically-Black universities, I believe that some do.
They leave the predominantly White universities because they do not like the cultural environment, many feel neglected, and some feel that they were losing their African-American identity in the ocean of White culture.
The history of Black college education could be traced to 1833 when Oakland College awarded the first college degree to a Black student named James M. Smilie. In 1971 Alcorn was founded as the first Black land-grant college under federal mandate. Mississippi established its first college for White women long before it did so for its Black citizens, men or women. According to Sansing, the reorganization of the state universities in 1870 raised the question of state-supported higher education for the African-Americans. Two universities, Shaw, later renamed Rust, in Holly Springs and Tougaloo now in Jackson, were founded with the help of private support.
Throughout the history of education in Mississippi, one could find the reluctance of the state and local governments to provide equal opportunities in education for its White and Black citizens. Even during the ?60s, Mississippi maintained its segregated education system and was reluctant to change its policy until the admission of James Meredith that made the world aware of Mississippi?s segregated system of higher education.
Some people ask: ?What do the historically Black universities like Jackson State, Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State offer their students that predominantly White universities cannot?? It is difficult for White people to understand that young Black men and women, most of whom have lived for generations in segregated communities in Mississippi, need much more than a formal education.
Black students need an environment of their culture, identity, and pride that are essential to help them understand who they are, their rich past, their present responsibilities as students, and their future role as citizens educated to serve as doctors, engineers, scholars, and most importantly, state and national leaders.
If the increase of enrollment is a measure of the effectiveness of the universities, it could be said that in spite of the closure and merger speculations, all three Mississippi HBCUs deserve to continue serving both the Black and White students. This fall, Mississippi HBCUs has higher than the average enrollment increases. While the average 2001 fall enrollment increase is 2.9 percent, at JSU, enrollment is up 3.9 percent, at ASU, 5.4 percent, and at MVSU, 14.7 percent, the highest of all state universities. Two predominantly-White universities have lost enrollment this fall.
In addition, the three Black universities in Mississippi not only have multiracial and multicultural student bodies, they also have attracted international students. For example, in my English Composition class I have four Russian students this semester.
The significant increase in enrollment at the three HBCUs in Mississippi, I believe, is a message to those who wish to close or merge the Black universities with the predominantly White universities in Mississippi. Nothing but ignorance could make someone ignore the message that comes with the significant increase in enrollment at the three HBCUs in Mississippi.
Associate Professor
English and Foreign Languages
Mississippi Valley State Univ.
AFTER reading several letters to the editor in newspapers suggesting the closure or merger of some state universities, I believe that the proponents of the closure of Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) and Alcorn State University (ASU) are now sending trial balloons suggesting the merger of MVSU with Delta State University, a predominantly White university in Cleveland, about 40 miles from MVSU. However, whether closure or merger, the objective of the College Board to eliminate two Black colleges, remains the same.
David G. Sansing in his book, Making Haste Slowly, The Troubled History of Higher Education in Mississippi, writes, ?No public institutions in antebellum Mississippi provided formal education to its slave population or to its small number of free blacks. Mississippi was in fact the only southern state that reported no free black children in school in 1850.? Black colleges in Mississippi were not established to educate the Blacks, but to maintain a segregated system of higher education.
In an article, ?State of the HBCUs,? in the September-October issue of the Crisis, writer Catherine W. LeBlanc, a business and education consultant, writes: ?. . . even with only 16 percent of the Black students who attend college, HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) confer 28 percent of the bachelor?s degrees received by Black students nationwide. . . . In some southern states, HBCUs graduate even greater percentages of African Americans.? It is a fact that for most Black students, Black colleges and universities provide better cultural and educational environments than any predominantly-White universities could.
Although I could not find any statistical data on how many Black students drop out of predominantly White universities to enroll at historically-Black universities, I believe that some do.
They leave the predominantly White universities because they do not like the cultural environment, many feel neglected, and some feel that they were losing their African-American identity in the ocean of White culture.
The history of Black college education could be traced to 1833 when Oakland College awarded the first college degree to a Black student named James M. Smilie. In 1971 Alcorn was founded as the first Black land-grant college under federal mandate. Mississippi established its first college for White women long before it did so for its Black citizens, men or women. According to Sansing, the reorganization of the state universities in 1870 raised the question of state-supported higher education for the African-Americans. Two universities, Shaw, later renamed Rust, in Holly Springs and Tougaloo now in Jackson, were founded with the help of private support.
Throughout the history of education in Mississippi, one could find the reluctance of the state and local governments to provide equal opportunities in education for its White and Black citizens. Even during the ?60s, Mississippi maintained its segregated education system and was reluctant to change its policy until the admission of James Meredith that made the world aware of Mississippi?s segregated system of higher education.
Some people ask: ?What do the historically Black universities like Jackson State, Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State offer their students that predominantly White universities cannot?? It is difficult for White people to understand that young Black men and women, most of whom have lived for generations in segregated communities in Mississippi, need much more than a formal education.
Black students need an environment of their culture, identity, and pride that are essential to help them understand who they are, their rich past, their present responsibilities as students, and their future role as citizens educated to serve as doctors, engineers, scholars, and most importantly, state and national leaders.
If the increase of enrollment is a measure of the effectiveness of the universities, it could be said that in spite of the closure and merger speculations, all three Mississippi HBCUs deserve to continue serving both the Black and White students. This fall, Mississippi HBCUs has higher than the average enrollment increases. While the average 2001 fall enrollment increase is 2.9 percent, at JSU, enrollment is up 3.9 percent, at ASU, 5.4 percent, and at MVSU, 14.7 percent, the highest of all state universities. Two predominantly-White universities have lost enrollment this fall.
In addition, the three Black universities in Mississippi not only have multiracial and multicultural student bodies, they also have attracted international students. For example, in my English Composition class I have four Russian students this semester.
The significant increase in enrollment at the three HBCUs in Mississippi, I believe, is a message to those who wish to close or merge the Black universities with the predominantly White universities in Mississippi. Nothing but ignorance could make someone ignore the message that comes with the significant increase in enrollment at the three HBCUs in Mississippi.
