Historically Black Colleges

On a sunny day in February, three cheerleaders for a local college stand outside the school's admissions building, waiting until it is time to leave for an away basketball game. They talk with fellow students, and chat about work they have to do for classes, much as students at any college would do.

But as black students at North Carolina Central University, an historically black institution, they are in the unique situation of being in the majority at their school.

And though these three students have complaints about the school that resemble those of students at all colleges, the difference between this and a predominately white college is clear. In nearly all situations, social history tells us, those who are in the majority-whether it be in race, religion or sexual identity-are not forced to contemplate prejudice or problems of being a minority on a daily basis.

For black students at historically black institutions, many say, race is simply not an issue.

"Here, I fit in anywhere," says one of the three NCCU cheerleaders, sophomore Marsha Perry, to the agreement of her friends.

Preference Evans, a sophomore who works in the lobby of a nearby dormitory, has similar feelings on the subject and adds that not having to deal with issues of race on a day-to-day basis enables her to concentrate on more important parts of her college career. "I don't even worry about it," she says, after thinking for a minute. "It's just not an issue. I feel more relaxed."

For her, as it was for many students, coming to an historically black institution was a conscious decision. "I wanted to come somewhere where I wouldn't have to be uncomfortable," she says. "I just decided not to put myself in that kind of situation."

Franklin Carver, the current interim director of undergraduate admissions and future vice chancellor of NCCU, has experienced first-hand both spectrums of the collegiate environment. Before his recent move to Durham, he worked at a predominately white institution.

Students may feel more free to speak out in class, and the actual curriculum of their courses often is geared more toward backgrounds of black students.

Each Wednesday evening, NCCU holds seminars in which its honor students are enrolled. During one evening's class, four students give presentations to their peers about religions of their choice. Instead of religions that are discussed commonly in class, these students have chosen more obscure religions on which to report, many of which, like Rastafarianism, were begun in Africa.

Duke Vice President for Student Affairs Janet Dickerson, who attended a predominately white women's college, says that although she learned much from her collegiate education and does not regret making the choice she made to attend her school, she often feels that enough authors of her own cultural background were not covered in her classes.

"My teachers hadn't read them," she recalls, "so they didn't value them."

And as Julian Sanchez, Duke director of intercultural affairs, pointed out, at schools where black students are in the majority, they do not have to worry about being singled out for their personal responses to black issues because they are the only, or one of few, black students in the class.

Dickerson encountered such episodes during her undergraduate days at a predominately white school. During one of her English classes, she remembers, a professor asked her to speak about the African elements of a play the class was reading.

"The professor assumed that because I was African-American that I would be able to speak about the African drum beats in the play," she recalls. "I didn't have a clue about African drum beats or anything else about Africa."

She often was singled out for other reasons as well. Other girls in her dormitory, she explains, were curious to know why she didn't need to wash her hair as often as white women did, and why she did not have tan lines. Several of the women, she remembers, asked if they could touch her hair. The girls were not being mean intentionally, she says, but such incidents made attending school in a predominately white environment challenging. Such challenges, she says, still exist today.

"I know that even though this is a completely different time," she says, "that still can be an issue for black students in white residence halls," Dickerson says.

The advantages could go beyond not feeling self-conscious in classes and in social situations. Indeed, an important benefit that students at historically black colleges gain is the opportunity to be mentored by black faculty members and have academic role models to whom to relate.

"I think that they are in an environment where, for the most part, their models of success for them as African Americans are fairly readily apparent," says Maureen Cullins, dean of campus community development. She further emphasized that such schools are more likely to feature black speakers and programs relating to race.

The combined social and academic advantages gained from being at an historically black institution can supplement the students' self-esteem and make them aware that they are more than their color. "I felt I could do anything," Carver says of his college days at a predominately black institution. "If [white people] could do it, I could do it better."

Black students who attend Duke and other predominately white colleges may not have the same experience of being in the majority as they would at historically black colleges, but many choose to take classes in the African-American studies department-classes that traditionally are populated mostly with black students.

In one section of last semester's Introduction to African-American Studies class at Duke, for instance, the class of about 40 contained only about 7 non-black students. This proportion, combined with the content of the class material, gave students in the class a much different experience than they have in other classes.

"I thought that the atmosphere was more laid back," Trinity junior Bianca Motley says, "and most people were more comfortable than in other courses."

For some students, the experience proved to be a momentous one. Trinity freshman Lisa Helem says the positive experience she had in the class has led her to consider the merits of attending an historically black school. "I could be having this type of edifying experience everyday in every class," she says the class led her to realize.

Many of her friends attended historically black schools, she continues. "At this point I envy them, because I really don't think I am getting that culturally enriching experience here."

At Duke, Helem says, she believes she is considered to be nothing more than a token voice. Being a member of a majority at a school would give her a totally different perspective, she says.

Despite the acknowledged benefits presented by a predominately black environment, several students allude to a potential drawback of attending such a school. It may make social and academic life less pressured, but what happens when the students graduate?

"It hurts you and it helps you," Perry says. "It hurts you knowing that the world's not like this."

But a person's perspective on that issue can depend on the purpose they believe is served by an historically black college. Were it simply to make life easier for the black students who attend them and to make them less socially conscious, Perry might be right. But others contend that the role of such colleges instead is to form individuals, and give them confidence to succeed in the future.

"That can carry over into any environment," Carver says.

Coincidentally, both Dickerson's daughter and Carver's son are seniors this year in high school; both are making decisions about where they would like to attend college next year.

Dickerson says she is pleased that her daughter seriously considered attending Spellman College, an historically black institution in Atlanta, Ga. Although her daughter eventually decided to attend a predominately white institution, Dickerson enjoyed visiting the school and was impressed by the quality of its faculty and administrators.

Carver, on the other hand, is encouraging his son to attend an historically black institution.

"I'm looking at it from my son's perspective," he says. "I'm just so afraid he's away from his heritage." In Carver's son's predominately white high school, the young man is the only black person in his homeroom class, for example.

Both examples prove the point many administrators make on the issue-that there is no right or wrong decision. It all depends upon the individual student. Even Carver, who feels strongly that his son should attend a black college, admits that the confidence he gained during college could be due more to his personality than the actual college itself.

Motley agrees. "We all gain different things from the institutions that we attend," she says, explaining that one of her hometown friends attends a small, hi