HBCU News and Commentary
Kentucky State University President M. Christopher Brown II received a four-year contract extension this afternoon, with officials citing growth and increased awareness of the institution just over a year after his appointment in March 2017.
[Read more…] about Are HBCU Boards Reversing Course on Presidential Firings?
Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley was never a serious presidential candidate, but his prospects grew dimmer when police shootings around the country forced analysis of the ‘zero tolerance’ policing policies he introduced as Baltimore City mayor during his 2015 campaign.
[Read more…] about Larry Hogan’s Choice is Simple: Support HBCUs or Lose an Election
Philanthropy is typically classified as the giving money without any expectation of involvement by the giver. Investment in a university, on the other hand, usually involves a gift presented with the expectation of a return on that investment, which doesn’t always have to be financial.
[Read more…] about Why Don’t Famous HBCU Alumni Send Their Children To Their Alma Maters?
We discuss student angst at Fisk, police controversy at Prairie View A&M and HBCU economic impact.
Morgan State University today revealed the results of an internal economic impact study, showing that the flagship historically black institution generates more than $990 million in for the state and more than $570 million for Baltimore City through its operations and research, wages and benefits, construction, and ancillary spending from campus stakeholders.
“Morgan has long understood the role it must play in Maryland’s future success,” said Morgan President David Wilson in a release. “The findings revealed in this report are enlightening and significant in their proof of Morgan’s importance to the continued growth of the State’s economy, and they further illustrate how investment in this University yields a measurable and impactful return.”
It is the second economic impact study to significantly outpace results produced by the United Negro College Fund’s 2017 national HBCU economic impact study, which depicted collective HBCU impact at $14 billion. That year, Central State University revealed its economic impact to be $147 million, compared to $97 million as estimated by UNCF based upon 2014 federal data.
Morgan State’s $990 million more than doubles UNCF estimates of $439 million for Northeast Baltimore’s anchor institution.
The Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy Nursing Program’s Bachelor of Science (Nursing) degree has received its initial accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The program’s Master of Science (Nursing) degree received its reaccreditation in 2017 from CCNE, and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. All nursing degrees awarded from October 2017 and beyond will now be accredited.
We launch our inaugural HBCU young alumni conversation series with views on dancing at commencement, HBCU images and messages in mainstream media, and how alumni should respond when things go wrong on campus.
The Grio offers a compelling story of a high school student’s brush with prom night disaster from a last-minute cancellation by a make-up artist, and how a campus apartment in the Thurgood Marshall Complex turned into a full-salon to help a sister make it to the dance on time.
[Read more…] about WATCH – Morgan State Students Help High Schooler Avert a Prom Night Crisis
Last month, Oakwood University made a private beef with its national alumni association public, publishing in the Adventist Review a lengthy treatment on how the Oakwood University Alumni Association has lost its 501(c)3 nonprofit designation, and that due to an inability to negotiate terms of partnership with the group, that graduates should not donate money to the organization.
OUAA’s decisions to ignore the Board of Trustees’ counsel has placed the University in a difficult position. OUAA through its website continues to solicit funds without regard to the institution’s wishes/instructions and during a time in which their tax-exempt status has been revoked. The University had hoped to avoid commenting on this situation until after Alumni Weekend but has decided that the current circumstances warrant this statement and other appropriate actions.
OAKWOOD UNIVERSITY has determined that, for as long as OUAA’s tax-exempt status remains revoked, it cannot have OAKWOOD UNIVERSITY’s permission to raise funds in the University’s name, and OAKWOOD UNIVERSITY cannot accept funds raised by OUAA after February 12, 2018, including funds raised during Alumni Weekend, unless such fundraising conforms to the receipting request made by the University.
This week, news is breaking among Morehouse College graduates about alleged improprieties in its elections for national alumni association officers. Concerns over balloting methods, potential bias for candidates and eligibility of voters in regions versus national vote counts are among the issues the Morehouse Men are debating, and quietly for now.
These are just the recent issues to surface about HBCU alumni shenanigans, which like most problems, aren’t exclusive to black folks or black institutions. Regents at the University of Minnesota are fighting each other for, among other things, the way members are selected to the board. But like most HBCU problems, they are exacerbated by the proximity of big egos to small resources and even smaller margins of error when one influential graduate or donor can get pissed and cost an institution hundreds of thousands of dollars for years.
Tuskegee alumni have tried for years to get presidents removed and trustees removed from the university’s board of trustees.
Florida A&M University alumni have lobbied against presidents, athletic directors, trustees and everybody who has or could get between them, their money, or their influence over the university. Jackson State alumni hacked their own presidential search.
These kinds of stories are all over the HBCU community. And in many ways, our schools are far better off with alumni fighting administrators than not caring what about what is happening to a school, like Elizabeth City State or Morgan State. If alumni are engaged, there is a sense that mutual goals could lead to a campus finding a great president, recruiting students and growing its profile for financial gain.
But it’s when alumni are jockeying for opportunity to secure a place on the governing board, or to curry perks in travel and exposure, or to leverage alumni following as a bargaining chip to get family members jobs, or to secure contracts, or to do other things which can really harm an institution; because when people who don’t know anything about the business of higher education have their hands all in it, it’s when things can really get jacked up – for years.
The lesson here is not convincing alumni against being at odds with campus leaders; discontent from stakeholders can be a healthy element of campus governance. But there are two considerations every graduate who has something to say about administration should ask themselves before pen hits paper, fingers hit Twitter or petitions get sent.
Is what I’m looking for best for me or best for the institution? And if it is truly best for the institution, how do I know with all certainty that this is in fact what the university needs now considering that I’m not on campus, not in meetings, not privy to budgets and not privy to the internal politics?