Bush Administration Increases Support For Black Colleges

By David Pitts
Washington File Staff Writer

Brooklyn, New York -- In his recent radio address celebrating Black History Month 2002, President George W. Bush said his administration "strongly supports the work and mission of our historically black colleges and universities."

Bush cited a 30 percent increase over four years in federal (U.S. Government) support for historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions. He mentioned two of the most famous historically black colleges by name -- Morehouse in Atlanta, Georgia, and Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Howard was formed just after the U.S. Civil War. It receives more federal support than any other historically black college in the nation. More than 95 percent of the students there are people of color, the majority of them African Americans. In addition, students from more than 90 countries, mostly in Africa and the Caribbean, are taking degrees there.

Besides such schools as Howard, many state and municipally-supported colleges also serve a mostly minority student population. In New York City, for example, many African Americans and Hispanics attend Medgar Evers College, in Brooklyn. Named for the civil rights leader who was slain in Jackson, Mississippi, in the summer of 1963, it is part of the City University of New York (CUNY). Evers�� death helped build momentum for passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

"Over 90 percent of the student body is minority," says Doris Withers, a vice president of the college. "Of those, about one-third are foreign born. The majority of those come from Latin America and the Caribbean. A smaller percentage is from Africa, mostly Nigeria," she adds. The college just celebrated its 30th anniversary.

LaGuardia College, in Queens -- the most ethnically diverse of New York City��s five boroughs -- also has a large minority student body. It is about 35 percent Hispanic, 20 percent African American, and 15 percent Asian. The rest of the population is mostly white. As at Medgar Evers, there are a large number of students from the Caribbean and Latin America.

In some Southern states during the time of segregation, historically black colleges were often discriminated against in terms of the amount of state support they received compared with colleges that had a majority white enrollment. This month, it was announced that the state of Mississippi will pay $503 million over 17 years to the state's three historically black colleges to settle the largest-ever discrimination lawsuit in higher education. The U.S. Department of Justice endorsed the agreement.

Cheyney State University and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania were the first historically black colleges -- established before the U.S. Civil War, in 1837 and 1854. But black colleges did not begin to take root until after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (1863) freeing the slaves. This resulted in the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau that provided much needed financial support to the infant black institutions.

Historically black colleges flourished during the difficult years of segregation that lasted in the South well into the middle of the 20th century. By 1927, there were 77 such institutions, according to sources at Medgar Evers College. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, enrollment at black colleges soared. Today, it is estimated, there are more than 100 black colleges.

Some commentators and analysts in the United States question the continued need for historically black colleges and universities, now that legally-mandated segregation has ended in the South and many African Americans are attending state and private universities across the nation with a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural student body.

But a sizable number of black students continue to choose colleges where people of color are in the majority. The reason, according to Dr. Paul Logan, who teaches at Howard University, "is that some African Americans want to be in an educational environment that emphasizes African American history and culture as well as a quality education in general."

President Bush also addressed this issue in his radio speech. "Our historically black colleges and universities opened the door to knowledge when other doors were barred," he said. "And today, they offer exciting opportunities to young people to contribute to their country."