PWI vs HBCU

[Spelmanlady08]

I have heard much debate about PWIs giving a better education than HBCUs. I am here to lay this thought to rest. Below are several reasons why HBCUs are the right choice for people of color.

My mentor attended and graduated from Spelman College (class 0f 2003). However, while at Spelman, she attended several prestigious PWIs including GA Tech, Emory, Stanford, etc. for summer programs in Physics. When she first arrived, many people thought she would not be able to compete on their level because she was a black woman. However, at each program she finished above everyone else. This shows that HBCUs can stand against and PWI, its the person not the school.

My mentor also told me of several friends that went to PWI that were being harassed on campus for their skin color. Once she told me about one of her black male friends who was walking from the library to his dorm on UGA or Emory's campus, and was stopped by the campus police who claimed that he was a trespasser. He showed them his ID,and the still did not believe him. He had to bring someone up to the security building to claim him. Can you say :x ?

Furthermore, my friend's mother attended Harvard during undergrad. She explained that at these prestigious schools, professors seem to treat blacks differently, like they are unable to compete on the level of a Caucasian person.

In addition, a couple of years ago, Emory produced a research claiming that people of color are unable to learn as fast and as much as Caucasian people because are brain sizes are smaller. However, the most apalling thing is that no person of color at the school contested this allegation . Who would want to endorse a school that tries to prove that you can't make it?

I want to say that HBCUs get a rep for not truly preparing us for the world, but I bet every person on this site can name at least one person who has proven those odds wrong. HBCUs challenge people of color because they know that it will be twice as heard for us to compete, and they want us to go in to the world headstrong and ready for anything. So when someone tells you that a HBCU can't compete with a PWI, and they try to name all these famous people from PWIs, you come back and tell them what people of color are doing and that they came from a prestigious HBCU where perfection is demanded and perfection is produced, i.e ME!!!

[EkWoah]

you wrote a lot so i'm not going to read it :P but...

i believe that HBCU's have a LOT more distractions, with all that stuff going on and you can still keep your work up, then you really are something, plus with all the black people around, you can feel really at home, creating a much less hostile environment

[Linear D]

Originally Posted by EdKaOnW

you wrote a lot so i'm not going to read it :P but...

i believe that HBCU's have a LOT more distractions, with all that stuff going on and you can still keep your work up, then you really are something, plus with all the black people around, you can feel really at home, creating a much less hostile environment

Which is why I can't find a reason not to like the AUC.

[mochabonnie]

I totally agree with LovelyLady08...I believe that an HBCU can oftentimes be the best place for persons of color. Just like women's college advocates often say that the education there is especially tailored for women, and thus they learn better, the education at an HBCU is especially tailored for blacks. At HBCUs, you don't have to sit and watch this white person be the president, the president of the SGA, the captain of the football team, the valedictorian, etc. At HBCUs, the leaders and role models are most times black -- the president of the school and the SGA, the leaders of the community service org.; the mentors, the counselors, will most times be black, or of color at least. And when blacks see other blacks being leaders, they are more likely to reach out for leadership positions themselves.

Another thing. HBCUs don't necessarily disadvantage you. My school is a prime example -- most of the black teachers there are from HBCUs -- we have a lot of Spelmanites, FAMU Rattlers, a few Morehouse Men and etc. -- and they hang in with teachers who graduated from Georgia Tech, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Emory University. They've been the same places as those teachers. And they still hold their heads up higher than any white teacher or teacher from a PWI I've seen. Besides just a good education, they have what a lot of white teachers don't have -- self-confidence and an enjoyable college career under their belt.

But I do feel that HBCUs have a lot more distractions... :lol: Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. That just means we have a lot more fun than the kids at the PWIs, and graduate with degrees from prestigious schools.

[RevolutionarySistah]

i agree with everything everybody said!! That is part of the reason I want to attend the REAL HU (as in DC) because I feel that I can have fun around my people and learn. I do plan on going to Columbia though for grad school. I visited the campus it is real cool..............they got REAL black people. Not like the fake ones you find at places like Harvard and Emory where they wouldn't even speak up for themselves. Plus, its right next to Harlem.....HOLLA!

[oOoDazzlingDanceroOo]

MY MOM WANTS ME TO GO TO A WHITE COLLEGE*AUBURN UNIVERSITY* BUT I WANNA GO TO SKEGEE, CUZ I WANT TO BE AROUND MY PEOPLE..SHE JUST DOESNT UNDERSTAND THAT THO. :?

GO HBCUS!

[In Rod We Trust]

:?: I have a dilemma. I'm a junior in high school thinking about colleges, and I've expressed my desire to go to a HBCU with my mother and she's totally behind me (she'll support whatever decision I make). She asks around a lot about HBCUs, specifically asks black people about what they think of them and is worth it, etc. The responses that she gets are basically that HBCUs are good, but they're perceived as substandard. A coworker of hers basically told her that in the workforce, a degree from a HBCU may not be taken as seriously as a degree from a PWI. This other lady told her that HBCUs don't have all of the resources that PWIs have, and that when it comes time to look for a really good job (among the top) I'll be at a disadvantage because people (of all races) prefer people that have degrees from PWIs. I'm not saying that either my mom or I agree with all of this, but it just gets us thinking. If I go to a HBCU, will I really get the best after I graduate? Will I really be as successful as I would be if I graduate from a PWI? Socially and academically HBCUs are great and I don't doubt that, but do other people (i.e. society) think that a HBCU degree isn't as valuable as a Harvard degree???