GA Senator Wants to Cut Black Colleges
Public colleges created during segregation to provide blacks an education denied to them by white institutions are at the center of a budget battle brewing in Georgia.
Facing a $2 billion shortfall, a Republican state senator has proposed merging two of the historically black schools with nearby predominantly white colleges to save money and, in the process he says, erase a vestige of Jim Crow-era segregation.
“I think we should close this ugly chapter in Georgia’s history,” Seth Harp, chairman of the state Senate’s Higher Education Committee, said Tuesday.
But Harp has stirred a torrent of opposition. Critics of the plan say students who might otherwise not attend college are being educated at the schools. Black students perform better in the black-college setting, experts say, and the dropout rate among African-Americans is lower than at majority white institutions.
The schools also represent a critical piece of the civil rights struggle.
“We can’t afford to run away from our history,” said Leonard Haynes, executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges.
The schools were largely founded before 1964, mostly in the segregated South to teach African-American students. But they are open to people of all races and experts say the number of white students at the campuses has been on the rise.
Harp’s proposal would merge the historically black 3,400-student Savannah State University with Armstrong Atlantic State University, a majority white school. Also, Albany State University, which has about 4,100 enrolled, would combine with nearby Darton College, which also has a predominantly white student body. The new campuses would keep the names of the older and more established black colleges.
But Harp’s plan was preliminary with few details about how the mergers would work.
Any combining of public universities need Georgia Board of Regents’ approval. A Regents spokesman said the board has no plans to consider the idea and suggested it runs contrary to the goal of increasing the number of Georgians with college degrees.
“If anything, we need to be broadening access to higher education,” Regents spokesman John Millsaps said.
But Harp said deep budget cuts rippling across the state may leave the universities with little choice when trying to save some $250 million.
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue on Tuesday declined to comment specifically on his fellow Republican’s plan but said the grim economic picture gripping the nation and state means public universities must look to spend efficiently.
“A lot of tradition has gone on in our traditionally black universities and colleges,” Perdue said. “I think we need to respect that, and I think there are ways we can wring out efficiency in there that may not entail colleges losing their identities. So we’ll continue to look.”
But Harp, who is white, found an ally in Cynthia Tucker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial page editor for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Tucker, who is black, wrote in a recent column that taxpayer-funded colleges “should be diverse, educating men and women of all colors and creeds.”
“There is no longer good reason for public colleges that are all-white or all-black,” Tucker wrote.
There are 105 public and private historically black colleges in the U.S., most in the South where Jim-Crow-era segregation laws were strictest – preventing some African-Americans from obtaining education.
While some private black colleges have folded over the years, no state has dismantled a public one, Haynes said.
Michael Lomax, president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund, questioned why Georgia’s black colleges must bear the burden of the state’s budget shortfall.
“It seems like a politically charged and politically motivated move rather than a fiscally responsible one,” Lomax, former commission chairman of Georgia’s most populous county, said. “I am deeply concerned …. This is a proposal by a politician to address a budget shortfall without engaging academic professionals and planners.”
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Republican state senator
ok there they go again want to
cut black colleges in ga because they got no money
so why dont they just cut
” white colleges in ga ”
and cut these catholic colleges
and schools they not teaching them anything anyway
priest raping and molesting choir boys they sho nuff
went to these catholic schools and colleges.
Republican state senators
all of them greedy for money
need to ” C U T ” their
budgets salary so it can be 2 billion or more to keep those
black colleges in ga and other parts of america, besides they
have a lot of money for jails and prisons, have they learn from following there leader
” ex prez Bush ”
the one who really put america
in a great big whole(money fo war but no money fo the poor)
This sucks, y’all.
I don’t know about all HBCU schools but I do know in Texas that Prairie View has the top nursing program in the state. The nursing program there is very hard and if HBCU funding were to cease, there would be tremendous shortage of nurses in this state, as well as this country.
But no seriously I don’t know what happens at your HBCU but I’ll put my school Morehouse academically against any majority white school you can think of. Don’t lump in good schools with bad ones that accept 27 yr olds for undergrad.
what are u doin in undergrad at 27??
Another case of white people trying to cry reverse racism (which there is no such thing). And the chick below me posting is pitiful…your classic example of the “white is right” mentality. She is using NO generalizations…she actually said EVERYBODY who went from predominately white to HBCU feels that way. What a shame. Don’t blame your bad experience, wrong decisions, and incompetence on the entire system of Black Colleges. It’s actually laughable that you truly believe that all Black Colleges/Universities have open enrollment or lower standards. Maybe that was the case for the one that you chose…makes me think that’s why you chose it..b/c you knew it was some where you’d actually get accepted after having to leave your perfect lily white school. Things that make you go hmmmmm
I’m 27 now, attending an HBCU for the past 2 years (I transferred from a majority state school that I attended from 1999-2002). Can we say the worst decision I ever made??? I have had the absolute worst experience possible that a student can have.
It is my observation (and honestly the observation of EVERY SINGLE PERSON that I know who’ve gone to a majority school BEFORE transferring to an HBCU) that HBCUs are nothing more than a sorry excuse for an education. Like the Special Education of Universities.
“Black students perform better in the black-college setting, experts say, and the dropout rate among African-Americans is lower than at majority white institutions.”
The only reason black students excel so much at (most) HBCUs is because:
1. They have MUCH lower expectations – they set the bar so low, ANYone can make it, and for those who still don’t make it, they nudge you over
2. They reward mediocrity…let you get away with not being accountable (i.e. never turning in your assignments, performing poorly on exams, but then being allowed at the end of the semester to make up for all you didn’t do with extra credit assignments..but passing the class with like a B or A)
3. They turn a blind-eye to cheating (and might I add EXCESSIVE and OBVIOUS cheating)
4. Academia (what you know) is not valued as highly as what you APPEAR to know (my school often – well excessively – requires students to wear business suits like they’re going on job interviews, when we have guest speakers or other possibly influential people…so that we LOOK the part, because they know we’re damn sure not LEARNING it there…
6. It seems to be an unofficial mission statement that HBCUs (damn for sure mine) have a “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy when it comes to graduating students…like they need to reach a quota, so they do whatever is necessary to reach that quota, to stay in business…even if it means enrolling absolutely unqualified people into the school and/or graduating them.
Believe me when I say I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point (I won’t even get into the administration and corruption).
I already KNOW that people who exclusively went to or plan to attend an HBCU will get defensive and feel like I’m attacking them, their experience at their HBCU, or their HBCU specifically, but that is absolutely not the case. I toured and applied to HBCUs EXCLUSIVELY when I was in high school (from 10th – 12th grade) and had no plans of going anywhere else (they lured us in with their hot ass homecomings – meeting all the celebs and whatnot). I had over 1100 SATs (took it only once, never prepped for it, would’ve and could’ve tried again for higher but that was all I needed to get into my top choices – Hampton and Howard at the time – and this also qualified me for their Presidential scholarship).
I only ended up at my 1st school (the state school) because of the complete disorganization at Hampton (which is prevalent in like 98% of HBCUs – the students just take it for granted, but REAL colleges/universities are NOTHING like that). But in my case, a week before school was to start, I had no financial aid packet from Hampton (even though I turned EVERYTHING in ahead of time) and was told to just come down anyways to “see what happens” or to pay the bill, and get reimbursed when they finally figured out my packet…uh, and I was out of state, which meant school costs like $13k at the time (I have always, and still do pay for school alone, no support from family members – and I was only 18). Howard was organized however, they just were offering way too much in loans for my freshman year (this is just my presumption, but I think that SOME private HBCUs are probably more like regular colleges – Spelman and Morehouse are pretty prestigious from what I hear…and Howard is pretty good too, again, this is not from my experience so I’m not sure…but I know Shaw is a private school and dam sure ain’t different from my school). But I applied at my former State school less than a week before it started (in 1999) and was accepted in time for school to start WITH housing AND a financial aid packet that covered everything plus gave me a little refund, and 85% of my money was grant/scholarship money. At the time, I planned to stay for 2 yrs then transfer to an HBCU because that’s all I really wanted (oh to be young and naïve)…But I ended up loving it there, and realized that black students at non-HBCUs forge an HBCU within the university…minus the HBCU bull*ish…Stopped going 3 yrs later when money and life stresses got in the way…so when I ended up at an HBCU (5 years after leaving that school) I THOUGHT I would finally be getting what I wanted – more or less a normal college experience, but with all (or mostly all) black faces….but I was in for a rude awakening.
Why would anyone be surprised by this? HBCU’s are located in the south. The south is ruled by white republican males. HBCU’s mean nothing to them so why wouldn’t they try to cut them? Think about what’s the most non significant issue in your life….now you see how they look at HBCU’s. I didn’t graduate from an HBCU but I feel for the people who are going to go to them in the future.
They’ve already cut funding enough….What’s going on? Will HBCU’S Exist in the Near Future?
I am a junior in high school and hearing this is really aggravating me. When i graduate from high school, I am goin to a Black College. They need to leave the historical african-american colleges and universities alone. I plan on going to Spelman when i graduate from high school next year and I have my mind and heart set on that college. I believe whoever is trying to abolish these colleges is out of their mind. You have students that want to learn about their history and you’re trying to prevetn them from doing so by trying do get rid of the colleges made for them, by them. We keep trying to come up in this world as a people, A Strong Black Nation and all they wan to do is hold us down once more….When will this ever end?? They need to leave them be and leave us alone for the last time.
How everything is put together…soon after Obama makes a step towards history, these so called republicans wanna cut back funds for “BLACK COLLEGES”. Typical republicans! Why would you wanna cut back just HBCUs and not other fine instiutions? Now its all about to come out… What is this world coming too… Being that I am part of an HBCU i believe its unfair. Its hard for HBCUs to get funding in the beginning, now you they wanna take what little funding they have away.
I moved from NJ to attend Savannah State in 2000, and to hear that they want to combine SSU with Armstrong is a terrible idea. Savannah State is a university with history, pride, honor, and accepting the challenge of educating the leaders of today and tomorrow. It just so happens that Savannah State is an HBCU, and educates the students that larger schools won’t accept.
Let’s see how he feels about merging Moorehouse with Georgia Tech, or Morris Brown with Kennesaw State.
As soon as we turn the page in this country, there’s always a few people who want to stay in the days of keeping African Americans down.
When his term for re-election comes, there’s NO WAY that this man should get any more than 15% of the vote against whomever he runs agains!
as someone who went to an HBCU in GA, I would have to say I have no problem with cutting these schools off…I won’t go into details, but I came to the conclusion that a lot of HBCU’s (not all) have run their course.
As a student at an HBCU, I feel as though HBCUs are more than just colleges and universities. They are investments in African-American students’ culture and future. There is no reason for this senator to try and merge these schools with majority schools. Even if the schools get to retain names, it would take so much of the history away from these HBCUs.
I’m not trying to defend the state, cause taking money and cutting back from universities and institutes for higher learning is wrong, but if you are going to look at this as they are only doing this to black colleges then that is very wrong. My university, Washington State University, is also receiving budget cuts as well, which is also very comparable to the amount that is being cut from the schools in Georgia. I feel with our economy in the state it is currently in, this is going to be the least of our worries. I don’t believe that there are only certain universities that are feeling the wrath of what George Bush has done to our economy. I feel that what Tucker says about the need for all black and all white colleges is also wrong. The HBUs are a part of the African American culture and has always provided an extra way for students to get an education. And no where does it say people of other races can attend these universities. These are institutes that promote a positive image for students. They have been fulfilling dreams for adolescents for many, many years. I feel the government needs to stop preventing and start promoting. It’s time to start helping people achieve so we as a nation can better ourselves. Anyone who wants to stop education is an obviously uneducated person.
I believe this is a great idea. If anyone is loosing out of the deal, its the white schools. They loose there name and all of there history. Its a recession and we as black people need to realize that the world is bigger then just us. And if anything, I doubt the populations of the white colleges are larger then the black colleges in those small areas, so the school would still be majority black.
LEAVE IT BE, PLEASE… WHY BOTHER WITH THE COLLEGES? ARE WHITE PEOPLE THAT INTIMIDATED WITH US BEING SMART OR–IN MOST CASES–SMARTER? THEY OWE US HUNDREDS OF YEARS WORTH OF EDUCATION. STOP TRYING TO HOLD US BACK!!
The schools would retain the name of the HBCU. They did an interview on the Tom Joyner show.
This is extremely difficult for me to react to. I grew up in a segregated south and attended 3 years of public schools before intergration. I remember more about those first 3 years than what I remember about my High School days. Some might argue that intergration was the worst thing to happen to us back then because the results were that the white teachers refused to teach us. So therefore I felt like I lost a lot of important information in my primary years. As for this situation, believe it or not, I think it is a great idea. I know this Senator’s background and he has never portrayed himself as reminance of the past, rather as a reformer. I think combining these school could create the very essence that Barack Obama hopes to accomplish among Social Changes. But I also agree with Michael Lomax, if this is done because of budget shortfalls rather than as a reform policy, than why bother.
I agree, that there is more chance when of success in an institution like this for some. The pressure isn’t as great to feel like they are in competition with whites, or as if whites are holding them back. It leaves no excuses, so I believe they should leave them as they are now with no integration.