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Page 11 The Wolverine Observer May/)une 1985 Black College Report by D.F. Clover, Chairman Since early spring 1983, there has been a rapid increase in the number of negative articles written on black colleges and desegregation. There are several points that should be made about these, oftentimes, racial slurring and degrading articles. The first point to be made is that history reveals that the white defenders of race subjugation have always used the same techniques (from slavery to the present) to justify second class status for black citizens. Throughout history these techniques have been physical violence, threats of physical violence, the big lie, half truths, ridicule, degradation and glitter ing generalities. They have always used to their advantage, the printed and electronic press. The second point to be made is that the writers of these articles claim no expertise in education. They simply verbalize their own perception of black colleges and desegragation, but insinuate authoritative opinion. For exam ple, in a syndicated article that appeared in the Atlanta Journal- Constitution July 17, 1983), Ray Jenkins stated that..." It is not being ungenerous but merely a statement of fact to say that Alabama State University today is little more than a parody of a university. The academic train ing its students receive is pathetically inadequate. And the situation grows worse as the best and brightest of black students and professors find their way to other schools. Is there any wonder considering how hard they fought for the right to go to those schools?" Then he goes on to quote, perhaps out of context, a prominent black educator, Dr. Kenneth Clark, in order to back up this so-called statement of “fact” Although the writer pretends to make a statement of fact, he states no facts. The fact is he is expressing a white southerner's perception of black colleges — a view of what they (segregationists) intended for black colleges to be — not what black colleges factually are. It should be noted that he, like others, tends to insinuate that black colleges of today don’t have the same quality they once had. He evades the fact that this charge is being leveled at all colleges, including Jewish and Catholics, and that it was just a few years ago that his kind contended that black citizens were receiving an equal educational opportunity. The third point to be made is that the contention that strengthening and continuing historically black colleges is a perpetuation of segregation is hypocritical. The segregation that black citizens complain about is the segregation that is supported by law, evasive schemes and/or recalcitrant strategies - all designed to con tinue discrimination. In other words, at this point for black citizens, segregation is not the issue. Discrimination is the issue. Closing traditionally black colleges would penalize black citizens and compensate recalcitrant State Systems. Then too, no one would suggest that, because of integra tion and mass transportation, there is no longer any need for Auburn University or Georgia Tech. Common sense tells us that there is a need for Auburn University and Georgia Tech. Likewise, there is a continuing need for Alabama State Universi ty, Fort Valley State,andallofthe other historically black colleges. Georgia Tech has a mission as an engineering school. However, it is well known that Georgia Tech is not the top engineering school in the coun try. It is doubted, though that anyone would dare suggest that Georgia Tech should be closed because its graduates earn degrees that are perhaps worth less than graduates of the Un iversity of California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and many others that have stronger programs. After all, Georgia Tech is ac credited by the regional ac crediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It meets minimum re quirements. In many instances, however, some Tech graduates excel some of the graduates of institutions that have higher ratings. In other words, just because a person may have an inferior opportunity to acquire an education does not mean that he will acquire an inferior educa tion. The traditional black colleges also have missions. Their historical missions have been to serve the neglected, the poor, and the victims of vicious economics, educational, and social injustices. And, unfor tunately, their mission is the same today. It is sad to say, however, for them in this endeavor, there just might not be any peers. Therefore, to say that they are no longer needed is simply insane. And to say that they award degrees less than degrees by other colleges is hypocritical. These colleges are accredited by the regional accrediting agen cy, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Certainly, in terms of curricular exposure, they (black colleges) -ate- not Harvards and Yales, but neither is he University of Alabama or Georgia Tech. There isn’t any need to even mention the others. Yet, all of them meet the minimum standards required by regional accrediting agencies. Their degrees are indeed valid. To lead the public to believe otherwise is a cheap ploy design ed to continue the denial of equal educational opportunity. The fourth point to be made is that the fact that some of the institutions have higher percen tages of students than others that pass so-called basic skills tests and standardized tests is not necessarily any indication of the quality of instruction in those institutions. It may suggest that some institutions have more selective students than others or the test could be culturally biased. The Office of Education has asked that the Georgia Regents' Test be checked for the impact that is has on black students. SCLC says that the Georgia Test is a "crass racist trap" because most educational ly deprived black students fail the test the first time they take it, but more than 90% of them pass the test after receiving suppor tive instruction. It is a contention that is the test is not designed to trap and discourage black students then the curriculum should be structured to provide the necessary instruction for these students to master basic skills in the four year program. The problem is not the black college. The problem is the State System. It is the responsibility of the State System to provide necessary money and the proper administration to achieve the desire goals. The argument that historically black colleges constitute the continuation of overt and/or covert segregation is far from the truth. The truth is that the barrage of slurring press reports makes it impossible for black colleges to recruit sizable numbers of white students without doing severe damage to their efforts to fulfill their mis sion. Anyway, the real issue is discrimination. The problem with overt segregation was that it served as a vehicle for dis crimination. But segregation that comes about because of an orchestrated boycott does not necessarily act as a conduit for discrimination. However the victims of orchestrated boycotts (the historically black colleges) do require intensive monitoring in order to assure that equal oppor tunities, in terms of facilities, instruction, etc., are in fact a reality. Are Black Colleges Dying A "Quiet Death" by David Gaede (CPS) — “It’s clear things aren’t working out for black colleges,” understates Keith Jen nings, who monitors black stu dent issues for the United States students Association (USSA) in Washington, D.C. Indeed, the black colleges — choked by a withering money base, federal aid cuts, muddled communications, black student apathy and desegregation efforts that are pushing black students into historically-white campuses — are having their worst season in years. Enrollments at black colleges, after increasing steadily for the past 25 years, have dropped five percent in just the last year. And amid cries of racism and even bureaucratic “genocide," black education leaders ap parently aren’t sure what to do about it. It’s serious enough, moreover, that inside observers are labeling it "the quiet death of black colleges," Jennings reports. Some colleges aren’t going quietly: Cheyney University in Penn sylvania, for instance, recently lost its accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools because it lacked "coherent and pur poseful direction, mission, and leadership." President C.T. Enus Wright resigned the next week, and soon after that two ad ministrative vice presidents were fired. "It’s nothing more than cultural genocide to get rid of and destroy black colleges,” claims former Cheyney student government leader Cynthia Jefferson. Most of the reasons for the accreditation denial "could be applied to any college if you looked hard enough," Jefferson claims, adding President Wright was merely a "sacrificial lamb" to appease the accrediting associa tion. Historically-black Knoxville University in Tennessee and Lincoln College in Nebraska also have lost accreditation this year on similar grounds, Jennings notes. Three financially-strapped black Texas colleges — Wiley, Huston-Tillotson and Texas College — may merge to pool their resources and enrollments. Tennessee State University, meanwhile, is under perssure to integrate its predominantly- black student body and have a 50 percent white enrollment by 1992. The crises follow last year’s financial failure of 119-year-old Fisk University, long regarded as the flagship of black colleges. “Black colleges are facing a problem which has two con tradictory ends,” laments Samuel Myers, president of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Educa tion (NAFEO). ■ Myere says that-while black students need black colleges more than ever now, there’s a "new threat to black schools that their funding, enrollment, and support will decline. The image of black schools is hurt by problems at some black in stitutions, which adds to the problem even more.” Only 20 percent of all black students attend predomianatly- black colleges, but nearly half of all black students who complete their degrees do so at a black school. "Students in black colleges seem to have a virtual corner on intellectual satisfactions and out comes during the college years," chiefly because of the sense of belonging, support and un derstanding they receive, claims psychologist Jacqueline Fleming, author of the newly-released book "Blacks in College." On white campuses, black students often "fall prey to the feelings of alienation and es trangement, and are less likely to develop motivating relationships with faculty or to feel a part of campus life.” More black students head for predominantly-white campuses anyway. "Ironically,” points out Harriott Schimel, spokeswoman for the United Negro College Fund, "the traditional informa tion systems among blacks for passing along the advantages of black schools — parents, teachers, and ministers who were themselves educated at black schools — have become more diffused, so many blacks go off to white colleges not know ing the value they could get from a black college." Many of today’s black students seem more interested in assimilating faster into white society, some sources add. Even on historically-white campuses, enrollment in black studies courses and membership in campus black student unions have plummeted in recent years. And the nation’s only national black student lobby group — the National Organization of Black University and College Students — has locked the doors of its Washington offices and all but ceased operating because of 'disinterest and internal con flicts.” sources report. Many black colleges today are run by administrators who graduated from white, not black, schools, "and are completely unfamiliar with the history and purpose of black institutions," Jennings says. And as blacks themselves forsake black colleges, the politicians who finance them now question the need forthem. "The Brown decision (the hallmark court case which forc ed integration of public schools) is being reinterpreted in an upside-down manner now, in effect saying that we should close black schools so those students can go to white schools,” says Jennings. Continued on pg. 13