Students Advocate for Mississippi HBCUs
Students are taking more of a vocal role in the opposition to the HBCU merger proposal in Mississippi, according to an article from Clarion-Ledger reporter Elizabeth Crisp.
Alcorn State sophomore Tiffany Jackson was set on going to a historically black university.
“I knew I wanted to go to an HBCU,” she said. “If we don’t attend our own schools, who will?”
While a growing number of her peers are opting to attend predominantly white schools, HBCUs are as necessary as ever, the Jackson native said.
“They are a cornerstone for so many things and movements,” she said.
The article goes onto have other student perspective, as well as remarks from Dr. Ronald Mason Jr., who has proposed a merger construct that would fold each campus under a unified “Jacobs State University” banner. Included also are comments from alumni that tentatively object an HBCU merger, but would consider it in the most dire of straits.
Can there be a more clear position than stating the danger of merging HBCUs? Everyone seems to be tiptoeing around the many elephants in the room on this issue. If you merge HBCUs, that will be far less opportunities for minorities to attend college, because the traditionally white institutions, contrary to their claims, aren’t letting minority students in an equitable rate as they are white students. And for the minority students fortunate enough to attend an HBCU merged with other HBCUs, the academic programs and programmatic integrity will be compromised among the merged campuses. Budgets will still be slashed, resources will still be limited, and these campuses, instead of several campuses with minimal management issues, will combine for a huge school with glaring issues.
And finally, what kind of precedent does it set for other states with HBCUs if the state most notorious for discrimination against black colleges pushes forward with a merger? It will signify a culture that every state can save money and headaches if they just reduce the black colleges. Its a culture that no one should look forward to, and everyone should have a broader perspective to fear in this racial and educational climate.
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