This summer I have the privilege of having an undergraduate research assistant as part of a special program to encourage undergraduate research at Penn. My research assistant, Yvonne Hyde-Carter, is a sophomore interested in communications. She's also African American and grew up in the Philadelphia area. As part of the mentoring process that goes along with undergraduate research assistantship, I spend a lot of time talking to Yvonne about her goals and her future. As much of my research pertains to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), I asked her if she had ever considered applying to an HBCU. Based on her response, I decided to interview her for this blog post. Here is the interview:
Marybeth: Did you consider applying to an HBCU? Why did you choose Penn?
Yvonne: When I sent in my application to an HBCU a wave of emotions overcame me. First, I am a black woman with an HBCU legacy. My maternal grandmother and great-grandparents attended the same HBCU at a time when many blacks were not privileged enough to receive a higher education. I felt a sense of pride and responsibility to follow in their footsteps and continue the family tradition (granted, a tradition that my mother did not uphold). Additionally, I felt a budding desire to partake in the rich cultural heritage that exists at HBCUs -- one that is very different from that of the predominately elite, mainstream culture in which I grew up. As someone who attended the same small, independent Quaker school in the heart of Philadelphia for fourteen years, I was used to being one of only four or five black students within a given class. I was looking forward to no longer be looked upon as the "token" black girl. I looked forward to black students and faculty, drum lines, homecomings, football games, and Greek life at an HBCU. I wanted to delight in my "blackness" for a change. Plus, as so many reminded me throughout my application process, I would have the rest of my life to be a fighting minority within the majority white, working world.
Marybeth: If you were a legacy and felt so emotional about attending an HBCU, why didn't you do it?
Yvonne: Even with all of the hopes and expectations for my life at an HBCU there was one emotion that trumped them all: fear. Despite my legacy and the excitement, (and even the full scholarship), I was afraid to go to an HBCU. Having gone to a predominately white school for my entire life, there was a lot of pressure to prove myself. This was evident in my extracurricular activities -- from class president, to president of the Black Student Union, to business co-chair of the yearbook, to co-captain of the varsity field hockey team, to graduating cum laude and being one of the few black students to do so. As one of the few black students in my grade and in my school as a whole, I felt a responsibility to represent the black community and represent it well. I know this was silly, and somewhat unrealistic of me, given that one black person cannot possibly stand for all blacks everywhere. However, I had a feeling that even as I assimilated so seamlessly into the white culture that had adopted me at age six, I had to protect what was inherently mine. Though it may seem that "best" is a relative term, in my white world, proving myself did not equate to HBCUs with names that most of my classmates had never heard of. Proving myself meant outdoing average, even when my white counterparts were doing average. Average was OK for them, but I had to be extraordinary.
Marybeth: Did wanting to prove that you could make it in a white world serve as one of the reasons you applied to Ivy League institutions?
Yvonne: It occurred to me that if wanted to be competitive with my white counterparts, I would have to speak their language. It was then that my dreams of basking in my blackness and escaping my lifelong role as the brown skin anomaly were put on hold. While many of my black family and friends celebrated my acceptance into such an institution with such a longstanding history and relevance to the black community, to the white world that I was a part of, the HBCU that I sought to attend the following fall was illegitimate.
Marybeth: When you look back on your decision to attend Penn instead of an HBCU, what are your thoughts?
Yvonne: As I partner with you this summer, conducting research on the success stories of students at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), I have gained a new perspective on my fears and the feeling of illegitimacy that I faced when I was in the process of applying to college. I did not come to a final decision about which school I would attend solely based on the cost or the distance from my home or even how much I loved the institution. Much of my decision was based on the prospect of whether or not I would have access to certain networks, opportunities, resources, and most of all, job offers after I graduated. I felt that there was something powerful in the Penn brand. It would help define my destiny after I graduated. Penn is definitely the right school for me. I cannot imagine being anywhere else. This Ivy League school offers me the best of both worlds. My research this summer has reaffirmed for me the integral role that HBCUs, and all MSIs for that matter, play in the education system in the U.S. Furthermore, my research has led me to discover literature suggesting that statistically many HBCUs offer better post-grad prospects for African Americans than the post-grad prospects of minorities who graduate from predominately white institutions. Nevertheless, I know that my application journey is one that many can relate to, and it speaks to a bigger issue for HBCUs and MSIs at large -- the image of inferiority and illegitimacy in American higher education overall.
Marybeth: How can HBCUs counter notions of inferiority? There is a lot of data that shows that HBCUs have a significant impact on their students and you are right, HBCUs are responsible for sending more than their share of students on to graduate school. How can they attract students like you?
Yvonne: HBCUs need to play up their assets and not only their cultural heritage. They need to promote their educational promise. HBCUs should highlight their successes and find public outlets to make them known beyond African American communities. On the other hand, college applicants should embrace their own personal course of action (meaning, they shouldn't allow others' opinions and ideas to threaten their dreams). Though I am happy with my decision to attend Penn, the college process would have been much more smooth if I did not have so many nagging opinions coloring my thoughts. Likewise, to my fellow students of color, who, like me, went to top notch schools all of their lives, and actively pursued and excelled in being the best, I suggest being open to different definitions of "the best." What's best for some is not best for all.
College student choice is complicated and in fact, even more complicated for African American students who often feel conflicted due to the impact that their choice has on others - those in black communities and in their own families. Yvonne grappled with issues of prestige, peer pressure, stigma, racial immersion, and future networks. Her story is typical and reveals the complexity of college admissions and college choice.
Students choose to attend HBCUs for a variety of reasons, including academic programs, family legacy, location, price, and the safe and empowering spaces they provide. Yet, there is much competition from majority institutions. It is vital that HBCUs tell their stories of success far and wide so that students like Yvonne, even at a young age, can see the merits and benefits of attending them. In the end, she may have still have attended Penn but her decision would have been much better informed and perhaps she wouldn't continue to wonder what it would have been like to attend an HBCU -- the legacy of her grandparents.
Having said that, much of Yvonne’s fears and reasoning (during the process) points to how this country’s history and the current society in general induces and compounds such complex issues within Black people. As I was reading her comments I could not help but think of Franz Fanon's book "Black Skin, White Mask" when he spoke about the psychological trauma that placed upon oppressed people. The issues we deal with both internally and externally are so very deep. This is why when others say "oh slavery, that was so long ago..." with a "get over it" sort of tone, we cannot because the historical cord still strikes deep within us – which is clearly seen in some of the reader comments (“the world is not all African American,” “Regular schools,” “HBCUs have drama,” etc.). In 2012 the lack of understanding this factor, or HBCUs for that matter, is mind-blowing.
Many of us are so excited about mixing. We feel as sense of pride when we can "mingle" with others, except ourselves like there's something wrong with it. Many of the negative comments about HBCU are coming from black people. This is indicative of our way of thinking. I'm not saying every black person has to go to an HBCU, but don't act as if going to an Ivy League college is perfect because I knew for a fact, they are not.
Sweet deal there!
An HBCU does prepare students for the REAL WORLD. My kid has the academic and social foundation to be confident and successful in an all white, an all black or a mixed race environment ---just like my Yale kid does.
African-American students AND students of other races should consider HBCU's as viable, rigorous, nurturing schools that can provide experiences very similar to that of the Ivy League.
Since 1999, Morehouse has produced five Marshall Scholars, five Luce Scholars, four Watson Fellows and 2010 White House Fellow, Erich Caulfield. Notable Alumni in business, education, science, politics television and entertainment can be found here-----> http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Morehouse_College_alumni#section_2
Spelman is ranked among the nation's top liberal arts colleges by the U.S. News and World Reports. The college is ranked among the top 50 four-year colleges and universities for producing Fulbright Scholars, and was ranked the second largest producer of African-American college graduates who attend medical school. Forbes Magazine ranks Spelman among the nation's top ten best women's colleges. Moreover, Spelman has been ranked the #1 regional college in the South by the U.S. News and World Reports and is ranked amongthe Best 373 Colleges and Universities in America bythe Princeton Review. Notable alumni can be found here ------> http://www.ranker.com/list/notable-spelman-college-alumni-and-students/reference
This is truth.
I know blackness when I see it. Just because one goes to a HBCU does not mean they place importance on race. There are a lot of reasons. If that was the case, various ethnicities would not attend HBCU. Just because it's a HBCU, doesn't mean there are ONLY black students. In fact, many non-blacks are attending and there are non-black faculty as well. As blacks, we see people from all places and backgrounds every day. We have to work with people from all places and backgrounds. Just because one attends an HBCU doesn't mean they don't have coping skills. It just means they want the culture that it offers. No shade, just saying.
Like I said before, about North Africans not really being black or white, it's the same with light skinned "black" people. At least, that's how I personally feel. You can think w/e you want. In terms of race, I think the appropriate term is multiracial. I don't understand why someone would want to deny a significant part of their ancestry, just to fit some blanket term. All that matters is that they're human, so I don't understand why they'd be so fussed about it
Ok, in your eyes, what does it mean to be black? I don't get what you mean by "I know blackness when I see it".
And thanks for your view on HBCUs. I have a better understanding of them now, even though I know that sort of thing just isn't for me