Black College Enrollment Drops, No Change At UConn

Students choose UConn based on its education, not on the racial distribution it has to offer.

In a Washington Post report released on Sept. 25, the issue of decline in black students enrolled at the 103 historically black colleges and universities throughout the United States was discussed, most of which can be found in the South.

These schools were "largely funded during the Reconstruction by wealthy whites as an alternative to universities that had shut blacks out," according to the report.

Some of the reasons given for the decline were aging campuses, "increasing competition from predominantly white schools that are trying to become more diverse, changes in black students' desires and the greater opportunities available to them in a society more integrated than that of their parents," according to the report.

For Ricardo Lewis, a 1st-semester biomedical engineering major, the decision of not applying to any black colleges was easy.

"I didn't apply to any black colleges because most of them didn't have the major I wanted to do-biomedical engineering," Lewis said.

Jasmine Robinson, a 5th-semester physiology and neurobiology major, wanted to attend Howard University in Washington D.C. for their medical school and also because she had family members who went there.

Financial aid turned out to be the reason Robinson didn't attend.

"They give you financial aid based on loans instead of grants, so I couldn't afford it," she said.

Dr. Willena Kimpson Price, director of the African American Cultural Center (AACC), graduated from Spelman College, a historically black women's college located in Atlanta.

"It's remarkable - even now, I am dazzled when I see Spelman in print," Price said. "It has a fabulous reputation as one of the best schools in the country."

Price pointed out that Spelman and UConn were both founded in the same year-1881.

"We just had a $2.8 billion allocation to our university and we are flourishing," Price said. "But black colleges are small colleges, founded in the deep south at a time when African Americans were not allowed to attend college and not given the same resources."

Price pointed out that even if black colleges are given the same amount of money as other schools today, they are still struggling to compete with schools that have been supported since the beginning.

"The article mentions that black colleges are having a tough time competing," Price said. "It's hard to catch up. It's hard to overcome history."

The article said another reason for the decline in enrollment was attributed to students who are "independent-minded black youths who don't feel as if they must be surrounded by other blacks."

Although Price interacts with many of the African American students at UConn through her position in the AACC, she said she doesn't meet a lot of students who had hoped to attend a black college.

"People come to get a good education that will prepare them for a good career," she said.

"Most people don't have the luxury to pick schools based on the cultural experience."