#support hbcus

[ithedondon20]

😂😂😂 this was me at the band picnic

[mmcdonald19]

Ralph Lauren x Morehouse University collaboration.

[mmcdonald19]

Ralph Lauren x Morehouse collaboration.

[juicymangosummerpeach]

I'm feeling some type of nostalgia watching this show 'Marching Orders'

& all that shit about losing weight is true...

i have flashbacks to band camp freshman year, crying the first day...

the rest of that season, i never shed a tear

[chlostertalks]

[darkskinhoe]

Im going back to the dorms :( i hate my school

[chlostertalks]

"The Celebration Bowl is the first attempt at reviving a MEAC-SWAC postseason game since 1999, but a welcome one for the two leagues, who don't have automatic bids to the FCS playoffs (the MEAC relinquished its bid to participate in this game; the SWAC no longer participates in the FCS playoffs)."

[camerondclarke]

Why Don’t Alumni Give Back to HBCUs?

Why don’t you?

I could talk about how HBCUs were established by white Americans in the wake of the civil war, how they were ostensibly a mechanism for the education of freedmen to provide them the skills for inclusion into mainstream society , but how they often served a more illicit function of indoctrination and social control of black folks (Just like everything else).

I could talk about how black educators and administrators were barred from leadership at these very same institutions, facilitating and perpetuating a culture of racism and white supremacy, at the very same organizations that were supposed “havens” for black intellectualism.

I could mention how these “historically” black institutions were never intended to be institutions of higher learning, never intended to practice Classic Greek and Roman Mythology, Advanced Mathematics, and Medew Netcher, all under the same roof. I could mention that their entire purpose was to cater to the needs of the American population for a skilled, yet still subservient and docile underclass, segregated from the general population. I could talk about how Howard and Hampton, Tuskegee and Xavier, were never supposed to be Universities, but were always intended to remain institutes.

I could talk about all of these factors fed into the fundamental Black Christian distrust of institutions outside of the church, that motivate affluent African-Americans to tithe to their local pastor, but stop them from saving money to aid their ailing HBCU.

I could mention the sad fact that many of the benefits of donating to an HBCU are intangible, and unfortunately, due to the chronic mismanagement and toxic bureaucracy that pervades so many of our schools - often immaterial. I could talk about alumni that have shared horror stories of missing transcripts, misplaced referrals, housing denials and scholarship rejections, of unreported sexual harassment and homophobic attacks, of undercurrents of misogyny and internalized racism, and administrative ignorance, or worse, indifference.

I could even mention those hundreds upon thousands of empathetic, yet pragmatic individuals, many of whom I could name, alumni who love their school and yearn to give back, yet don’t, feeling, in spite of their affection, a deep concern for the perceived direction of their university. They fear the waste in giving to a school that they believe might not exist in a few years’ time, or exists as something unrecognizable.

I could write about all of these things, and more, until my fingers wore down and your laptops died. The fact of the matter is, there are an infinite number of reasons, real and fabricated, justified and misguided, that a person would choose not to donate money to their HBCU. But before you ask me why alumni don’t give, let me ask you a question:

Have you?

Instead of telling me to tell people to give back, why not give back? I haven’t yet graduated, but I’ve already set aside a portion of my (very) meager savings to put my skin in the game. Now I’m not only a supporter in mind, but in body. I’m invested now, so I will do all that I can to ensure this school fulfills its mission: educating the smartest black minds into the smartest Black Leaders.

Support HBCUs, but more importantly, SUPPORT HBCUs.