The Magnetic Pull of Historically Black Colleges

The Magnetic Pull of Historically Black Colleges

This article relates to Sky Full of Elephants

One of the first scenes in Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell takes place in Professor Charlie Brunton's lecture hall at Howard University. Howard is one of the oldest HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities), founded in 1867. Located in Washington, D.C., it has over the decades been a space safe from racial taunts and cruelty, microaggressions, and discrimination. In Campbell's novel, Professor Brunton inspires his students at a time when all the white people in the country have died in a mass suicide known as "the event." By default, HBCUs have become the de facto breeding ground for intellectual, spiritual, and social life.

Howard is joyful. "People laughed loud and broke out into little dances. They'd see a friend and shout them over all the way from one side of the Yard to the other. Greetings, here and there, collided in hand slaps and embraces that thudded chests and patted backs. Students flirted and smiled at each other, effortless as sunlight on a breeze. So much life and so much energy. Easy to forget that half the world died."

Sky Full of Elephants is a story about white absence, so there is a linear logic to this glimpse of a black university already historically familiar with white absence. For many black students attending HBCUs, it is the first time in their educational history they can exhale and not worry about "affirmative action baby" taunts coming left and right.

Decades ago, HBCUs, mostly located in the South, were less well-known than they are today. The '90s comedy A Different World exposed them to the larger world; the show took place at fictional historically black Hillman College. In the following decades, social media has been a willing partner in highlighting HBCU culture. Students post their experiences at football games, step shows, and dances. They showcase their political activism and social activities. The schools use their online reach to emphasize graduation rates and how professors are committed to their students' success. In recent years, applications to HBCUs have surged, with a rise following the Supreme Court's outlawing of affirmative action in college admissions.

I attended an HBCU because I wanted the experience of sisterhood and community. My grandmother's sister attended the same HBCU forty years earlier and I felt a sense of belonging and affirmation, of breathing similar air to the air my Aunt Edna breathed. I wanted to be seen and not mocked, judged, or reduced to a stereotype. I was tired of answering questions about my hair and if I tan or not and why do all the black kids sit at the same table in the cafeteria and why is the n-word off limits.

The New York Times identifies today's students' interest in HBCUs as cultural. "They belong to a generation whose adolescence was shaped not only by the election of the first black president but also by political and social strife that threatened the lives and liberties of Black Americans. For many families the embrace of historically black colleges has been influenced by concerns about racial hostility and students' feelings of isolation in predominantly white schools."

My family didn't have those concerns per se. My brother was at Georgetown and they were pleased by that, but my interest in Spelman was comforting to them because they felt I would be nurtured and supported. In the Georgia earth, I could bloom.

The data supports HBCU achievement. HBCUs are responsible for producing 40% of black professionals in engineering, 50% in education, 70% in medicine, and 80% in the judiciary. Seventy-five percent of black Americans with a doctorate attended an HBCU. Moreover, black alumni of HBCUs report a more favorable experience than black alumni of other colleges, with more saying that their professors cared about them as a person (58% vs. 25%), that they felt supported (35% vs. 12%), and that they had a mentor (54% vs. 48%). HBCUs also produce science and engineering degrees using less National Science Foundation grant money than PWIs (predominantly white institutions). Yet HBCUs are only 3% of all colleges and universities.

In Sky Full of Elephants, Charlie Brunton's lectures about electrical and solar power energize his HBCU students, particularly one named Gerald, who yells to his classmates, "That's why I love this class. I told y'all, Mr. Brunton be preaching."

The irony is that Charlie's students care more for America than he does. Having experienced racial bias within the criminal justice system, his inner soul is unchanged despite his HBCU professorship, which does still allow him something extraordinary. In this withering infrastructure with half the population disappeared, he can offer students hope.

Howard University School of Law in May 2023
Photo by Sdkb (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This article relates to Sky Full of Elephants. It first ran in the September 18, 2024 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.