Blacks in Higher Education. Orlando L. Taylor Vice Provost for Research Graduate Dean Howard University

Transcription

1 Blacks in Higher Education Orlando L. Taylor Vice Provost for Research Graduate Dean Howard University

2 Why Care About the Topic? Personal Competitiveness Social Justice/The Right Thing to Do It s s the Law National Workforce and Competitiveness Requirements

3 The Education of Blacks in Higher Education Has Always Been an Issue First Black College Graduate (B.A.): Alexander Lucius Twilight,, 1823, Middlebury College. First Black Female College Graduate: Mary Jane Patterson,, 1862, Oberlin College. First Black Ph.D. Recipient: Edward A. Bouchet,, 1876, Yale. First Black Female PhDs : 1921, Georgiana Simpson, Chicago; Sadie Alexander,, Pennsylvania; Eva Beatrice Dykes,, Radcliffe. First Black Rhodes Scholar: Alain L. Locke,, First Black College President: Daniel A. Payne,, 1856, Wilberforce University, Ohio First Research University President: Clifton Wharton, Michigan State, 1976 First Female Research University President: Ruth Simmons,, Brown, 2001.

4 Some Historical Milestones 1837 :Institute: for Colored Youth founded; later became Cheyney University : Ashmun Institute founded for Black men; later (1866) renamed Lincoln University (PA) :Wilberforce: University founded by AME Church, the first college founded by African Americans : Howard University's established. First Black law School, : Meharry Medical College,, the first Black medical school in the U.S. 1881: Spelman College,, the first college for Black women in the U.S. 1881:Booker T. Washington founds the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. 1944: Frederick Douglass Patterson establishes the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). 1954: The Supreme Court rules school segregation unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education 2003: The T Supreme Court rules that race can be one of many factors considered by colleges for admission because of the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.

5 Brown v. Board Viewed Through The Lens of Higher Education The Ruling Was Directed At K-12 K Education. However, Brown Was Built Upon Several Prior Higher Education Rulings. Segregation in Higher Education Was the de jure Norm in the Southern States in And, Northern Higher Education Was Often Characterized by Discrimination and Quotas in 1954.

6 The Significance of Brown Based on Rulings Involving graduate and professional schools. Gaines v. Canada,, 1938, U. of Missouri Law School: States must provide equal education within its borders. Sweatt v. Painter,, 1950, U. of Texas Law and Graduate Schools (Separate Black Law School was clearly unequal). McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents,, 1950, U. of Oklahoma Graduate School Segregation Segregation Within the University Is Unacceptable. Equality Means MORE Than Equal Physical Facilities.

7 More Significance of Brown for the Higher Education Community Many Plaintiff's Lawyers from the Academic Community (Mainly Howard Faculty, e.g., Charles Hamilton Houston and Howard- Trained Lawyers, e. g, Thurgood Marshall). Social Science Research Formed Legal Arguments on Behalf of Plaintiffs: The Power of Interdisciplinarity! Significant Advocacy By the Journal of Negro Education. Foundation for Desegregation of Southern Higher Education

8 Charles Hamilton Houston, Architect of the Brown Strategy 1929 First Black Dean of Howard Law School and NAACP Special Counsel Developed NAACP Legal Strategy Involving Systematic Attacks on Inequality of Teachers Salaries, School Transportation, and Graduate Programs 1931 First ABA Accreditation of Howard Law Any lawyer that is not a social engineer is a parasite on society

9 Social Science Citations in Brown (Footnote 11) K. B. Clark, Effect of Prejudice and Discrimination on Personality Development (Midcentury White House Conference on Children and Youth, 1950). Witmer and Kotinsky, Personality in the Making (1952). Deutscher and Chein, The Psychological Effects of Enforced Segregation: A Survey of Social Science Opinion, 26 J.Psychol. 259 (1948). Chein, What are the Psychological Effects of Segregation Under Conditions of Equal Facilities?, Int. J. Opinion and Attitude Res. 229 (1949). Brameld, Educational Costs, in Discrimination and National Welfare (MacIver, ed., 1949), Frazier, The Negro in the United States (1949), Myrdal, An American Dilemma (1944).

10 Brown and the Journal of Negro Education Editor, Charles H. Thompson Published Over 100 Articles and editorials on the ill effects of school segregation and on achievements of Blacks in education Journal published some of the groundbreaking research studies used in Brown & Other Cases C Published Howard Hale Long's 1935 article "Some Psychogenic Hazards of Segregated Education of Negroes," that documented the negative influence of segregation on personality development that later rocked behavioral science and the national social order.

11 Following Brown,, Desegregation At Public Southern Universities Began Major Integration in Southern and Border State Public Institutions Resulted from Subsequent Court Orders Silas Hunt, University of Arkansas-- --Before Brown, But Segregated Within Institution 1956 Arthurine Lucy, University of Alabama 1961 University of Georgia, Charlene Hunter and Hamilton Holmes 1962 University of Mississippi, James Meridith

12 Lessons from Brown It Is Undesirable To Disconnect Higher Education from K-12 K Education. Inclusion/Diversity Is Good for ALL Students. Social Science Research Can Impact Legal and Legislative Decisions, e.g., Brown and Grutter. Inclusion Must Involve More Than Enrollment. The Struggle for Inclusion/Diversity MUST Extend to Graduate Education.

13 The Status of African Americans in Higher Education Today African Americans are about 12% of the population and about 12% of all students enrolled in college; and almost 9 % of baccalaureates. Yet, Equity has NOT been achieved!!!!! 70% of all AA students are Female; Black males vanishing! HBCUs still produce a disproportionate # of graduates. Relative proportions diminish as degree levels increase. About 1/2 are in community colleges and 15% of undergrads are at HBCUs, and graduate almost 24%. African Americans are almost 8% of graduate enrollment; but about 60% Female. Receive only 6 % of master s s degrees and 4% of Ph.D.s. NOT exclusively a pipeline problem!

14 Most African American Graduate Students Are at Southern Universities

15 Diversity Within the American Professoriate is Embarrassingly Low About 600,000 full-time across 4,000 institutions. Faculty members are stewards of the disciplines, creators of new knowledge and prepare future leaders and professionals. But only about 40% are Female (Mainly in Social Sciences, Humanities and Education;20% Elsewhere). Only 5% are African American (Half in HBCUs). About 2.5% are Hispanic. Clearly, Faculty Diversity Has Not Been Accomplished!

16 Continuing the Struggle Remain VIGILANT and INFORMED of the FACTS! Seek new ways to achieving diversity in the face of new legal and legislative challenges. Close the revolving door by increasing attention to attrition and retention issues. Increase faculty diversity,, PhD production and pre-faculty preparation. Strengthen linkages with the K-12 K segment and community colleges. Beyond Numbers: The Battle for the Mind through the inclusion of African American perspectives throughout the curriculum and research priorities.