The Supreme Courtโs decision to gut affirmative action will likely have devastating ripple effects for decades to come. Experts have predicted that the number of Black students enrolled in โhighly-selectiveโ schools will decline as a result of the ruling. But those schools arenโt the only options for Black students looking for a quality education.
Suggested Reading
St. Augustineโs University, a Historically Black University in Raleigh, North Carolina, says theyโre prepared to offer a place to students left behind by the Supreme Court decision. โOur education is quality,โ said Leslie Rodriguez-McClellon, Senior Vice President for Student Experience, in an interview with ABC 11, adding, โAt least 50% of Black teachers in this country are educated at HBCUs. We still educate engineers and attorneys.โ
Rodriguez says St. Augustineโs is expecting more students to enroll next year. โWe are looking at increasing and updating our HVAC on campus. Weโre investigating building more housing on campus, and weโre increasing the capacity. Our Information Technology infrastructure is being improved on the campus. So weโll be ready,โ Rodriguez told the local news outlet.
Rodriguez isnโt the only one discussing the role of HBCUs in a world without race-conscious affirmative action policies. Justin Hansford, director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University, told The Root that more funding should be going towards HBCUs like Howard in the wake of the decision โto fill the gap.โ If not, Hansford warns that college attendance among Black Americans could drop.
At the moment, most colleges are still scrambling to figure out how theyโll address this massive shift in the college admissions process. But for HBCUs, this could be an opportunity to reach students impacted by the decision.
Straight From
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.