Hello Family,

Do you know whether HBCUs are Black owned?

Were they founded by Black People?

For that matter, give us any of the founding histories please.

Thanks in advance.

:heart:

Destee

There is a flaw in the question, as institutions of higher education are nonprofit institutions which of course means they have no owners. I gave some info about Howard University in another thread on Black institutions supported by Black people.

In HU's foundations orientation class, we are specifically taught that the school was essentially founded by the federal government and the majority of its funding still comes from that source today. The first graduating class was 4 white women, so it doesn't seem to have been founded by Black people.

http://www.howard.edu/longwalk/!longwal1.htm

HU was founded in 1866 by the First Congregational Society in Washington, DC. The first Black trustee, Highland Garnett, was not elected until April 8, 1867 and was not on the executive committee (therefore, his power was limited, especially since he was the only Black person and not on the governing committee....and of course this means all of the founding trustees were white).

Picture of General Oliver Otis Howard (http://www.howard.edu/longwalk/!longwal4.htm)

It is also important to note that public institutions are by defintion supported by the government (usually state). Private institutions have to raise their own funds, and still rely on outside interest for money (corporations, individuals, and other institutions). The irony is, that Howard is actually considered a private institution even though it is supported mainly by the government. Morgan State University, which is a public HBCU, receives low state funding compared to other Maryland public colleges and universities.

More info on HBCUs:

BACKGROUND OF HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/hq9511.html)
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/hq9511.html

Prior to the Civil War, there was no structured higher education system for black students. Public policy and certain statutory provisions prohibited the education of blacks in various parts of the nation. The Institute for Colored Youth, the first higher education institution for blacks, was founded in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, in 1837. It was followed by two other black institutions--Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania (1854), and Wilberforce University, in Ohio (1856).

Although these institutions were called universities" or "institutes" from their founding, a major part of their mission in the early years was to provide elementary and secondary schooling for students who had no previous education. It was not until the early 1900s that HBCUs began to offer courses and programs at the postsecondary level.

Following the Civil War, public support for higher education for black students was reflected in the enactment of the Second Morrill Act in 1890. The Act required states with racially segregated public higher education systems to provide a land-grant institution for black students whenever a land-grant institution was established and restricted for white students. After the passage of the Act, public land-grant institutions specifically for blacks were established in each of the southern and border states. As a result, some new public black institutions were founded, and a number of formerly private black schools came under public control; eventually 16 black institutions were designated as land-grant colleges. These institutions offered courses in agricultural, mechanical, and industrial subjects, but few offered college-level courses and degrees.

The U.S. Supreme Court's 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson established a "separate but equal" doctrine in public education. In validating racially dual public elementary and secondary school systems, Plessy also encouraged black colleges to focus on teacher training to provide a pool of instructors for segregated schools. At the same time, the expansion of black secondary schools reduced the need for black colleges to provide college preparatory instruction.

By 1953, more-than 32,000 students were enrolled in such well known private black institutions as Fisk University, Hampton Institute, Howard University, Meharry Medical College, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Tuskegee Institute, as well as a host of smaller black colleges located in southern and border states. In the same year, over 43,000 students were enrolled in public black colleges. HBCUs enrolled 3,200 students in graduate programs. These private and public institutions mutually served the important mission of providing education for teachers, ministers, lawyers, and doctors for the black population in a racially segregated society.

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education rejected the "separate but equal" doctrine and held that racially segregated public schools deprive black children of equal protection guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Plessy decision, which had governed public education policy for more than a half-century, was overturned. Despite the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown, most HBCUs remained segregated with poorer facilities and budgets compared with traditionally white institutions. Lack of adequate libraries and scientific and research equipment and capabilities placed a serious handicap on many. Many of the public HBCUs closed or merged with traditionally white institutions. However, most black college students continued to attend HBCUs years after the decision was rendered.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF HBCUs

Today, there are 107 HBCUs with more than 228,000 students enrolled. Fifty-six institutions are under private control, and 51 are public colleges and universities. The public institutions account for more than two-thirds of the students in historically black institutions. Most (87) of the institutions are four-year colleges or universities, and 20 are two-year institutions. In the past, more than 80 percent of all black college graduates have been trained at these HBCUs. Today, HBCUs enroll 20 percent of black undergraduates. However, HBCUs award 40 percent of baccalaureate degrees earned by black college students.

the banks own them...
banks of white men...
yes they are still blk run..
managed..
but colleges have trustees nowadays.. not owners..
i take classes at Hampton university...
which is blk run.. hbcu..
but everyone is in debt..
everybody has loans..
so who owns it..
the bank...
they own everything..
and it was founded by a white man.

Hampton's Heritage


HU Homepage

Hampton University has embraced the principles of "Education for life" and "learning by doing," since its founding in 1868 during the days of Reconstruction. Originally opening its doors as Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute to prepare promising young African-American men and women to lead and teach their newly-freed people, the University has continually sought to instill in its students the precepts of efficiency, character and service to society-standards that continue to remain both timeless and relevant.


Founded on the banks of the Virginia Peninsula by Brigadier General Samuel Chapman Armstrong, the 29 year-old son of missionary parents, Hampton became an oasis of opportunity for the thousands of newly-freed people gathered behind Union lines. With the aid of the American Missionary Association, the school was established to train selected young men and women to "go out to teach and lead their people," and to build a viable industrial system on the strength of self-sufficiency, intelligent labor and solid moral character.

In 1878, Hampton established a formal education program for Native Americans, beginning the Institute's lasting commitment to serving a multicultural population. Hampton's historic Native American education program spanned more than forty years, with the last student graduating in 1923. Recent initiatives have attracted Native American students to renew their ties with Hampton.

In the early days, support for the Institute came from the Freedman's Bureau, Northern philanthropists and religious groups, with the first classroom building erected in 1870. The first baccalaureate degrees were awarded in 1922. Two years later, the school's name was changed to Hampton Institute, reflecting college-level accreditation. In 1984, Hampton's Board of Trustees formally adopted a university structure and changed the name to Hampton University, which today represents the unparalleled standard of excellence in American higher education.


http://www.hamptonu.edu/about/heritage.cfm

Alcorn State University

"History of Alcorn
Alcorn State University was founded on the site originally occupied by Oakland College, a school for whites established by the Presbyterian Church.
Oakland College closed its doors at the beginning of the Civil War so that its students could answer the call to arms. Upon failing to reopen at the end of the war, the property was sold to the state of Mississippi and renamed Alcorn University in honor of James L. Alcorn in 1871, then governor of the state of Mississippi.

Hiram R. Revels resigned his seat in the United States Senate to become Alcorn's first president. The state legislature provided $50,000 in cash for ten successive years for the establishment and overall operations of the college. The state also granted Alcorn three-fifths of the proceeds earned from the sale of thirty thousand acres of land scrip for agricultural colleges. The land was sold for $188,928 with Alcorn receiving a share of $113,400. This money was to be used solely for the agricultural and mechanical components of the college. From its beginning, Alcorn State University was a land-grant college.

In 1878, the name Alcorn University was changed to Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College. The university's original 225 acres of land have grown to become a 1,700 acre campus. The goals for the college set by the Mississippi legislature clearly emphasized training rather than education. The school, like other black schools during these years, was less a college than a trade school.

At first the school was exclusively for black males but in 1895 women were admitted. Today, women outnumber men at the university eighteen hundred to twelve hundred.

In 1974 Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College became Alcorn State University. Governor William L. Waller signed House Bill 298 granting university status to Alcorn and the other state supported colleges. In truth, this law created a change of name rather than of purpose. Alcorn had already become a more diversified university. It provides an undergraduate education that enables students to continue their work in graduate and professional schools, engage in teaching, and enter other professions. It also provides graduate education to equip students for further training in specialized fields while they contribute to the advancement of knowledge through scholarly research and inquiry.

Alcorn began with eight faculty members in 1871. Today there are more than five hundred members of the faculty and staff. The student body has grown from 179 mostly local male students to more than 3,000 students from all over the world.

While early graduates of Alcorn had limited horizons, more recent alumni are successful doctors, lawyers, dentists, teachers, principals, administrators, managers, and entrepreneurs. Alcorn has had fifteen presidents with Dr. Clinton Bristow,Jr. becoming the sixteenth president in 1995. Of these, Dr. Walter Washington, who assumed the presidency in 1969, was the longest-tenured president in Alcorn's history.

Over the decades the college that once was a struggling institution has become one of the leading black universities in the nation. Alcorn State is now fully accredited with seven schools and degree programs in more than fifty areas including a nursing program. The facilities have increased from three historic buildings to approximately 80 modern structures with an approximate value of $71 million.

Alcorn will continue to serve the generations to come. Its distinct heritage will never be lost. Throughout the university's history, Alcorn has followed a carefully structured plan to retain and enhance the image and potential of students and to attract young people whose intent is to receive a quality education. Alcorn has served the state of Mississippi, the nation, and the world for over one hundred and twenty-five years."



MississippiRed

Are there any HBCU's that were started by Black people??? I think Tuskegee was...does anyone have any info on this?

I dunno.. why dont you go to thier website and come back and share with us:laugh:

Are there any HBCU's that were started by Black people??? I think Tuskegee was...does anyone have any info on this?

...I see not anyone bothered to come across my institution (http://www.ewc.edu):confused: , which started up in 1866. Not only that, Black folks started it.

CD