Historically Black colleges and universities are experiencing a spike in enrollment.
According to reports, NBC Universal, Inc. Prince George’s County Bureau Chief Tracee Wilkins spoke with leaders from Howard University and Bowie State University about what’s behind the boost in enrollment.
Bowie State University President Aminta Breaux said their enrollment continues to rise every year with students from across the country.
“We’re seeing more students from the West Coast, the Midwest, from the southern states,” Breaux said.
Bowie State expects an eight-percent increase in enrollment this fall, while Howard University had a more than 15-percent enrollment increase last year during the pandemic.
“This has the potential to be our largest freshman class ever… certainly in the last 30 years,” Howard Provost and Chief Academic Officer Anthony Wutoh said.
The numbers are expected to be even higher this fall.
HBCU officials believe calls for racial justice, the attack on the U.S. Capitol and a few other factors influenced students.
“Across the country, those who never heard about HBCUs and didn’t understand the value that we bring to our communities now learning about HBCUs,” Breaux said.
There are so many valuable reasons to attend an HBCU.
Check in with your college or university below and share your HBCU pride.
During his VERZUZ battle with Rick Ross, 2 Chainz gave a shout out to many HBCU bands before rolling into his new single “Money Maker.”
The song features a sample of a marching band playing Guy’s “Piece of My Love” for the sample, layered against another rendition of the cut. Finished with some drums, Chainz and a feature for Lil Wayne. We can hear the full single below.
The coronavirus thought that it was going to come in and disrupt the ebb and flow on Black excellence, but just like much of the stuff that you hear from the White House … The Devil is a Lie! No one was going to let the graduation of the Class of 2020 go by without the extraordinary fanfare usually associated with Black colleges and universities.
So educators, celebrities, corporations and financial services shifted their attention to this weekend, to create an experience that will be memorable.
To start off, Essence will present a virtual #ShowMeYourWalk HBCU Edition commencement with Barack Obama as their keynote speaker. But after the grads hear from one of Black America’s most celebrated voices, they will get to jam with one of Black America’s most celebrated emcees and DJ.
May 16th at 9 pm (EST), people will be encouraged to rock over to Instagram Live to D-Nice’s profile to join the #ShowMeYourWalk HBCU Grad party.
Hennessy will be celebrating HBCU students who will miss the milestone of graduation this year by powering the jam. Appearances will be made by rappers Nas and A$AP Ferg — adding their own twist on getting the celebration right.
The strict rule that only those 21 and older are invited to set at Club Quarantine will be enforced by the virtual bouncer on the set. Maybe not, but it is super responsible for the brand to make mention that this is an adult online space.
They have teamed up with the good people at the United Negro College Fund and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to flush out the experience so that attendees can truly party with a purpose. People will have the opportunity to donate to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund benefiting public Black colleges and universities while they bob in celebration of the grads.
But what we know is that recent grads, most certainly the Class of 2020, will not have that disposable income to make a sizable contribution. So the jam has opened up a little more to include the Notorious Class of 1995, who are celebrating their Silver Anniversary, 25 years after showing off their walk across the stage. These Gen Xers come to the occasion to celebrate their own milestone of a quarter decade of excellence and to model how to donate (because let’s face it you have to see that before you do it). They are also going to show these younguns how to party. Let’s face it … 1995 was the year that partying went to the next level with Bad Boy, Uptown, Def Jam, Loud, and Death Row basically dominating the Hip-Hop scene.
A perfect pairing as the Class of 2020 is most certainly A$AP friendly. They are the 20/20 class of clarity and vision. Class of 1995 would have been the class that Nas would have graduated from had he not become a teen star with Illmatic and “Live at the Bar B Que.” The thought to tie generations this way speaks to the mission of the UNCF and TMCF: Legacy building through our history, present, and future.
This is not the first time that Hennessy has partnered with Black colleges. Through their Hennessy Thurgood Marshall Fund Fellows, they are equipping the next generation of diverse C-suite leaders through financial assistance, access and experiences.
As they enter the next phase this partnership, resources and access will be expanded to all HBCU students, including a first-ever online academy. Launching in June, the learning resource will be available to Hennessy Fellows and all HBCU students aged 21+. The program is designed specifically for diverse candidates, the platform pulls back the curtain to C-Suite leaders, offering transparent insights and resources to help students navigate corporate America. For more information click here.
Until then, “Happy Graduation” to the Class of 2020 and Silver Anniversary to the Class of 1995.
Since 2007, the Shawn Carter Foundation has been leading a charge to expose potential college students to the world of historically Black colleges and universities, also known as HBCUs, via a bus tour. This year’s tour campaign finds Jay-Zand mother Gloria Carter’s foundation teaming up Toyota with a stop at Washington, D.C.’s Howard University happening today (April 25).
The seven-day tour will take a select number of students from the New York Metropolitan region and give them insight into the life of a student at an HBCU. The group will meet with former students like themselves who received assistance from the foundation to attend school, along with working with college admissions counselors along the way.
For D.C.’s stop of the 11-college tour, students will meet Ms. Carter, WKYS radio personality DJ Angie Ang, who attended Howard, and Carmin Wong, a graduate student at the University of New Orleans and a former SCF HBCU tour bus attendee.
Learn more about The Shawn Carter Foundation here.
