Charles W Moore Ma

Reinventing Black Colleges & Universities Charles W Moore Ma

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8: 31)
At the turn of the twentieth century, there were over three hundred Black Colleges and Universities fully functioning as viable educational entities. Currently, there are only 103 in existence. The intellectual and moral question is what happened? Reinventing HBCUs is an honest, respectful, and spiritually thoughtful attempt at answering this question. Make no mistake about it: HBCUs are very important in the overall higher educational scheme of things in providing quality educational opportunities for 21st century societal needs.
Obtaining a quality higher education is not only secular, but it is also a spiritual-moral quest as well. The root meaning of the concept education is "educe" which, in turn, means to bring out the best in individuals in developing their minds, intellectual integrity and moral character. HBCUs were created, specifically, to serve Black students because Black students could not attend white educational institutions, and of course, HBCUs were created to serve the Black communities in which they exist. Dead-headed intellectualism will not get the desired positive results, thus, a more creative paradigm shift is absolutely necessary if HBCUs are going to survive in the 21st century. No doubt about it, HBCUs must be competitive in recruiting: administrators, faculty, staff, and students. This is an urgent matter since racial desegregation has provided noteworthy Black students with ever increasing higher education options from majority institutions of higher education. Therefore, in order for HBCUs to provide a holistic approach for their survival they must retool, redirect, and begin to farm, academically, a new targeted generation of potential students (academicians) immediately.
This book is a down payment opportunity perspective on how HBCUs might transition into "special-purpose-institutions" for urban community programming. Preserving HBCUs is a treasure trust must! Affectionately, the authors like to refer to HBCU preservation as developing "communiversities" because HBCUs cannot afford the luxury of becoming Ebony Towers. The opportunity has come and must be embraced because: "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Blacks should never forget that it was the benevolent Christian Faith of a number of White philanthropists that formed the foundational beginnings of many HBCUs. Selah!