White Alumni

[currentevent]

I was wathcing some homecming clips on youtube, and I had a random thought that I never see white alumni at homecoming. I'm a youngster so I haven't been to many, but the ones I have been too, I never see white alumni tailgating or joining in on the alumni festivities. So, I was just wondering what are some of your thoughts on this? This is completely random I know.

[Bornthrilla]

Maybe some of us non-white alumni need to do a better job at making the white alums feel more welcomed at attending the homecoming festivities.

Never really thought about it before, but we are all Aggies.

[Aggie One]

I think its a good thing. From what I hear, the incoming freshman class will be include approximately 7% white students and 3 percent will be Latino, most from within a 50 radius of Greensboro. A&T is a bargain for a good sound education and a lot more middle class families are taking advantage of minority scholarships and grants to help reduce the cost of a college education in a tight economy.

Two of our family friends, from all places, Surry County, will have their kids enrolling in this fall on academic scholarships and grants and are already proudly wearing their A&T regalia and are proud of he fact they are now Aggie families when we were up in Mount Airy last weekend.

They are really excited about the facilities and the living quarters after they visited the campus with us back before Christmas.

I don't think it will happen overnight, but statistically speaking, I anticipate A&T being 10-12% non-black by the end of 2015.

Again I think it's a good thing. Diversity is almost always a good thing at school and at work.

[DECKS]

currentevent actually brings up a very good point. I've noticed this same phenomenon at most HBCU's. In contrast African American alumni from PWC's seem to stay connected to their schools.

[DOOMS]

Actually, most black alumni of PWCs that I know (including the wife, most of my high school classmates, and some of my family) don't stay connected beyond their circle of friends, and none go back. My wife only gives back to hers because they usually catch me on the phone and I donate on her behalf.

My assumption is most white folks don't want to hear from Rick Ross, Gucci Mane, or Con-Funk-Shun. I assume they don't want to run around in the Sheraton and buy kinte cloth fabric and Good Times juke joint pictures. I assume they don't want to walk through masses of drunken black folk smoking ribs and frying turkeys. Nor do they want to watch a football team they probably didn't go see more than twice during their four years at A&T (and depending on when they went to A&T, didn't win more than twice during their four years at A&T).

I can understand.

[bluehaze]

Apr 11, 2011 6:29:02 GMT -5 DOOMS said:

Actually, most black alumni of PWCs that I know (including the wife, most of my high school classmates, and some of my family) don't stay connected beyond their circle of friends, and none go back.

I agree with this sentiment...

[DECKS]

I have a lot of African American friends who are grads from UNC and they definitely stay connected to that school. I'm always getting invitations to go to a game (mostly basketball) with them.

[aggiebred09]

Schools such as Florida State, Georgia Tech and even Northern schools have been lobbied by their Black Alumni to create dual homecomings/ events to help provide more inclusion.

You see more Diversity at PWI games and events because most fans didn’t attend but support the teams or are either family of the team. The only difference is while PWIs can do events catered to brining back black students, It wouldn't seem right for A&T to do a White Alumni Roundup for Homecoming. Well we could but then I would digress to Dooms earlier comments.

[Aggie Monster]

Apr 11, 2011 7:38:27 GMT -5 bluehaze said:

Apr 11, 2011 6:29:02 GMT -5 DOOMS said:

Actually, most black alumni of PWCs that I know (including the wife, most of my high school classmates, and some of my family) don't stay connected beyond their circle of friends, and none go back.

I agree with this sentiment...

]

Same here, my wife went to a white school and she doesn't go back at all.

[The Professor]

Never understood the Black associations at PWC's . Like a mini HBCU within the school

[@ProfBellamy]

Apr 11, 2011 18:42:38 GMT -5 The Professor said:

Never understood the Black associations at PWC's . Like a mini HBCU within the school

Go to one, we need them. While working on my Masters, the Black Graduate Student Association was my lifeline and one of the ways that we continued to encourage Aggies to come out to the cornfields. (In addition to Dr. George Jackson, an Aggie) At the undergraduate level, the Black Student Alliance while their experience isn't like a mini-HBCU within a PWI, they do provide a "safe space" in some ways to help us get through.

Also a supportive Office of Multicultural/Minority affairs is very important to fostering that enviornment.

[aggiebred09]

Apr 11, 2011 18:42:38 GMT -5 The Professor said:

Never understood the Black associations at PWC's . Like a mini HBCU within the school

Thats like saying you dont understand Black Greek Letter Organizations on a White Campus....

Minority Organizations on White Campuses are needed more so than they are at HBCUs.

[aggiejazz]

I am seeing more and more student Aggies who are white attending Homecoming but you see mostly alumni in the tailgate area.. In a few years, you will see more white A&T Alumni in the tailgating area.

The reason some alumni haven't thought about this issue is because they are black and HBCU homecomings have historically been all black, almost like white executives never think about "there are no blacks in the board room" issue.