Post by Freeze on Jun 7, 2007 11:10:20 GMT -5
It's long but DAMN is it worth reading. I had similar experiences in teaching my first year at Morgan and I know the same thing is happening at "T".
Source: US News
> >The once and future promise
> >Times columnist and editorial board member Bill Maxwell kept a promise to
> >himself, to become a professor at a small historically black college, to
> >nurture needy students the way that mentors had encouraged him as a young
> >man. After two years, he returned to the Times.
> >
> >By BILL MAXWELL
> >Published May 27, 2007
> >Ebony Horton, a natural-born reporter, landed a full-time job at the Dothan
> >Eagle. She did not, however, have classmates who shared her enthusiasm and
> >gift for reporting. Although Ebony found a good job, Maxwell is certain
> >Stillman College should have done more for her.
> >The conflict between my head and my heart over the future of Historically
> >Black Colleges and Universities is reflected in enduring scenes from my two
> >years of teaching at Alabama's Stillman College.
> >
> >There were the young men who hung out at the entrance gates of the small
> >Tuscaloosa school and had no interest in learning. They represented my
> >frustration with too many students who arrived on campus unprepared for
> >college, who failed to attend class or buy the textbooks, who refused to
> >complete the assignments and who forced professors to coddle them.
> >
> >Then there were those few dedicated students who saw Stillman as their only
> >path to a brighter future. There was the young single mother who worked
> >full-time at night and struggled to stay awake in class, the unpolished
> >journalist eager to improve and find work at a newspaper, the young man who
> >turned himself into an expert on President Bush's campaign speeches and
> >dared to stand out from the hip-hop culture around him.
> >
> >One group leads me to question whether historically black colleges are
> >worth saving. The other is an inspiration and symbolizes why these
> >institutions still are vital for many young people struggling to build
> >productive lives.
> >
> >Nearly a year after leaving the campus, I am only now resolving the
> >conflict in my own mind.
> >
> >Glory years are gone, but ..
> >
> >Undeniably, the picture is bleak for many historically black colleges.
> >There are more options for high-achieving black students, and integration
> >has left these schools with diminished but more difficult roles in higher
> >education.
> >
> >The situation was different before the 1964 Civil Rights Act, when a degree
> >from one of these schools was the primary route to respectability, success
> >and the good life for black Americans. Back then, they enrolled most black
> >college students and were responsible for the bulk of the black middle
> >class.
> >
> >The glory years are long gone, especially at the smallest of the 39 private
> >schools that receive money and other support from the United Negro College
> >Fund. Majority white campuses seeking ethnically diverse student
> >populations are enrolling many of the nation's best black students.
> >
> >Now only 1 in 5 black students earn bachelor's degrees from historically
> >black schools, which have increasingly become dependent upon marginal
> >students from poor families. Two-thirds of HBCU students receive federally
> >funded Pell Grants, aimed at families earning less than $40, 000 annually.
> >More than half of the students receive those grants at every HBCU except at
> >13 of the best schools, such as Spelman, Howard and Morehouse.
> >
> >Studies show schools with a high number of Pell recipients tend to have low
> >admission standards, and the reasons for their low graduation rates are
> >well-documented. Most low-income students have parents who did not attend
> >college, which often signals that their homes have few books or other
> >reading materials. Many of the students never develop a love of learning,
> >and they tend to perform poorly in class and on standardized tests.
> >
> >The statistics reflect my experience as a professor between 2004 and 2006
> >at Stillman, which had fewer than 1, 000 students. Most of my students
> >would not study, regularly turn in their homework on time or read the
> >assigned material. I walked grumbling students to the bookstore to try to
> >force them to buy their required textbooks.
> >
> >These students lacked the intellectual vigor taken for granted on
> >traditional campuses. They did not know what or whom to respect. For many,
> >the rappers Bow Wow and 50 Cent were at least as important to black
> >achievement as the late Ralph Bunche, the first black to win a Nobel Peace
> >Prize, and Zora Neale Hurston, the great novelist.
> >
> >In time, I realized that my standards were too high for the quality of
> >student I had to teach. Most simply were not prepared for college-level
> >work, and I was not professionally trained for the intense remediation they
> >needed and deserved.
> >
> >Many HBCUs, including Stillman, lack the resources and money to assist
> >these students with effective remediation. These students naturally find
> >friends on campus who share their streetwise, anti-intellectual views and
> >behavior. They lose interest in education or become so overwhelmed they
> >leave school altogether.
> >
> >Only a handful of HBCUs, including Fisk University in Tennessee, Spelman
> >College in Atlanta, Claflin University in South Carolina and Miles College
> >in Birmingham, graduate more than half their students (The graduation rate
> >at Florida A&M is 33 percent). These schools funnel large sums of money
> >into remediation, advising and counseling. They also offer small classes so
> >students have easy access to their professors.
> >
> >Others, such as Southern University in New Orleans, Allen University in
> >South Carolina and Stillman, graduate less than 30 percent of their
> >students.
> >
> >As the number and quality of students drop, historically black colleges
> >cannot depend as they once did on the financial generosity of their alumni.
> >The problem is compounded by the reality that many corporations and
> >foundations scaled back their philanthropic efforts following the 2000
> >economic downturn. Many donors still are not as generous as they once were,
> >and struggling HBCUs have been hit especially hard.
> >
> >Stillman president Ernest McNealey regularly told this joke: "I have a very
> >large tin cup ... and I'm constantly running through airports with my tin
> >cup, and wherever the plane lands; I will go to the tallest building and
> >work my way from the penthouse on down to the garbage unit with my tin cup.
> >And whether it's the CEO or the janitor, I will hear this long story about
> >the declining stock market."
> >
> >It does not help that too many black colleges have serious management
> >issues. The media has regularly reported academic, financial or
> >administrative problems at schools such as Morris Brown in Georgia,
> >Lemoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Grambling State in Louisiana, Edward
> >Waters in Jacksonville and Florida A&M in Tallahassee.
> >
> >The numbers for many historically black colleges are not encouraging.
> >Declining enrollments, loose admission standards and low graduation rates
> >produce ever-tighter budgets, less reliable alumni networks and grimmer
> >futures.
> >
> >Excellence by the handful
> >
> >Yet I cannot turn my back on these schools. I cannot forget what they did
> >for me many years ago, and I cannot forget the handful of dedicated
> >students at Stillman who were determined to succeed even in the face of the
> >school's considerable shortcomings.
> >
> >All of my public school teachers were HBCU alumni, and I admired them. My
> >sisters graduated from HBCUs, Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach and Florida
> >Memorial in Miami. Bernard Irving, my high school football coach, graduated
> >from Wiley College in Texas and was responsible for my attending that
> >school. I went there from 1963 to 1966, when I joined the U.S. Marine
> >Corps. After I was discharged from the Corps in 1969, I went to
> >Bethune-Cookman, where I graduated with a double major in English and
> >history in 1971.
> >
> >Just as those schools provided me with an opportunity, I tried to create
> >the same chances for my most engaged students at Stillman. I had a few
> >successes, but I mostly fell short.
> >
> >A researcher for the Education Trust, an independent policy group, said in
> >2005: "Instead of a certain kind of student dragging down some
> >institutions, we could just as easily argue that some institutions are
> >dragging down a certain kind of student."
> >
> >I found that to be true. I had a handful of excellent journalism students
> >at Stillman who all had SAT scores below 1, 000. Ebony Horton, for example,
> >was a natural-born reporter. She had an eye for a good story, knew how to
> >find the right sources and was a better-than-average writer. She did not,
> >however, have classmates who shared her enthusiasm and gift for reporting.
> >As a result, she bowed to peer pressure: She often cut corners, handed in
> >flawed copy and missed deadlines more times than I liked.
> >
> >Because she had natural skills, Ebony interned at the Tuscaloosa News and
> >after graduation landed a full-time job with the Dothan Eagle as a general
> >assignment reporter. Although Ebony found a good job, I am certain that we
> >ill-served her at Stillman because we lacked a critical mass of motivated,
> >competent students and the right facilities that would have enhanced her
> >skills.
> >
> >The same was true of Cedric Baker. Even before he graduated, the Tuscaloosa
> >News hired him as a part-time sports reporter, where he had a byline,
> >sometimes two, each week. Ironically, he is on Stillman's public relations
> >staff today. I regret that we did not have an environment that could
> >inspire Cedric to produce his best work.
> >
> >Three of my other promising students withdrew after only one semester. One
> >of them, a young man from Mississippi who was a talented reporter and
> >photographer, said: "I can't stand it here, Mr. Maxwell. Nobody's serious.
> >The students don't study. They just bull$h*t all the time, and the
> >administration doesn't care.. It's all messed up."
> >
> >He gave up on an HBCU and transferred to Millsaps College in Mississippi..
> >I pleaded with him and the others to stay. I did not want to lose such
> >potential. Although they came to Stillman with low standardized test
> >scores, they were smart and highly motivated. They were precisely the kind
> >of students most HBCUs were meant to serve: those who otherwise would not
> >see a college campus.
> >
> >These were young people who needed the second chance the HBCU can provide.
> >As I watched these students languish, I knew I was not delivering a quality
> >college experience to young people who deserved better.
> >
> >Because of our lack of money, inadequate services and incompetent
> >leadership, we were not giving these bright young people the same quality
> >of education they would have received 2 miles away at the University of
> >Alabama - which would not have accepted most of them because of their low
> >test scores.
> >
> >Make some hard choices
> >
> >In the end, the numbers signaling the decline of historically black
> >colleges cannot trump my affection for these schools. I appreciate what
> >they did for me, and I appreciate the good they are doing today for their
> >most dedicated students. Despite my disappointment at Stillman and the
> >crises at many HBCUs, these schools still have an important role to play in
> >society.
> >
> >But to continue to play that important role, they must show huge
> >improvement and make some hard choices.
> >
> >The top-tier schools will continue to attract good students and remain
> >vibrant, financially viable institutions. Among those familiar names are
> >Spelman College and Morehouse College in Atlanta and Howard University in
> >Washington, D.C., each a member of the so-called "Black Ivy League."
> >
> >But some schools are so academically inferior and so poorly serving their
> >students they should be shut down. Others, such as Lemoyne-Owen, which is
> >millions of dollars in debt, are in such financial trouble that the
> >operations should be handed over to independent agencies.
> >
> >A few black colleges should merge into regional campuses. In Alabama,
> >Stillman College and Talladega College are notable examples. Together, they
> >could create a well-funded regional campus to serve thousands of students.
> >
> >Because of students such as Ebony Horton, Cedric Baker and others, most
> >historically black institutions still serve a valuable role. Although these
> >students are intelligent, motivated, ambitious and morally decent, their
> >low standardized test scores and low family incomes prevent them from
> >attending most traditional schools. But they deserve a chance to discover
> >their self-worth and mature into responsible adults, just as I did.
> >
> >At Stillman, there were not enough of these dedicated students to overcome
> >my own frustrations. Yet despite my personal disappointments, I am not
> >willing to write off historically black colleges.
> >
> >For the good they still do and the opportunities they still provide for
> >deserving students with few other options, the majority of HBCUs are worth
> >saving. It will take a lot of effort, but it is too important not to try.
> >
> >
> >
> >Two years at Stillman
> >
> >May 13: The first year: Trying to make a difference.
> >
> >May 20: The second year: A bad situation gets worse.
> >
> >Today: The epilogue: Should historically black colleges be saved?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >School
> >
> >
> >6-year graduation rate
> >
> >
> >
> >Spelman
> >
> >
> >74%
> >
> >
> >
> >Miles
> >
> >
> >72%
> >
> >
> >
> >Claflin
> >
> >
> >68%
> >
> >
> >
> >Howard
> >
> >
> >67%
> >
> >
> >
> >Morehouse
> >
> >
> >61%
> >
> >
> >
> >Fisk
> >
> >
> >58%
> >
> >
> >
> >Hampton
> >
> >
> >55%
> >
> >
> >
> >Bethune- Cookman
> >
> >
> >35%
> >
> >
> >
> >Grambling State
> >
> >
> >34%
> >
> >
> >
> >Florida A&M
> >
> >
> >33%
> >
> >
> >
> >Stillman
> >
> >
> >29%
> >
> >
> >
> >Allen
> >
> >
> >23%
> >
> >
> >
> >Southern University- New Orleans
> >
> >
> >22%
> >
> >
> >
> >LeMoyne-Owen
> >
> >
> >18%
> >
> >
> >
> >Edward Waters
> >
> >
> >13%
> >
> >SOURCE: U.S. News
Source: US News
> >The once and future promise
> >Times columnist and editorial board member Bill Maxwell kept a promise to
> >himself, to become a professor at a small historically black college, to
> >nurture needy students the way that mentors had encouraged him as a young
> >man. After two years, he returned to the Times.
> >
> >By BILL MAXWELL
> >Published May 27, 2007
> >Ebony Horton, a natural-born reporter, landed a full-time job at the Dothan
> >Eagle. She did not, however, have classmates who shared her enthusiasm and
> >gift for reporting. Although Ebony found a good job, Maxwell is certain
> >Stillman College should have done more for her.
> >The conflict between my head and my heart over the future of Historically
> >Black Colleges and Universities is reflected in enduring scenes from my two
> >years of teaching at Alabama's Stillman College.
> >
> >There were the young men who hung out at the entrance gates of the small
> >Tuscaloosa school and had no interest in learning. They represented my
> >frustration with too many students who arrived on campus unprepared for
> >college, who failed to attend class or buy the textbooks, who refused to
> >complete the assignments and who forced professors to coddle them.
> >
> >Then there were those few dedicated students who saw Stillman as their only
> >path to a brighter future. There was the young single mother who worked
> >full-time at night and struggled to stay awake in class, the unpolished
> >journalist eager to improve and find work at a newspaper, the young man who
> >turned himself into an expert on President Bush's campaign speeches and
> >dared to stand out from the hip-hop culture around him.
> >
> >One group leads me to question whether historically black colleges are
> >worth saving. The other is an inspiration and symbolizes why these
> >institutions still are vital for many young people struggling to build
> >productive lives.
> >
> >Nearly a year after leaving the campus, I am only now resolving the
> >conflict in my own mind.
> >
> >Glory years are gone, but ..
> >
> >Undeniably, the picture is bleak for many historically black colleges.
> >There are more options for high-achieving black students, and integration
> >has left these schools with diminished but more difficult roles in higher
> >education.
> >
> >The situation was different before the 1964 Civil Rights Act, when a degree
> >from one of these schools was the primary route to respectability, success
> >and the good life for black Americans. Back then, they enrolled most black
> >college students and were responsible for the bulk of the black middle
> >class.
> >
> >The glory years are long gone, especially at the smallest of the 39 private
> >schools that receive money and other support from the United Negro College
> >Fund. Majority white campuses seeking ethnically diverse student
> >populations are enrolling many of the nation's best black students.
> >
> >Now only 1 in 5 black students earn bachelor's degrees from historically
> >black schools, which have increasingly become dependent upon marginal
> >students from poor families. Two-thirds of HBCU students receive federally
> >funded Pell Grants, aimed at families earning less than $40, 000 annually.
> >More than half of the students receive those grants at every HBCU except at
> >13 of the best schools, such as Spelman, Howard and Morehouse.
> >
> >Studies show schools with a high number of Pell recipients tend to have low
> >admission standards, and the reasons for their low graduation rates are
> >well-documented. Most low-income students have parents who did not attend
> >college, which often signals that their homes have few books or other
> >reading materials. Many of the students never develop a love of learning,
> >and they tend to perform poorly in class and on standardized tests.
> >
> >The statistics reflect my experience as a professor between 2004 and 2006
> >at Stillman, which had fewer than 1, 000 students. Most of my students
> >would not study, regularly turn in their homework on time or read the
> >assigned material. I walked grumbling students to the bookstore to try to
> >force them to buy their required textbooks.
> >
> >These students lacked the intellectual vigor taken for granted on
> >traditional campuses. They did not know what or whom to respect. For many,
> >the rappers Bow Wow and 50 Cent were at least as important to black
> >achievement as the late Ralph Bunche, the first black to win a Nobel Peace
> >Prize, and Zora Neale Hurston, the great novelist.
> >
> >In time, I realized that my standards were too high for the quality of
> >student I had to teach. Most simply were not prepared for college-level
> >work, and I was not professionally trained for the intense remediation they
> >needed and deserved.
> >
> >Many HBCUs, including Stillman, lack the resources and money to assist
> >these students with effective remediation. These students naturally find
> >friends on campus who share their streetwise, anti-intellectual views and
> >behavior. They lose interest in education or become so overwhelmed they
> >leave school altogether.
> >
> >Only a handful of HBCUs, including Fisk University in Tennessee, Spelman
> >College in Atlanta, Claflin University in South Carolina and Miles College
> >in Birmingham, graduate more than half their students (The graduation rate
> >at Florida A&M is 33 percent). These schools funnel large sums of money
> >into remediation, advising and counseling. They also offer small classes so
> >students have easy access to their professors.
> >
> >Others, such as Southern University in New Orleans, Allen University in
> >South Carolina and Stillman, graduate less than 30 percent of their
> >students.
> >
> >As the number and quality of students drop, historically black colleges
> >cannot depend as they once did on the financial generosity of their alumni.
> >The problem is compounded by the reality that many corporations and
> >foundations scaled back their philanthropic efforts following the 2000
> >economic downturn. Many donors still are not as generous as they once were,
> >and struggling HBCUs have been hit especially hard.
> >
> >Stillman president Ernest McNealey regularly told this joke: "I have a very
> >large tin cup ... and I'm constantly running through airports with my tin
> >cup, and wherever the plane lands; I will go to the tallest building and
> >work my way from the penthouse on down to the garbage unit with my tin cup.
> >And whether it's the CEO or the janitor, I will hear this long story about
> >the declining stock market."
> >
> >It does not help that too many black colleges have serious management
> >issues. The media has regularly reported academic, financial or
> >administrative problems at schools such as Morris Brown in Georgia,
> >Lemoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Grambling State in Louisiana, Edward
> >Waters in Jacksonville and Florida A&M in Tallahassee.
> >
> >The numbers for many historically black colleges are not encouraging.
> >Declining enrollments, loose admission standards and low graduation rates
> >produce ever-tighter budgets, less reliable alumni networks and grimmer
> >futures.
> >
> >Excellence by the handful
> >
> >Yet I cannot turn my back on these schools. I cannot forget what they did
> >for me many years ago, and I cannot forget the handful of dedicated
> >students at Stillman who were determined to succeed even in the face of the
> >school's considerable shortcomings.
> >
> >All of my public school teachers were HBCU alumni, and I admired them. My
> >sisters graduated from HBCUs, Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach and Florida
> >Memorial in Miami. Bernard Irving, my high school football coach, graduated
> >from Wiley College in Texas and was responsible for my attending that
> >school. I went there from 1963 to 1966, when I joined the U.S. Marine
> >Corps. After I was discharged from the Corps in 1969, I went to
> >Bethune-Cookman, where I graduated with a double major in English and
> >history in 1971.
> >
> >Just as those schools provided me with an opportunity, I tried to create
> >the same chances for my most engaged students at Stillman. I had a few
> >successes, but I mostly fell short.
> >
> >A researcher for the Education Trust, an independent policy group, said in
> >2005: "Instead of a certain kind of student dragging down some
> >institutions, we could just as easily argue that some institutions are
> >dragging down a certain kind of student."
> >
> >I found that to be true. I had a handful of excellent journalism students
> >at Stillman who all had SAT scores below 1, 000. Ebony Horton, for example,
> >was a natural-born reporter. She had an eye for a good story, knew how to
> >find the right sources and was a better-than-average writer. She did not,
> >however, have classmates who shared her enthusiasm and gift for reporting.
> >As a result, she bowed to peer pressure: She often cut corners, handed in
> >flawed copy and missed deadlines more times than I liked.
> >
> >Because she had natural skills, Ebony interned at the Tuscaloosa News and
> >after graduation landed a full-time job with the Dothan Eagle as a general
> >assignment reporter. Although Ebony found a good job, I am certain that we
> >ill-served her at Stillman because we lacked a critical mass of motivated,
> >competent students and the right facilities that would have enhanced her
> >skills.
> >
> >The same was true of Cedric Baker. Even before he graduated, the Tuscaloosa
> >News hired him as a part-time sports reporter, where he had a byline,
> >sometimes two, each week. Ironically, he is on Stillman's public relations
> >staff today. I regret that we did not have an environment that could
> >inspire Cedric to produce his best work.
> >
> >Three of my other promising students withdrew after only one semester. One
> >of them, a young man from Mississippi who was a talented reporter and
> >photographer, said: "I can't stand it here, Mr. Maxwell. Nobody's serious.
> >The students don't study. They just bull$h*t all the time, and the
> >administration doesn't care.. It's all messed up."
> >
> >He gave up on an HBCU and transferred to Millsaps College in Mississippi..
> >I pleaded with him and the others to stay. I did not want to lose such
> >potential. Although they came to Stillman with low standardized test
> >scores, they were smart and highly motivated. They were precisely the kind
> >of students most HBCUs were meant to serve: those who otherwise would not
> >see a college campus.
> >
> >These were young people who needed the second chance the HBCU can provide.
> >As I watched these students languish, I knew I was not delivering a quality
> >college experience to young people who deserved better.
> >
> >Because of our lack of money, inadequate services and incompetent
> >leadership, we were not giving these bright young people the same quality
> >of education they would have received 2 miles away at the University of
> >Alabama - which would not have accepted most of them because of their low
> >test scores.
> >
> >Make some hard choices
> >
> >In the end, the numbers signaling the decline of historically black
> >colleges cannot trump my affection for these schools. I appreciate what
> >they did for me, and I appreciate the good they are doing today for their
> >most dedicated students. Despite my disappointment at Stillman and the
> >crises at many HBCUs, these schools still have an important role to play in
> >society.
> >
> >But to continue to play that important role, they must show huge
> >improvement and make some hard choices.
> >
> >The top-tier schools will continue to attract good students and remain
> >vibrant, financially viable institutions. Among those familiar names are
> >Spelman College and Morehouse College in Atlanta and Howard University in
> >Washington, D.C., each a member of the so-called "Black Ivy League."
> >
> >But some schools are so academically inferior and so poorly serving their
> >students they should be shut down. Others, such as Lemoyne-Owen, which is
> >millions of dollars in debt, are in such financial trouble that the
> >operations should be handed over to independent agencies.
> >
> >A few black colleges should merge into regional campuses. In Alabama,
> >Stillman College and Talladega College are notable examples. Together, they
> >could create a well-funded regional campus to serve thousands of students.
> >
> >Because of students such as Ebony Horton, Cedric Baker and others, most
> >historically black institutions still serve a valuable role. Although these
> >students are intelligent, motivated, ambitious and morally decent, their
> >low standardized test scores and low family incomes prevent them from
> >attending most traditional schools. But they deserve a chance to discover
> >their self-worth and mature into responsible adults, just as I did.
> >
> >At Stillman, there were not enough of these dedicated students to overcome
> >my own frustrations. Yet despite my personal disappointments, I am not
> >willing to write off historically black colleges.
> >
> >For the good they still do and the opportunities they still provide for
> >deserving students with few other options, the majority of HBCUs are worth
> >saving. It will take a lot of effort, but it is too important not to try.
> >
> >
> >
> >Two years at Stillman
> >
> >May 13: The first year: Trying to make a difference.
> >
> >May 20: The second year: A bad situation gets worse.
> >
> >Today: The epilogue: Should historically black colleges be saved?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >School
> >
> >
> >6-year graduation rate
> >
> >
> >
> >Spelman
> >
> >
> >74%
> >
> >
> >
> >Miles
> >
> >
> >72%
> >
> >
> >
> >Claflin
> >
> >
> >68%
> >
> >
> >
> >Howard
> >
> >
> >67%
> >
> >
> >
> >Morehouse
> >
> >
> >61%
> >
> >
> >
> >Fisk
> >
> >
> >58%
> >
> >
> >
> >Hampton
> >
> >
> >55%
> >
> >
> >
> >Bethune- Cookman
> >
> >
> >35%
> >
> >
> >
> >Grambling State
> >
> >
> >34%
> >
> >
> >
> >Florida A&M
> >
> >
> >33%
> >
> >
> >
> >Stillman
> >
> >
> >29%
> >
> >
> >
> >Allen
> >
> >
> >23%
> >
> >
> >
> >Southern University- New Orleans
> >
> >
> >22%
> >
> >
> >
> >LeMoyne-Owen
> >
> >
> >18%
> >
> >
> >
> >Edward Waters
> >
> >
> >13%
> >
> >SOURCE: U.S. News