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HBCUs Should Consider Refocusing

By Eric Brown
Black College Wire

Eric Brown

I first heard that Morris Brown College was in trouble a few years ago by e-mail. I was an officer of the Black Student Alliance at the University of Texas at Austin. The news shocked me. I instantly felt compelled to seek out solutions, but soon lapsed into complacency due to the magnitude of the problem and the limited scope of our student organizations.

Since then, the nation has been struck by the greatest natural catastrophe of our time. Hurricane Katrina destroyed millions of dreams, and once again dispersed one of America’s most cohesive African American economic communities. Black shop owners, artisans, musicians, entrepreneurs, land owners and educators face troubles reminiscent of the post-Civil War period, such as scattered families, devastated landscapes and economic depletion. Historically black Dillard and Xavier universities suffered enrollment losses, being located in a disaster area. Yet there is still hope for New Orleans.

So I am reminded to keep seeking solutions.

If Morris Brown, Dillard, Xavier and other troubled HBCUs are to reclaim greatness, they must begin to look carefully at the economics of their existence. In the past, blacks had an overwhelming demand for basic education while the law seriously limited the supply. Since then, the U.S. economy has evolved from agricultural to informational. But more important, the law no longer restricts who can educate black students. Furthermore, many consider today’s basic education a commodity.

As a student at the University of Texas, I learned that a market approach to education is a sound economic model. Historical giants such as Booker T. Washington and businessman A.G. Gaston were vastly aware of this. Therefore, it is time again to "cast down our buckets." New strategies must be implemented. An effective approach cannot exclude the importance of African American institutions or the economic impact of education as a product as well as a process.

The goal of HBCUs should be to restructure as research institutions. Many of the top research colleges and universities demonstrate a market approach to education. They first identify their core competencies and create research programs around them. They then focus their resources on the recruitment and retention of scholars who promote the success of those programs. And finally, they provide their product to industry on the open market - generally as licensed intellectual property providing the school with residual income that funds more research.

A restructuring plan for Morris Brown might include growing and developing doctorate programs in humanities, communications and business. Humanities would focus on documenting the African American experience through history, economics, philosophy, etc. A communications department would study the impact of hip-hop and the Internet through the performing arts, broadcast technologies, organizational behavior, etc. Programs in business would bring it all together by emphasizing market economics and globalization ethics.

There is a future for the African American university. It will require forward thinking and planning such as the proposal offered by Tom Joyner's company Reach Media, Inc. to purchase Morris Brown College. These institutions will rise from the ashes like a phoenix once they commit to the business of education.

Eric Brown is completing his undergraduate requirements at the University of Texas at Austin.

Posted March 27, 2006