HBCU's WHAT DO AFRO-PUNKS THINK OF THESE UNIVERSITIES?????

[Trancypunkitty]

Hello my people,
We all know the stareotypes of these acclaimed universities, both the negative and the positive.
My question is..... What do YOU think?
Have any of you gone to an HBCU?
Know someone who has?
Would you recommend it?
I want to know specifically because prior to this year, I would have never even considered it, but I have come to a totally different conclusion about them.
sooooo
don't leave me hanging, I want to hear from y'all!!!!!
~MAni

[Ghettopunkrocker]

A school is a school, it all depends on who's the admin. But check out School Daze, it might give you a clue on some experiences.

[Kaos Blac]

Ghettopunkrocker said:

A school is a school, it all depends on who's the admin. But check out School Daze, it might give you a clue on some experiences.

LOL. School days. LOL. Tisha Campbell and that big ol' head.


I don't know what could of been since i never went to one. I met a few girls who attend HBCU's at afro-punk and they were dope as a group. The world is changing so rapidly and the black community is opening it self up to ideas that have been lost from time to time, i.e. from fashion, to musical expression. I also agree with dwayne about there not being a difference between HBCU and other campuses. Its only a matter of supporting the people you come from and who are around you.

[jahluv]

College is what you put into it - no matter where you are. You need to decide what are your priorities - social vs academic. Another thing to consider is that most, if not all HBCUs are pretty conservative. Things like gay/bi/queer student groups or "Afropunk" personalities might not go over so well with the buppies in training.

Good luck. Major in math or science so you can get a high $$$$ gig after college (joke, kinda...).

[Rosenda]

Excellent advice from JL. ^^^^^^^^^^

I do know many people who attended various HBCU's, including some Georgetown and Spelman people.

A good friend of mine from high school, who married not long ago to a good friend from their Univ days, she AND her mom are both Spelman ladies and very proud of that and their Delta affiliation.

I agree with the comment above about deciding your priorities and also of the fact that most HBCU'S communities are very traditional and conservative.

Another suggestion, if you are cool with that, and it's important to you to attend an HBCU for whatever reason: if you are planning on going for your BA and go right into getting your MA afterwards, you could do what some of my friends did.

They did their Bachelor's studies at a HBCU and then went to a different university for their Master's studies. If you are planning that far ahead, you'd get the bost of both type of environments to your benefit, Tracypunkkitty! Good luck.

[ibrother]

Both Dragon & I went to Prairie View A&M for our undergrad. I continued on & obtained my PhD from the school that was over PV. (TX A&M). Something I actually thought I would never do. (never say never) That is both get a PhD & attend TX A&M, who as undergrad didn't like the way the school treated us.

Going to PV was an eye opening experience for me. I had completely different expectations of what college life would be and PV wasn't it. I won't go through all the gory details. Just watch school days and know that more than half of the movie was true from my perspective.

I also agree with JL. College will be what you make of it as with life.

Black Dragon & I were rebels. We were listening to Fishbone & Rush, played in a band doing Sade covers and other music for the actors there & wore shorts to the Ms. Prairie View pageant reception. We were both engineering students & I wound up with a Sat morning radio show where I played "rock" music that turned into House & Hip Hop.

I would recommend going to an HBCU. Just make sure that you are ready. The world is definitely changing and many careers can be made with an associates degree.

Also check out 2020 vision & did you know for US educational perspective.

[PolarVibez]

I attended Hampton for a year and it was an interesting experience. You find out rather quickly were you fit in. After being miserable for about a semester I stumbled upon "my people"- the artist, the poets, the kids that wore funny clothes and listened to rock music, the quirky left of center girls, it was beautiful. I don't know if that's how it is for everyone, but I guess it's about finding those people you feel comfortable around. I would recomend that everyone at least try college. Whether it's an HBCU or not may depend on your pre collegiate experience. Did you grow up around Whites or Blacks? Like if your experience was one way, maybe try the opposite. I basically atteneded pretty diverse schools coming up but I still gained something from attending an HBCU.

[PolarVibez]

jahluv said:

College is what you put into it - no matter where you are. You need to decide what are your priorities - social vs academic. Another thing to consider is that most, if not all HBCUs are pretty conservative. Things like gay/bi/queer student groups or "Afropunk" personalities might not go over so well with the buppies in training.<</b>BR>Good luck. Major in math or science so you can get a high $$$$ gig after college (joke, kinda...).

I feel you on this but if I was a betting man I would guess that there are pockets of "alternative" people wherever you go. Sometimes you find them, sometimes they find you. Hampton was pretty uptight. Like a said, I was there a whole semester and was like..um.. so why did I come here again? But a bit of adversity is good at that stage in life. It helps you grow and when you start to find your "scene" if you will, that makes you appreciate the rebels even more.

[Daoud]

Oh boy, don't know where to start...I'll try to keep brief answers to your questions.

I went to Morehouse College in the AUC (Atlanta University Center) with Spelman, Clark Atlanta Unversity, and Morris Brown College in the late 80's to early 90's. I arrived right on the crest of media blitz that hit the campuses in film & TV and in print.

There was a lot of truth in SCHOOL DAZE & A DIFFERENT WORLD.

Going to an HBCU was one of the best experiences in my life, period.

I never learned so much casually about Black folks from across the globe that would otherwise take decades and constant expensive travelling & study.
How else could I find out about West Coast Hip Hop, Denver Black politics, Texas millionaires (yes Black), Kenyan natural resources, Haitian voodoun, Miami's Ghetto Style DJs, Chi-town gang culture, rural Alabama history, Atlanta GA social strata, Cuban music history, Black-Asian communities abroad, etc.? I was hipped to all this just sitting in the cafeteria and hanging in dorms listening to brothers & sisters talk about themselves.

The caliber of classroom education and challenges is unique with instructors who often are more understanding & suited for dealing with the the conflict Black students will face outside campus walls. I couldn't imagine being in a class of hundreds at a white college asking an instructor for help and realistically getting suitable assistance .

The level visiting speakers is unparalelled. At any time you could attend an event featuring anyone from Kwame Toure, Oprah Winfrey, Earl Graves, Spike Lee, Pearl Cleage, Toni Morrison, Dr. Ben Jochanaan, Dr. Khalid Muhammad, KRS-1, Bill Cosby, Dr. Angela Davis, Elaine Brown, etc. to anybody else you could imagine.

The social conflicts, lesser facilities, conservative administration, etc. were nothing but strengthening rites of passage that prepared me for dealing with a world that has little understanding, value or care about the greatness of people of color. Don't believe the bull about "going to Black school makes it difficult dealing with the white - multicultural - corporate world" nonsense. HBCU's lay a great foundation to deal with folks of varied backgrounds and set support systems.

Not all HBCU's, hell, BLACK schools are the same. Know what you want out of the experience and what the school provides.

Yes, school & college at all is exactly what you put into it. As fondly as I reflect on my times in college I'm also a big advocate for youth doing what's right for them and I feel college is not the path for everyone and often our community puts too much emphasis on it like, 'you're a failure if don't to this school...' or college at all which is rubbish.

Alternative scenes I do believe are within most HBCU's. The net & AP I feel are excellent for connect with like souls. I was on the school paper, in the Africentric ciphers, Muslim/5% ciphers, Rock / alternative music crew, Hip Hop crew, frat crew, film/TV media crew, youth mentoring, and still found time to date and hang out. The only conflict was 'where I was going to go today?...'

Connections in your respective fields are built & bonded for life in relaxed social environments that later bond you to people you can later do business with.


There's more pros & cons I can add on later.

[Daoud]

^^^word to the G, the frat/soror thing can be nuts.

I was lucky somehow that with the hype around my school, I felt no heavy pressure to join greek letter groups. There was a semi-anti-'greek' thing when I was in school along with a push for them to be more socially relevant. Nearly all the adults in my family (mother's side) pledged greek and were like 'don't sweat it & do you, but if you pledge join mine (omega)...' hahahaa.

Surprising many cats I know who pledged came out pretty balanced afterward. But yeah, some were warped beyond measure and others wrecked. One thing that's true from almost every family member, friend or collegue male & female who has pledged has told in confidence (and some publicly) that if they knew what they were going go through, they would have never done it.

[Daoud]

Also to add:

I was DAMN LUCKY to get into Morehouse when I did in '87. If I was year younger I most likely would have not have made it in 'cause the School Daze/A Different World hype from '88 on placed the AUC in high demand where dorms filled up and folks were moved to hotels and they had their pick of the best academic students which wasn't me, straight up. I wasn't a great student but I was enthusiastic.

It took me 5 1/2 to graduate which was near normal for House standards. If you really focus and don't get distracted by the social aspects (me), you can leave in a reasonble amount of time.

Our class was the last to come in during the ol' school Hugh Glouster era. Which was when the campus was not much to look at and you wondered "MLK and Spike came through this?" One thing was true was that those spartan conditions made you more resilient and survivalist. The people and the mission made the school, not the structure back then.

The administration & registration was hell. Fighting for classes, better food and student programs made us more seriously activist in any later realms we dealt with whether politically, education, business, etc.

[Trancypunkitty]

OMG!!!!!!
so much info, I feel all of y'all though.
THanks to all of you. I'm starting my college application process this year and I am going to apply to Howard and North Carolina ANT........ Howard is the only HBCU on the top 10 communication programs in the nation. North Carolina ANT is getting up there and I spoke to an alum who promoted it pretty well ;-).
Before this year I was so ignorant about the whole HBCU thing, I thought that they would be one sided and I figures that you couldn't possibly get a world view from attending one of these universities, from visits, research, and from people that i know that are attending now or have gone, I have learned that I was totally wrong.
My guidence counseler told us today that the emotions that we feel should really determine what university we want to attend because all the logic that we try to apply to the situation is just going to lead us into more confliction. Alot of my friends say that couldn't see me at an HBCU, alot say that could....... All I know is that I could see myself at one and LOVING it.
but PLEASE DO keep coming with the responses........
ONE MORE QUESTION:
Which path do you think is best for young black youth, as far as career choices in the future and over all success?


personally I LOVE the sense of community in these universities, and I love the fact that I will have a support system. My people have done things to support me my whole life, I never want to feel like I'm just thrown out to the dogs........I don't know, I wish I could explain it better.
THANKS Y'ALL
PEACE
~MAni

[Daoud]

Gotta add that though I was lucky, I ain't no dummy (duuuhhh...hahaha) Morehouse has had high academic standards from jump and I did decent during my 'epic' tenure.

I have to pump for CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY and their Mass Media program which educated filmmakers Spike Lee and Monty Ross (MC & CAU) along with actors Samuel L. Jackson & his wife LaTayna Richardson (MC & SC). They have an excellent communications program and it was headed by the brother who started the first HBCU college media program at Hampton University (also great). Most of Sean "Puffy" Combs' (also class of '87, what!) inner circle of business executives within his corporations were drawn from his Howard collegues.

As many have said, believe that no matter where you go it is what you put in. I cannot stress this enough and it is shown in most businesses and professions. Especially in media, what you do and who you know is what really matters and an HBCU is a good place to establish lifelong business connections with people you actually like and relate to.

If you care little about social environments that you have something in common with, go anywhere for school or just jump directly into the field if possible. But personally I suggest an HBCU with a track record in your area.