“…u gotta love it…”-Nas, “U Gotta Love It”, The Lost Tapes, 2002
Education. Where would we be without it? Me, I have no clue. Sometimes I think I’d be just walking along U.S. highways and byways with a banjo singing songs for money. Ironically, that’s ALSO what I’d do if I didn’t have any student loans left to pay back. I told that to my father…he cried. Started uttering something about “wasted potential” as he hugged my mother and declared never to speak to me again and told her I wasn’t his kid.
I wonder what that was about.
Anyway, despite myself, I have managed to spend considerable amounts of time in bastions of higher learning. And through my travels, I have learned a great amount and come to question a great amount…specifically about our beloved HBCU’s. For the uninitiated, and HBCU stands for “Historically Black Colleges and/or University.” That’s what it stands for…but what does it mean???
HBCU(acronym). noun. def.-college generally located in southern region of United States (though can be found in Southwest, Northeast, and Carribean if you think about…they all black down thurr) without: air conditioned dorms, up to date computer systems, computer labs, computers, large pockets of white people, large pockets of black teachers, proper security, helpful administration, quick service, good service, graduating students, students, etc.
[***DISCLAIMER: 1) Some of these are generalizations...I know. 2) I graduated from an HBCU and would not trade in my experience for the world. I am merely pointing out some of the shit that ALL who have attended HBCU's have observed and shit that folks that didn't...think. 3) On the off chance that what I have said THUS FAR or IN THE FUTURE offends you...well...pucker up...you get the point.***]
I loved my experience in college. But honestly…there were some hassles I could really have done without. Let’s talk about a few shall we:
1) The revoking and eventual re-instating of my scholarship, not once, not twice, but three times, during my “matriculation” through my HBCU of choice. Every HBCU should have a shirt that says:
Books: $350.
Room and Board: $(Whatever the cost there is).
Tuition: $20,000.
Cost of remembering to always keep a copy of any piece of paper you have recieved since you THOUGHT about going to this school: PRICELESS, cuz if you don’t, it might cost you your education beee-yotch.
I STILL have 30 copies of the sheet that I had to get signed in order to graduate. Just in case!
2) Visitation rules. Good googly moogly. Do you know I have a record at my school because of this??? At 4am, myself and my roommate had something like 6 extra people in our dorm room, of which I think 4 were female. Our bogus RA called the police on us, who then traipsed us to the police station…and we even had to give a damn statement. Seriously…I could have SO done without this non-sense. I mean how is a completely responsible 18-year old supposed to get his swerve on within certain hours…I’ll tell you how…by being forced to become a better criminal, that’s how.
I’ll stop there. Let’s just say that there are a few things that I really could have done without. However, I still managed to enjoy myself beyond belief AND graduate in 4 years, which at my school is akin to winning the lottery. It just doesn’t happen so often. In fact, the day I graduated, as I looked upon the numerous students waiting to receive their academic accolades, I realized I didn’t know half the people sitting around me…then it dawned on me…nobody that came in with me was actually graduating with me…EXCEPT most of the people that came in with me for a summer program for “exceptional” students. Damn shame…they knew who we were before we did.
Now…
I’ve also had the fortunate experience of attending a predominantly white school. Granted it was for grad school, but I still was able to witness the differences. I’ll go through some of these quick because there is one major difference I want to point out and understand.
Here is what you can do at a white school: drink on campus, fornicate at any time of day on campus, burn your campus down, get your refund the same day you request it, get your refund, use a school paid for computer, use a state of the art computer lab, watch cable on campus, do everything through computer to include: register, request your refund, complain, hack into a bank, download music, receive great internet access, etc.
You get the point. In fact, I remember at my school, some of the students (ironically, every black grad student in my department was from an HBCU, and didn’t have nearly the complaints as the other students) complained about the chairs being wobbly in our brand new state of the art computer lab. AND DO YOU KNOW THEY FIXED THEM! My first thought was…damn, this lab comes with its own chairs?!?!?!??!?!?!!!!? You don’t complain about that. The things they complained about would never have crossed my mind. Time issues…one extra day for refunds. Try a semester bucko…in fact, I think my undergrad still owes me money from my freshman year. You think I’m getting that??? If you do, I have a polar bear with an allergy to the color white I’d like to sell you.
The biggest difference I observed however, and simultaneously the one that drew the most ire (you like these college words I keep spouting, huh?) was the administrations. At HBCU’s, there seems to be a HUGE problem wtih the administrations. From quality service, to speed of service, to access to service. I mean, shit, if you need something done, it is IMPERATIVE that you call a parent, which makes you look irresponsible to your parents. Everything just moves at a snail’s pace. I remember (and there is no exaggeration here) my sophomore year, I literally stood in line for 8 hours to register.
Eight hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are people still in line NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course I forged some great friendships this way, but still, why in the hell was the school so inept in registering students and subsequently handling student affairs???? And I KNOW this happens at other schools. At another school close by, they overbooked their student housing causing a demonstration and lockdown on the students. Good got damn! And this happened at some of the more prestigious schools so I can only IMAGINE what goes down at some of the smaller and less financially stable schools. I mean even the gotdamn website dedicated to HBCU’s (www.hbcunetwork.com) is slow, IF its even working at all. Shit, I’m still trying to get onto that site and I started YESTERDAY.
What is it about HBCU’s that fosters this kind of shit????? At my grad school…EVERYTHING was done on the computer. I registered in something under 5 minutes. EVERY SEMESTER. You could even order your books online. Prepare for graduation…online. I don’t remember EVER going to the registration office for any reason other than getting my student ID. It was like I was in heaven or something or at least Magic City in its heyday…when the strippers would…err…never mind.
And it isn’t all a money thing. Some of these HBCU’s cost as much if not more than these big state schools and have as much money. And yet the quality of the service is at best…PURE D SHIT. Besides, money doesn’t drive the quality of service SO much. And this is something I’ve wondered forever…why are our beloved HBCU’s run like this? Why is it okay?? And they wonder why alumni giving sucks so much…shit, they probably just lost all the checks. OR, more realistically, people had some shitty experiences there.
Really, I loved my school and advertise for them all the time…all the BS they put me through made me a better person and caused me to grow up. Without a doubt, it was the best 4 years of my life and I recommend the HBCU experience to anybody, especially specific schools to which I hold a little bit of bias towards. The relationships I built will last forever. But there definitely are some things that need addressing. Pronto…
Like…why come our security gates ain’t got no security???
You gotta love it.