The Importance of HBCUs

This week’s blog post was written by guest blogger, Brittany Burton. Brittany is currently a student at Howard University in Washington, D.C. as well as an entertainment and fashion blogger. I felt that it was time to hear what was on the minds of those in the Millennial Generation. After reading Brittany’s blog post, please go and check out her blog at http://brittanyb941.wordpress.com/.

When discussing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), I become very passionate. As an African American, I feel they are so important to the community. I believe that HBCUs help black students gain a sense of identity, learn more in depth about our heritage, better acquaints us with issues going on within the black community, and shows that African Americans can academically achieve success after high school. Having said that, almost a third of all doctoral degrees awarded in the sciences to African Americans, went to men and women who attended HBCUs as undergraduates.

The rich culture that HBCUs have cannot be found anywhere else. Almost completing my first semester of my sophomore year majoring in broadcast journalism at Howard University, I personally have learned so much knowledge about my people and what it means to be black in America. Growing up, I often wondered how people such as Sean Combs, Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. got their starts, and then I learned they all attended HBCUs. I believe that HBCUs are gold mines in the African American community because it is one of the only things the government has not taken away from us.