Between my child and teen years of having both parents employed at different colleges and being the cute kid doted on by faculty and students, close friendships with people enrolled at Harvard, M.I.T. where I played on a softball team one summer, and Episcopal Divinity School, and personally attending a junior college, a four year college, and a flagship state university masters program I know my way around institutions of higher education. (It's the real world that confuses me.) But until my first semester in University of Maine's Higher Education program I had never heard of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. When I discovered their existence in Elizabeth Allan's Seminar I was fascinated and read all I could about them. They seemed to be so much more AWESOME than the historically white colleges and universities my lived experience was confined to. I wondered what it was like to personally attend one...
...until, through the magic of inter library loans, I was able to borrow Ayesha Rascoe's HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience. The title is pretty straightforward. Seventeen highly successful and proud HBCU alumni candidly describe those highly formative years. For some attending was a family tradition. For others it was their first time not being a minority in the classroom. All their narratives read like love letters.
One of the themes was the pursuit of excellence. Students were expected to put forth their best, to dream and dare, with both opportunities and the support to help meet the challenges.
Another was the closeness, the solidarity, the availability of support and empowerment under a wide range of circumstances. For all intents and purposes the campus community became family. Even after graduation they upheld this loyalty, joyfully reuniting each year at Homecoming.
Memories were made, not only in the classroom where gifted professors engaged students in assumption questioning and critical thinking, but in extra-curricular activities. Marching Band in particular elicited a lot of pride and nostalgia.
Each individual contributor shares their experiences and perspectives beautifully. It's a perfect read for prospective students, their families, and people like me who are curious about the HBCU experience. I would actually shelve it in the YA section. High school students are keenly interested in the next step in their life journeys. This slim volume could really help Black students to imagine the possibilities.
HBCU Made should be required reading for people in government who keep underfunding HBCUs despite the great good they do.
On a purrrsonal note, I had the most MAGICAL girls day possible. My good friend, Bailey, picked me up at my house. We went to Walmart to buy some new flowers to fill in bare spots in my garden. We found some exquisite pink ones that are the right size and color to fit in. I'm going to plant them this evening. Then we went to Goodwill where Bailey found a Squishmallow that are purrrfect for my collection and I found a gorgeous black dress, jeans, and leggings. All childrens. Bailey told me how purrrfect they were when I tried them on. Then we picked up lunch at McDonalds and hung around at her place with her beautiful cats. Our final destination was Black Cat Tattoo where Rob worked his artistic magic. Then she dropped me off at my place where she visited precious Tobago who adores her. She had a good time too and we're going to have another girls day, probably next month.
A great big shout out goes out to my good friend, Bailey, and my super talented tattoo artist, Rob.
Jules Hathaway
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