All Students are Equal

I had the opportunity to attend Howard University’s 144^th Opening Convocation this week – and I must say that I was surprised to enjoy it as much as I did. I think the enjoyment had a lot to do with the speaker Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President and CEO of United Negro College Fund.

He opened his speech with the point that it has been asked if the country still needs historically black colleges and universities. Dr. Lomax responded with a resounding “yes, we do!”. He discussed the importance on the UNCF and the significance of the education that HBCUs have been providing African American students for years. The students that have been to college – more specifically, historically black ones – are more likely to earn further educational degrees and opportunities – they are encouraged to further their learning. The fact that only eight percent of black college graduates and only sixteen percent without degrees can obtain jobs proves that race in this country still matters, which is why the UNCF is so important.

The idea of letting all students, no matter what their race, religion, or sexual orientation, have the opportunity to attend college is not only President Obama’s goal, but also UNCF’s goal; it has been the aspiration of the organization for over seven decades to highlight the point that all students are equal. Dr. Lomax made the very intriguing point that colleges are too focused on what they used to do and not focused enough on what they need to do to further their students’ success; upholding tradition and integrity is more important than taking care of the students and the generation that will become the country’s future. It should be emphasized that students are in fact “customers that can take their business elsewhere”, in the words of Dr. Lomax.

Even more important is the fact that those who graduated from HBCUs should be giving back more than they have been; it is their job as people who graduated from these great colleges and universities to encourage the younger generations to continue to learn and further their education so that they can have successful lives. After attending the Opening Convocation, I officially feel as though I am part of the Howard University community. Feeling like a part of this community encourages me even more to make a difference in my life and in the lives of those around me.