Why leave home for an HBCU? Sacramento alumni promise dynamic experience for Black students
There are 101 historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs) in the country, but only Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science of Los Angeles operates in the Golden State.
That means Northern California students who want to attend an HBCU likely will have to travel a long way from home to study at one of those campuses.
HBCU alumni in the Sacramento-area attended community gatherings and HBCU fairs this month to encourage high school students to follow that path, saying the schools offer a distinct experience.
They can point to Vice President Kamala Harris in their pitches to young people. The California-born Democrat is the first HBCU graduate to serve in the White House. She’s a friend to HBCUs. The Biden administration last year steered $5.8 billion in special funding to the campuses, including money for student services and capital projects.
Sacramento’s HBCU alumni described a sense of “family,” “belonging,” and “empowerment” that helped them prepare for the next chapter of their lives.
“You don’t have to just be in a certain area and feel like I can’t be more than what I’m seeing,” said Essence Graves, who grew up in Sacramento’s Meadowview neighborhood. “I feel like HBCUs gave me that push, that courage and it just made me feel good about myself.”
Graves, a social worker in Solano County, serves as a secretary of the Southern University Alumni Federation, Sacramento Chapter, which works to spread the word about HBCUs.
She earned her degree at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. HBCUs now are a big part of her family. Her daughter attends Clark Atlanta University, a niece is at North Carolina A&T University and another niece graduated from Clark Atlanta.
Lynette Hall grew up in Sacramento, she knew she wanted to go to a HBCU from watching TV shows like ‘A Different World’ and ‘The Cosby Show’. She eventually decided on Clark Atlanta.
“Realizing that everybody there comes from different backgrounds, but everybody is having the same experience that no one else can have unless you’ve experienced a historically black college,” said Hall.
She felt her experience gave her the tools she needed to succeed, commending her professors’ high standards.
Considering HBCUs for sports
Athletics at HBCUs have trended upward over the last five years, sparking a debate on whether Black athletes should consider HBCUs as an option for the next level of competition.
Prep stars such as Travis Hunter, Makur Maker, and Shaqir and Amirah O’Neal have all previously chosen HBCUs.
Well-known sport figures have played or coached at HBCUs and continue to do so and expand the HBCU legacy. NFL great Deion Sanders is coaching Jackson State University football. Hue Jackson just took the football head coach job at Grambling State University and WNBA legend, Cynthia Cooper is the women’s basketball coach at Texas Southern University.
Ricky Johnson of Sacramento, originally from Ohio, played basketball at Saint Vincent-Saint Mary’s High School – the same high school as NBA superstar LeBron James. He earned scholarship offers to play basketball at other division one colleges, but it was Bethune-Cookman University that stood out for Johnson over the rest.
“The reason I chose this school over some others who were recruiting me was because it felt like a family,” Johnson said.
He said the family environment comes from professors, administration, staff, and faculty wanting students to be successful. He built connections with peers, teammates, fraternities, and an overall community through attending an HBCU.
“All the HBCUs now are kind of coming together to build a family community. It is like a big family reunion,” said the Bethune-Cookman alumni.
Finding belonging at an HBCU
Veronne Clark of Sacramento grew up in South Carolina playing basketball. She wanted to compete at the highest level, but she found a home at Central State University, where she played for four years.
“There were so many professors, faculty members, and administration that wanted to see me win,” said Clark, the Central State alum. “They kept me accountable on so many different facets.”
It was a best friend of hers who had a phrase “every season is grind season” which has helped her grow and evolve into her purpose.
Clark is now in the field of social responsibility where she manages community partnerships and resources for nonprofits.
Kenneth Duncan is an Oakland native who grew up playing basketball through high school. He went to play at Merritt College for two years and then transferred to Wilberforce University, the nation’s first private, historically Black college located in Ohio.
Duncan said did not always feel welcome in the California school system because he was a tall, Black kid with dreadlocks. He was perceived as a thug and felt unwanted. So he went to an HBCU.
“I was always a smart kid and just (Wilberforce) bringing that out in me and telling me I was smart and telling me that I can achieve what I want and telling me they want me at their school made me an even better student,” said the Wilberforce alumni.
He graduated in 2012 and since-then he lives in Sacramento, where he founded his nonprofit, Ball Out Academy, to help expose youth to HBCU institutions whether through sports, academics, or social experiences.