It is officially homecoming season! For most schools, this simply means that alumni travel back to campus to reconnect and attend the big football game. However, at a historically black college and university, homecoming is a week-long celebration that includes everything from high-energy step performances and fashion shows to exuberant parades and tailgate parties.
Just think of it as New York Fashion Week: College Edition.
HBCUs have existed for nearly two centuries, initially founded with the objective of being higher-learning institutions for African-Americans prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These schools were created by groups such as northern black and white missionaries, the federal government’s Freedmen’s Bureau, and famous philanthropists.
Marybeth Gasman, an HBCU historian, higher education professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and director of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions, tells Yahoo Lifestyle, “There was an incredible thirst for learning, as blacks were kept from formal learning during slavery.” She adds, “Most HBCUs started in small buildings and church basements.”
HBCUs have existed for nearly two centuries, initially founded with the objective of being higher-learning institutions for African-Americans prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These schools were created by groups such as northern black and white missionaries, the federal government’s Freedmen’s Bureau, and famous philanthropists.
Marybeth Gasman, an HBCU historian, higher education professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and director of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions, tells Yahoo Lifestyle, “There was an incredible thirst for learning, as blacks were kept from formal learning during slavery.” She adds, “Most HBCUs started in small buildings and church basements.”
Read The full Story by Jacqueline Laurean Yates at Yahoo.com
