University thrives on cultural pride

FAMU celebrates black culture, promotes black pride, emphasizes black spirituality, and nurtures its black students.

In order to remain dedicated to the initial mission of historically black colleges and universities, FAMU must continue to conduct itself in this way, even if it means forgetting about the non-black students.

Non-blacks who attend HBCUs should not expect to be nurtured, protected, praised or uplifted.

That is why these colleges are called black colleges.

If non-blacks want to create a sense of community then maybe they need to create a FAMU non-black student union. Or maybe they need to transfer to another school.

This does not mean that FAMU should not accept non-black students. It simply means that when a student completes the application or accepts a scholarship to attend an HBCU, he or she should remember that the “B” stands for black.

It’s not discrimination, hatred or separatism. It’s just cultural pride.

Non-black students may be forgotten at FAMU, but those students only have themselves to blame.

Black students are forgotten about every day at traditionally white institutions, but that issue is so typical that blacks have learned to deal with it.

They join black student unions and sit together in self-designated areas around campus.

They organize events and make efforts to preserve their culture.

Non-black students should do the same at FAMU and at HBCUs across the country.

HBCUs were established to provide higher education to blacks because blacks were denied entrance into other institutions.

One hundred and sixty six years after the creation of the first HBCU many people seem to have forgotten that black colleges were created for black people.

HBCUs are being forced to integrate and offer scholarships to non-black students.

They are encouraged to remember their non-black students.

That is ridiculous.

An HBCU that “forgets” about its non-black students is merely fulfilling its rightful duty to the black community.

Elizabeth M. Broadway, 19, is a junior newspaper journalism student from Atlanta. She is Managing Editor for The Famuan. She can be reached at managingeditor@hotmail.com.