Reversing the Trend
In April, Harvey attended a workshop sponsored by the NAACP that analyzed the relative progress of the American educational system 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education. Harvey led a workshop on minorities in higher education.
It's discussions like this, Harvey says, with community-based organizations like the NAACP that will help reverse the sluggish 20-year trend of Black men in higher education.
"What we have to do is really support our community organizations like the NAACP and the churches in our communities," Harvey says. "We have to help those institutions supplement the message that academic achievement is important. That message starts at home, but that message has to come from several different sources."
Clayton says more work has to be done at the elementary level in order to captivate the attention of Black boys at an early age. Morehouse's institute, for example, has provided after-school tutoring for the last nine years.
"What we really need to do is work with inner-city scholars and work with the kids when they're in kindergarten," he says.
As for Princeton's Western:
"We need to figure out if Black male high school students value academic achievement less than other groups, and why this is happening. We need to find a way to control higher education costs, to make college more accessible, not just for Black men, but for all disadvantaged groups."
— David Hefner has been a Black Issues correspondent since 2001. A 1993 graduate of Morehouse College, David is currently the publications manager at Meharry Medical College in Nashville.
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
