While still maintaining high standards and stellar graduation rates, some HBCUs have created programs that allow promising students who may not meet the traditional requirements to enter and flourish.
In the spring of 2015, Dr. Edison Jackson, president of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, saw a story on CNN focused on three 17-year-old high school students in Baltimore who spoke about their desire to move beyond their surroundings and achieve something in life.
Jackson offered the three students admission to Bethune-Cookman and assured them that, whatever costs were not covered by grants, the university would pick up.
“These young men have potential, but not opportunity,” Jackson told CNN. “I saw promise.”
Terry Brown and Kyrique Jones have completed their freshman year. It wasn’t easy and they definitely experienced challenges adjusting to their new environment, but they’re looking forward to returning in the fall, when they’ll be joined by Jamel Phillips, according to the university.
Not all admissions are that fortuitous, but there is a growing sense of purpose in creating learning opportunities that enable HBCUs to offer entry to students who may not meet the traditional admissions requirements but who show great promise.
“Any young man that we touch and can help to become successful is one less young man who becomes a statistic,” says Jackson.
