Black Academia This Week Vol. 16

Another Friday, and another version of Black Academia This Week. As always this is the best place to find out what is going on in the Black community in academic spaces. If you would like to watch Black Academia This Week, you can find each episode on Instagram @blkgradstudent. Lastly and as always, thank you for choosing to read another edition of Black Academia This Week.

1: From the streets to success

Brandon P. Fleming, writer of Miseducated A Memoir, shares his story of personal struggle and triumph. As a young kid, Fleming was a drug dealer, but he was able to shift paths when he was recruited to play Division I basketball by Liberty University. Unfortunately, he was unable to take advantage of this opportunity to an injury that would prevent his basketball career. He never fully recovered from the trauma and tried to take his own life. This is where his memoir begins. His story journey is not your standard journey to success. He does end up going back to school, and has challenges that lead him to writing. Now he has ultimately made Forbes’s ’30 under 30′ list.

To hear more of his story, I would recommend the following article: A Black Scholar’s Path From Drug Dealing to ‘30 Under 30’ – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Also, if you want to listen instead of read the Miseducated A Memoir you can find the story available on Audible: Miseducated by Brandon P. Fleming, Cornel West – foreword | Audiobook | Audible.com

2: Should we get rid of SAT scores?

When comparing SAT scores from various racial demographics, 24% of Asians, 7% of whites, 2% of Hispanic, & 1% of Black students score high SAT scores (1400 and above). This trend can also be seen in the average SAT scores with Asian students scores being 1217, white students being 1104, Hispanic students being 969, and Black students being 927. While the data above shows Black students typically do not have high SAT scores, should that be the metric what we use to determine someone’s future academic merit? If you believe the SAT is negative to university admissions, you might say that it prevents students who are talented from getting into top ranked universities. If you believe that the SAT is positive university admissions, you might believe that it provides levels out the education that students receive across the country. There has been studies that show financial security does not help with the SAT, and coaching has a minimal effect on improving scores. In other words, to increase SAT scores you have to increase the academic skillset of the student. What this data shows is that our Black students are not getting the academic support they need, and only through fixing that education gap will Black students achieve parity with the SAT.

As to whether we should get rid of the SAT, I would love to hear your opinion on this to know your thoughts, please reach out below. Also, if you would like to hear another perspective, feel free to read the following article: Why eliminating the SAT would not help Black or Hispanic students – The Morning Call (mcall.com).

3: The HBCU Impact

While there are now 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), in 1837 the first HBCU came into existence. Since then, HBCUs have flourished producing the most Black undergraduate and graduate degrees. They also have produced 80% of Black medical degrees, and 75% of Black Ph.D students went to HBCUs for their undergraduate degree. The HBCU is vital to the success of the Black student. This can be shown from the values that HBCUs carry, often being more inclusive, and at a better cost. While having a better cost, they are still high quality universities, this can be seen from the number of students who attended an HBCU and now have a Ph.D. This is also shown from the hiring rate of HBCU alumni being around 6% before COVID. Ultimately HBCUs hold a lot of opportunity for the Black student, and Black professional.

For more information about HBCUs, the following article can provide clarity: The Value of an Education at an HBCU (investopedia.com)