There is something very special about attending an HBCU (Historically Black College University). While there are 105 HBCUs in the country there is only ONE that stood out to me: the illustrious Clark Atlanta University.
In 1996, a junior in high school, I had taken the SATs and scored "low" with a score of 1020 (damn math section). My mother was pretty insistent on having me stay "local" and "wholesome" so she had me apply to Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA), Hood College (an all female college), George Mason University (Fairfax, VA) and Marymount (Arlington VA). I was accepted into every one except for Mary Washington. My mother was furious! How could they not offer me admission when my grandmother and her 3 sisters put in 100 years of service at this institution! So what did she do? Called the office of the President, of course ... my parents and I were allowed to meet with the President to discuss my letter and in short I was not offered admission as the average GPA was 3.3 (my average was 3.1) and SAT score of 1100 (clearly I did not make the cut by the numbers). I understood and was ready to go. THEN my mom hit him up with "Her father's family has put in over 100 years of service at this institution ..." and then he looks at my father and I could see it in his eyes *damn* ... after brief family tree introductions the President offers me admission - FREE - just pay for the cost of books. My mother was in the corner raising up hands of praise to baby Jesus. I kept the straight face. I then asked him about activities on campus as I am on the step team at my high school (FACT: Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge VA had the FIRST step team in Prince William County). His face brightened up and he eagerly says, "While we do not have any African-American social groups on campus (i.e. Black sororities and fraternities), we do have an excellent water polo team and frisbee football is quite popular on the campus." WHAT IN THE HELL IS FRISBEE FOOTBALL?!? And WHERE is the water polo team playing (do they play in water)?? I kept the straight face. My dad saved me and said, "Thank you, can we think about it?" The President looked at me again and said, "College is an important time of your life. If you enjoy your experience it will be one of the best times of your life. But if you do not, if you are not active on campus or not interested in campus activities, it could also be the worse. So yes, take your time and think about it." I thanked him and we left the beautifully carpeted office.
While my mom continued to praise baby Jesus for such a blessing I was silent and thinking "I am going to be miserable if I attend this lack of Black school ..." On Monday morning I went back to school and discussed the meeting with my principle, a white man whose name slips my mind this morning. Anyha, he suggests an HBCU bus tour. For those Caucasians reading this blog, HBCUs were founded after slavery to educate the newly freed black men and women now runnin' loose as a goose throughout the south and east coast. Most of them started off small and humble in a train car or in churches. I take him up on his offer and we visit the following schools:
"Daddy, please ... I would be miserable at Mary Washington. Please daddy ... please" and I let tears fly and ran away in the most dramatic way.
Clark Atlanta University is a private, HBU in Atlanta, Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College (founded in 1869) and Atlanta University (founded in 1865). Our mottoes are "I’ll Find a Way or Make One" (Atlanta University) and "Culture for Service" (Clark College). And dammit since I was set on attending CAU, I was going to "find a way or make one" to make sure that happened!
I walked onto the campus of Clark Atlanta University in August of 1997. I was home. I was on the campus on which notable men and women had walked, taught, studied and graduated. Notable people such as Ralph Abernathy (Civil Rights Leader alongside Dr. Martin Luther King), James Weldon Johnson (poet, author, Civil Rights Leader most known for penning the National Negro Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing"), Marva Collins (renowned educator) ... in "pop culture" students included, Bobby Valentino, Ma$e (he loves Ms. Pac-Man in slow draw "Can I get some qwaaaters" ROFL and *smh*) and Eve from Americas Next Top Model ... notable faculty includes none other than W.E.B DuBois and Whitman Mayo (known as "Grady" on Sanford and Son) ... my sophmore year I lived in Pascal's. Pascal's "back in the day" was a hotel which became the "unofficial headquarters" of the civil rights movement - Dr. Martin Luther da King (in my Coming to America voice) ate at this hotel, slept in this hotel and met with other civil rights leaders to plan / strategize at this hotel. This hotel was now my dorm. This hotel is where I ate dinner - in the same restaurant he ate, chatted, laughed and planned.
My parents, to this day, remind me of how much they paid and as I paid for my 5th year (decided to get a second degree at the last minute) I too am reminded by Sallie Mae of what Clark Atlanta cost me financially. But I have ZERO regrets! How could I? I was shadowing famous Black men and women who have shaped our present time. Secondly, I met life long friends, have memories that happened 14+ years ago that still crack me up when I think about them. I was on our Freshman step team and then able to coach our Freshman dorm girls to a victory the next year. I was on a campus that was overflowing with beautiful blackness. Yeah there was a rack of females (we are 25 females to every male) but those men were lookin' good too! And then there is Homecoming.
Homecoming at an HBCU is like a Black Cookout for an entire weekend. You spend the weekend sippin' on your favorite beverage, hugging people you havent seen, meeting people who have always wanted to talk to you but never had the nerve, dancing - sweatin' out the weave, laughing, creating new memories at which I will laugh at for a lifetime. Nobody watches the game, because we are never sure our team is going to win (we love them all the same) ... naw we go to the game to see the band. We go to the game to see our friends. We go to the game to hop from tent to tent and nosh on yummy soul food and sip on a different color punch. We go to the game to socialize. And if at the end of the game, someone notices we won they shout out, "Aw damn, we actually WON!" And then we cheer: CCCCCCCC AAAAAAA U-U-U-U Mighty Panthers! Yeah our spirit is flaky. But its a consistent flakiness haha
Finally, the parties. Now, if you wanna know what is gonna get me and my girls out on the dance floor droppin' it like its hot in our 30s - please see the videos below:
What makes KK Singleton aka Popcorn aka Big Sister Soul Glow drop her drink and RUN to the dance floor?
Dawn aka Abyss aka One Roll Wonder gets hype to:
What makes Phoebe aka SOB aka Big Sister Wheat n Cheese put her drink down and RUN to the dance floor:
So please MOVE B*TCH, GET OUT THE WAY if one of these songs come on ... cuz you WILL get run over by one of us runnin' to the dance floor.
Time to stop bloggin' and prepare for DAY 2 of CAU Homecoming 2011.
In 1996, a junior in high school, I had taken the SATs and scored "low" with a score of 1020 (damn math section). My mother was pretty insistent on having me stay "local" and "wholesome" so she had me apply to Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA), Hood College (an all female college), George Mason University (Fairfax, VA) and Marymount (Arlington VA). I was accepted into every one except for Mary Washington. My mother was furious! How could they not offer me admission when my grandmother and her 3 sisters put in 100 years of service at this institution! So what did she do? Called the office of the President, of course ... my parents and I were allowed to meet with the President to discuss my letter and in short I was not offered admission as the average GPA was 3.3 (my average was 3.1) and SAT score of 1100 (clearly I did not make the cut by the numbers). I understood and was ready to go. THEN my mom hit him up with "Her father's family has put in over 100 years of service at this institution ..." and then he looks at my father and I could see it in his eyes *damn* ... after brief family tree introductions the President offers me admission - FREE - just pay for the cost of books. My mother was in the corner raising up hands of praise to baby Jesus. I kept the straight face. I then asked him about activities on campus as I am on the step team at my high school (FACT: Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge VA had the FIRST step team in Prince William County). His face brightened up and he eagerly says, "While we do not have any African-American social groups on campus (i.e. Black sororities and fraternities), we do have an excellent water polo team and frisbee football is quite popular on the campus." WHAT IN THE HELL IS FRISBEE FOOTBALL?!? And WHERE is the water polo team playing (do they play in water)?? I kept the straight face. My dad saved me and said, "Thank you, can we think about it?" The President looked at me again and said, "College is an important time of your life. If you enjoy your experience it will be one of the best times of your life. But if you do not, if you are not active on campus or not interested in campus activities, it could also be the worse. So yes, take your time and think about it." I thanked him and we left the beautifully carpeted office.
While my mom continued to praise baby Jesus for such a blessing I was silent and thinking "I am going to be miserable if I attend this lack of Black school ..." On Monday morning I went back to school and discussed the meeting with my principle, a white man whose name slips my mind this morning. Anyha, he suggests an HBCU bus tour. For those Caucasians reading this blog, HBCUs were founded after slavery to educate the newly freed black men and women now runnin' loose as a goose throughout the south and east coast. Most of them started off small and humble in a train car or in churches. I take him up on his offer and we visit the following schools:
- Johnson C. Smith -- nope! Too hood
- North Carolina Central -- it was aight. EVERYBODY stepped instead of walking. I was like "Wow this campus has some rhythm.
- North Carolina A&T -- A WINNER! This school offered me a bowling scholarship! ** Yes, in my hay day I was an avid bowler, on a league for 9 years ... but I digress ** This is the school I was going to attend! I got on the bus excited but knowing we had one more stop in Georgia.
- Atlanta University Center. This included Spelman, Morehouse, Morris Brown and Clark Atlanta University. I already knew Spelman was a HELL NO, Morehouse was NOT APPLICABLE and Morris Brown was BLAH. Then I walked onto the campus of Clark Atlanta University. It had just been remodeled for the upcoming Olympics (yeah the ones in 1996). Seeing this campus was like seeing the love of your life for the first time. My heart skipped a beat and I knew come hell or high water THIS was where I was going to go
Clark Atlanta University is a private, HBU in Atlanta, Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College (founded in 1869) and Atlanta University (founded in 1865). Our mottoes are "I’ll Find a Way or Make One" (Atlanta University) and "Culture for Service" (Clark College). And dammit since I was set on attending CAU, I was going to "find a way or make one" to make sure that happened!
I walked onto the campus of Clark Atlanta University in August of 1997. I was home. I was on the campus on which notable men and women had walked, taught, studied and graduated. Notable people such as Ralph Abernathy (Civil Rights Leader alongside Dr. Martin Luther King), James Weldon Johnson (poet, author, Civil Rights Leader most known for penning the National Negro Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing"), Marva Collins (renowned educator) ... in "pop culture" students included, Bobby Valentino, Ma$e (he loves Ms. Pac-Man in slow draw "Can I get some qwaaaters" ROFL and *smh*) and Eve from Americas Next Top Model ... notable faculty includes none other than W.E.B DuBois and Whitman Mayo (known as "Grady" on Sanford and Son) ... my sophmore year I lived in Pascal's. Pascal's "back in the day" was a hotel which became the "unofficial headquarters" of the civil rights movement - Dr. Martin Luther da King (in my Coming to America voice) ate at this hotel, slept in this hotel and met with other civil rights leaders to plan / strategize at this hotel. This hotel was now my dorm. This hotel is where I ate dinner - in the same restaurant he ate, chatted, laughed and planned.
My parents, to this day, remind me of how much they paid and as I paid for my 5th year (decided to get a second degree at the last minute) I too am reminded by Sallie Mae of what Clark Atlanta cost me financially. But I have ZERO regrets! How could I? I was shadowing famous Black men and women who have shaped our present time. Secondly, I met life long friends, have memories that happened 14+ years ago that still crack me up when I think about them. I was on our Freshman step team and then able to coach our Freshman dorm girls to a victory the next year. I was on a campus that was overflowing with beautiful blackness. Yeah there was a rack of females (we are 25 females to every male) but those men were lookin' good too! And then there is Homecoming.
Homecoming at an HBCU is like a Black Cookout for an entire weekend. You spend the weekend sippin' on your favorite beverage, hugging people you havent seen, meeting people who have always wanted to talk to you but never had the nerve, dancing - sweatin' out the weave, laughing, creating new memories at which I will laugh at for a lifetime. Nobody watches the game, because we are never sure our team is going to win (we love them all the same) ... naw we go to the game to see the band. We go to the game to see our friends. We go to the game to hop from tent to tent and nosh on yummy soul food and sip on a different color punch. We go to the game to socialize. And if at the end of the game, someone notices we won they shout out, "Aw damn, we actually WON!" And then we cheer: CCCCCCCC AAAAAAA U-U-U-U Mighty Panthers! Yeah our spirit is flaky. But its a consistent flakiness haha
Finally, the parties. Now, if you wanna know what is gonna get me and my girls out on the dance floor droppin' it like its hot in our 30s - please see the videos below:
What makes KK Singleton aka Popcorn aka Big Sister Soul Glow drop her drink and RUN to the dance floor?
Dawn aka Abyss aka One Roll Wonder gets hype to:
What makes Phoebe aka SOB aka Big Sister Wheat n Cheese put her drink down and RUN to the dance floor:
So please MOVE B*TCH, GET OUT THE WAY if one of these songs come on ... cuz you WILL get run over by one of us runnin' to the dance floor.
Time to stop bloggin' and prepare for DAY 2 of CAU Homecoming 2011.
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