Move Over, DeVRY … - more Afro-Americans studying computer science

Black Issues in Higher Education, June 22, 2000 by Ronald Roach

"We haven't shifted our mission. Our responsibility is to inform students about science and technology opportunities wherever they may be," Campbell says. "Our aim is not to steer students away from any particular field, but rather to mine the minority student pool and get those students who are not in the pipeline on track to pursue [engineering and technology opportunities]."

He also says it is encouraging that HBCUs have recently become the top two leading producers of African American computer scientists at the undergraduate level. He believes HBCUs can continue as leading producers of African American technology professionals despite the shrinkage in engineering programs.

And to that, Fortenberry adds that HBCUs represent an important set of institutions to federal agencies seeking to boost the nation's IT work force.

Michael Arradondo is a newly graduated Florida A&M electrical engineering major, who is enrolled in the master's program in software engineering sciences at the university. He says he originally enrolled at the historically Black institution because its president, Dr. Frederick Humphries, promised him personally that the school would meet his "high expectations" for internship and research opportunities.

It turned out that while Arradondo landed an internship with the Toyota motor company in Japan through Humphries' help, he found that the computer information systems department would eventually offer him the best research job even though he was an electrical engineering major.

"I thought [the computer information systems department] would be a good place to round out my education," Arradondo says of his current enrollment in the master's program.