The power of an HBCU: author outlines benefits of attending a historically Black college or university

Ebony, Sept, 2008 by Omar Tyree

In the winter of 1988, I was a sophomore with strong grades, attending the University of Pittsburgh and majoring in pharmacy. I had recently shelved my freshman aspirations to walk-on the school's nationally ranked football team, and my grades were beginning to slip as a result of fighting racism on campus--either real or imagined--instead of zeroing in on my studies.

So as I sat inside the lobby of the popular African-American hangout at the Pitt Towers on another restless weekend, I began to wonder why I was still attending a predominantly White institution. That next semester, the start of my junior year, I made a life-changing decision to transfer to Howard--a Historically Black College and University--where I graduated with honors in 1991. The change became a choice of focus, courage, character and leadership that led me to become a successful entrepreneur and author.

My initial desire to attend Pitt was all about playing football for a Division 1 college while on my way to becoming a professional athlete. As a young and ambitious football player in the Philadelphia Police Athletic League (PAL), 90 percent of us urban Brown boys had those same lofty aspirations. However, we first had to make the necessary grades in school to be accepted into a Division 1 college. The intellectual abilities needed to compete are the same in any profession. We must all learn to prepare ourselves to step up to the competition in order to graduate to the next level of life.

Once I realized that pro football would not be my calling, a new competition was established. I found that I needed to compete in the expertise of a career. Like any athlete can tell you, playing the game is what establishes the real skills of experience. You can't become a pro from just watching. So although I was able to compete academically at Pittsburgh, the mental friction of a non-embracing campus would not allow me to perform with confidence and comfort. I was far too concerned with the issues of race, class and culture. So I needed to a join a new team and college environment where I could focus more of my raw potential with healthy guidance.

Changing my major from pharmacy to journalism at Howard, I was ready to start back up on the playing field of life academically. Where many of my African-American peers at Pitt had downsized themselves to just "getting along," "passing the grade" and "rubbing shoulders" with White America, I still wanted to compete to be the best. At Howard University, I found plenty of like minds who competed, and we all had chips of competition on our shoulders as students. The instructors there even nurtured the leadership and pushed us all to excel. There were no back-of-the-classroom, just-happy-to-be-here philosophies at Black schools. Either you chose to lead and to compete or you chose not to. But there were no hurdles in the way to stop you. In that environment--of a conscious choice of excellence without friction--HBCUs have continued to nurture and graduate a substantial percentage of African-Americans of character and leadership in every professional field.

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When I graduated from Howard, I was able to perform without hesitation or apologies. Although my competitive disposition had been the same at Pitt, in the long run, the difference was that Howard offered me more opportunities to become published, to speak, to lead, to grow, and most importantly, to develop a track record of success. And the same confidence, courage and poise that I developed on campus at an HBCU led me to develop the needed "mojo" to create my own publishing opportunities outside of "the system" on my way to becoming an award-winning author.

Ultimately, the power of education prepares us to learn the skills and to sharpen the tools that we will need to utilize in order to expect success. At HBCUs, we are given more opportunities, not only to succeed, but to continue in our natural ways of leadership. The more we decide to make our own decisions of progress, the more we become capable leaders. And knowing my personality, I wouldn't have it any other way.

--Omar Tyree is a New York Times best-selling author and a 2001 NAACP Image Award recipient for Outstanding Literature. For more information, go to www.OmarTyree.com.