Q&A: Taking HBCUs into the Future

Crisis, The, May/Jun 2004 by Russell, Malik

Michael L. Lomax was named in March to succeed William H. Gray III as president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The Fund supports 39 private historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

During his seven-year tenure as president of Dillard University in New Orleans, Lomax, 56, increased private funding by 300 percent, alumni giving by 2,000 percent and student enrollment by 49 percent. He also headed a $60 million campus-wide renovation project.

Lomax is a graduate of Morehouse College. He received a master's degree in English literature from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in American and Afro-American literature from Emory University. He has taught at Morehouse, Spelman College, Emory, the University of Georgia and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Lomax spoke to The Crisis about some of the challenges he'll face as head of UNCF.

Why did you want to become head of UNCF?

I see a tremendous need that young African Americans have got to get the kind of education that will prepare them for competitive, constructive lives. Historically Black colleges are often the most productive educational environments for these young people.

What are some of the most pressing concerns facing HBCUs?

The biggest challenge facing all historically Black colleges is the demand to provide high-quality education, but we're under-resourced financially. Another problem is that we have to modernize our physical facilities. Many of our campuses are well over 100 years old. Finally, we need always to be enriching, strengthening and modernizing our academic programs, because the world that these people are going out into is full of opportunity for those who have the kinds of educational skills that will make them competitive.

What do you think of integrating Black colleges?

Historically, Black colleges have, from their very beginning, had their doors open to anyone who sought an education. We've never been segregated. We are historically Black in that our schools were founded for African Americans, but many times founded by White Americans. But some of these calls for increasing [White] attendance at historically Black colleges are efforts to also undermine the opportunities for Black students who have been under-served for generation after generation and need the opportunity to attend college.

What do you hope to accomplish?

Primarily, to raise more money for the colleges. I'm going to try to raise more dollars to distribute back to our colleges, invest in scholarships for our students, modernize our campuses and pay for faculty. Second, be an advocate for educational opportunity for African American and other minority students. So whether it's to make the case for foundations to support our educational institutions with grants or to make the case in Washington that there needs to be more grant and loan money made available to low-income minority students who want a college education, you're going to see UNCF vigorously advocating for educational opportunities in this country for minorities and for resources to be invested in our colleges and universities.

- Interview by Malik Russell