The AFRO spoke with three HBCUs about their different programs and the impacts they have on not just the students, but the surrounding community.
At Morgan State University’s School of Architecture and Planning, Ebram Victoria is a student of the architecture, urbanism and the built environments Ph.D program. He says Morgan’s participatory action research allows students and faculty alike to step into communities and reframe research as a resource, when historically it has imposed itself on communities.
“I grew up in Baltimore, so my perspective on the harm was felt. I’ve seen that. I’ve heard the stories of how science has not really been helpful. At Morgan, something that I picked up along the way was research as a resource,” Victoria said.
He added that this approach allowed him to see the positive impact science can have on a community and led him to pursue his Ph.D after graduating with his masters degree at Morgan.
“I realized, with quality research and a quality process, you really can change the way that you move in a community, but also how you can help a community,” said Victoria. “The thoroughness that comes through science really adds credibility to what would be a generic design approach.”
This approach has not only changed the way students view the discipline, but has done the same for faculty like Dr. Samia Kirchner, associate professor of architecture. Kirchner previously taught at schools that were more technologically focused, differing from Morgan’s community based approach.
“When I teach architecture, I’m not just teaching the history of architecture,” said Kirchner. “I am helping students understand how history, race, ecology and economics shape the spaces that we inherit and what we can do to imagine to make them better.”
For aspiring changemakers in the STEM field like Camille Wimberly at Howard University, what makes a difference between an HBCU and other universities is the built in community especially through scholarship programs like the Karsh STEM Scholars Program.
Wimberly is a rising junior, and learned about the program in high school before making the decision to attend Howard.
Scholars receive a scholarship for tuition, mandatory fees and room and board as well as books. They are required to pursue a Ph.D or MD-Ph.D in STEM and are paired with mentors throughout their time in the program and attend a summer bridge program to prepare them for the rigorous coursework and extracurricular activities ahead of them.
Wimberly spoke about what attracted her to the program initially.
“I really enjoyed Howard University, but specifically, the Karsh network and support that I saw,” said Wimberly. “I think the community is very important. I saw the community everywhere that I went with the current students.”
What keeps Wimberly at Howard is the freedom to make mistakes.
“I think one of the reasons why our students are so successful is because it is such a nurturing and welcoming environment, and you’re not really afraid to make mistakes, which is something very important in science,” said Wimberly. “In order to grow, you have to make mistakes in order to understand.”
She added that coming from a predominantly white high school, as a young Black woman, she was often scared to make mistakes, but at Howard, mistakes are encouraged.
Changes in funding around diversity and STEM research under the current presidential administration have made it difficult for students to find summer internships. However, Karsh Executive Director, Dr. Ronald H. Smith, says Howard scholars are taught resilience, and many have been able to secure internships despite changes in often reliable programs.
Smith said he understands why these new changes can cause many challenges, but institutions cannot abandon efforts to diversify the field because “we never know where the answers are coming from.”
While Howard students emphasized the importance of community and mentorship in navigating STEM, QuoVadis “QV” Webster, director of pre-medical programs at Xavier University of Louisiana, says those same values are important when advising students on their journey to medical school.
Webster called the lack of Black doctors a public health crisis. With the establishment of the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine — the only HBCU medical school in the Gulf South — Webster said she hopes the institution will demonstrate the impact HBCUs can have nationwide.
According to information released by the university, “When it opens, Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine will be the fifth allopathic HBCU medical school in the United States, bringing new opportunities to communities in Louisiana and the nation and offering stellar medical education for generations to come.”
The school will welcome students once it receives preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education(LCME).
“If we have more Black physicians dealing with these issues — infant mortality rates, higher maternal mortality rates, cancer mortality and chronic disease mortality — and people committed to fixing them, that doesn’t just impact the Black population, it impacts everyone in a positive way,” Webster said. “This lack of representation is a public health crisis, and we’re excited that XOCOM gives students from across the country another avenue to become the competent and compassionate physicians we need.”
Xavier University is the top producer of Black students who go on to medical school. For Webster, that success comes from the ability of students to get support from the university.
“Getting help, leaning into the collective, is the spirit of Xavier,” said Webster.
Webster noted that despite not having as many resources as predominantly white institutions, HBCUs continue to empower students to succeed.
“When the world says ‘you can’t,’ HBCUs say, ‘Oh yes, you can,’” Webster said. “It’s [a] vehement, emphatic and unequivocal, yes.”