Michael lomax
All are victims of virulent anti-Black violence committed by uniformed police and self-appointed civilian vigilantes alike, who have systemically and systematically devalued Black humanity and destroyed Black lives, too often with impunity and without legal consequence. They are now among a long list of martyrs. Today, we at UNCF mourn the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd.
Michael lomax full#
Black college educations must today continue to be for our students their preparation for the ongoing struggle to ensure their full citizenship rights and privileges, their essential dignity and their universal human rights. The education our Black colleges provide is at its foundation an unequivocal affirmation of Black humanity and value.
Historically black colleges and universities have endured and thrived because, just as in their early years, they are giving students the education they need and that we, as a community and as a nation, need them to have.Washington, D.C., J(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - In the final days of World War II, Black college presidents Mary McCloud Bethune and Frederick Douglass Patterson led the formation of UNCF (United Negro College Fund). They believed that education is a human right and that the Black men and women who had fought fascism abroad would have to return to America to fight against domestic racism and for full citizenship for themselves, for their families and for the entire Black community. The UNCF founders knew that Black colleges would be, as ever they have been, the academic foundries to mold the new generations of leaders to galvanize and inspire Black America and our allies to fight against racism and for justice, equality and opportunity.įrom UNCF’s beginnings, we have known that the American unalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” do not apply to Black Americans. What’s the secret of their enduring success? Today, African-Americans can attend almost all colleges and universities, but more than four times as many students choose historically black colleges and universities than 40 years ago. Today, a college education is not a “good-to-have” but a “must-have,” the basic requirement for almost every fast-growing and good-paying job and career path.
Like Lincoln University, these historically black colleges and universities began when African-Americans had few other higher education options. UNCF makes those aspirations real for nearly 60,000 students each year by providing financial support for 38 private historically black colleges and universities and awarding 13,000 scholarships to students at 900 colleges and universities. “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” the almost universally recognized motto of UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, has come to represent the aspirations of all historically black colleges and universities to ensure that all Americans can earn the college degrees they need and the 21st century economy demands. Where Lincoln led, others followed, and there are now 105 historically black colleges and universities, enrolling more than 370,000 students and awarding 20% of all undergraduate degrees earned by African-Americans.
Twelve years later, Ashmun was renamed as Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University and became the nation’s first degree-granting institution for African-Americans, or what we now know as a historically black college and university. It was on this day in 1854 that Ashmun Institute, the first college established solely for African-American students, was officially chartered.
( CNN) - More than 35,000 students will graduate from college this year because of something that happened 159 years ago Monday. Previously, Lomax was president of Dillard University in New Orleans and a literature professor at Morehouse and Spelman colleges. Editor’s Note: Michael Lomax, Ph.D, is president and CEO of UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, the largest private provider of scholarships and other educational support to minority and low-income students.