Latest / Black Box Theory Podcast / Why HBCUs Still Matter — From People Who Went
Transcript
- Malcolm: For one, obviously it's to have a safe space for students, for for people that look like us, for us, created by us, ⁓ you know, from the academics to the culture to the to the to the yard to like to everything, right? To add to the athletics, right? Everything that's all curated for us by us. The other piece, which is also another huge piece, is the affordability of it, right? HBCUs are designed to be affordable for us because like a lot of times, like we aren't we don't We don't have the resources or the the the economic status or viability to get into these super high high tier institutions. Like ⁓ I don't know anybody that had the money to to even if you could get in a Harvard or Princeton or Stanford, who had seventy, eighty, ninety thousand dollars a year to just drop on on that, right? So it's like we went to HBCUs because not because like we had no other option. People wanted to go we wanted to go to HBCUs. We wanted to be like on that campus surrounded by our people. But it's also like it's it's affordable, it's doable. Thomas: Yeah. Malcolm: It's it's it's a it's a still a world class education at a reasonable price tag. That's why we go. But when you're an HPCU and you're and you're raising your prices to these insane, unreasonable amounts, granted, inflation is a thing. I get it. But if you look into the numbers, bro, the proportion in which college tuition has raised to actual inflation rates and other the other cost of goods, colleges have like surpassed that by like 10, 24. Like they have like absolutely ran with it. Like I mean, like. I don't think anything has like inflated more over like an extended period of time than college tuitions. Like more my I'm talking about more than if you think like grocery prices have gotten crazy, ⁓ gas prices gotten crazy, college tuition prices get insane year over year. And people just chalk it up to the fact where it's like, ⁓ you know, this is how it's supposed to be. And it's really not, if we're being real with you, like college tuitions, like the prices that they go up is is is really kind of like it goes under it goes under pretty often. Thomas: And Howard has an endowment of over a billion dollars. And they're a private university. No, no, yeah, they're the first. ⁓ I think they're the only because they're most a lot of HBCUs are public. I'm not sure who else has over a billion. I know they were the first though. ⁓ But but I mean like to to add on to what you're saying, bro, like if you have the type of money to just like like a seventy, eighty K year tuition is nothing to you. ⁓ Malcolm: Does it I don't I don't think any other HCCU has that. Mm-hmm. Thomas: You probably don't need to go to a HBCU unless you want the cultural experience or you want to like, you know, get you know, just get in involved. ⁓ because I would say HBCUs, at least in my experience, are great for opportunities, they're great for networking, they're great for getting you into rooms and doors that you didn't even know were there, which is a great reason to go, honestly. ⁓ especially A T. But if you have that type of money. Malcolm: Mm. Thomas: Like if your parents actually, like if your family actually has that money, I'm just gonna assume you don't need those connections as much as other people do. So I would I would just assume that you're tapped in. Like I've met some people who come from when we talk about coming from money, talking about coming from like wealth, like coming from like you, you, you look on TV, you look on ownership, you look at who owns things and you see f the folks' names. Yeah, that, and it's like. Those type of people, those they had those connections already. HBCUs in in these schools that are ⁓ designed for us by us are are meant to give a chance and opportunity in a country, really in a planet, because I this stuff, these things exist around the world. I just don't know much about ⁓ HBCUs in other countries, but to give us a chance, which we still need, because contrary to this somehow popular belief or it's seemingly loud belief, I don't know if it's popular. That America's fair. ⁓ America's not designed to be fair, never has been fair, never will be fair. That's just not the case. I I don't know where that lunacy came from. sure, is a lot more free than other countries. Absolutely. No one's saying it's not, but you still need those opportunities. And honestly, if you've ever been the only person that looks like you in a in another place. You understand what it feels like. You understand what those looks are like. You understand how difficult it can be, how straining it is on your on your spirit and on your mind. So HBCUs are great. We want them to continue to be great. And all we want, all all everyone needs is for Howard and other schools like it, HBCU or not, to just be transparent, be honest, don't lead people on, make decisions sooner.