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02-10-12 • Page 7
Starkville mourns Importance of historically black recent losses colleges, universities disputed By Leah Gibson News Writer
The Starkville School District has experienced several losses since the new year of 2012 began. Laura Carson, an 11 yearold sixth grader, lost her life in a go cart accident on New Year’s Day. Donna Weeks, a bookkeeper at the Millsaps Career and Technology Center, died on Jan.11. This was only a few months after learning that she had terminal lung cancer. And just last week, Starkville High School cafeteria worker Elizabeth Johnson just lost her own daughter, Sinetra Johnson, after a 10-year battle with Sarcoidosis. Sinetra Johnson graduated from SHS in 1999 and would have been 31 years old on Feb. 4.
By Jordan Cohen Opinions Editor
Laura Carson. Courtesy photo.
At their conception, historically black colleges and universities offered a vital opportunity for the nation’s disenfranchised black population. Today, though, their importance is questioned. Black students are no
longer restricted on which colleges then can attend, so many wonder why states continue to fund them. But to those who have actually attended these colleges, their importance is clear. “Historically black colleges are important because of rich history lessons and the deep rooted heritage they provide,” former Miss
Donna Weeks. Courtesy photo.
Sinetra Johnson. Courtesy photo.
Prater fills out his application to Alcorn. Photo by Barrett Higginbotham.
U.S.A. and Starkville High School alumni Shauntay Hinton said. Hinton attended Howard University, a prestigious historically black university whose alumni include Thurgood Marshall, Adam Clayton Powell and writer Toni Morrison. For today’s graduates, the requirements for incoming freshman at Mississippi State University or historically black colleges such as Jackson State or Alcorn State University are almost identical. Each student must have a minimum of a 2.0 GPA and a minimum ACT score of 16. Historically black colleges have plenty of white students, especially in their graduate programs. SHS principal Keith Fennell received his masters in
education and administration from Jackson State University, a historically black college. “I don’t see that there was any type of difference in the instruction or the education or the program itself,” Fennell said. Students who choose historically black colleges don’t necessairily do so because of their cultural affiliations. “[ASU] is just one of the many schools I chose, [because of] the major I wanted,” senior Michael Prater said. For whatever the reason students attend historically black colleges, Hinton says their value won’t go away. “If you look at the inception of black colleges, you will see an outline of the struggles and triumphs of African Americans throughout time,” Hinton said.
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