Focus on Yetifolk
Arias Pitts: From GEM to Seminole Patrice Guthrie
CONTRIBUTING WRITER It is 2008, the senior year of high school for Arias Pitts. Arias is patiently waiting for the panel of women dressed in crimson, pearls, 5-inch pumps and red lipstick to call her into the room where the interview will begin. Each year, the Gamma Pi Sigma chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. interviews African American female seniors in Palm Beach County for the GEMS scholarship. This is Arias’ year. The panel’s last question sticks with Arias the most: Why aren’t you attending Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University instead of Florida State University? This was a daunting, but not unfamiliar question for Arias. She comes from a family of strong advocates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) prepared to purchase Rattler paraphernalia for their third generation HBCU student. Arias is now a 20-year-old Sociology major, with a 3.8 GPA, an active member of Black Student Union, Black Female Development Circle, and the W.E.B. Dubois Honor society, as well as other organizations tailored to a well-rounded educational experience. Arias is also a proud Seminole – a decision she still
feels the need to defend from time to time. “I wanted to attend an integrated college even though I come from a family that strongly believes in the HBCU tradition and education,” Arias says. “I have access to the same opportunities as I would at an HBCU as far as organizations that I have joined that cater to the black student.” According to ThinkHBCU.org, HBCUs nationally enroll 370,000 and produce approximately 23 percent of all bachelor’s degrees earned by African Americans annually. These numbers may be stunning, especially in light of the fact that HBCUs were developed in order to provide African American students with an Ivy League education during the “separate but equal” period, but they also show that more than 70 percent of African Americans’ bachelor’s degrees are earned at integrated institutions. “Even though HBCUs have these undying customs, I felt that it was all I had been exposed to my entire life,” Arias said. “When deciding to attend FSU, I knew I would have the opportunity to gain a wholesome collegiate experience, learn about underlying traditions Arias Pitts - Delta GEM and Seminole.
beyond the HBCU forum, while at the same time being involved in organizations that are the core of my family. And that solidified my decision to attend an integrated university.” Arias remembers the transition from high school to college being difficult for her because of expectations from family, peers, and instructors that she attend an HBCU. “When I told my mom I wanted to experience college at an integrated institution, she looked at me as if I was breaking the family allegiance to the same universities that allowed my grandparents to get a college education,” Arias said. For many African American families, HBCUs are more than just academic institutions, they are home to a culture over 200 years old. The idea behind attending an HBCU is that black students will be educated with students who look like them, who share history of the black experience in an African American setting, conducive to encouraging academia. “Now that I am in Tallahassee where FAMU is in close proximity to my home school, I feel the two schools do encompass completely different experiences,” Arias says. “I admit that it is different from my mother’s experience at Spelman College, but different is good and different is what I had to be to get the education I wanted, in the setting I wanted, my way.” The purpose of the Delta GEMS scholarships is to first “instill the need to excel academically, and then to provide tools that enable girls to sharpen and enhance their skills to achieve high levels of academic success.” For Arias Pitts, this not only meant she would be an asset to any university, it meant that she could go against a heritage so deeply rooted in her family and still be successful. Arias walked out of her GEMS interview confident with the decision she made. Not an easy decision, but a decision she owns and one that sets her apart from other GEM scholars. That year, Arias Pitts was a Delta GEM scholarship recipient and a Seminole.
Issue 2, December 2010
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