Corona Virus affect on Historically

Corona Virus Might Affect HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES

We’ve all seen the effects that the coronavirus has on people. It wouldn’t take a genius to tell the severe impact it is having on the educational institutions all across the country. Like any other institution, America’s colleges and universities are particularly hit hard by the coronavirus. Most classes, if not all have been canceled, public lecturers scrubbed, and athletic contests severely compromised. Nonetheless, and despite these obvious effects, there are several effects still underlying. One thing you have to understand is that for their survival, most universities largely depend on the outsiderstaxpayers and private donors for their financial sustenance.

Suppose the economic turmoil as a result of the virus grows bigger, certainly highly plausible, tax receipts will fall, leading after some lag, to reduce state subsidies for the public universities. Right now, the stock market is in chaos and this will affect schools in three main ways. First, the endowments will lose value, necessitating some reductions in the institutional financial support in the long run. Secondly, the pandemic will affect wealthy donors’ pockets which means, private universities will also take a hit. The third way this could affect how the universities operate, a deterioration in the financial condition of the pension funds to support present and future retirees.

Even suffering the most are the Historically Black Colleges and Universities that are strongly advocating for the additional federal funding for their institutions. They have come out to say that the cost of operating during a pandemic and managing an array of related challenges threatens the future of their institutions and their survivability in the future. The United Negro College Fund provides general scholarship funds for 37 private black colleges and universities. The Thurgood Marshall College Fund representing and supporting the public HBCUs and other predominantly black institutions, known as PBIs are efforts to help the

colleges lobby members of the congress to provide an additional, one-time allocation of $1.5 billion to help financially strapped HBCUs, PBIs and Minority serving institutions (MSIs). On March 16, U.S. House Member,

Representative Alma Adams convened a call where the two organizations along with presidents of some of the 105 HBCUs took part to discuss the financial logistics and technical problems they are now facing due to the virus. Rep Alma is also the founder and co-chair of the Bi-partisan HBCU Caucus. Rep Karen Bass – the Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus also took part as did the staff member for representative Bobby Scott, Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

“HBCUs graduate an outsized proportion of AfricanAmerican college graduates and an outsized proportion of low-income, first-generation college students. To ensure HBCUs continue their mission, they need assistance in emergencies such as this,” Adams said in written responses to questions.

“We are currently working toward a package that will include many, if not all, of those recommendations,” she wrote. “Our offices and House leadership are currently engaged in working on another stimulus package to address some of the worst impacts of the pandemic. We are confident that HBCUs will find additional support in that package.”

The congress last December passed bipartisan legislation that made permanent $255 million in annual STEM funding for the minority-serving colleges, including about $85 million specifically meant for the HBCUs. The legislation, called the FUTURE Act, has received a lot of praise from the leaders and supporters of colleges. Still, now, advocates for more funding are more worried about the immediate future.

Lodriguez V. Murray, the senior Vice President for public policy and government affairs at the United Negro College Fund, said that the HBCU leaders and supporters of their institutions were encouraged by the response of Adams and other lawmakers. “It is clear to our community -- especially HBCUs, but MSIs overall -- that there is significant interest on the Hill concerning our effort,” he said. “Representative Adams, Representative Bass, and Representative Scott all seem interested in the unique needs and abilities of HBCUs and how this pandemic impacts them.”

Murray also added that a large group of college presidents are taking part in the conference and offered first-hand accounts of what is taking place on the ground at their institutions as college and university administrators across the country race to turn campuses into online or remote institutions to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Like many other institutions, most HBCUs rely heavily on student enrollment and have a modest endowment. Unfortunately, they do not get the same level of philanthropic support from the rich donors, predominantly white institutions get. Because of the costs involved, it might be difficult for them to have a smooth transition from an in-person learning experience to remote or online teaching. More so, students that attend these institutions are also largely affected by the virus as they are largely reliant on financial aids. Some are finding it hard to travel and access classes while at home. It is sad for some, as they have nowhere to go as they rely on on-campus housing and meal plans. It’s chaotic for some who do not have access to internet connections. The sad thing is that some might not be able to return to campus should the whole situation normalize.

“HBCUs are unique institutions. They operate closer to the margins.” Murray said. “Situations outside of our control -- natural disasters, hurricanes and now the coronavirus pandemic -- tend to hurt us more than other institutions.

“Add to that the fact that students on some of these campuses will not be able to come back and that these institutions may have to forfeit funds from room and board. That will be disastrous for HBCUs,” he said. “One institution that reached out to us said it could be impacted by $2 to $4 million, and this is an institution that does not have $2 to $4 million to spare.”

Murray also noted that a long-distance learning option is a nice option, though not prioritized in the past. “Many HBCUs and a lot of MSIs did not have this distance learning technology,” he said. “For that reason, we knew that when students come back from spring break, it was going to be important for the institutions to have the resources to get them their education.”

Sources & Work Cited

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/03/18/blackcolleges-lobby-stimulus-funds https://newsone.com/3910133/coronavirus-hbcu-blackcolleges-covid-19/ https://theundefeated.com/features/hbcus-announceplans-to-combat-the-coronavirus/ https://thegrio.com/2020/03/13/hbcus-coronaviruspandemic/