NYSUT celebrates Black History Month with a new poster highlighting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which were established to primarily serve Black students.
Cheyney University, established in 1837, is the oldest historically Black school of higher education. HBCUs contributed substantially to the economic progress of Black Americans by providing them with access to higher education in an era of legal segregation.
There are 101 private and public HBCUs in the United States offering 27 doctoral, 52 master’s, 83 bachelor’s and 38 associate degree programs. HBCUs have a rich legacy of matriculating Black leaders into a variety of professions. Xavier and Howard University medical schools graduate 92 percent of the country’s Black doctors.
Notable HBCU alumni include Vice President Kamala Harris, Howard University; Martin Luther King Jr., Morehouse College; Oprah Winfrey, Tennessee State University; and W.E.B. Du Bois, Fisk University. Other well-known HBCUs include Hampton University, Tuskegee University and Spelman College.
The free poster is available for download for NYSUT members and leaders at the statewide union’s online Publications Ordering Catalog, nysut.org/publications.
