Is HBCU vs PWI a real debate?

College has always been that one thing that most people know from the jump was going to happen. "College is a great experience, you will make friends that will last you a lifetime." or at least thats what I was always told. What I wasn't told is that where you go to college really does shape the rest of your life. Going into my junior year in high school I had a mother who was a proud graduate of Howard University, a sister who went to Ohio State, another sister who entered her freshman year at Temple University and a brother who just graduated from Temple University, I was so sure that I would be content with applying to Penn State University and enjoying 4 years of furthering my studies in Mass Communication. Attending a predominately black high school it was very likely that you heard my classmates talking about the HBCU's they wanted to attend and how they just can't wait to go to college! Then it came to "Nia where do you want to go?", my answer never got as much excitement as the next person. It was more like a "why? Girl you not going to have any friends! You're going to be the only black girl there! Your going to come back to DC a totally different person!" This is whats wrong with our generation, PWI stands for PREDOMINATELY White Institution. If I were to be the "only black girl there" it would be called an AWI (All White Institution). 

      Although I  continued to tell people PSU was my top choice, I did begin to question the decision. Soon I took it upon myself to visit the school and as soon as I got there my decision was changed. I did not want to be attending Penn State University in the Fall of 2016. I couldn't see myself in the atmosphere that the school had and I just knew that if I forced myself to like this school the next 4 years of my life would be miserable. Yet my choice wasn't determined by the lack of black people at the school nor is my top choice now NCCU due to the great amount of black students at the school. The PWI vs HBCU debate continues to live on because people seem to think that they can determine what is best for others and thats not the case at all. Regardless of if you are black, white, yellow, green or pink if you decide that a PWI is the best decision for you then thats up to you. Even though you'll continue to hear "your missing out on the most memorable experiences of your life by going to a PWI" then thats something you choose to live with.

  Another sad misconception is that black students choose to go to an HBCU due to them not wanting to invade another races space. As an African american high school student, who had a variety of PWI's in her top 10 choices for college, I can honestly say I have or never did care about the amount of other races at a school as long as it was the best decision for me! I know that their are a lot of others who think like this. If black students were afraid to invade another race's space then there would be not be any at PWI's. To be black is a wonderful thing, I guarantee you it will last you your entire life so the idea that your "getting away from people you've been around all your life" by going to a PWI is a joke. Its black people EVERYWHERE so going to either a PWI or HBCU you'll be around people you've been around all your life regardless. The decision is yours to make, just make sure you are able to experience each school for yourself before making a choice. Diversity at a school will not build you up or break you down, its up to you what makes you a better person.

A Dream Well Done?

Nia Crawford

1 December 2015                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Dawayne Hill

Imagine working day in and day out, for a dream that you know you’re capable of achieving and still noticing that you have to work harder next time. This was the unfortunate reality for many DC athletes. Throughout Dawayne Hill’s 4 years of playing football at McKinley Technology HS in Northeast, Washington DC he had aspirations of receiving offers from numerous colleges

Hill states “High school football, I want to say it was a great experience. For me playing football is everything, I love the sport so much it's crazy.” And Hill believes that this is shown through his talent on the field.

Towards the end of his senior football season Dawayne Hill began to notice the lack of recognition from college coaches. With a mindset of receiving at least one offer, the senior desperately began to send out his highlight tapes to any coach that he could come in contact with. The district of columbia has been known to produce great players such as Daniel Muir, Tavon Wilson and Edwin Williams. So why does this happen?

“I was a product of NO exposure and, even though I was an exceptional talent nothing happened for me” Hill reveals.

Patrick Johnson, a former player at Mckinley Technology High School, after his ninth and tenth grade year playing varsity decided to further his football career at Bullis High school in Potomac Maryland.

Patrick Johnson

“Being at Tech, I wasn’t able to receive the exposure I deserved in my recruiting process because McKinley Tech wasn’t known as a recruiting site for college coaches. I strongly believe that before my time at Tech, there was players that deserved to play for some of the top college football programs in the nation.” Patrick says.

With Patrick realizing that the results he wanted out of football he took it upon himself to make the best decision for himself, “It wasn’t hard to leave McKinley and the team after my 2 years there. I approached the situation with a business mindset picking the best decision that has the best outcome for me. Now I'm a University of Wisconsin commit.”        

Dawayne Hill also received the same results during his time playing for a DCPS high school, he says “They don't expose the great talent that DC had to offer and the blame deserves to be put on the coaches and the schools itself. I look at ESPN and see high schools from all over the country getting TV exposure and I can’t remember the last time a DCIAA school was on ESPN.” Being a captain of his football team, he felt as though he couldn’t leave his team, although he still wanted better for himself.Two players, with hopes of the same dream, with a similar skill set went two separate ways to test the adversity of building yourself without exposure. Yet one came back with different results than the other. Currently, Patrick Johnson has finished out his football season with Bullis High school and will be leaving to play for University Of Wisconsin in the summer of 2016. Dawayne Hill, freshman at Towson University, with plans on achieving the same dream he has always had by walking-on the football team in the spring of 2016.

“My future aspirations were to play in the NFL but I'm starting to realize that those in the NFL had great exposure throughout their life. I didn't and my dreams of playing in the NFL look like they aren't going to happen. However, that won't stop me from trying to accomplish that dream.”