wfn.org | Black Colleges Needed Today

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24 Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED
METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (355 notes).

Note 353 by UMNS on Sept. 29, 1997 at 16:42 Eastern (5462 characters).

CONTACT:	Linda Green 				541(10-31-71B){353}
 		Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470	Sept. 29, 1997

Historically black colleges continue vital role
says recently-retired Dillard President Samuel Cook

A UMNS Feature
by Linda Green*

Historical black colleges are needed as much today as they were at the time of their creation, according to Samuel DuBois Cook,
who retired recently after serving 22 years as president of United Methodist-related Dillard University in New Orleans.
Cook, 68, said the colleges, established to educate newly-freed slaves, have always justified their existence as quality
institutions and as "classic examples of democracy and equality in American higher education." 
"Colleges that should close are not the ones that have been open to everybody, but those that have discriminated against people,"
he asserted. "Black colleges have as much, or perhaps more, right to exist than any other college."  Always open to all races,
black colleges were "this countrys first affirmative action, equal opportunity employers," he noted.
Black colleges today have a tremendous opportunity to educate African-American students "in social justice, social conscience and
social relevance," he said.
He challenged the 11 historically-black schools related to the United Methodist Church, to cling to the values of integrity,
excellence, decency and commitment. 
 Black colleges have a responsibility to provide leadership for social change, to nurture and support students and to instill in
them positive self-esteem and self-worth, Cook continued. The United Methodist Church supports its 11 schools through a
denomination-wide Black College Fund, which Cook said is essential. 
The churchs responsibility to its historically black colleges is to increase their visibility, legitimacy and respectability, he
said. "A tragedy of racism is that black colleges and universities are essentially invisible to the broader American culture," 
he added.
"Church-related institutions unabashedly affirm certain values that are crucial in American culture," Cook said. They not only
affirm truth, beauty and goodness, but also the values of integrity, honor, decency and common humanity,  which are the "bulwark
against cynicism in American culture." Church related institutions are  "dikes against the relativism and the nihilism of so much
of American higher education." 
	Known as a consummate academic among his colleagues, Cook said he has watched the triumphs of African-Americans in education
since the 1960s but is concerned today that doors of opportunity are closing and the progress of life is retreating.
 He described as "scandalous" the chorus of attacks on affirmative action and charges of preferential treatment and reverse
discrimination which began during the Reagan administration.
Cook was particularly critical of non-minority persons who use the words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to condemn
affirmative action. In his famous "I Have A Dream" speech, King said he looked forward to the time when his four little children
would be judged by the "content of their character, not the color of their skin."
In the face of the attacks on affirmative action, black colleges must reach out to students who have been denied admission into
some of the countrys other colleges and universities, he said.
According to Cook, black colleges are needed because African Americans are still the victims of discrimination in this society.
"They need some sense of ownership, power and control," he explained. "We do not need in this society a continuation of the
feeling that blacks are born to follow and whites are born to lead."
Cook said there is a need for institutions where African Americans are in control. "In fact, whites need to be exposed to these
examples of black leadership and control," he said.
"Blacks do not need a society where we are totally dependent on whites for role models," he declared.
Cook said that he cant envision a time when black colleges will not be needed because he cant foresee society being without
some form of racism. He said even if black colleges are known by another name, there will always be a Dillard University, a
Clark-Atlanta University,  a Bennett College or a Meharry Medical College. "They dont have to be called black colleges any more
than a white college need to be called white colleges." 
Born in Griffin, Ga., Cook was named after a Baptist pastor and educator, not the famous African American poet and writer, as is
often thought. However, he sees some parallels between his life and that of W.E.B. DuBois.  "Ive tried to be a kind of
intellectual role model as he was and I am committed to protest and affirmation. I rebel against injustice and I criticize social
order and the system."  
	After taking time to rest, Cook said he  plans to travel and to write a book about his mentor, the late Benjamin E. Mays, former
president of Morehouse College in Atlanta. 
	A member of the site committee that selected Mutare, Zimbabwe, as the location of United Methodist-related Africa University,
Cook said it is imperative that he return to the university to see what the United Methodist Church has done. "The university is
a revolutionary institution and a revolutionary conception," he said. "I missed the grand opening and I have to get there."
	#   #   #

	* Green is director of the Nashville office of United Methodist News Service.

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