In reference to the question about what HBCU social life will look like if sports, homecoming, and other gatherings have to be significantly downsized: I think because of the uncertainty of the times, it's easy to forget that our students are just as creative and resourceful as our institutions themselves. A lot of pivotal moments in HBCU history were sparked by a student's idea. The young men at North Carolina A&T who sat-in at the lunch counter in 1960 set off a chain reaction that shaped the Civil Rights Movement. Freaknik was started by Atlanta University Center students as a picnic originally, but it grew into something much bigger. I think we should be asking, if these big events do have to be scaled down or cancelled, how can we foster a creative infrastructure that will accommodate student innovation?
This is true and has already been fostered in many ways on TikTok, in student virtual assemblies, etc. But these aren’t viewed as replacements, rather short-term measures. Much in the way that black churches are dealing with drops in giving and HBCUs are trying to figure out how marching bands, lecture series will go on with crowds limited to no more than 10-50 people, the solutions may take a significant amount of time to catch up with attitudes and preferences.
In reference to the question about what HBCU social life will look like if sports, homecoming, and other gatherings have to be significantly downsized: I think because of the uncertainty of the times, it's easy to forget that our students are just as creative and resourceful as our institutions themselves. A lot of pivotal moments in HBCU history were sparked by a student's idea. The young men at North Carolina A&T who sat-in at the lunch counter in 1960 set off a chain reaction that shaped the Civil Rights Movement. Freaknik was started by Atlanta University Center students as a picnic originally, but it grew into something much bigger. I think we should be asking, if these big events do have to be scaled down or cancelled, how can we foster a creative infrastructure that will accommodate student innovation?
This is true and has already been fostered in many ways on TikTok, in student virtual assemblies, etc. But these aren’t viewed as replacements, rather short-term measures. Much in the way that black churches are dealing with drops in giving and HBCUs are trying to figure out how marching bands, lecture series will go on with crowds limited to no more than 10-50 people, the solutions may take a significant amount of time to catch up with attitudes and preferences.