PWI vs. HBCU Debate, can't we all just get along?

On Sept. 30 UNC Charlotte’s newly founded Black History Club held their first event of the fall semester, entitled “PWI vs HBCU Debate: School Daze Edition.” The long awaited program was the result of an ongoing Twitter battle between African-American students at Predominantly White Institutions and Historically Black Colleges or Universities, specifically students at UNC Charlotte and Johnson C. Smith University. The Black History Club invited students from both Charlotte institutions to the SAC Salons to settle the score once and for all. “We really just want to bring about unity and show people that it doesn’t matter where you go to school because at the end of the day we’re all minorities getting an education,” voiced Black History Club Secretary, Sequoyah Cottoms. The “we” that Cottoms referred to includes executive board members from JCSU’s Black History Club who also played a major role in organizing the controversial debate.

An hour prior to show time, what seemed like a never ending line had already begun to form outside of SAC Salons A and B. Students discussed their expectations, took selfies and roared their respective school chants as time grew closer and closer to 7 pm. Unfortunately, due to the overflow of students, attendees were instructed to exit the venue in order for the stage and three sections of chairs to be removed. By the time everyone returned to SAC Salons nearly an hour had passed. The once anxious crowd had now become frustrated and restless. After introductions of both UNCC and JCSU’s Black History Clubs, panelists, and special guests the debate started at approximately 8:10 pm. Following a brief video clip of PWI/HBCU tweets U.S. House of Representatives Liaison, Jeremiah Isaiah, mediator of debate, presented the structure of the debate to the audience. For the next forty-five minutes students relentlessly disagreed on the following six topics: Greek life, workload, location, graduation rate, admission rate, classroom size and university diversity. The latter three topics brought about the more tense conversations. JCSU students believe that their smaller classes (student to faculty ratio of 11:1) create a nurturing and more stable learning community. UNCC students attributed their large classes (student to faculty ratio 19:1) to the campus population of 28,000 students, compared to JCSU’s 1,400. UNCC students refuted the claim that they aren’t being nurtured by noting campus resources such as the University Center for Academic Excellence and Supplemental Instruction. Then UNCC students, now on the offensive, suggested that JCSU’s lack of diversity didn’t necessarily prepare their students for the real world. JCSU has 57% in-state students, 40% out-of-state, and 3% international. In contrast to UNCC’s 36% minority representation and 1300+ international students. By this point in the debate there was a clear uneasiness in the room. The topic of admission rates would prove to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. UNCC students blatantly questioned the rigor of JCSU academics once JCSU admissions information was revealed to the crowd. The median test scores for students in the class of 2014 were 860 for SAT I (critical reading and math only) and 18 on the ACT, as well as a median GPA of 3.0. JCSU students took great offense to the UNCC students’ accusation. The once civil debate was now a shouting match between young African-American students with an ample amount of school pride. For the record, UNCC students (middle fifty percent) that were admitted this fall scored in between 22-26 for the ACT, 1540-1770 for the SAT and a 3.7-4.3 GPA (weighted).

With tempers flaring every which way special guest and Mecklenburg County District Court Judge Yolanda Trotman refused to hold her tongue any longer. Trotman, a UNCC alumni, took to the center of the SAC Salons where everybody could see. “I don’t know if you all understood what the purpose of this debate was but I need you all to understand that it makes no difference where you go to school, the only thing that matters is that you’re getting an education and that’s something that should be celebrated,” vehemently expressed Trotman. Trotman’s comments seemed to be the only thing to cease the bickering between UNCC and JCSU students. “Opening up this debate was the first of many conversations to come up that will ultimately seek to spark black consciousness and solidarity,” added Isaiah.