PROBLEM. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine in their
historical context the seven accredited colleges of the National Baptist
Convention of the United States of America, Inc., in order to assess
their present programs , status, responsibilities, and opportunities, and
to suggest appropriate directions for their future. The seven colleges
are: Benedict College, Bishop College, Florida Normal College, Morehouse
College, Shaw University, Spelman College, and Virginia Union University.
PROCEDURE. The problem is developed in four stages : First a description
of the rise and development of the National Baptist Convention
of the United States of America, Inc., in its historical and cultural
setting; second, a study of the rise and development of the seven accredited
colleges; third, an assessment of their present programs, status, responsibilities
and opportunities; and fourth, suggested appropriate directions for the future. Data were gathered through historical research, and
through questionnaires, interviews , and several on-campus personal investigations at each college.
FINDINGS. The seven colleges were founded by the American Baptist
Home Missionary Society during the Reconstruction Period following the
Civil War, not by the National Baptist Convention of the Uni tad States
of America, Inc., as commonly claimed. Religion constituted the core of
the curricula as the schools were initially training centers
ministers and Christian workers. The academic programs were gradually
expanded to train teachers and provide pre- professional training :for doctors,
dentists, and lawyers. All were to work primarily with Negroes in
a stratified society.
Accreditation became synonornous with survival for these colleges between
1932 and 1951. During this period all the schools were approved
by the (then) Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. They
became quantitatively accredited by 1961, and qualitatively accredited by
1965. Due to the struggle for accreditation, they emerged as four-year
liberal arts colleges, largely exhibiting a sameness of format.
Their original purpose has been redefined. They recognize their
moral responsibility to prepare for academic excellence and social responsibility,
an educationally and culturally deprived minority who would
normally be denied a college education by most institutions of higher
learning.
RECOMMENDATIONS. These colleges can become pace-setters among the
predominantly Negro institutions of higher learning, in producing qualified,
socially responsible citizens who can be assimilated into, and develop
responsible roles in American society. To that end the following
recommendations are made :
1. Qualified and competent administrators and faculties should be
employed, representing a racial, geographical, and international cross- section. The student body body should be integrated in the near future.
2. Boards of Trustees should represent a concerned cross-section
of society. They should be knowledgeable regarding the special needs of
the schools, with terms of office extended to five years.
J . Management of the colleges should be organized on a more democratic basis, with policy making a cooperative venture among all vested interests.
4. Curricula should be re-designed to bridge the existing cultural
and educational gaps. Crash remedial programs should be abandoned. The
regular four-year college program should be extended to five years for
those in serious need of remedial work, allowing for a comprehensive program
encompassing English, speech, reading , mathematics, and the humanities
during the remedial program in the first year.
5. Guidance, counseling, and placement services should be made more
effective, preparing heretofore disadvantaged youth for new opportunities.
6. Physical facilities should be expanded and improved to accomodate
increased enrollments. Science, audio- visual, and language laboratories,
reading and speech clinics should be established.
7. Students should be admitted on a heterogenous basis. Admission
standards should remain at the present level for a short time, to help
students who would normaly be denied admission to most other colleges.
8. Faculty and student exchange programs should be expanded to involve
greater number s and a wider cultural range.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/46793 |
| Date | January 1968 |
| Creators | Thompson, Harold Leonarde |
| Publisher | Boston University |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | This work is being made available in OpenBU by permission of its author, and is available for research purposes only. All rights are reserved to the author. |
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