natalie_g wrote:

I am a current student at A&T and I feel like A&T is a good school the way it is, but for whatever reason the administration is trying to convert the school into something it's not: a white school. Maybe not a white school, but I thought the whole point of a HBCU was to cater to the needs of Negroes, so why is it that the administration is continuously seeking non-blacks to come to the school? There was a student body meeting this month and they said that the school was planning on raising tution atleast a thousand dollars so that they can build new buildings, get more televison stations, and accomodate to the needs of non-blacks. First of all, I do have to admit that the new buildings do look nice, but do we not need to preserve our history? Why tear down buildings that are structually sound and have been designed by previous A&T students? As for Barbee, it is not one of the best dorms, but that building and Haley were both designed by past students. Would it not be cheaper to just renovate rather than tear down? the reason why there's so many buildings being put up is b/c they are outdated... Scott Hall 1951-2004 was the oldest residence hall on campus... the rooms were too small and as time goes on, the requirements for rooms change, so it was mandatory to tear it down rather than rebuild it... and the history behind it (the wall w/ the bullet holes from the National Guard) is preserved at the Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro... Barbee is gonna be renovated, and Haley's rooms were renovated not too long ago, so it'll be intact... and Hines Hall is gonna be torn down b/c of state regualtions... it's basically gonna be too dangerous to hold hazardous materials and do the type of experiments that you intend to do in a science building... that's why the new science building is going up along w/ the new HAZMAT facility by Pride Hall... and since most of the minority students at T major in something involving science, it'll be more of a comfort too them... Also, I don't see the need to get more televison channels. Nobody actually sits down and watches tv until the prime time hours and most of the time they watch DVDs. Accomodating minorities is my biggest problem. The purpose of HBCUs was to educate newly freed Negroes who were not allowed to attend white institutions. The struggle of our ancestors to implement these instituions was a long and hard struggle and I feel by actively recruiting minorities is defeating the purpose of their struggle. My whole academic career I wasn't sure where I wanted to go to school, but within my junior year of high school I decided that I wanted to attend an HBCU because nothing about my history was ever taught to me unless it was from my mother. I wanted to attend a school where I could be taught by my own people, where I could learn with my own people, where I could have a role model of my own race rather than continuing to admire somebody who doesn't understand what I'm going through. If I wanted to attend a school with a lot of white people, I would have attended a PWI. at first a lot of the minorities at T were recruited to help our teams that didn't involve football or basketball (ie, bowling and baseball) our bowling team has won 4 of the last 6 MEAC titles and our baseball team is the defending 2005 MEAC champions... and as much as we are accomodating to minorities at T, UNC-Greensboro is accomodating more minorities as well... a lot of courses are merged w/ both schools since they are so convienient to each other... so that partnership of the "millenium campus" concept w/ UNCG is tying into that accomodation I understand that the administration wants to put A&T on the map, but why not put it on the map for really understanding their students and attending to their needs? Why not for being a successful HBCU without conforming to the ways of the white President? Why not for being a school that stands up for what it was intentionally founded for? If the fouders of the Institution came back today and anaylyzed the school would they be happy with what they found? I just want A&T to stand for what they believe in and continue to be for the good of Negroes and not worry about what the white people are saying. I want future generations to continue to go to A&T and say this is what my ancestors fought so long and hard for; to provide me knowledge of my past and to help me to get where I need to be. I just don't want A&T to end up like West Virginia State University a HBCU with only 18% black people. I fear that if we don't get together now and stop what's going on that that's where the future of this university is headed. A&T was originally founded for a school specializing in agriculture.... since we are in a technological age, the focus is going away from agriculture and into more of science and technology... and most people who major in engineering know that A&T is the best school for engineers, and engineering is still the core of A&T... that's like people that go to NC-Central for law, NCCU has one of the best law schools in the country... FSU and FAMU work together, A&T and UNCG work together... i think we all know that A&T is an HBCU, but just b/c there's quite a bit more diversity in the school doesn't mean we should remove them... yes our ancestors struggled to get their education, and yes the facilities weren't as better as they are now... but in the end, they would want future generations to have it better than they had... and in a sense, it is... better facilities, and the ability of everyone to work under one... Alumni I just want to point out that you responded very quickly with the situation with Coach Small and the football team, so if you can respond so quickly to the athletics program can you also do the same with the future of your alma mater? Everybody who has graduated from a school needs to give back in some way even if you can't do it with monetary value. Thank you in advance