By Breanna Reeves, Black Voice News
While California may not yet be home to any historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs), the California State Assembly designated Sacramento State University as California’s first “Black-serving institution.”
Sacramento State enrolls the largest number of Black students across the California State University (CSU) system. They account for six percent of the student population on campus.
“This distinctive recognition reaffirms Sacramento State’s commitment and dedication to serving the needs of our diverse student body, especially for our Black students,” Sacramento State President Luke Wood said in a press release.
Earlier this year, Senator Steven Bradford introduced Senate Bill 1348 which would establish a California Black-Serving Institutions Program, designating universities or colleges as Black-serving institutions if they have a Black student population of at least 10% or at least 1,500 students.
“SB 1348 will focus attention on the disparities that exist for Black students in higher education,” Senator Bradford said in a statement when SB 1348 was introduced in April. “By creating a seal of excellence that recognizes the colleges and universities in California that are doing the most to support Black student success, we can recognize their important efforts and encourage others to take similar steps to improve overall outcomes.”
According to Wood, prospective Black California students have to leave the state to attend colleges or universities that are designated as Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI) or an HBCU. There are no colleges or universities in California designated as PBIs, a federal designation that recognizes schools that have at least 40% of enrolled students who identify as Black.
Although the state currently has no PBIs, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU), located in Watts, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles, has been recognized by the Department of Education (DOE) as a Historically Black Graduate Institution (HBGI). It is also one of only four Historically Black Medical Colleges.
Efforts to bring historically Black satellite campuses to California have also been underway over the last several years as leaders in San Francisco have launched a long-term initiative, Black 2 San Francisco, led by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC) that is focused on “creating a hub or formal space for one or more Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to recruit, offer courses and host students in San Francisco.” And coming to California this upcoming school year will be a historic first: the state’s first HBCU, the result of a collaboration between Huston-Tillotson University (HTU), the National College Resources Foundation (NCRF), the San Diego County Office of Education, and the University of La Verne.
