50th Anniversary BCF
Black College Fund marks its 50th anniversary in 2022.

United Methodists Show Longtime Support for Black Colleges and Universities

First of two parts

by

A United Methodist Insight Feature

Black History Month 2022 got off to a scary start when some 14 historically Black colleges and universities faced bomb threats Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Among them were three United Methodist-related colleges that are receive the denomination’s crucial but often-overlooked support for HBCUs.

After Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed Black slaves in the South during the Civil War and the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery altogether, Methodists began establishing schools, colleges, and universities to educate former slaves. Today, some 155 years after the first schools were founded, eleven UMC-affiliated colleges and universities including a medical school are supported by its church-wide Black College Fund. The UMC supports the largest number of HBCUs receiving funding from any U. S. denomination.

In brief, the eleven United Methodist HBCUs are:

Bennett College, Greensboro, N. C., one of only two HBCUs nationwide for women, named for early 20th century educator Belle Bennett, noted for her schools for Black students.

Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona Beach, Fla, founded by mid-20th century educator Mary McLeod Bethune, an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Claflin University, Orangeburg, S. C., the first college in the state to welcome all students, regardless of race or gender and frequently listed among best-value U.S. colleges.

Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga., formed in 1988 by the consolidation of Atlanta University, which offered only graduate degrees, and Clark College, a four-year undergraduate liberal arts institution.

Dillard University, New Orleans, La., born from the union of New Orleans University and Straight University and named for 19th century education reformer James Hardy Dillard. 

Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Tex., renowned for its music and education departments.

Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn., founded in 1867 as the first medical school for African Americans in the South and a leader in health care for Black communities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Paine College, Augusta, Ga., founded in 1882 as the result of a collaboration between Black and white Methodists, specializing in small enrollments that provide one-on-one mentoring.

Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Ark., founded in 1877 as the first four-year college for Blacks in Arkansas, and today a college with 21 specialties including a noted public health program.

Rust College, Holly Springs, Miss., founded in 1866 and one of the remaining five historically black colleges in America founded before 1867.

Wiley College, Marshall, Tex., the first HBCU west of the Mississippi that gained fame in the 21st century thanks to Denzel Washington’s film, “The Great Debaters.”

Most of these colleges were founded in the late 19th century as Methodists in both the southern and northern branches sought to give Black Americans in the South the higher education that had been denied them. For example, according to its website, “Paine College was the brainchild of Bishop Lucius Henry Holsey, who first expressed the idea for the College in 1869. Bishop Holsey asked leaders in the ME Church South to help establish a school to train Negro teachers and preachers so that they might in turn appropriately address the educational and spiritual needs of the people newly freed from the evils of slavery.” Subsequently Paine, named for Bishop Robert Paine who helped organize what is now the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, was initially funded by “a $2,000 gift from a white minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and $16 raised by a CME minister – penny by penny from former slaves ….”

Pathways to STEM degrees

While retaining their historic liberal arts emphases, United Methodist HBCUs also offer pathways for Black students to obtain degrees in critical STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics) disciplines.  According to an October 2021 issue of Anti-Racism Daily:

  • HBCUs account for only 3% of all universities, yet 25% of all Black undergraduates with a STEM degree obtained it from an HBCU, including 50% of all Black doctors.
  • HBCUs historically have been underfunded by state and local governments.
  • Supporting HBCU STEM programs is one of the most direct ways to increase the presence of Black folks in STEM fields.

One way HBCUs aid students in STEM and other disciplines is by keeping tuition lower than other colleges, including state universities. According to U.S. News and World Report, HBCUs typically charge tuition that can be as much as half the cost of a comparable private college in the same area.

United Methodist HBCUs also serve an important function as the repositories of Black history and culture. In a video for BCF, retired Philander Smith College president Trudie Kibbe Reed said the HBCUs provide students with perspectives that might otherwise be lost.

“A lot of us … presidents weren’t there for the title,” Reed said in the video. “It was really a passion. It was the legacy we carried from our generation, from Jim Crow, from the Civil Rights movement, right into the current time period.

“I’m concerned that as we move into a different time period, there may be leaders who will lack that history, legacy and commitment,” she said. “I would like us to talk about the importance of the history being transferred. They won’t have the same experiences that we had, but I would like for them to carry the same passion and commitment [that previous leaders have shown.]”

Sometimes financially fragile

Despite Methodists’ good intentions, all HBCUs have struggled in the past with their finances. As recently as 2020, according to an article on The Conversation website, 1 in 10 HBCUs were already financially fragile before being hit by the stress of the coronavirus pandemic. In contrast, the Black College Fund has served as something of a cushion against hard times for United Methodist HBCUs.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the Black College Fund, administered by the church-wide General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, has been crucial in the development of UMC-related HBCUs. As part of the official UMC budget, BCF is included in what’s known as “apportionments,” a fair-share system of allocating funding for ministries beyond local congregations. BCF money provides scholarships for students and development capital for HBCUs.

In addition, both BCF’s website and HBCU presidents emphasize the universities’ commitment to values of excellence, leadership, scholarship, and service fostered by their UMC connections.

The BCF website says: “UM-related black colleges and universities, far beyond proportion to their numbers and financial resources, are responsible for educating some of the world’s most effective and recognized leaders. … Among the well-known graduates are Dr. Joycelyn Elders, a 1952 graduate of Philander Smith College and the first African American and the second woman to serve as the U.S. surgeon general, and James L. Farmer Jr., a 1938 Wiley College graduate and civil rights leader who helped found the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).”

Henry Tisdale, 1994-2019 president of Claflin University as well as a Claflin alumnus, put it succinctly: “I saw we had a true partner in The United Methodist Church that we could depend on.”

Tisdale amplified that BCF support, along with backing from the South Carolina Annual Conference where Claflin is located, provided consistent funds for strategic planning and special initiatives in matching gifts from private foundations. BCF also provided money for special academic programs such as Claflin’s Global Engagement, through which research groups travel and study in Europe, India, Brazil, and Africa. Thanks to BCF and other contributions, Claflin established the first chemistry department certified by the American Chemical Society at an HBCU, he said.

“That achievement was a signal to prospective students that Claflin is a place where you can find high quality programs for job placement or graduate school acceptance,” Tisdale said.

Administrators, students, and alumni agreed: Through both its historic and contemporary support, The United Methodist Church has enabled historically Black colleges and universities to educate leaders in all walks of life who have significantly contributed to their professions, communities and churches.

Next: United Methodist HBCUs strive for academic excellence, community service.

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.