Historically black — but without the history?

“Elizabeth City State University…  is talking about ending seven undergraduate degree programs because of state funding declines and enrollment shortfalls….

“Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, said the proposed cuts were ‘shocking and potentially debilitating,’ but she was especially concerned that an HBCU would deplete its capacity to teach history.

” ‘Nothing is more fundamental than history to students’ understanding of their roles and responsibilities as citizens of this diverse and still decidedly unequal democracy,’ she said. ‘Cutting out history means cutting out both memory and hope.’

“Elizabeth City was founded a quarter-century after the Civil War for the purpose of  ‘teaching and training teachers of the colored race to teach in the common schools of North Carolina.’

” ‘We’re talking about a university whose primary mission has been the education of African-American Southerners,’ said James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association, ‘and to say to those students and to their parents and to the community that history is not important is deeply tragic.’ ”

— From “The End of History?” by Ry Rivard at Inside Higher Ed (Oct. 29, 2013)

Update: More protests against ECSU’s laying waste to “right sizing” its history curriculum.

 

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