HBCU Alumni
Aiisha G. Herring-Miller
Aiisha Herring-Miller is a native of Harrisburg, PA and has lived in Philadelphia, PA, since 1998. For 16 years, Aiisha has worked for the City of Philadelphia focusing on community and economic development initiatives. She is currently the Director, Economic Development Zones for the Department of Commerce. She is responsible for leading efforts for the Empowerment Zone’s legacy program, the Neighborhood Funding Stream, a $31 million endowment that provides resources for commercial and industrial development, business development, financial literacy, and job creation. Read More
Cherri Gregg
Cherri Gregg is the community affairs reporter for KYW Newsradio 1060. Cherri has a B.S. from Boston University, a J.D. from Howard University School of Law and a M.J. from Temple University’s College of Communications and Theater. She is the past president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists and is a member of the Pennsylvania and Georgia Bars. Read More
Cherelle L. Parker
Councilwoman Cherelle L. Parker proudly serves the Ninth Council District in Philadelphia, which stretches through northwest and northeast communities including East Mt. Airy, East and West Oak Lane, Olney, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Burholme and Oxford Circle. As chair of Council’s Labor and Civil Service Committee, Cherelle is working to ensure that all workers have financial security in their retirement. She is also focused on addressing deteriorating infrastructure and an overall lack of investment in middle neighborhoods, illustrating her passion for stabilization and home preservation. Read More
Dawn A. Roberts
Dawn Angelique Roberts is an award-winning communications professional with over 20 years’ experience. As the Director of Media Relations and Communications for Elite Access Running, LLC and volunteer endurance running coach for the American Cancer Society, Determine Nation program, Dawn runs and coaches beginning and experienced runners to make a difference in the fight against cancer. Read More
Elisha B. Morris
Born and raised in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, Rev. Elisha Morris is a 1975 graduate of Germantown High School and a 1984 graduate of Cheyney University of PA. Licensed to preach in 1986, he was Ordained in 1994 by Bishop O. T. Jones, Jr. Rev. Morris was an Associate Minister/Elder at the Mount Airy COGIC, founded by Bishop Ernest C. Morris, for 30 years. Currently he serves as the Second Assistant Pastor at the Higher Ground Temple COGIC under Superintendent Edward M. Barron in Camden, N.J. Rev. Morris is involved in many community organizations. Read More
Eric Grimes
Eric Grimes, the Host of The Shomari Show (WURD 900), and the Director of Root Cause LLC is a proud alumni of Morehouse College. As an activist, speaker and educator whose primary focus is to elevate the consciousness and transformative learning experiences for those committed in overcoming social injustice. Read More
Dr. Kevin R. Johnson
Dr. Kevin R. Johnson, President and CEO of Philadelphia Opportunities industrialization Center (OIC), credits a great deal of his success and leadership capabilities to his attendance at Morehouse College. Dr. Johnson is also the founding lead pastor of Dare to Imagine Church Inc., which has donated $100,000 in funding to support area organizations that provide services for people in need. Read More
Laureen Boles
Laureen Boles is the State Director of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, an alliance of organizations whose mission is to promote equity in the implementation of statewide policies with environmental impacts. Laureen’s background includes more than 25 years of sustainable community development experience as a civil engineer and environmental planner at the City of Philadelphia. Read More
Staci Scott
As President and Executive Director of Health Partners Foundation, Staci Scott provides leadership for the Foundation through advocacy in social determinants of health for individuals and families in need in the communities and neighborhoods served by Health Partners Plans. Read More
Steven Scott Bradley
Steven Scott Bradley, an alumnus of Fisk University, is current president and CEO of Bradley & Bradley Associates, Inc., a commercial and risk management firm located in Philadelphia. As Chairman of the African American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) for PA, NJ and DE, he works with a board that seeks to revitalize communities by filling the systemic void in opportunities for sustenance and ownership ˗ rather than just for survival and dependence. Read More
The nation’s historically Black college and universities (HBCUs) play critical role in the economic mobility of African Americans. These institutions were created during the 1800s, at a time when educating Black students was not encouraged in this country.
Pennsylvania is home to the nation’s two oldest HBCUs – Cheyney University and Lincoln University. “Prior to the Civil War, higher education opportunities were virtually nonexistent for nearly all Black Americans,” Monica Anderson, a research associate at Pew Research Center wrote in February 2017 Fact Tank analysis. “In the years following the war, more colleges sprang up to meet the educational needs of the newly freed Black population. As desegregation, rising incomes and increased access to financial aid resulted in more college options for Blacks, the share of Blacks attending HBCUs began to shrink.
By fall 1980, 17% of Black students enrolled in degree-granting institutions were enrolled at an HBCU. By 2000, that share had declined to 13%, and it stood at 9% in 2015.” A U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report indicates that HBCUs are credited with creating the African American middle class.
The reports states that HBCUs have produced 40% of African American members of Congress, 50% of professors at predominately white institutions, 40% of engineers, 50% of lawyers and 80% of judges. Many of these institutions provide low income, minority, rural and inner-city students with the opportunity to obtain college degrees.
“HBCU’S have been historically fundamental in changing an individual’s own trajectories from a socioeconomic standpoint,” said Brenda Allen, president of Lincoln University. “They were the primary institutions where African-Americans could even receive a college degree and so that in and of itself has had a tremendous impact on creating a black middle class.
” “I think that if we look at who the Black middle class are today, the majority of them got their roots in HBCUs and even as affirmative action opened up opportunities for people of color and women to go to other places, HBCUs continue to produce a disproportionately greater amount of Black people who go on to get college degrees and even more of a percentage relative to their proportion of higher ed in this country – those who go on to get advanced degrees in medicine, in law and Ph.D’s,” she continued.
Cheyney and Lincoln have had a positive impact on the economic circumstances of their graduates. The study titled The Equality of Opportunity Project: The best Pa. colleges to take you from the bottom of the income ladder to the top, found that Lincoln University ranked first and Cheyney University was sixth among Pennsylvania colleges in moving low income graduates into economic security and prosperity.
A 2017 landmark study commissioned by the UNCF – indicates that the nation’s 101 accredited HBCUs generate $14 billion in total economic impact for their local and regional economics. The report titled HBCUs Make America Strong: The Positive Economic Impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities finds that HBCU graduates can expect work-life earnings of $130 billion throughout their lifetimes – 56 % more than they could expect to earn without their degrees or certificates.
HBCUs account for 3 % of all U.S. colleges, however they produce 17 % of African Americans with bachelor’s degrees and 24 % of African Americans with STEM bachelor’s degrees. Despite their positive economic impacts, many HBCUs are facing financial struggles as they grapple with lagging government funding, leadership challenges and reduced enrollment numbers.
