DiversityInc - January/February 2009

people creates an economic global power of thought leaders that are already driving decisions in academia and on a global scale.”

HBCUs:Vitally Important

HBCUs continue to play a relevant role in higher education. “Any institution that has the capacity to create skilled employees for the work force is important,” says Dr. Henry N. Tisdale, president of UNCF member school Claflin University in Orangeburg, S.C., a historically Black liberal arts institution with about

1,800 students. A 1965 Claflin University graduate, Dr. Tisdale, UNCF’s chair of member presidents, returned to his alma mater as its eighth president in 1994.

“My experience was very positive, and I had many choices when I left the university,” says Dr. Tisdale, a first-generation college graduate who earned a Ph.D. in mathematics at Dartmouth after graduating from Claflin. “Understanding the difference that Claflin had made in my career and in my life, I wanted to return to South Carolina and give back to an institution that had given so much to me.”

The quality of education provided by HBCUs is demonstrated by the results. HBCUs, private and public, represent only 3 percent of all American colleges and universities and enroll only 14 percent of all Black college students. However, they’ve produced 70 percent of all Black dentists and physicians, 50 percent of all Black engineers, 50 percent of all Black public-school teachers and 35 percent of all Black attorneys.

“Xavier University made all the difference in terms of my life’s choices,” states former Labor Secretary Herman. “Xavier encouraged my own style of leadership. I wasn’t lost in a sea of thousands of students, and I was able to get the close attention and nurturing that’s so important.” Herman also notes that being a student at a Black college at the height of the civil-rights movement was critical to her leadership development. “I can’t imagine how my life might have been different if I hadn’t been in that kind of environment when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated during my junior year. It was incredibly empowering,” she says.

According to Herman, the ability to empower students is one reason among many why HBCUs are more important than ever. “Minority graduates represent a competitive edge for companies today,” she says. “Our history is about understanding, managing and leveraging differences. That’s what companies will have to do to make it in this global marketplace. We are uniquely positioned today to be great assets.” z

© 2009 DiversityInc^®. This advertising-supported section was written by Dana Asher under contract to DiversityInc. Content is the property of DiversityInc. For more information or to order reprints, please contact gzoppo@DiversityInc.com

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COX COMMUNICATIONS PREPARES
STUDENTS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

Youth, education and technology are education for all students, so we work to cornerstones of the corporate philosophy prepare underrepresented groups in part at Cox Communications, No. 6 on The by closing the technology gap and also by

DiversityInc Top 50 nurturing their interests in education and

Companies for Diversity® technology,” Thomas says. As a found-list. “Where these three ing member of Cable in the Classroom, come together, you’ll find a nonprofit organization, Cox, in partner-Cox providing services that ship with other cable companies, provides give access to the Internet cable service and commercial-free educa-and cable programming tional content to 3. 2 million students in and mentoring kids to more than 5,300 schools nationwide.

help them excel in school,” says Manager To support youth outside the class-of Corporate Social Responsibility room, Cox is a national technology part- Kimberly Thomas. ner of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America

In addition, the company has donated (BGCA). Cox provides many local clubs more than $400,000 in support of UNCF with free or discounted Internet and ca-educational activities. “We believe it’s ble services, public service announcement important to expand access to higher time and other in-kind contributions. Em-

ployees of Cox also mentor, volunteer and sit on local BGCA boards. Cox Communications President Pat Esser serves as a National Trustee for the BGCA.

Cox Communications also offers summer internships to college students by working with the Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media. Each year, students recruited from HBCUs and other institutions begin their professional careers at the company’s headquarters in Atlanta or Cox facilities around the country.