Rate this HBCU Day 39: Dillard University

[DrBanneker]

We last covered the small but mighty Interdenominational Theological Center that received an average score of 6.6.

See the updated leaderboard here

Today we head back to the Big Easy (where we previously profiled Xavier University of Louisiana) to highlight its other private HBCU, Dillard University. Dillard University's roots go back to Reconstruction in 1869 but it is actually the fruit of the merger to two schools in 1930: Straight University and Union Normal School/New Orleans University. Named for James H. Dillard, a son of slaveholders who became an advocate for Black education, it is the oldest HBCU in New Orleans.

Dillard today is a small liberal arts school but belongs in the group of small but successful liberal arts HBCUs such as Claflin, Oakwood, and Philander Smith. It has a relatively high graduation rate, a huge endowment for its size and a strong base of alumni that give back. Among its strengths are its nursing and drama/film programs.

As an aside, it is interesting how the New Orleans HBCUs all have some of the largest female:male ratios out of all HBCUs. Even Southern University of New Orleans is high as well. Any insight?

Founded: 1869

City, State: New Orleans, LA

Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit (United Methodist)

Nickname: Bleu Devils (not a mispelling)

Enrollment and percent Black enrollment: 1,202 (all undergraduate), 97% Black

Part-time student percentage: 6%

First Generation Student Percentage: 35%

Percentage of students from households under $30k/over $100k: 60% / 4%

Out of State Percentage: 52%

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 13:1

Admissions Acceptance Rate: 55%

4-yr/6-yr graduation rates: 40% / 52%

Transfer out rate: N/A

Male/Female percentages (Female:Male Ratio): 23% male/ 77% female (3.3:1)

Tuition: $20k

Median Federal Debt After Graduation: $31k

Median Parent PLUS Loans After Graduation: $26k

Median Earning 10-Years after 10 years from freshman year: $37k

Median Earnings for specific majors after 3 years after graduation:
Nursing: $70k, Business Administration: $37k, Public Health: $35k

Top Majors by Degrees: Biology, Nursing, Drama/Film, Nursing, Business Administration, Criminal Justice

Endowment: $105M (including $5M from MacKenzie Scott)

Alumni Engagement: 23% of alumni give back

Athletic Conference: GCAC - NAIA

Mascot: Bleu Devil

Notable Alumni:

PBS Pinchback - First Black governor of a state (Louisiana)

Ruth J. Simmons - former president of Brown University (first Black person to head an Ivy League university) and also outgoing president of Prairie View A & M University

John W. E. Bowen Sr. - one of the first Black PhDs (in theology); taught at Gammon Seminary (which later became a part of the Interdenominational Theological Center)

Khalid Muhammad - former NOI spokesperson

Main Campus

Student Union

International Center for Economic Freedom

Sciences Building

The Battlefield

The Cheer Devils

Dillard Diamonds

Miss Dillard University

@Willie Lump Lump @shopthatwrecks @Sex Luthor @Booksnrain @Easy-E
@ab.aspectus @Originalman @#1 pick @Ziggiy @SupaVillain @Tug life @Idaeo @get these nets @MostReal @Bryan Danielson @Rollie Forbes @Willie Lump Lump @staticshock @Charlie Hustle @BigAggieLean. @Optimus Prime @How Sway? @DropTopDoc @Anerdyblackguy

 

[get these nets]

That alumni list. WOW.

 

[get these nets]

@DrBanneker

Great profile.

Oil industry is a big part of the economies of the Gulf States, with paths to high paying jobs, and related business opportunities. Some of the young men in lower Louisiana see that as an alternative to the college route. That has a bit of an effect on the gender ratios I think.

 

[DropTopDoc]

They are right up the street from me in the Gentilly area, I never have been on campus, but know a few alum down here, it’s a beautiful campus, i feel they don’t get the same prestige as Xavier

 

[Smokee Robinson]

Great school that produces a lot of nurses, Biology and public health majors, I spoke about XULA and they’re right there with them.. Dillard probably has the better looking campus and women just as bad as Xavier .. no matter which school you go to you’ll be good if you’re on your shyt.. definitely a good network to tap into

 

[GoAggieGo.]

Decent size endowment, for a black school their size.

Great write up. I know a few alum from there. They are very successful.

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

My cousin is a professor at Dillard in the healthcare admin program.

Dillard just like the average university doing some foul shyt under the table and already been in the news about it.

They bout to fukk around and get super exposed.

 

[Charlie Hustle]

I had some friends that went there and I was considering going there as well. The only reason why I didn't go is because I wanted the HCBU band experience and I felt I could get the same value from my major at a different school. Great University.

 

[Easy-E]

Got family friends who went

I never heard much about it

 

[ReturnOfJudah]

Smart people go there. That’s all I know

 

[KingsOfKings]

10

@IronFist I know you know

 

[get these nets]

Article came out a few weeks ago, it referenced Dillard and quoted the former president. I bookmarked it to wait until Dillard came up in the series. Here is the excerpt

Feb 22, 2023

. Many schools saw historic fundraising years and increases in corporate partnerships and philanthropic donations.

MacKenzie Scott, former spouse of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, made front-page headlines when she pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to HBCUs, citing a desire to spend her money where there was the most need.

Looking at the data​

One of those HBCUs was Dillard University in New Orleans. Former Dillard President Walter Kimbrough says the significance of Ms. Scott’s $5 million gift was that it was unrestricted money for their endowment. He used $4 million to restore campus buildings damaged after Hurricane Ida wiped out power for a week.

“That’s the money that just sits and builds on interest and then you spend a portion of it every year to do whatever you need to do, but we have a lot of HBCUs that have hardly any endowment, less than $5 million,” Dr. Kimbrough says.

Dillard University graduates celebrate in New Orleans, May 13, 2017. Dillard graduates more physics majors – and more women physics majors – than far bigger schools. Those kind of data-driven stories can help Historically Black Colleges and Universities find financial success, says former President Walter Kimbrough, who doubled Dillard’s endowment during his tenure.

Dr. Kimbrough knows about endowments. He raised Dillard’s from about $50 million to $105 million, from 2012-2022 during the years he served. He also increased alumni giving from 4% to 23%.

He built interest in Dillard by sharing its story.

“When I first got to Dillard and I found out Dillard was No. 2 in the country for producing African Americans who get undergraduate degrees in physics, I told that everywhere,” he says. He was featured on a podcast hosted by journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell. And that first year alone, he traveled to 17 cities to introduce himself to alumni.

“I didn’t really ask them for anything,” he recalls. “I just wanted to say, ‘This is who I am, this is what I see, and here is what we’re going to focus on. I need your support.’”


“We have to tell data-driven stories,” Dr. Kimbrough continues. “My criticism has always been that HBCUs lean into their platitudes of ‘we’re a family environment, your professor knows you, or we turn lemons into lemonade,’ but it’s time to show that lemonade. If you did something, we gotta show it, and that will get people excited and make people want to donate and be a part of something.”

 

[DrBanneker]

FYI, Dillard also has the best debt repayment rate of any HBCU with 69% of students starting to repay at least some of their federal debt within 3 years.

 

[get these nets]

Only program of its kind at an American university.

Legendary musician and philanthropist Ray Charles loved down-home cooking. Charles’ mother and grandmother were both sharecroppers. On Charles’ frequent visits to New Orleans, you could find him eating at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant, owned by his friends Edgar “Dooky” Chase Jr. and Leah Chase, in the historic Treme neighborhood of New Orleans.





In May of 2003, Dillard University awarded an honorary degree to Ray Charles. During his stay in New Orleans, after private meetings with some of the executive administration at Dillard University under the leadership of former Dillard University President Dr. Michael L. Lomax, Ray Charles expressed his concern for the African American cultural practices and cultural memories that would be lost among future generations. “He talked about traditions of food preparation in the black community that were really a kind of art, that his family had been a part of,” Dr. Lomax told The New York Times. “He wanted to honor his mother, his grandmother and those who had a collective memory of Africa and coming to the New World and creating a cuisine. From his point of view, their knowledge needed to be understood, preserved and transmitted to another generation.”





After careful planning, Ray Charles awarded Dillard University $1 million to establish a program in African American Material Culture with a concentration in the study of African American foodways and material culture in the South. This gift established the first professorship and program of its kind in African American Material Culture at any American university or HBCU. Ray Charles’ vision to preserve the culinary traditions and culture of African Americans in New Orleans and the South would help to create an institution at Dillard University for generations to come.



What Is Material Culture?





Material culture refers to the physical objects, resources, and spaces that people use to define their culture. Literature, food, art, film, music, and clothing are all just a small sliver of what represents material culture. To understand material culture, students must develop a firm grasp of African American history and how our culture has formed and evolved over the years.





Why Create a Program Focused on Material Culture?





The vision of the Dillard University Ray Charles Program in African American Material Culture is to be the premier center for culinary and cultural research in the South. This program is the first of its kind at any HBCU or any American university. Just as Ray Charles himself stressed the ownership of his own music, the Ray Charles Program teaches students the importance of owning and profiting from their own culture. Students in the program walk away with a holistic understanding of the food industry as well as other industries, plus the relevance and value of African American culture as a whole.





The Ray Charles Program is more than just an academic study of material culture. Here, students are able to work on projects that support their majors while earning immediate life and career experiences. The aim of this program is not to view material culture as a singular idea, but rather tie material culture into all fields of academic study offered at Dillard University

 

[staticshock]

Their cheerleaders are fine af

I like seeing how Dillard operates and the support it gets against other private HBCUs in majority black cities like Atlanta. CAU & Morehouse basically run Atlanta.

For any New Orleans brehs..does Dillard and Xavier have a lot of support in New Orleans and do their alum stay in the city and work jobs in high positions?