Rate this HBCU Day 49: Wilberforce University

[DrBanneker]

We last covered Meharry Medical College that received an outstanding score of 9.3 placing it at the #2 spot behind Spelman College.

See the updated leaderboard here

Today we go to central Ohio to cover the oldest Black run HBCU, Wilberforce University. Founded by the AME church in 1856 before the Civil War it has an interesting history.

Xenia, Ohio has many natural hot springs and that made it a natural resort area in the antebellum USA. Specifically, in Wilberforce, Ohio a resort called Tawawa Resort was established which earned the dubious reputation as a hidden getaway and retreat for Southern slave masters to bring their enslaved Black or Mulatto mistresses and their illegitimate children. With the growth of pro-abolition sentiment in the area, the resort became scandal and was forced to close. The previous owners found a willing buyer in the AME Church who was looking to establish a college for Blacks after having been run out by a mob trying to establish such a school in Connecticut.

The AME Church bought the resort and turned its buildings into classrooms and student quarters. However, there was not a complete break with the past as most of the students before the Civil War were the mixed sons and daughters of Southern slaveowners who sent them to Wilberforce for an education.

After rebuilding from partial destruction due to arson soon after the end of the Civil War, it gradually grew and became one of the early prominent universities similar to Lincoln University. Also similar to Lincoln, it hosted many African students, specifically from South Africa. Many prominent early Black scholars visited or taught at Wilberforce including W.E.B. DuBois (his first teaching post after graduate work at the University of Berlin) and Paul Laurance Dunbar.

The curriculum focused on industrial arts and teacher training towards the end of the 19th century. In 1947, the industrial school was split off and became what is now known as Central State University.

Wilberforce has a similar story to Lincoln University: an early first mover in Black education that produced many great leaders but has declined in prominence relative to the modern star HBCUs. This unfortunately was long process that WEB DuBois himself warned about in an article in 1940 (link) that the university was falling behind upstarts like Florida A&M and Virginia State due to its low research output and internal politics. Wilberforce has saved itself from the brink of financial ruin or loss of accreditation several times in its history, most recently moving off probation in 2021. Wilberforce has a rich history and I think could make a good niche for itself as a private liberal arts school following the formula followed by Claflin University, Philander Smith, and Paul Quinn. That would be a great continuation for its proud students and legacy.



Founded: 1856

City, State: Wilberforce, OH

Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit (African Methodist Episcopal affiliated)

Nickname: Bulldogs

Enrollment and percent Black enrollment: 557 (544 undergraduate), 97% Black

Part-time student percentage: 30%

First Generation Student Percentage: 46%

Percentage of students from households under $30k/over $100k: 72% / N/A

Out of State Percentage: 44%

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 19:1

Admissions Acceptance Rate: 39%

4-yr/6-yr graduation rates: 20% / 33%

Transfer out rate: N/A

Male/Female percentages (Female:Male Ratio): 40% male/ 60% female (1.5:1)

Tuition: $13k

Median Federal Debt After Graduation: $25k

Median Parent PLUS Loans After Graduation: $10k

Median Earning 10-Years after 10 years from freshman year: $35k

Median Earnings for specific majors after 3 years after graduation:
Business Administration: $40k

Top Majors by Degrees:
Business Administartion, Social Work, Biology, Health Services

Endowment: ~$8M

Alumni Engagement: N/A

Athletic Conference: Continental Athletic Conference (NAIA)

Mascot: Bulldogs

Notable Alumni:

Dorothy Vaughan - mathematician of Hidden Figures fame

William Grant Still - first Black American to conduct a major American orchestra

Bayard Rustin - Civil rights activist

Leontyne Price - first Black woman prima donna of the Met Opera

Shontel Brown - Congresswoman representing Ohio's 11th district

Main Campus

Basketball gym

Hounds of Sound marching band

Cheerleaders



Royal Desire Dancers





Miss Wilberforce

@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 @Johnny seawolf

 

[todd1]

Sorry Breh....Leontyne Price did NOT graduate from Wilberforce

 

[get these nets]

GREAT profile and history lesson. The backstories are amazing.

First time I heard of Wilberforce is when I read the Auto Bio of Malcolm X as a teen. He mentioned that one of his older brothers went there.

Also interesting to read about the fortunes/profile/trajectory of the early leading schools changing. And Dubois warning that it could happen. Can't take for granted that you will always be on top.

 

[DrBanneker]

Sorry Breh....Leontyne Price did NOT graduate from Wilberforce

Apparently she went to Wilberforce before it and Central State University split and when she graduated in 1948 the split had happened but I am not sure which diploma she received.

 

[DropTopDoc]

I’m always amazed at the lack of advertising for Midwest hbcu’s, they really would scoop up a lot of kids that may not want to travel all the way south, also southern kids that want to get away

 

[get these nets]

The Dubois commentary about Wilberforce, mentioned in the profile.

 

[get these nets]

Wilberforce ‘on notice’ for accreditation; university president says it’s being addressed​

The historically Black university came off of probation in 2021.

Dec 5, 2023



The Higher Learning Commission, an accreditor for many Ohio universities, has put Wilberforce, a local historically Black university, on notice that it is at risk for not meeting certain criteria to remain accredited.
“It’s basically saying that we were at risk of not meeting the criteria,” said Vann Newkirk, Wilberforce president.

Newkirk pointed out the university is still accredited and can still issue degrees. It also can fix these problems and get the on notice part removed within the next year, which Newkirk said he believes will happen.
To be in good standing with the U.S. Department of Education, universities and colleges must be accredited with a third-party agency. Many Ohio universities, including Wright State, Central State and Ohio State, use the Higher Learning Commission, which issues a letter of accreditation to the university or college.


The university is at risk of being out of compliance, according to the HLC, with several core components of how the university operates, including:

• Sufficient faculty and staff;
• Student enrollment, retention and degree completion;
• Budgeting and fundraising;
• Integrated planning and improvement.

The university also was out of compliance with two components: future financial projections and effective systems for collecting and analyzing data.

In 2018, the HLC put Wilberforce on probation due to financial and institutional problems, but it was removed in 2021.

Newkirk said the issues mentioned in a letter from Higher Learning to the university, which included low retention and variable enrollment, fundraising issues, lack of housing and more, have been addressed or plans are being implemented to address them.

Since enrollment is up and some students are being housed at other institutions, the university has broken ground to build new dorms and roughly double its housing capacity to about 600 students in the next five years.

The university says enrollment has reached one of its highest points in the last 10 years and retention is now at 71%. Retention is important because government funding eligibility counts the number of students earning degrees, not just the number enrolled.

Newkirk said more Black and Hispanic students have been enrolling at historically Black universities and colleges like Wilberforce because of a recent decision from the Supreme Court that ruled affirmative action, a limited variable in how students are admitted to universities, was not constitutional.

The HLC noted in its report that Wilberforce is “an enrollment-dependent institution with fluctuating enrollment and uneven fundraising, and long-term financial sustainability has not yet been demonstrated.”


Newkirk said the university trustees made an agreement not to deficit spend, and the fundraising for the university is already up 50% over the past year.

“We feel really good about where we’re going as an institution,” he said.

Newkirk was named Wilberforce’s president in April, succeeding retiring president Elfred Anthony Pinkard.

Newkirk was an interim associate vice president at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Alabama, and served as president of the historic Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Previously, he served as Fisk’s provost and vice president of academic affairs.

The HLC also said Wilberforce did not meet its criteria in using data systems, which Newkirk said was a misunderstanding.

“We’ve always used data at the institution,” Newkirk said. “I think that was a misinterpretation of how the data is being used.”

Newkirk said he is optimistic about the future of the university. The next HLC visit will be in the spring of 2024.

“We’re moving and actually coming from the pandemic” Newkirk said.” And just like many small institutions, I think we came through relatively unscathed and we’re just making sure that we have all the tools in place to go forward.”