College Fund for Blacks Making the Most of Its Motto

William H. Gray III wants to see a show of hands.

“How many of you believe there are more black people in prison than in college?” he asks.

Some hands shoot up.

“You’re wrong.”

“How about black men?”

More hands go up.

“You’re wrong again.”

Statistics roll off the tongue of the Baptist preacher who was once the most powerful African American in Congress. As president of the United Negro College Fund, Gray said he is out to shatter the image bombarding Americans that black youths are on drugs, making babies, getting into trouble.

So he emphasizes that enrollment is up 28% at the 39 historically black colleges affiliated with the fund, far outpacing the growth in predominantly white schools.

Indeed, African American student enrollment at all types of colleges and universities is up 37% over the last two decades, compared with only 4% among whites.

The United Negro College Fund isn’t doing too badly either. Last year, it raised $100 million and hopes to bring in $120 million this year.

If things stay on track, Gray said, “we will probably be the No. 1 educational charity in the country, of any kind, black or white.”

And so goes the message that Gray delivers from coast to coast as he champions the organization with perhaps the best-known motto to spring from academia: A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

To be sure, Gray is no Pollyanna. After eight years at the helm of the college fund, he recognizes that blacks remain underrepresented in college, particularly at the most prestigious universities. About 11% of American college students ages 18 to 24 are African American, although blacks make up 14% of America’s college-age population.

But he prefers to accentuate the positive. His mission: to replace the “false stereotype of failure and despair” with evidence of hope, opportunity and measurable progress.

So although 11% of the student body does not equal racial parity, it shows great strides, given that blacks made up only 8% of college enrollment a decade ago.

He laments California’s ban on affirmative action--and subsequent drop in black enrollment at some University of California campuses--as “a loss for America.”

But he sees opportunity too.

It is too early to tell, he said, if the end of affirmative action will further accelerate the rising number of Californians who venture to the South to attend historically black colleges.

Although California does not have a single historically black college, the state sends more students--2,012 last year--to these colleges than any state except Texas.

Of the nation’s 103 historically black colleges, 39 belong to the United Negro College Fund’s 56-year-old consortium. Over the years, the College Fund’s scholarships and other programs have helped more than 300,000 students complete their degrees.

Californians contribute more money to the cause every year. Last year, state residents gave $6.8 million to the college fund, half of it from the Los Angeles area.

“The focus is here because we see it as a growth market,” said Reggie Ingram, a college fund vice president who supervises an eight-member staff in California.

Traditionally, black colleges attracted mostly students from the working class because their tuition and fees were about half as much as those at predominantly white schools. Most of these students are poor, most of them the first in their family to go to college.

But Gray sees a different type of student emerging on campus: the sons and daughters of black professionals.

This new stream of students--now about a third of those attending traditionally black colleges--come from upper-middle-class homes. They grew up in the suburbs. They attended mostly white schools.

“They had the experience of being the minority in a majority white school,” Gray said. “Now they want to go to a black college for a different set of reasons . . . to touch base with their roots.”

Most of these promising students, who have the benefits of a professional-class upbringing, could have their pick of the nation’s top schools.

But Gray now hears them talk excitedly about traditionally black colleges: “I’ve heard about Morehouse, that’s where Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] went. I’ve heard about Tuskegee, that’s where George Washington Carver went.”