Beneath the surface of our rhetoric about educating all children is a profound lack of will to do whatever it takes to successfully

educate poor children and children of color, Dr. Sharon Bailey declared at a Colorado Black Round Table (CBRT) forum on navigating opportunities and challenges in Colorados higher education landscape, held last Saturday at the Hiawatha Davis Recreation Center. According to Bailey, co-chair of the Round Tables Education Committee and a former member of the Denver Public Schools Board, this lack of will is evidenced in the fact that Colorado ranks in the top five states nationwide for the greatest number of college degree holders per capita, yet only one in five Colorado ninth-grade students will earn a college degree, ranking the state in the bottom quartile nationally a phenomenon known as the Colorado Paradox. But the Paradox notwithstanding, help is a phone call, an email or a drop-by visit away, according to dozens of highly experienced, committed and dedicated African American higher education professionals who made themselves available at Saturdays forum, the fourth in a monthly community education project series, Save Our Children, sponsored by the CBRTs Education Committee. The goals of CBRTs educational forums, directed to Black parents, students, educators and other stakeholders, were to raise the level and depth of conversation regarding the education of Black children in the city and state; develop, educate, motivate and mobilize a critical mass of persons and organizations that will commit to improving educational outcomes for African American students at all levels; and to compile and share resources for students, parents and educators. Dr. Sallye McKee, who serves as Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement at the University of Colorado, Boulder, spoke of the challenges of recruiting, enrolling, retaining and graduating Black students from Colorados higher education system, emphasizing that enrollment and retention of African American students is critical if they are to graduate from the state universitys flagship campus. About 80 people attending, many of them parents of Black students, learned that McKee was recruited several years ago from Metro State by CU Boulder, one of the top research universities in the country, to enhance its diversity efforts. She is the first person to hold the position in CU Boulder history. Lauding her former and present colleagues at Metro, McKee reminded those present that Metro State, on the front end, graduates most of the undergraduates in the state. On the other hand, because of an initial, disproportionately small enrollment rate for African American students, aggravated by an attrition rate at subsequent stages, only a handful of African American students graduate from CU Boulder each year, suggesting, she said, that diversity and Boulder are not compatible. For example, she noted, our graduate school (graduation) stats for African-Americans are scary. Bailey had made a comparable observation earlier when she expressed her disappointment that not one of the more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students she addressed as commencement speaker two weeks ago at CU Boulders Graduate School of Education was African-American. McKee continues, Whenever you choose a college, know who you are first, then why you choose a college, including knowing beforehand who is there. Remember, she added, we dont change those institutions. We use them. McKee said that CU Boulder must continue to cultivate faculty and staff who understand what it takes to support and protect those students until they graduate. I want to be like Harriett Tubman, she said. Our numbers are so precious, we shouldnt lose a single passenger. Access and success in some type of post-high school educational institution is a necessity for todays students, and particularly so for African-American students whose schooling experiences in Colorado continue to be plagued by institutional racism and discrimination at all levels. Consequently, even a high school diploma no longer opens doors to employment opportunities and economic stability, a

Opportunities, Challenges in Higher Education Are Focus at Education Forum

Lack of Political Will Cited as Stumbling Block to Blacks Getting Equitable Education
By Roger K. Clendening

frightening prospect for many Black families. The morning panel, which addressed opportunities for African American students seeking higher education, included representatives offering their help with applications, testing, remediation, tutoring, scholarships and other financial assistance, for college admissions and academic achievement. For example, Dr. Akbarali Thobhani, Interim Chair of Metros African and African American Studies Department, also described opportunities for international travel, to Europe and Africa, for educational enhancement leading to graduation. The afternoon panel included Black educators sharing their experiences, perspectives and insights as researchers and practitioners. Their recommendations for solving the problems focused on taking collective ownership of the responsibility for assuring equitable education for African American students. Listen to Omar Montgomery, Director of Black Student Affairs at the University of Colorado, Denver, on that issue: Its long past time for us to bring ourselves together as a community, to beat back these challenges, he implored, adding that Black educators, parents, and students shouldnt be separated by the schools with which they are affiliated. Denver Weekly News Thursday, May 20, 2010 Page 3

And consider the reflections of Dr. Anita Fleming-Rife, Special Assistant to the President for Equity and Diversity, University of Northern Colorado: Were really in a state of emergency when it comes to our numbers of Black students enrolling in and graduating from college. We need to give back to our kids because we are the product of folks who got us to this level, folks who did not just work from 8am to 4pm! And this, from Dr. Brenda J. Allen, Professor of Communication, and Associate Dean, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Colorado, Denver: Weve got to fight this internalized oppression I see in many of our Black students struggling with their confidence, she said, adding that the key is being resourceful and remembering that remediation doesnt have to be a four-letter word! And this, too, from Dr. Linda Mizell, an Educational Historian and Assistant Professor at CU Boulders School of Education: My parents didnt know anything about taking SATs or any of the other things I needed to do to get into college, but they had an abiding faith that it would happen because there were other people in our community who did know thats community cultural wealth sharing knowledge, resources, and responsibility. The afternoon session also saw a commitment made to collective ownership of education as a responsibility. When Tracey Adams-Peters, Coordinator of African American Services at the University of Denvers Center for Multicultural Excellence, announced the Pioneer Prep Leadership Institute, a three-day summer campus experience designed for college-focused African American high school students, costing $59 per student and scheduled for July 30August 1, 2010, another community member jumped right in to take responsibility for enabling Black high school students to attend: Dr. Malcolm Newton, Founder and President of the Denver Institute of Urban Studies, and head of American Pathways University, publicly declared, to some applause in the audience, that Ill pay for four students! Next-generation scholars Dr. Malaika McKee-Culpepper, an educational policy researcher, and her husband, Dr. Steven Culpepper, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, also shared some other critical perspectives. McKee-Culpepper maintains that the 21st Century Civil Rights issue of the planet is deeply infusing our children with science and math instruction. She called on Black parents and the community to demand an extended school year, and to develop and operation Nubian community schools for after school and weekend class work to help get that needed training in math and science. Steven Culpepper, whose research focuses on statistical methods related to education and policy, raised the issue of the school-to-prison pipeline, pointing out how the State of Colorado spends $7,000 per student annually on education and $25,000 annually to incarcerate a prison population, more than a majority of whom do not graduate from high school. One of the highlights of the session was the recognition of 43 Champions of Higher Education for outstanding contributions to Black students and the Black communities in Colorado.In alphabetical order, they are: Dr. Brenda J. Allen, Dr. Jackie Benton, Larry Borom, Lisa Calderon, Martelle Chapital-Smith, Alton Clark, Dr. Allison Cotton, Dr. Curtis Dotson, Dr. Wilt Flemon, Dr. Herman George, Dr. Cecil Glenn, and Dennis Green. Also, Dr. Rachel Harding, Dr. Vincent Harding, Dr. Fred Holmes, Yvette Hunt, Richard Jackson, Dr. George Junne, Dr. Bill King, Dr. Marjorie Lewis, Pensal McCray, Dr. Sallye McKee, Dr. Will Miles, Dr. Linda Mizell, Dr. Omar Montgomery, Dr. Percy Morehouse, Joseph Neguse, Tracey Peters, Lonnie Porter, and Paula Rhodes; as well as Dr. Faye Rison, Dr. Jennie Rucker, Dr. Edward L. Schenck, Garnett Tatum, Dr. Akbarali Thobhani, Dr. Gwen Thomas, Patricia Trotman, Dr. Joyce Washington, Dr. C.J. White, Dr. Letitia Williams, Dr. James Herbert Williams, Sid Wilson, M.D., Dr. Bob Wright, and Dr. Al Yates.