Arts & Entertainment
New Documentary Explores History, Evolving Legacy of HBCUs
HBCUs, or historically Black colleges and universities, have been around for more than 188 years. They were founded out of necessity when predominantly White institutions barred Black students from attending.
Since then, HBCUs have experienced significant changes and challenges. A new documentary explores the current state of these institutions by profiling five students. Michael Lomax, CEO of UNCF, and Felecia Commodore, associate professor of higher education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, are also featured.
WTTW News chief correspondent and anchor Brandis Friedman co-produced “Opportunity, Access and Uplift: The Evolving Legacy of HBCUs.” She started working on the project two years ago.
Friedman got the chance to visit Delaware State University and one of her alma maters, Dillard University.
“I know why I went to an HBCU,” Friedman said. “I have a sense why my family members and my friends went to an HBCU, but today’s different. They are choosing HBCUs in a different century, so I was really curious about why they chose an HBCU and what their experience was like.”
Throughout the film experts touch on several challenges these institutions face including funding issues. At a time when universities and colleges are seeing significant cutbacks of federal funding, the documentary argues HBCUs suffer a greater impact due to disproportionate resources.
“When interviewing Dr. Michael Lomax, he made the point that when America gets a cold, Black America gets the flu,” Friedman said. “I think he was making the point that it is something similar with HBCUs. If schools or the country is struggling with something, it’s going to be a little worse for Black America or Black students. The same might be argued now with universities in the hot seat as they are losing funding. Those funding cuts hurt Black schools just that much more.”
The documentary airs at 5 p.m. Sunday on WTTW and can be streamed at wttw.com/HBCUspecial.
