{"id":27807,"date":"2023-08-06T22:36:52","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T05:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=27807"},"modified":"2023-08-06T22:36:54","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T05:36:54","slug":"san-francisco-wants-a-college-campus-downtown-heres-why-it-should-be-an-hbcu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/08\/06\/san-francisco-wants-a-college-campus-downtown-heres-why-it-should-be-an-hbcu\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco wants a college campus downtown? Here\u2019s why it should be an HBCU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">San Francisco\u2019s push to open a college campus in its struggling downtown is a promising idea, but city officials should embrace a revolutionary one: Make it a satellite campus of a historically Black university.<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/author\/justin-phillips\/\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/author\/justin-phillips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Justin Phillips<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aug. 6, 2023  (SFChronicle.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"1-image-23887797\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.hdnux.com\/photos\/01\/33\/07\/76\/23887797\/9\/1200x0.jpg\" alt=\"San Francisco Mayor London Breed wants to revitalize the city\u2019s struggling downtown area by bringing in a college campus. A revolutionary idea would be to make it a satellite of a historically Black college.\u00a0\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco Mayor London Breed wants to revitalize the city\u2019s struggling downtown area by bringing in a college campus. A revolutionary idea would be to make it a satellite of a historically Black college.\u00a0Jessica Christian\/The Chronicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"2-image-24105601\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.hdnux.com\/photos\/01\/33\/75\/12\/24105601\/7\/1200x0.jpg\" alt=\"People travel along Sutter Street at Montgomery Street in San Francisco in 2022. To help revitalize the city\u2019s downtown area that has been struggling with inactivity and vacancies, city leaders are thinking about bringing in a college campus.\u00a0\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Aurion Wiley-Green says she would have attended a historically Black college if one existed in San Francisco when she was growing up. Many of her friends would have enrolled too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere were always college fairs for high school students, and there were tons of us who wanted the kind of experience you\u2019d get at an HBCU,\u201d said Wiley-Green, a 2022 graduate of San Jose State University who double majored in African American studies and justice studies and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta, a historically Black sorority.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019d be nice if San Francisco had a Black college legacy.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco has a chance to create one now, which would be revolutionary, considering there are no historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, west of Texas. (Charles R. Drew University of Science and Medicine in Los Angeles is designated as a historically Black graduate institution, or&nbsp;HBGI.)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s already momentum behind such an idea.&nbsp;HBCUs across the country are looking to expand with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/2022\/04\/12\/some-hbcu-leaders-plan-expansion-satellite-campuses\">satellite campuses.<\/a>&nbsp;HBCUs in recent years have also increasingly become the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/06\/11\/us\/hbcu-enrollment-black-students.html\">preferred destinations<\/a>&nbsp;for Black students. And San Francisco Mayor London Breed has expressed a desire to revitalize the beleaguered downtown area by bringing a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/downtown-university-campus-18260569.php\">college campus to the area.<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why not make it a campus for one of the country\u2019s 107&nbsp;HBCUs? It would help tremendously if San Francisco\u2019s Black mayor threw her support behind the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More from Justin Phillips<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/reparations-california-emotional-toll-18205033.php\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/reparations-california-emotional-toll-18205033.php\">The emotional toll of studying reparations: A look into California\u2019s journey<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/reparations-california-emotional-toll-18205033.php\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/reparations-california-emotional-toll-18205033.php\"><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/alameda-da-pamela-price-isn-t-hero-villain-18266347.php\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/alameda-da-pamela-price-isn-t-hero-villain-18266347.php\">Alameda D.A. Pamela Price isn\u2019t yet a hero nor is she a villain<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/alameda-da-pamela-price-isn-t-hero-villain-18266347.php\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/alameda-da-pamela-price-isn-t-hero-villain-18266347.php\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco having an&nbsp;HBCU satellite campus isn\u2019t actually a new proposal, and neither is the idea that it be located downtown. The city\u2019s reparations advisory committee has been floating this recommendation for the past year, first in its draft reparations proposal in December and again in its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sf.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2023-07\/AARAC%20Reparations%20Final%20Report%20July%207%2C%202023.pdf\">final report<\/a>&nbsp;published last month. Breed has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/justinphillips\/article\/reparations-san-francisco-18141057.php\">yet to say<\/a>&nbsp;she outright supports any of the committee\u2019s recommendations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;HBCU idea is in perfect harmony with solutions to problems that San Francisco leaders claim they wish to address:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/opinion\/article\/Looking-for-diversity-in-all-the-wrong-places-13138979.php\">diversifying<\/a>&nbsp;the tech industry and luring Black people back to the city.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf we\u2019re trying to revitalize that part of San Francisco, students make sense. And having that campus be one for an&nbsp;HBCU, it would mean Black students are our city\u2019s future,\u201d said Tiffany Carter, the reparations committee member who came up with the idea.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to a 2019 report by the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.uncf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/PATW_Report_FINAL0919.pdf\">United Negro College Fund<\/a>, these schools produce a quarter of all Black bachelor\u2019s degree holders in science, technology, engineering and math (a.k.a. STEM) fields.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite HBCUs having a track record of&nbsp;producing qualified candidates to work in the tech field, Pew Research Center&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/science\/2021\/04\/01\/stem-jobs-see-uneven-progress-in-increasing-gender-racial-and-ethnic-diversity\/\">data<\/a>&nbsp;show Black workers are 11% of the country\u2019s overall workforce and fill only 9% of the country\u2019s STEM jobs. There also has only been a 1% increase in Black workers in technical roles at large tech companies between&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaporcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Kapor_Center_Black_Tech_Workforce_combined_commentary_infographic_updated.pdf\">2014 and 2021,<\/a>&nbsp;according to the Oakland-based nonprofit Kapor Center, which works to diversify the tech industry, and the NAACP.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But having an&nbsp;HBCU in the city is not just about advancing the economic prospects of Black people, although that in itself is crucial. It\u2019s also about attracting more Black residents to a San Francisco that has experienced decades of out-migration due to a variety of socioeconomic factors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, only 5.7% of the city\u2019s population identifies as Black, compared to 13% in 1970. The trend only looks like it\u2019s going to continue. As recently as 2019, a whopping 58% of Black residents were considering moving out of state, citing the high cost of housing as one of their major grievances, a&nbsp;UC Berkeley&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/96j2704t\">poll found.<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An&nbsp;HBCU could also be a reason for Black students and their families to decide to call the city home.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBeing a Californian and growing up in the Bay Area, not having an&nbsp;HBCU anywhere close was why I had to go all the way across the country,\u201d said Tasion Kwamilele, who went to Howard University in Washington, D.C., just like another Bay Area native, Vice President Kamala Harris. \u201cThere\u2019s undeniable power in going to a college knowing where as a Black person, that space was specifically made for you.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As pleasant as the dream of an&nbsp;HBCU in San Francisco is, it also comes with its own unique challenges. These cash-strapped institutions have historically been underfunded&nbsp;and currently have endowments that are, on average, one-seventh of those of non-HBCUs, according to a 2021 report by the National Center for Education Statistics. This complicates the process of growth inherent in an HBCU buying property in a new city and staffing a satellite campus with appropriate personnel.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But bringing any kind of academic institution into San Francisco&nbsp;\u2014 even if it\u2019s a project to create a University of California campus that, unlike an out-of-state&nbsp;HBCU, would likely get funding from the state \u2014 presents its own set of challenges. The ones specific to a HBCU shouldn\u2019t dissuade local leaders from pursuing it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>HBCUs have long been at the forefront of broadening educational access and positively impacting the nation. Now, it is time for San Francisco to embrace this transformative power and welcome an HBCU campus into its downtown landscape. The decision to do so rests in the hands of city leaders, and they have the opportunity to reshape not only San Francisco, but also the narrative surrounding racial equality and economic mobility in America.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And Breed would benefit from being the effort\u2019s most influential supporter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe problems San Francisco is facing, with its&nbsp;fentanyl crisis and homelessness and things like that, aren\u2019t going to last forever,\u201d University of San Francisco political science professor and San Francisco reparations advisory committee member James Taylor said. \u201cCity leaders thinking about bringing an&nbsp;HBCU in downtown San Francisco? Now that could be some positive news for San Francisco that will also reverberate around the nation.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reach Justin Phillips:\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:jphillips@sfchronicle.com\">jphillips@sfchronicle.com<\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/author\/justin-phillips\/\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Written By <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/author\/justin-phillips\/\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Phillips<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JustMrPhillips\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Justin Phillips joined The San Francisco Chronicle in November 2016 as a food writer. He previously served as the City, Industry, and Gaming reporter for the American Press in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In 2019, Justin also began writing a weekly column for The Chronicle\u2019s Datebook section that focused on Black culture in the Bay Area. In 2020, Justin helped launch Extra Spicy, a food and culture podcast he co-hosts with restaurant critic Soleil Ho. Following its first season, the podcast was named one of the best podcasts in America by the Atlantic. In February, Justin left the food team to become a full-time columnist for The Chronicle. His columns focus on race and inequality in the Bay Area, while also placing a spotlight on the experiences of marginalized communities in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/img\/logos\/black\/logo.svg\" alt=\"San Francisco Chronicle Homepage - Site Logo\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/img\/core\/hearst_newspapers_logo.svg\" alt=\"HEARST newspapers logo\">\u00a92023 Hearst Communications, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Francisco\u2019s push to open a college campus in its struggling downtown is a promising idea, but city officials should embrace a revolutionary one: Make it a satellite campus of a historically Black university. Justin Phillips Aug. 6, 2023 (SFChronicle.com) Aurion Wiley-Green says she would have attended a historically Black&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/08\/06\/san-francisco-wants-a-college-campus-downtown-heres-why-it-should-be-an-hbcu\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[918],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27808,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27807\/revisions\/27808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}