Boston Politicians Want To Bring An HBCU To City

Boston city councilors are campaigning to open an HBCU. Although the city is a hub for education, with Boston counting two dozen colleges and universities, it has never had an HBCU.

Council Vice President Brian Worrell said he wants to open an HBCU satellite campus in Boston during a meeting last week. He called for a hearing, which he hopes to be scheduled in the fall.

The idea to bring an HBCU to Boston was suggested during a recent city council meeting

“An HBCU presence would provide role models for current Black students by showing them a tangible pathway to success,” Worrell said, according to The Boston Herald. “Boston led the way in educating Black students in the first half of the 19th century, with the opening of the Abiel Smith School, and we need to discover that trailblazing spirit once again.”

Cory McCarthy, Boston’s public schools chief of student support, added that “the appetite for a HBCU has grown immensely within the last five years.”

“An opportunity to bring a HBCU to Boston would further highlight the commitment and dedication of our city to create an educational ecosystem that values, elevates and develops opportunities for Black students to be successful,” he said.

Boston’s initiative would address the lack of HBCUs in Northern states

Not only is the initiative being brought forward in order to address a historical lack of HBCUs in northern states, it is also a way to bring diverse education to Boston in a time when both education and diversity efforts are being targeted by the Trump administration. 

“There are more than 100 historically Black colleges and universities in the country, with the vast majority of them located in southern states as a response to Jim Crow laws,” the Council order indicates, according to The Boston Herald. “The need for more culturally sensitive schools, such as HBCUs, has grown in the past decade based upon current rulings and the actions of the current federal administration.”

The initiative is being spearheaded by the Building Bridges HBCU program, which is helping bring a satellite campus for an HBCU in Boston. They are expected to provide an update on their efforts in the fall.