Black Colleges Host Council
Episcopal News Service. March 19, 1987 [87057]
RALEIGH, N.C. (DPS, March 19) -- An exploration the life and role of St. Augustine's, St. Paul's and Voorhees, the three historically black Episcopal colleges, got high priority when the Executive Council held its March 10-13 meeting here on the campus of St. Augustine's.
The invitation to meet at St. Augustine's was extended by its president, Dr. Prezell R. Robinson, on behalf of all three colleges, at the time of Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning's election and seconded by Scott T. Evans, a Council member who lives in the Diocese of North Carolina.
Declaring the campus "One of the most comfortable if not the most comfortable settings we have had for Executive Council," Browning called on Council member the Rev. Sandra Wilson to introduce the college presidents and their presentations. In an overview of this "partnership between the Church and the black community," Wilson noted that the $1 million General Convention grant for the black colleges has remained at that level for some years after having been raised from $800,000. There was an attempt to remove it altogether at the 1985 Convention, but, after considerable debate, the Convention instead requested "Executive Council to put in motion a plan to assist the Black Colleges in raising additional funds from the whole Church and beyond, over and above the current level of unrestricted funds now being provided." The presentations to Council were an effort to launch that process.
St. Augustine's, founded in 1867 and with a 1986-87 student body of 1,652, is both the oldest and the largest of the colleges, and, in his presentation, Robinson stressed its historic character: the old St. Agnes Hospital on the grounds, which was, in its day, the only hospital in the area treating blacks; the foundation here of the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity; the fact that by 1969, one third of all black Episcopal clergy were graduates of St. Augustine's. The student body now includes 30 whites and a number of African, West Indian and Asian students, and nearly half of those attending the continuing education program are white.
Dr. Marvin B. Scott, president of St. Paul's College since Tuly 1986, outlined ambitious plans for the school, which was founded in 1888 and has a current study body of 736 -- over 50 percent of whom come from homes where family income is less than $15,000 per year and 85 percent of whom are the first of their families to attend college. Among those plans is a Single Parent Support System, scheduled to begin with the fall 1987 term, which will provide a "family" dorm, daycare and special counseling and support services to single parent students. Like St. Augustine's, St. Paul's now has an integrated student body, which includes students from 17 states and five foreign countries. St. Paul's is located in Lawrenceville, Va.
Voorhees College, headed by Dr. Leonard E. Dawson, was founded in 1897 as the Denmark Industrial School and was renamed after benefactor Ralph Voorhees in 1902. Unlike the other two schools, Voorhees was not affiliated with the Episcopal Church until fifteen years after its founding. Youngest of the three colleges, Voorhees has only been a four-year school since 1968. It lists its "aggregated total" enrollment for 1986-87 as 1,151. Most of these students come from the rural South Carolina countryside in which Voorhees is located; most are the first in their families to attend college and many come from homes where the annual family income is under $l0,000.
Following the individual presentations, Robinson outlined a preliminary three-point proposal from the colleges to Council. First, prior to the June Council meeting, the presidents would like to examine options the colleges have, in collaboration with Council, to raise funds and would like a feasibility study and assessment of their constituencies. They would then come back in June with a more definite proposal for Council action. Second, they requested a meeting with the comptroller and executive for mission to review trust funds "in the interest of the three institutions" and to develop and put in place a mechanism whereby they could become self-sufficient. The final proposal was for development of a structure including a chancellor for all three colleges who would help generate funds.
Browning thanked the three and introduced Jeffry H. Kitross, executive vice president of the Episcopal Church Foundation, who was present to hear the colleges' presentation. He then opened the floor for discussion, during which Scott noted that seven of ten blacks attending largely white colleges do not graduate, whereas the ratio is reversed for those attending black colleges.
In a later resolution reacting to the presentation, Council voted to "applaud" the ministries of the colleges, their boards, faculty and staff and to encourage them "to engage in a planning and needs assessment and study the feasibility of joining one another in a capital drive for financial support" and encouraged them to seek funds for the cost of such study from all available sources, including those managed by the treasurer of the Church. The resolution also requested a report and recommendations on this study and asked the Presiding Bishop to advise diocesan bishops affected by the action.
Other activities arranged by the host college included dedication of three trees -- one each for Browning, diocesan bishop Robert W. Estill and the Episcopal Church Women of St. Augustine's College Chapel; a tour of the campus; Evening Prayer in the chapel; a wine and cheese reception in the college art gallery; and a banquet at which the Presiding Bishop was presented with a "key to the city of Raleigh" by alumnus and city councilman Ralph Campbell, Jr. and with a plaque from the college.