This story was originally published by EdSource. Sign up for their daily newsletter.
A new Oakland task force will explore the possibility of bringing a historically Black college or university to the East Bay city.
An effort launched last year, sponsored by the Oakland Fund, is still in the initial stages of planning, The Oaklandside recently reported. The task force is made up of higher education and business leaders, philanthropists and Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee.
“There’s a lot of students we think could benefit from the culturally affirming education that an HBCU could provide,” Kim Thompson, a member of the Oakland HBCU task force, told Oaklandside.
The Oakland HBCU initiative has already conducted a feasibility study, and plans to move onto the next phase soon, which will include settling on a location. One potential option is a partnership with Peralta Community Colleges District to offer a four-year degree program, The Oaklandside reported.
The majority of HBCUs in the U.S. are located in the Southeast, since many were established in the years following the Civil War, when African Americans were barred from most colleges and universities, according to The Oaklandside. The West Coast is home to just one historically Black university: the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science located in Los Angeles.
Lee told Oaklandside that an HBCU in the city would help prevent further decline of the Black population in the area, which she said has decreased substantially over her lifetime.
“Here in Oakland, gentrification, redlining and systemic discrimination has been a driver of bringing our population down,” Lee told The Oaklandside. “This would give some stability in many ways to the Black population and for everyone in Oakland to see that we still care about the Black community and Black students.”
This story was originally published by EdSource.