As told to Desiree Browne, Guerdley Cajus, Rob Kenner and Emmanuel Urena
Keshia Knight Pulliam (actress, attended Atlanta's Spelman College, starred as "Rudy Huxtable" in the landmark NBC series The Cosby Show from 1984-1992):
"School Daze definitely had an impact on me choosing a HBCU because it was the first insight I had into a black college. The whole Jiggaboo light skin vs. the dark skin [dance] scene, where they’re singing back and forth, I think if you ask anyone, that’s the scene that stands out. There’s a whole controversy and culture [about] it, but School Daze addressed those issues in an over-the-top, comical way.
"I pledged Delta Sigma Theta. I can’t speak for other people in terms of whether they took offense to [the portrayal of black Greek fraternities and sororities in School Daze], but people in general take film entirely way too seriously. School Daze was meant for enjoyment. It’s not a documentary. I had several trials and tribulations just as anyone does in school, and the whole going to an HBCU as “Rudy” is a whole other experience in itself. But I couldn’t have imagined going anywhere else but Spellman."
Brian McKnight (singer-songwriter, attended Oakwood College, Huntsville, Alabama):
"When I first saw School Daze in 1988, I had already left Oakwood College for a recording deal after my sophomore year. Oakwood is a Christian school in Alabama and I am the fifth generation in my family to have gone there. Considering that I was being offered different sports scholarships to go to other places, my mother was not having it. She was like, “You’re going to this school and that’s pretty much it.” [laughs] But even though I left, I still felt my college experience [coupled with] School Daze were very important. If I had to pick one scene, I think it would be the scene where they performed the step show. I know this sounds strange coming from a black man, but I’d never seen a step show before seeing that movie. Although Oakwood was a black college, it was still a Christian school, so we didn’t do a lot of the things that happened in School Daze. I think that the parallel for me was that everyone at Oakwood was there for higher learning, just like in School Daze. Everybody at that school looked just like me. That’s the part that’s inspiring; that these kids now need to see that it’s okay to go to school. It’s okay to reach for something higher than being an athlete or a music star."
For more testimony from HBCU alumni Erykah Badu, Killer Mike, 9th Wonder, Pastor Troy and Taraji P. Henson, pick up the February 2008 issue of VIBE, on stands now!
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Teacher1914 says:
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I went to a majoority WHITE high school in Philadelphia, then to the Air Force and then on to college. I must say that initially, I was looking into non HBCU's. The person who helped me with my FASFA and essays is an AKA from Hampton. She asked me for nothing in return for her help during my quest for schools and financial assistance. It was near the end that she asked only one thing of me for her help and that was to look into an HBCU. I was not interested in HBCU's but due to the fact that she helped me so much and really wanted me to go to a HBCU, I applied to and graduating from Lincoln University, PA, THE FIRST HBCU. I chose Lincoln because one of the coolest foster care social workers I had growing up graduated from Lincoln. This was one of the greatest decisions that I have EVER made. I pledged Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated and had a chance to live the HBCU experience down to the "T". I learned so much about who I am as a Black man living in America as well as our TRUE history. I now teach for DC Public Schools and I encourage ALL of my students to attend an HBCU. There's nothing like it. The greatest thing is being on the phone with friends and just talking about our Lincoln memories. Unlike most people, my first insight of HBCU's was watching "A Different World".
January 24, 2008 at 1:55 pm