Convocation....Celebrating 144 Years of Success

Dr. Michael Lomax’s speech during Convocation showed how passionate he was about his position as President of the United Negro College Fund. He made very relevant and eye opening points through his use of statistics and facts about African Americans schooling. My favorite point was when he said “Students should be treated as customers because they matter and they can easily take their business elsewhere.” This is so correct and he used this to explain how some schools are losing focus on what is truly important and why they exist in the first place. They must remember that students hold a larger amount of power than they think so they should strive to make things suitable for us and keep things equal and professional at all times. There is nothing worse than going off to college where you should experience “the best four years of your life” and end up being treated unfairly due to ethnicity, religion, gender, etc., and wanting nothing more than to leave that institution.

Dr. Lomax mentioned many statistics about African Americans and our low rates of males at graduations but yet the high rates of unemployment. Only 30-35% of the graduating classes at many HBCUs are comprised of males. He expressed how crucial it is for people to start making an effort to help black males get in and stay in school. Too many schools are focused on what they have done in the past and how many people they started with but don’t worry about how many they lose. Dr. Lomax said “it’s not about what you use to do; it’s about what you are doing now and for the future.” There is nothing further from the truth; you cannot stay stuck in the past and talk about how good you use to be. That is not relevant to what you are doing now and it will not help keep people interested in your institution for too long.

Overall I felt proud to attend the Convocation and celebrate 144 years of Howard University. I hold this school to such a high standard and I love hearing about its accomplishments and what we are doing to help others. I wouldn’t trade Howard for anything.