reporter contents :: albright college
![]() by Jennifer Post Stoudt |
In 1948 Joseph E. Coleman walked across the stage during
his Commencement ceremony, proudly shook President Harry V. Masters
hand and received the first degree awarded to an African-American student
at Albright College. Coleman went on to be a research chemist, patent
attorney, author and Philadelphias City Council president from
1980 to 1992.
As important as Colemans accomplishments, he also set a precedent for many African-American students at Albright. The racial barriers that existed at Albright began to come down. Today, 53 years later, Albright is proud of its increased diversity. The College has a higher percentage of minorities on campus than many comparable colleges. There are 18 percent minority students within the full-time, traditional student body. This bodes well as the minority population in Berks County is only 6.5 percent, according to the 1990 Census of Population & Housing. And, Albright was named in The 100 Best Colleges for African-American Students. The listing cited Albrights friendly and largely cordial faculty and student body. However, despite the percentages and accolades, there
still are many barriers left to break. Mardenborough, a management consultant and Albright Trustee member, learned there were also many challenges to face. Going to Chapel was one of them. People would tell me where the black church was, she says. When she ran for Homecoming Queen as an independent several people said I shouldnt run. And, when she and a platonic white, male friend attended a movie together, Mardenborough was called into the Dean of Womens Office and reprimanded. I was a very angry person about the racial climate at Albright, she says. Then-Chaplain William R. Marlow 49 says, It
was a time of lots and lots of attempts to understand black-white issues.
One attempt, says Marlow, was a trip during winter break 1968 to Kirkridge
Protestant Retreat Center located outside of Bangor, Pa. We got
a group of black and white students together for five days to discuss
racial issues and to try to understand the feelings that go along with
race. It was a very high-powered get together, he says. Although the communication exchanges were good, it was a frustrating and tiring few days. In fact, Mardenborough recalls, the day before it was over, all of the black students had to leave because we couldnt take one more day of trying to explain our position to white students who wanted to know but just didnt get it. Marlow says the students were simply exhausted. A lot of the white students wanted the black students to explain their hurt and how it felt. But the black students said, You cant depend on blacks to tell you about prejudice. You have to figure it out for yourself. There were many frustrations during that trip, he says. Wayman Clark 72, regional human resource manager
for Encompass Insurance Company in Reading, says his experience was
probably different than most African-American students attending Albright
at that time because he was an athlete. Being involved in athletics
kept me pretty shielded. Plus, you were more popular when you played
sports. Although he says he did experience some racist comments
such as, Youre black. You must play basketball. Or, youre
black, you must be fast, Clark says, I just took that in
stride. The guy who said it ended up being one of my best friends. Some
folks didnt handle comments like that very well though. The 60s and 70s was a time of great student activism and
movements for change on campus. According to Eugene Barths Discovery
and Promise: A History of Albright College, 1856-1981, one of
the student requests for change was to enroll a larger number of blacks,
and other minority members in the student body. In response to
this demand, however, the admissions committee had declared that this
objective was already part of their policy aims but that they were difficult
to achieve. Although members of the Afro-American Society were hired
to solicit black students, Albright College discovered, along with many
other colleges and universities, that the pursuit of a more culturally
diverse student body was not easy to achieve. Many black students preferred
to attend schools where there were already a large enough student body
of fellow blacks to insure meaningful social interchange. Nearly 30 years after the retreat in Kirkridge, Charnita
Zeigler-Johnson, Ph.D. 92 says racial issues were a part of her
college experience as well. People used the N word,
SGA members didnt support the African-American Society, signs
were torn down, people protested a rally for peace after the Rodney
King incident and sorority pranks attacked the integrity
of African-American students, she says. "I was at times appalled by the comments and assumptions that people would make about the students of color. Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, Ph.D. '92 Zeigler-Johnson, a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for
Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania,
says her freshman year was one of the most difficult because the campus
was less diverse than she had anticipated. People, in general,
were friendly, she says. However, I was surprised at the
limited cultural experiences and sheltered upbringing that
many in the student body had experienced. I was at times appalled by
the comments and assumptions that people would make about the students
of color. She adds, I think that many of the African-American students at that time shouldered the frustrations of being non-white at Albright. I remember calling home after KKK signs were posted in the Campus Center one year. My mother basically reminded me that that is the world that we live in, and that I must learn to excel in that world. So, I began to look at my time at Albright as just another one of lifes challenges rather than as an obstacle. Fortunately, Hosea Baker 02 sees a somewhat different
Albright today. Although Baker says he was apprehensive and frightened
when he started Albright as a freshman because it was his first time
in a predominantly white setting, that changed pretty quickly.
I started meeting new people, joining organizations
I got more
and more comfortable on campus. Baker, a Joseph E. Coleman scholar, is a resident advisor,
campus tour guide and highly involved in campus life. The Student Government
Association (SGA), Gospel Choir and African-American Society are just
a few of the organizations of which he is a member. He is also the founder
of the Xion Step Team, a three-year-old organization that now boasts
approximately 70 members. Stepping, a form of dance and performance
in the black community, has become popular on Albrights campus.
Most people at Albright hadnt experienced stepping
before, he says. But I found some other people who stepped, we
got together and got out there during Orientation in front of a predominantly
white group
and they loved it! But despite his involvement in campus activities, Baker
admits that the social life for African-American students does need
to improve. There really isnt any diversity within the organizations
and social activities, he says. For example, The RSA dance
is catered to white people. The music is just not what we want to hear.
We want music with soul. Thats why we started the step team, to
introduce black culture to the campus. Mardenborough says that when she started college she didnt
realize that she was going to school for the social life. But
its part of the experience. Tiffenia Archie 92 agrees. We had to create
our own social life. We took a lot of trips to other predominantly black
schools like Lincoln and Cheyney, and we were famous for our Court parties.
Now, Archie, director of academic support, disability
support and minority retention at Albright, is advisor to the organization.
Ive come full circle, she says. The group is
even stronger now because there are more members. Its really grown
a lot and is very active on campus. However, she says, it still
has the same basic agenda as it did in its inception
African-American
awareness on campus. When I was in school I think the college had some of the right ideas, but I find myself back 10 years later and feel that weve only made a few steps. Jackson says Albright is not unlike many other college
campuses. In general, theres a common theme that runs through
the experiences of African American students on predominantly
white campuses. Their sense of belonging, satisfaction with the
college, socialization opportunities and general involvement in campus
dictate their experience, she says. Without a critical mass of black students, theyre
less likely to participate in campus programs because the programs arent
designed with their needs in mind. They even feel inhibited from taking
part in any but all-black organizational activities, states the article,
Facing Stereotypes: A Case of Black Students on a White Campus
published in the September/October 2001 Journal of College Student Development.
However, in 20 years the percentage of African-American
students on Albrights campus has grown from less than one percent
in 1981 to seven percent in fall 2001. Albrights commitment to
a diverse student body is clear. Vice President of Enrollment Services
and Dean of Admission Greg Eichhorn says, Albright has a stronger
minority population than most of our peer schools. However, he
notes, We dont have enough minority role models within the
faculty and staff. Thats our biggest challenge as far as recruiting
minority students. A.J. Anderson, admission counselor and assistant football coach, knows this first hand. Anderson is the only male African-American administrator at Albright. Students come up to me all the time and ask me about the college because they know I went to a similar school. They want to know how I dealt with being on a predominantly white campus. When the students have concerns about racial issues, he says he tells them they have to do what they have to do. I tell them that theyre going to meet other people from different cultures and with different religions and backgrounds. This is what the whole college experience is about. I tell them that theyre going to meet other people from different cultures and with different religions and backgrounds. This is what the whole college experience is about. A.J. Anderson, Admission Counselor and Assistant Football Coach Most importantly, though, Anderson says he stresses to
students that they are at Albright to have fun and get an education.
Students are here to be successful whether they are black, white
or any other color. The College is doing a good job in trying to recruit more
minorities, he says. Were always trying to think of things
that will appeal to minority students. But there has to be something
here that they can see
black fraternities, more black administrators
and faculty
it would be easier to recruit minority students if
we had these things, he says. Despite the difficulties and challenges through the years, Archie says she is glad she chose Albright. Albright prepared me for life, not just academically, but in general. I went to graduate school with someone who went to an all-black college and she didnt know how to cope at grad school. She adds, I was worried about how I was going to
do at grad school, but I did better than classmates who came from Yale
and Harvard. I went to grad school very prepared
prepared to be
a person of color in a predominantly white environment. Albright has changed me, says Baker. My best friend is a white guy, Jared Secrest 04. I never would have thought in a million years that my best friend would be white. Back home my friends are all black. He adds with a chuckle, Jared introduced me to hunting. I never did that before in my life! |