By Stephanie Wright, AOL BlackVoices columnist
Fighting to Save Bennett College
Recent events at Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., serve as a reminder of the precarious situation of many of our black colleges and the continued necessity of our support for them. Bennett also offers proof positive that our schools need not be lost, that we can shape our own destiny.
Founded by freed men and women in 1873 with help from the United Methodist Church, Bennett initially served black men and women. In 1926, however, it was reorganized as a women’s college. Since its neighbor North Carolina A&T served only men for many of its early years, Bennett played an important role in the Greensboro community, preparing North Carolina’s women of color to enter whatever walks of life they could carve out for themselves in a segregated society. Although most people think of the Greensboro Four A&T when they recall the city’s role in the civil rights movement, Bennett students also played an important role in the sit-ins. Bennett now stands as one of only two black women’s colleges (Spelman College in Atlanta is the other). Despite its illustrious history, Bennett was going the way of many other historically black colleges just four short years ago. Alumnae and citizens of Greensboro speculated that the school might not survive and the city’s main newspaper, the News and Record, ran a front-page story early in 2002 detailing the college’s financial woes, administrative fractures, declining enrollment and deteriorating grounds. Bennett’s future began to brighten in spring 2001, however, when Johnnetta B. Cole agreed to come out of retirement to head the troubled institution. As president of Spelman College from 1987 to 1996, Cole raised nearly $114 million, including a $20 million gift from William and Camille Cosby. The couple’s gift was the largest from an individual to any black college.
Bennett’s supporters hoped that Cole could do similar wonders for their institution and, thus far, she has. Since assuming the presidency in fall 2002, she has erased their $2 million-plus budget deficit, helped it regain its accreditation after three years on probation and increased enrollment. In addition, she has brought in money from large corporations like HSBC and foundations such as the Cemala Foundation. Cole recently announced a $600,000 gift from Bill and Camille Cosby, bringing their contributions to the school to $800,000 in the last two months. Yet Cole’s continued leadership of Bennett became imperiled after she announced the need to cut the college’s workforce by 10 percent. In response to this announcement, a small group of faculty organized against her, leading to her resignation. The Bennett College community, however, refused to accept her resignation and after an outpouring of support, Cole decided to stay.
While most of the stories about the possibility of Cole leaving Bennett focus on what she has done for the school and the joy of students and the Bennett community that she is staying, few ask what would have happened if she had stood firm in her decision to retire again. Would Bennett have become the now-defunct Hartshorn Memorial or Leland College of the 21st century? Sadly, the answer might be yes. Cole resigned saying that she needed the help of the entire college community to continue moving Bennett forward. She decided to stay in response to an overwhelming show of support.
The story within the story is that black colleges like Bennett cannot survive without the support of black people. With the closing of each historically black college, a piece of our collective memory is gone forever. Luckily, Bennett is still among us creating those memories.
About the Author
Stephanie Wright is an assistant professor of history at the University of West Georgia. She can be reached at lilac670@yahoo.com
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Thursday, July 14th 2005 at 2:56PM
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