
If you talk with Patience Ajoff,
you get a sense that this young woman is going to get where
she’s going regardless of what obstacles life throws in
her path. The tradition of valuing education that called her
father to be a headmaster at a Cameroonian school sent her to
Germany to get a college degree. When family needs forced her
to return, she did, but she never gave up on her goal. She heard
about a Historically Black College in Knoxville, Tennessee,
that offered work-study, which meant she could attend without
incurring massive debt that would defeat the purpose of her
going—to help her family financially.
So probably Pat Ajoff was going to find her way regardless
of the obstacles. But she understands how many obstacles there
are in the way of many racial ethnic students, and how many
students might not make their way through them all. The essay
that won her a prize from the Association of Historically Black
Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, refers to Sheila, a friend
who came to Knoxville College on academic probation. Pat notes
that she might never have been considered at a non-HBCU, thus
wasting another life. Instead, Sheila graduated from Knoxville
in May 2005 and is now pursuing a future that uses the gifts
and skills she developed there.
Patience knows that racial ethnic schools in general, like
HBCUs in particular, offer a powerful combination. The nurturing
environment takes students where they are and draws from them
gifts many of them hardly knew they had. At the same time the
school holds them to the high standard of excellence that will
be demanded of them in years to come. On the one hand, they
give many students their first chance to be part of a school’s
majority culture, where they do not have to feel constantly
on the defensive. On the other, as Patience says, “We’re
given a reality check there. The faculty and staff are willing
to tell us about the real world without any second thoughts
about anyone being offended since relationships at an HBCU are
unusually close.”
Another thing she appreciated about Knoxville was the faith
focus. “Every week we had a ‘Contemporary Issues’
class at the Presbyterian church down the hill. We listened
to speakers on a range of topics and discussed how our faith
called us to respond to those issues. For myself, I know I’ve
gotten where I’ve gotten because of God and because we’re
spiritually grounded.”
People from the majority white Anglo community sometimes say
that in an age of increasing integration, HBCUs, and in fact
all racial ethnic schools and colleges, are going against the
tide of history. To people who know these schools and colleges,
this simply shows how great a gulf still remains between the
understanding of the majority culture and those from minority
communities who want to participate fully in that culture. Dr.
Mable P. McLean, president emerita of Barber-Scotia College
and of the United Negro College Fund, says of racial ethnic
students, “They must be able to move into the larger society
and to meet its expectations, but first they must know who they
are, feel they have a contribution to make, and be able to make
that contribution. The special role of racial ethnic colleges
is to facilitate that process.”
Racial ethnic schools and colleges continue to be an important
part of the way we move forward to a culture and a church where
all God’s children will be cherished and their contributions
valued. Let us give thanks for the opportunity to support students
like Sheila in an environment where they can discover and hone
their gifts to serve their church and their community. Today,
let us joyfully give to the Christmas Joy Offering.

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