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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