Report says Presbyterian racial-ethnic schools troubled By John H. Adams The Layman Online Tuesday, February 14, 2006 LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For short, the acronym-makers in the Presbyterian Church (USA) call them HPREIs – Historically Presbyterian Racial Ethnic Institutions. It is a fading history and some of the institutions are barely hanging on. Clearly, according to a report that will be presented to the 217th General Assembly, several of the denomination's HPREIs are in deep trouble. One went bankrupt last year. Another has only 20 students. Another is at least temporarily closed and has zero students. Several schools have lost their accreditation. Overall, the picture is bleak – although two of the schools, Stillman College in Alabama and Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina – are faring well. "Conditions not unlike those that led to the church's original support of racial ethnic education are as compelling today as in the past," said the report, which was prepared in response to referrals from the 216th General Assembly. "Unfortunately, no compelling statement of need has existed in recent years. As a result, the mission lives mostly on the momentum of the past." Thus, the report draws a distinction between "compelling conditions" and a "compelling statement of need." The report on the HPREIs was prepared by the Racial Ethnic Educational Support Work Group headed by Charles Easley, former vice moderator of the General Assembly, a retired college administrator and an elder from Greater Atlanta Presbytery. It was included in a larger report by the General Assembly Council's National Ministries Division Committee. The work group's task was to survey the condition of the colleges and make recommendations on Presbyterian financial support. The main artery for that support is the Christmas Joy Offering – one of several extra-giving collections that the denomination asks local congregations to make. General assemblies also have made additional grants and loans – mostly in emergency situations – to help the HPREIs overcome their problems, some of which have been of their own making. The Christmas Joy Offering is a 50-50 (or close) split between the HPREIs and the denomination's pension program for employees. In 2004, Presbyterians gave $5.4 million through that offering, with racial-ethnic institutions receiving $2.6 million of the total. The report gave a brief synopsis of the HPREIs: Barber-Scotia College in Concord, N.C., founded in 1867 as Scotia Seminary for Negro Women by the Rev. Luke Dorland. It merged in 1930 with Barber Memorial College of Anniston, Alabama. The name Barber-Scotia College was adopted in 1932. Current enrollment: 0. Cook College and Theological School in Tempe, Ariz., founded in 1911 by Presbyterian missionary Charles Cook to educate and enable Native Americans to be Christian leaders. Current enrollment: 20. Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., founded in 1867 as Biddle Memorial Institute by the Rev. S.C. Alexander and the Rev. W.L. Miller. The name was changed to Johnson C. Smith University in 1932 to honor the husband of one of its benefactors. Current enrollment: 1,350. Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska, founded in 1878 by the Rev. Sheldon Jackson as a training center for Tlingit Indians. It is the oldest educational institution in Alaska. Current enrollment: 110. Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tenn., founded in 1875 by missionaries of the United Presbyterian Church of North America. Current enrollment: 200. Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala., founded in 1876 by the Rev. Charles Allen Stillman as a training school for black ministers. Current enrollment: 1,500. Menaul School in Albuquerque, N.M., founded in 1881 as the Pueblo Training School by the Rev. Sheldon Jackson. The U.S. government assumed operation of the Indian school in 1891. In 1896, the Rev. James A. Menaul received Presbyterian mission funding for a boarding school to serve Spanish-speaking boys from New Mexico. Current enrollment: 200. Mary Holmes College in West Point, Miss., founded in 1892, was approved by the General Assembly but declared bankruptcy and ceased operations in 2005. The PCUSA hopes to reclaim some of its investment in the bankruptcy sale. Presbyterian Pan American School in Kingsville, Texas, founded in 1956 through merger of the Texas-Mexican Industrial Institute, founded in 1912, and the Presbyterian School for Mexican Girls, founded in 1924. Current enrollment: 160. Although several of the schools face huge odds in their effort to survive, the work group said there remains "a legitimate Twenty First Century need for this mission as seen in the often disproportionate challenge racial ethnic students face as a consequence of their background or language barriers, as evident in the sobering reality of economic disparities within society, disparities that particularly plague racial ethnic youth …" The report added that recent years "have brought mixed fortune to these historic schools. Some, such as Stillman College and Johnson C. Smith University, have managed to stay financially stable and academically strong. Presbyterian Pan American School continues to attract a mix of Anglo, Hispanic and, increasingly, Asian students to its college preparatory program. The other institutions have struggled to remain financially solvent … Currently all but Cook have interim presidents. Barber-Scotia and Knoxville have lost accreditation, which makes them ineligible for federal funds including student loans. In almost every case, losing financial aid causes enrollment to plummet, which only confounds the school's financial situation." The key question in the report was: "What, if anything, should the church be doing to support racial ethnic students at non-racial ethnic colleges and universities?" The report called for continuing support because: Smaller percentages of the HPREI students attend college compared to white students. Many of the students have special need for remedial help. Racial-ethnic schools provide a supportive setting. Private racial-ethnic colleges are more likely to graduate students and get them into graduate school. In the past, the denomination discouraged the HPREIs from building endowments. The report cited a 1975 statement by the former PCUSA General Assembly Mission Council: "Endowment funds for those institutions formerly related to the Board of National Missions of the United Presbyterian Church are virtually nil since the Board always told those institutions that the church was their living endowment." But there have been consequences from the failure to build endowments, the report added: "[W]hen church action made them independent some 30 or 40 years ago, they had few actual reserves and faced a real challenge in developing themselves amid the populations they served. For the leaders of these institutions, the need to devote so much attention to current financial conditions has left little time to focus on the schools' academic mission." Furthermore, the "racial ethnic schools and colleges have struggled to find and retain leaders with administrative skills and a detailed knowledge of higher education." The report cited a great need for better financial accounting and annual audits, "which could serve as an early warning of potential problems." At best, the report said, the Christmas Joy Offering is "a supplemental source of funding, inadequate by itself to help struggling institutions address all of their financial challenges. Nevertheless, the church could do more to promote the offering, in which only about half of all congregations participate." The report also called for a "peer review system for evaluating racial ethnic schools and colleges similar to that of the United Methodist Church. Such a system would require establishing criteria and guidelines for assessment. One concern would be that the guidelines not be so rigid as to leave no room for the church to respond in emergency situations. The work group was cautioned that, unlike the federal government, whose policy is to cut off financial aid when a school loses accreditation, the church should not immediately withdraw its support at such a critical time. For a fragile institution, continuing to provide assistance can mean the difference between the institution regaining its accreditation or continuing in a downward spiral."

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