[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on The Political Presence of African American Colleges and Universities in America
In 2004, Lincoln University, the oldest Historically Black University in the United States, will celebrate its anniversary of one hundred and fifty years. Since 1854, Lincoln University, like other Historically Black Colleges and Universities, has “been trying to make the promises of the American Revolution realities in the lives of young people from neglected stratum of our society…”. Ashmun Institute, renamed Lincoln University, was founded on April 29, 1854 by John Miller Dickey. The goal of Ashmun Institute (now Lincoln University) was to instruct Negro students in the classic language of Ancient Greece, and another goal of Rev. Dickey was “the elevation of an intellectual elite, divinely-ordained…, through whom would be exercised on the lower classes among their fellow, the saving grace of God’s plan for redemption”.
John Miller Dickey was seen as an “absolute monarch” in the Oxford and surrounding communities. However, most of his community authority was lost when he boldly advocated the establishment of the Ashmun Institute. While he had the moral and political support of the most powerful men in the county, the rank and file could not forgive him. In 1856, John Miller Dickey resigned the pastorate of the Oxford Presbyterian Church (Reisberg, 2000).
Lincoln University, like other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), is one of the vehicles through which the freed slaves and the less privileged from Africa, the Caribbean and other parts of the world could achieve universal and complete emancipation. Yet, even today, the existence and the contributions of these institutions are being questioned.
The concept of the black college, however, goes beyond the racial composition of its student body and faculty. It is a concept that is rooted in history. To understand the history of the black college, it may be useful to consider public policy as it has passed through various............
