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Kentucky State University President M. Christopher Brown II was a panelist at the recent Leadership Louisville Center Thought Leadership Series entitled “How Kentucky’s Two Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are Addressing Inequity.”

President Brown gave a brief history of Kentucky State, its mission and notable alumni and outlined the importance of HBCUs as one of three organisms responsible for African American progress in America - the Black family, the Black church and the Black college. 

President Brown also related his experience at a Big Ten school, where he noted that African American graduates from HBCUs fared better in a PWI (primarily white institutions) graduate school than African American graduates from PWIs. 

“They would persist and finish one-and-a-half to two years faster than African Americans from PWIs,” President Brown said. “By the time they finished at the PWI, they came to the grad program tired, battered and worn out from having to navigate the microaggressions at the institutions. When they came to the Big Ten from an HBCU, they came empowered and with the armor to be successful in life.”  

President Brown also discussed an initiative with Simmons College of Kentucky to produce teacher candidates of color or who will serve the West End of Louisville. 

“We know African American students who encounter a Black teacher at the elementary level are more likely to persist and complete K-12 experience,” President Brown said.

President Brown said Kentucky State and Simmons are also partnering on the Kerner Commission 2.0. 

President Brown and Simmons’ President Dr. Kevin W. Crosby were well received as panelists and invited to return to provide deeper context.