First I will say this, I am a proud graduate of an...

First I will say this, I am a proud graduate of an HBCU and can testify of the vital role HBCUs play in the African American community and in the global community. However today I was really disappointed and my faith rocked by what I experienced today. See my mom didn't have the opportunity to go to school so she pushed me to attend college and she is continuing to push my younger siblings to attend as well.Growing up in VA she always wanted one of her kids to attend Hampton (a school she would have went to had she had the opportunity). So when my little sister was accepted to Hampton, my mom who is living on disablity sent the security deposit for her freshmen year believing that financial aide will cover the cost. While they gave her a 5,000 merit scholarship it still didn't cover the outrageous cost I even tried stepping in to say I would try to cover some of the cost so she could be financially cleared. Even though it would have been a hard sacrifice on a teacher's budget. However I was told no that was not a acceptable agreement and seeing the hopes of my sister being told she could not return for the Spring semester really rattled my belief and hope in the HBCU concept. While I know that Hampton University is just one institution I believe that it's present operations are a mirror of this notion of HBCUs forgetting and steering away from its true mission of being a beacon of hope and uplift for the community. When these institutions become more concerned with expanding their endowments verses ensuring that first generational college students eager to learn are able to overcome the financial hurdle of attending their institution it should be of no surprise when these institutions find themselves just a mere chapter in history, as the bogey start sending their kids to other institutions and pwi (predominantly white institutions) start seeing the value of offering aide to promising first time college students.