This week Indianapolis received a visit by well-known economist, educator, entrepreneur and syndicated columnist Julianne Malveaux.
She offered her thoughts about a variety of topics as part of the annual Steward & Associates Speakers Series, appearing April 18 at the Madame Walker Theatre Center.
In addition to her commentary regarding race and economics, Malveaux is also known for her 15-year tenure as president of Bennett College. Since retiring from that position last year, Malveaux has been building her multimedia business, working on book projects and participating in speaking engagements throughout the country.
In an exclusive interview, the Recorder spoke with Malveaux about pressing issues in higher education.
Was this your first visit to Indianapolis?
I’ve been there several times, since it’s one of our major cities. I always enjoy going to the Madame Walker Centre. Anytime you have things that are named after our icons, it’s important to celebrate them. I get a nice, tingly feeling whenever I know I’m going to the Walker. In many cities we don’t have the ability to maintain our history, so I commend the African-American people of Indianapolis for maintaining that.
Can you give people who missed your visit a sample of what was talked about?
The whole issue of where we are with education, how we move forward, the importance of our Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and what we need to do to get ourselves engaged in this discussion. Education is an issue for all of us. We really have to be very clear about the fact that education has been the bridge that a lot of young – and not so young – Black people have crossed to get from working class, or poverty level status, to middle class status. This is a bridge we cannot burn by dithering around with people who keep talking about things like sequestration.
What, in your view, is the greatest challenge in higher education?
The cuts we see coming from this (federal) budget are frightening. The extent to which the Parent PLUS program has made it difficult for our young people to matriculate has been great. We have 14,000 fewer students at our HBCUs this year than last year largely because of Parent PLUS.
What are some solutions to making college more affordable?
First, the whole affordability issue is not an issue you necessarily deal with in terms of HBCUs. Some of us are the best bargain in the world. Tuition, room and board at Bennett, for example, is $25,000. In general, however, we’ve seen the cost of higher education escalate.
We really have to look at the components of cost, such as how some colleges pay for faculty who are not doing research and not teaching, or just teaching one class a year. What we have to ask is why does the cost of health care and higher education exceed the rate of inflation? When we begin to unpack that we will see the answer to that question, look at all the components and develop solutions. We have to answer the question: How do incomes stay flat, expenses go up and consumers and parents be expected to cover all of that?
The largest school district in the area, Indianapolis Public Schools, is currently searching for a superintendent. Any advice for the district’s board?
You need a talented and committed educator. You need someone who is absolutely committed to education and higher education, or next steps for our young people. This is an unprecedented time for young people, African-American and otherwise, who are looking at unemployment rates the likes of which we have never seen before.
We’re looking at any number of challenges, and we know that our young people need to be prepared to meet these challenges. School districts need an innovative educator who understands that and is willing to do whatever he or she has to do to make that happen.
You also need a consensus builder, because you have so many stakeholders in K-12 education, and those stakeholders are not often on the same page. The superintendent faces the challenging task of juggling all those interests. The students are the most important interests, but you also have parents, teachers, unions and relationships with local colleges. The superintendent should also be politically savvy because politics really do play a great role right now in our educational issues. He or she does not have to have a background in a particular academic area, but should understand the important of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) as well as the arts and creativity, entrepreneurs and a balanced curriculum that prepares our young people for the next stage of their life.
