Sacramento State has established the nation’s first-ever Black Honors College, designed for students who are interested in Black history, life, and culture.
“So we can’t be an HBCU, we weren’t founded in time, right? But we can be everything but the historical part,” SSU President J. Luke Wood said in a recent appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show. “So we’ve set aside 6,000 square feet of space in the center of our campus. We’ve hired eight different staff members to work with the students including a dean of students [and] faculty members who have a demonstrated record of success teaching and serving Black students.”
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The Black Honors College at Sacramento State University is an enhanced co-curricular college for students providing specialized coursework, distinctive research opportunities, creative arts, residential living and learning programs, scholarships, and more. In the words of President Wood, “it’s an institution within the institution that’s specifically designed to serve Black students” and the first of its kind in the nation.
The Black Honors College launches as part of the California State University System efforts to boost Black student enrollment, retention, and graduation rates across their schools.
“While we have the highest population of Black students, we are in the bottom quartile for success, and have been for many years and the Black Honors College will seek to reverse that trend,” President Wood said in a statement.
Applicants must be incoming first-year students, have a 3.5 GPA or higher, and demonstrate an interest in Black history and culture. Seventy students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds will be selected.
“We are intentionally developing a curriculum that’s going to be solid. It’s going to be rigorous,” said Dr. Boatamo Ati Mosupyoe, dean of the Black Honors College. “That’s going to promote Black excellence.”
The inaugural class will begin their courses in the Black Honors College in Fall 2024.
Cover Photo: Sacramento State University President To Open School’s First Black Honors College / photo credit: Louis Bryant III Sacramento Observer