where is my Dwayne Wayne?

"A Different World" is one of my all time favorite shows.
I know that Dwayne is from Bed-Stuy (like me!) and got an 800 on his math SATs. I have season 1 on dvd and I even customized my very own Hillman College tote.
Fictional depictions of life at HBCUs have always entrigued and excited me. You might find me on occasion screaming "WAKE UP!!!" like Lawrence Fishburne's character in "School Daze" or even watching (on the sneak) "Stomp the Yard".
But when it came time to apply and choose a REAL college, the one that I would attend, I never seriously considered a black college or university. But I almost went to a school with a black student population of 1.9% (that aid package was SERIOUS). I knew that I wanted to be a Black Studies major, but I didn't really entertain studying it at Howard, Fisk, or Spelman.

And now, as I get ready for senior year (hopefully those London credits transfer), I'm wondering - was my time at my HWC (historically white college) worth it?

But lets back track a little. For someone who grew up in majority black neighborhoods and is interested and committed to black culture how did the allure of a black higher education evade me? The answer is mad complicated - so I'll employ my trusty lists
1) MONEY! I wasn't trying to incur massive loans, and sadly lots of black college don't have endowments to compete with the Amhersts, Harvards, and Georgetowns. We could go into why this is (lack of alumni committment, less wealth in black communities, etc...), but that really isn't my point today.
2)I felt I already had my black school experience. Had I grown up in Scarsdale someplace super white I probably would've RAN down to Hampton. But my parents sent me to schools in Crown Heights and Bushwick, Bklyn and in Harlem. Some of the blackest and brownest places in this city. I was already grounded in a legacy of black achievement, so I thought it would be good to learn about how the other side moves.
3) and this is the saddest to admit, prestige. Yeah, I was one of those kids who was obsessed with all the college rankings. Hindsight is 20-20, and at 21 I wish I could've told the 17 year old me, that those lists are arbirtary and almost meaningless.


Would I have had to have dealt with all the issues I've confronted as an Amherst student if I'd gone to a school with a mission dedicated to the upliftment of my people?
What does it mean that so many of today's black public intellectuals are affliated with majority white schools than with HBCUs (I see you Cornel West)?
Why are some of the strongest black studies programs at HWCs (Columbia, Amherst, Yale, etc...)?
With the scamble for students at the most elite white schools in the country, how do HBCUs compete?
I clearly don't have the answers, but all I know is that is always grad school. Maybe finally I'll be able to chill with a real-life Whitley Gilbert and get my HBCU on.