Ralph Jones Jr: 16-Year-Old Black Male Chooses HBCU Over Harvard

When I heard about 16-year old Ralph Jones Jr. choosing Florida A&M University over Harvard, I didn't even flinch. In fact, the words "woopty damn doo" came to mind. Those words were not chosen because I didn't appreciate the enormity of Jones' achievements, but rather, it was because most of us already know that many HBCUs are better than schools like Harvard and Yale. They are certainly better for African American students in almost every context.

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Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

They have fame, fortune and are blessed with ability to entertain. Acting and singing are part of their repertoires and they make outrageous sums of money... but how many of them have higher education?

BV has taken the liberty to highlight just a few celebrities who have hit the books at one point or another and some who even obtained college degrees. Welcome to Hollywood U!

Frank Franklin II, AP

AFP

BlackVoices.com

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

Alicia Keys - Accepted to Columbia University
After graduating valedictorian of the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan, a 16-year-old Keys was accepted to Columbia University in New York. However, the talented songstress decided to drop-out and forgo a college ed to pursue her musical career.

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

Sean Combs - Attended Howard University
Hip-hop music mogul Sean Combs briefly attended Howard University in 1987 with a major in business administration. Combs honed his chops promoting parties and meeting many of the producers who would go on to help him found Bad Boy Records. Combs dropped out of Howard in his second year to become of of the most successful and powerful individuals in music and fashion with an estimated net worth of $400 million.

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

David Banner - Attended Southern University and the University of Maryland (grad school)
No stranger to contradiction, southern rapper David Banner is as well-read as they come. He is one of the few rappers that can boast a college degree as well as an MS in business! His music can often be as polarized as his life as he integrates raunchy and violent themes with conscious fare on his albums.

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

Denzel Washington - Graduated from Fordham University
Dr. Washington? Believe it or not, everyone's favorite actor once aspired to be a doctor. But while at Fordham he caught the acting bug and switched his major to journalism. By the time he graduated with a B.A. in Journalism and Drama in 1977, Washington already had his sights set on acting. Nearly two decades later most would agree that that was a pretty smart decision.

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

Boris Kodjoe - Graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University
Before he was a film and television heartthrob, actor Boris Kodjoe was well on his way to being a tennis superstar. Kodjoe went to school at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he played for the Rams. After a back injury halted his sprorting aspirations, the poor guy had to settle for being a model... what a sad life.

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

Nicole Ari Parker - Graduated from New York University
Born in Baltimore Maryland, Nicole used to pretend that she was Willona from the TV show 'Good Times.' After being named the best actress in Maryland at a high school competition, it further solidified her desire to act. Parker was accepted New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and graduated with an acting degree in 1993.

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

Common - Attended Florida A&M University
This Chicago legend attended Florida A&M University to study business administration. It wasn't too long afterward though that Common was featured in the Unsigned Hype column of the 'Source Magazine' and dropped out of college to be a rapper.

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

Duane Martin - Graduated from New York University
The former 'All of Us' star played basketball for NYU's team and was even drafted into the NBA by the New York Knicks. While he may not be acting at the moment, Martin is currently the owner of both a sports agency and a real estate company so that college ed may be paying off after all.

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

Will Smith - Could have gone to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The biggest actor on the planet had a chance to go to one of the country's premiere colleges, but turned it down to pursue his music career. "My mother, who worked for the School Board of Philadelphia, had a friend who was the admissions officer at MIT. I had pretty high SAT scores and they needed black kids, so I probably could have gotten in. But I had no intention of going to college," said Smith.

Hollywood U: Celebs and Higher Ed

The imaginary mystique of schools like Harvard and Yale effectively exists because these schools got a huge head start on HBCUs as it relates to access to resources and the establishment of legacies. In fact, many of these institutions were founded at a time when it was illegal for slaves to learn how to read. So today, Ivy League universities have endowments in the billions, while many HBCUs can barely pay the light bill.

But fortunately, you don't need lots of money to inspire and educate. You can learn more from perusing the Internet than from sitting in the class of some stodgy, old professor. Additionally, your intellectual development is largely a function of the degree to which you are impacted by those who teach you. HBCUs provide fuel for success, while many majority universities only provide unnecessary social hurdles.

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Black students have a greater likelihood of having an uplifting and confidence-building experience at a place like Morehouse or Spelman than they would at Harvard or Yale. Rather than feeling as though they are guests in someone else's home, they get the sensation of being right at home when they are at an HBCU. Many schools like Harvard and Yale have a horribly embarrassing track record when it comes to hiring black professors. Their consistent rejection of black scholars signals that as a collective, they consider black intellectuals to be inferior to white ones. Do you really want your child being taught by someone who believes that they are inferior?

So, when it comes to the decision being made by Ralph Jones Jr., I applaud him. He reminds me of the enormous potential of black men, and what we are capable of when we put our best foot forward. Every parent should demand that their child be as hard working, proficient and focused in the classroom as they are on the basketball court. In fact, it's easier to excel academically than in sports. I also think that many of us should consider sending our kids to HBCUs instead of buying into a power structure that tells us that almost everything black is somehow inferior. Black athletes earn a billion dollars per year for majority institutions, when that same billion dollars could change the world for HBCUs.