RHONDELLA. THANK YOU KELLY ANN. WELL, BOSTON HAS A LOT OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS. WHAT IT DOES NOT HAVE IS A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY. NOW A MEMBER OF THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL IS HOPING TO CHANGE THAT. BRIDGET WILLIAMS WITH THE BAY STATE BANNER, JOINS US TO EXPLAIN. GOOD MORNING. BRIDGET. GOOD MORNING. RHONDELLA, HOW ARE YOU? I AM GREAT. MY DAD’S A GRADUATE OF FISK. TALK TO US ABOUT HOW THIS WOULD WORK. HOW WOULD A HBCU SET UP SHOP IN BOSTON? ABSOLUTELY. YEAH. SO RIGHT NOW, THE IDEA ISN’T ABOUT BUILDING A BRAND NEW UNIVERSITY FROM SCRATCH, BUT ABOUT BRINGING A SATELLITE CAMPUS OF AN HBCU INTO BOSTON. COUNCILOR BRIAN WORRELL AND ROXBURY COMMUNITY COLLEGE PRESIDENT JONATHAN JEFFERSON. THEY BOTH SEE RCC AS A KEY PARTNER IN THIS, RIGHT? SO RCC ALREADY HAS CREDIT TRANSFER AGREEMENTS WITH SCHOOLS LIKE DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY. JUST SIGNED ONE WITH JOHNSON C SMITH UNIVERSITY IN NORTH CAROLINA. AND THEY’RE THEY’RE SAYING THEY HAVE HIGH LEVEL CONVERSATIONS HAVING THEY’RE HAVING A HIGH LEVEL CONVERSATIONS RIGHT NOW ABOUT BRINGING AN ACTUAL SATELLITE CAMPUS RIGHT ONTO OUR CAMPUS. SO THE VISION IS A NETWORK. STUDENTS COULD START LOCALLY AT RCC, THEN SEAMLESSLY CONTINUE THEIR THEIR STUDIES THROUGH HBCU WITHOUT HAVING TO LEAVE BOSTON. WE MENTIONED IT BEFORE. BOSTON ALREADY HAS INTENSE COMPETITION IN THE HIGHER ED SPACE. WHY ADD MORE? WHAT ARE ADVOCATES SAYING IT WILL BRING? AND I BET THE INAUGURAL ESSENCE HBCU EVENT LAST WEEKEND WAS A LITTLE TASTE OF THAT. RIGHT? YEAH, IT WAS A TASTE OF THAT. AND THAT’S A BIG POINT. YOU KNOW, SOME WOULD SAY THAT BOSTON IS THE MECCA OF EDUCATION. AND I LOVE THROUGH SUFFOLK AND HARVARD. BUT WHAT IT DOESN’T HAVE IS AN HBCU. ADVOCATES SAY ADDING ONE ISN’T ABOUT COMPETING WITH THE HARVARDS OR THE NORTH EASTON. IT’S ABOUT FILLING A GAP. RIGHT? HBCUS MAKE UP 3% OF U.S. COLLEGES, BUT THEY ACCOUNT FOR 13% OF ALL BACHELOR’S DEGREES EARNED BY BLACK STUDENTS AND NEARLY A QUARTER OF STEM DEGREES. SO NORWELL WAS SAYING, YOU KNOW, HE ARGUED THAT THE PRESENCE HERE WOULD MEAN BETTER OUTCOMES FOR BOSTON PUBLIC STUDENTS. MORE DIVERSE VOICES IN THE FIELD LIKE TECH, HEALTH CARE. AND, YOU KNOW, JUST AS IMPORTANT, THE CULTURE AND COMMUNITY THAT HBCUS ARE KNOWN FOR. YES, THE CULTURE OF BLACK EXCELLENCE, TOO. THANK YOU. BRIDGET. I WISH WE COULD SHARE MORE WITH YOU, BUT WE HAVE TO GO FOR NOW. BRIDGET WILLIAMS, HAVE A WONDERFU

How Boston could bring historically black college, universities to city

Updated: 10:51 AM EDT Sep 7, 2025

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Boston has several higher education institutions; however, what the city does not have is a historically black college or university.Now, a member of Boston’s city council is hoping to change that. Brejé Williams with the Bay State Banner joins us to explain.

BOSTON —

Boston has several higher education institutions; however, what the city does not have is a historically black college or university.

Now, a member of Boston’s city council is hoping to change that. Brejé Williams with the Bay State Banner joins us to explain.