There are journeys and destination for all historically Black colleges and university presidents, and rarely do two presidents travel the same road.
Dr. Walter D. Broadnax became the second president of Clark Atlanta University on August 1, 2002 (his formal inauguration was held March 21, 2003), but before he fully settled into his new office, he realized that he had to undertake one of the most dynamic fundraising missions in his entire career.
The faculty, staff and students were expecting a new state-of-the art learning center, and Dr. Broadnax was determined to give the people what they wanted.
“When I arrived there was the expectations that we were going to open the new academic facility, but no money had been raised,” Dr. Broadnax recalls. “Everybody believed it was going to happen by the time I arrived, and the faculty kept asking, ‘So when are we going to build this building?’ And I asked, ‘What building?!’ Then I asked my money man how much it would cost and how much we had raised, and I found out that there was no money” because anticipated funding didn’t materialize.
In what he describes as a “full-tilt scramble,” Dr. Broadnax raised $10 million needed to fund the project in less than one academic year, which earned him the moniker “transformer,” bestowed by none other than UNCF president Michael Lomax.
Growth and transformation is rampant on the campus of Clark Atlanta University.
With the consolidation of two private historically Black institutions—Atlanta University and Clark College—Clark Atlanta University was formed in 1988, as a “comprehensive, private, urban, coeducational institution of higher education with a predominantly African-American heritage.”
The university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor’s, master’s, specialist and doctorate degrees. The almost 5,000 students include 995 graduate students, and there are 291 faculty members.
In 2002, Clark Atlanta University received a $5 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation for the construction of an academic center named for Carl and Mary Ware, the first new classroom building constructed on the campus is more than 30 years. The state-of-the-art facility has 28 classrooms with wireless Internet connections and other electronic learning technologies, a videoconferencing facility, conference and lecture rooms, a large study lounge, a copy and printing center, and even a coffee shop.
Dr. Broadnax is also grateful for the generosity of Coca-Cola and a handful of other contributors who backed the project; not only did their collaborative efforts bring the Carl and Mary Ware Academic Center to fruition, Clark Atlanta University was able to assume ownership of the property outright.
“When the last brick was laid, the last window installed, and when the construction workers left the site, they were paid in full; the university owned the building; lock, stock and barrel,” Dr. Broadnax says, shaking his head in disbelief. “That was emotional, it was spiritual. God didn’t just walk beside me, He carried me through that!”
Transformation of the campus can also be witnessed in the other new structures that are being built and rehabbed on campus. Beginning this semester, all first- and second-year students will be able to live on campus with the recent development of the CAU Suites. The new residence hall will house 400 women and 200 men in separate wins. The administration is currently making plane to renovate the school of social work and the business school.
And there is much more transformation to come, says Dr. Broadnax. “From the inside out, from the academic programs, the level of rigor, to the quality of the kids coming and going, to the quality of the buildings and the furnishings, it’s just going to be a high-quality place inside and out,” he says. “Whoever comes to follow, can continue to whip the horses; there is always plenty to do.”
The administration’s immediate goal is to enhance the lives of the Clark Atlanta University student body. Pointing to the overall breakdown of customer service in the world, Dr. Broadnax has made access to quality education and responding to his student’s needs in a prompt and timely manner a priority. “A student-centered, quality-driven university” is the goal of CAU, he emphasizes.
Clark Atlanta University is located in the heart of Atlanta’s thriving international business community, a community that has offered priceless scholarships, internship opportunities and mentoring partnerships that gives CAU students a competitive edge in various careers. Clark Atlanta University students have completed internships with CNN, Coca-Cola the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper, just to name a few.
A partnership with the Ford Motor Company is supporting the career development of underrepresented minority students at the graduate and undergraduate levels who are pursing careers in business computer, mathematics and public administration/human resources. Ford scholars receive awards ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 in cash for the fall and spring semesters and they are eligible to participating in mentoring opportunities and internships with Ford management executives.
And the university also has received two major grants from the Bush Foundation (founded in 1953 by 3M Executive Committee Chairman Archibald Granville, and his wife, Edyth Bassler Bush), designed to support the faculty development of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
Even with all of his successes, Dr. Broadnax, much like the other presidents of HBCUs, is still concerned with the public questioning of the relevance of historically Black colleges and universities.
“There is a good number of people, White and some Black, who believe that there is no need for HBCUs,” Dr. Broadnax argues. “They say that we had the Civil Rights Movement, and now White schools are open to us, so why don’t you just go over there and go to school and quit fooling around with these Black institutions. I just tell them to look at our graduation rates, and to look at where the majority of Black professionals are coming from.”
There’s no doubt that CAU student Rashon Hasan could tell you where the future crop of Black professionals are coming from.
If Hasan’s crisp business suit and firm handshake don’t leave you with a lasting impressions, his unwavering ambition will. Hasan, a 20-year-old political science major from Newark, N.J., says that CAU initially rejected his application for admissions, nut his heart told him to apply again. Somehow, he says, he knew that CAU would mark the beginning of his professional career.
“I didn’t have any options when it was time for me to begin matriculation into college,” says Hasan, president of the Student Government Association. “I didn’t have many acceptance letters. Another college accepted me, and Clark denied me, but I felt that I needed to be here. So I made a few phone calls, and they put some faith in me and accepted me.
“I am the first male in my family to ever attend college and to graduate from high school without getting a GED. After I received my bachelor’s degree, I will remain at CAU to pursue my graduate degrees. My goal is to ultimately run a school district someday.
“I owe everything to Clark Atlanta University,” he says. “That’s why I like to say I didn’t choose Clark Atlanta University; Clark Atlanta University chose me.”
Among its other plans, the university recently adopted a 5-year strategic agenda to continue to further develop its overall advancement goals, which include financial strength, rigorous academic programs and student recruitment and retention.
---Zondra Hughes
This article was originally published in the September 2005 issue of Ebony magazine and is presented here with permission.