Are We Really Fighting Over Diversity? If Not, Then What’s the Issue?

“A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste” is one of the most powerful and iconic advertising lines or, more accurately, the strategic positioning NorthStar ever created, and it is possibly one of the most successful. It’s been in the market 50+ years, and it still defines an issue…and inspires action and support…albeit in a new and equally powerful way that is core to this IMAGINE.?

Stick with me. I’ll share a bit of history to set the stage and then get to the point…

Let me step back and share a bit of history as it's critical, in my view, to so much roiling us in the United States. And to my dear readers all over the globe...I'd argue that its lessons and learnings are critical to all of us…wherever we are.

Like many good stories, it's best to start at the beginning...set the context…and…it all begins in the United States before the Civil War, which ended slavery but didn't end inequality. For our story, inequality in education leads to a future of inequality and who knows what else??

Historical Black colleges and universities are our starting point.?

“Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have long been a bastion for upward mobility and a port in the storm for Black Americans seeking a place in academia. Before the United States fully integrated schools, the majority of Black students earned their degrees from HBCUs. Now, the nation's 107 HBCUs are in the spotlight as enrollment surges and former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Howard University grad, ran for president.

The origin of HBCUs

Before the Civil War, educating Black Americans was discouraged in many places in the North and wholly banned across much of the South. ‘The provision of education for people of African descent in early America was recognized by some as unnecessary and criminal, while others saw it as essential and vital,’ the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) said.?

The first couple of HBCUs were established before the war while slavery was still thriving. Richard Humphreys created the Institute for Colored Youth, briefly known as the African Institute at its founding, on a farm outside Philadelphia in 1837. It is the oldest HBCU in the country. Now known as Cheyney University, the school's mission was to arm free African Americans with primary education and training to become teachers or tradespeople.

The vast majority of HBCUs were established between 1865 to 1900, thanks to the help of the Freedmen's Bureau, "with the greatest number of HBCUs started in 1867, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation," said the TMCF.

Over the next century, dozens of HBCUs were established throughout the country. In Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965, Congress officially defined an HBCU as an accredited institution established before 1964 with the principal mission of providing an education for Black Americans.

'Engines of upward mobility'

HBCUs have spent 180 years establishing themselves as "engines of upward mobility for students who, due to systemic racism and discrimination, had limited access to other higher education options," the White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a brief on The Economics of HBCUs. Despite representing only 3% of colleges and universities, HBCUs play a massive role in the cultivation of the Black middle class, producing 40% of all Black engineers, 50% of all Black teachers, 70% of Black doctors and dentists and 80% of Black judges.”

The names of Howard, Spelman, Tuskegee, and Morehouse are now legendary and have produced more than their share of world game-changers in all fields.?

Yet by the 1940s, despite their successes, raising money…the kind of funds that the predominantly White universities were able to solicit was proving to be a challenge. Then, Frederick D. Patterson hit on the Big Idea of strength in numbers: raise money at the center…consolidate the message…provide the kind of funding only dreamed about…get government support and grants from foundations, and the UNCF was born:?

In 1943, Frederick D. Patterson wrote his historic letter to The Pittsburgh Courier proposing the creation of an alliance of Black colleges that would raise money for their mutual benefit. UNCF was founded in 1944 on the belief that there is strength in numbers—that HBCUs ought to make a joint effort to appeal for funds—as well as the belief that education was crucial to black mobility. At the start, UNCF served 27 member colleges and universities, totaling 12,000 students. Its first campaign received the support of many prominent Americans, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt and John D. Rockefeller II. The collective effort raised $765,000, equivalent to $10 million today, which is three times what its member institutions had raised separately the previous year.

?Back to a "Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste"...?

In 1972, UNCF approached Y&R (Young and Rubicam), one of the most famous Madison Avenue ad agencies, and asked them for help bringing the message to the public. Vernon Jordon, then Executive Director of UNCF, approached Ed Ney, the then CEO of Y&R, and made the ask. They brought in the Ad Council (One of my favorites; I had the honor of serving as Chairman later on.) The rest, as they say, is history.?

Quick sidebar: I knew them both. Vernon was a friend of my late father, and I worked for Ed years later and was blessed to follow his path.

Another time-jump...When I became CEO of Y&R, it was already a time-honored tradition that the CEO was asked to become a member of the UNCF Board, and so I did (still am...more on that). I attended my first Board meeting and was introduced to CEO Dr. Michael Lomax. (He's now a mentor and dear friend and still CEO). Barak Obama had recently been elected President of the United States, and Dr. Lomax inspired me with a vision of change. This was no longer just about disenfranchised youth who couldn't get an education…the tear-inspiring days were done. NO…this was about the very future of the competitive nature of the United States—maybe the world.?

We were challenged. Do we, and if so how, change the message, the Brand, and the icon??

I went back to the office…gathered a team…and shared the brief and the story.

We all agreed that killing a line like "A Mind…." would be to some a personal opportunity, but not for us…we drew the line. That was the DNA…the powerful truth, but it needed to have a new call to action…not guilt or a do good/feel good vibe. What was needed was something that would speak to donors who might never have considered the cause…or who might have trivialized its potential and future impact.?

The team returned with "A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste But a Wonderful Thing to Invest In." It came with a specific admonition: "Invest in Better Futures." Graduates became "Your Dividend."?

Bottom line: It preserved the core while addressing the new reality.?

Final time warp…jump forward to today. Last week, I attended a Board meeting and the UNCF Annual “A Mind Is…” Gala in Washington, D.C. Dr. Lomax spoke about the investment and its growing importance in our often confusing times.?

“Our annual A Mind Is… Gala is more than just an evening of elegance; it is a celebration of possibility, perseverance, and the boundless potential that lives within every student who dares to dream,” said UNCF President and CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax. “Higher education is a national priority and this gathering of leaders—Democrats and Republicans, industry executives, and cultural icons—reinforces UNCF’s mission and is a testament to what happens when we come together to invest in the future.”

I promised some history as context. OK…maybe a little more than some (my loyal readers knew that would be the case), but hopefully, you found it inspiring like I do…?

So, why the long set-up?

Because we are throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I'm referring to DEI on both sides of the debate—pro and con.?

1. How could there be a pro and con? Who could argue (Yes, some can we know that—sadly.) that diversity of ideas…people…culture…(UNCF proves the point) could be anything but additive and powerful? Every study shows that. Embrace diversity and inclusion…outperform your peers. Create a silo, become a silo. It's simple.
2. DEI as a thing, an entity, and not a principle was broken. It created silos; the very silos diversity is supposed to shatter. It marginalized people. I know…I sat through sessions where I wasn't allowed to react (KNEE JERK ALERT…..PLEASE MEASURE YOUR COMMENTS)….while I and others were berated. When I brought up Anti-Semitism and the notion that hatred tends to be serial (Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly."), I was shot down. I will fight to the end for the principles of Diversity and Equity and Inclusion…but DEI as a bureaucracy of exclusion? Hmmmmm.
3. We are turning DEI, the entity, into a political divide instead of leaning toward the principle and garnering all the support we can and must.

There are more quotes supporting diversity than many other issues—from Mahatma Gandhi to Jesse Jackson to Melinda Gates and hundreds of names you know in between.

I turned to Maya Angelou, famed African-American poet and civil rights activist, who was once the voice of a very powerful UNCF commercial, "Still I Rise."?

“We should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”

This was always the goal of the HBCUs and the mission of UNCF…not DEI, the thing it became that excludes for the benefit of some, but rather Diversity and Inclusion that includes...making all valuable…and the world a better place.?

We can't let the baby get thrown out. Our future is dependent on true diversity and total inclusion. Don't lose the plot because you hate the thing…

#ChangetheWorld…

What do you think?