#StandWithBennett

Bennett College a historically black all female college is currently struggling to maintain its accreditation Bennett College, one of the last two historically black colleges for women in the U.S., is fighting to keep its accreditation after struggling financially for several years.

The private liberal arts school located in Greensboro, North Carolina, was notified last month that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges had voted to revoke its accreditation due to failure to comply with the commission’s financial standard of operations.

Bennett College is currently appealing the decision to the commission which will allow them to maintain their accreditation. They have up until February 18-20 before the appeals committee convenes to determine the final decision regarding the accreditation of our beloved Bennett College. In an interview held 1/17/19, Bennett College President Phyllis Worthy Dawkins said; “if Bennett does not win on appeal, it will file a lawsuit against the SACSCOC”.

However, bennet college is not going out without a fight as we speak, they are currently seeking accreditation through other system s while awaiting the verdict from the SACSOC the previous president started these fundraising efforts in 2003 but as dawns reported the enrollment of 470 students “have reduced by nearly half and has been severely impacted by the great recession an d hence the reason they are still struggling financially which was caused by the change in underwriting standards.

But Bennett College won't give up they have received a surge of support from a plethora of sources The Smollett's took it upon themselves to use their platforms to spread awareness about what’s happening at Bennett College and motivate individuals to pitch in and help save the school. Jussie posted a photo of both him and his brother donning shirts that read “Stand with Bennett” accompanied with a caption that read “In the 1930s we had 121 #HBCUs now we’re at 107. Don’t let us be down to 100 if #Bennett College, who has made the education of black women a priority since 1926, closes its doors.”

When schools lose their accreditation they are unable to be funded by federal assistance such as pell grants or loans and for HBCUS this is a crucial issue because most of our founders founded our schools in one room houses, were under the harsh labor of slavery we met to teach ourselves and our children when we were denied privilege to attend the highest caliber of schools know known as PWIS (predominately white universities) we created our own .

We encourage you to donate and do what you can to help us preserve our legacy as African Americans in education standing with Bennett College, is standing with our culture and embodying the true essence of black excellence. We must preserve our history because if we don’t its doomed to repeat itself attending my hbcu and dealing with the struggle we had to go through with the new nursing accreditation process I can emphasize with the situation as someone who's been directly linked to a similar situation. We here at GSU #standwithbennety and so should you.