Homecoming weekend 2013 at UNC

My graduation pics from UNC Chapel Hill.

Happy Homecoming fellow Tar Heels! It is that time again! Since I've moved from the Triangle, it has been difficult at times to make it back for homecoming in Chapel Hill, although I am only a couple hours away. Homecomings at UNC have at times been legendary. The football games, step shows, and, in the past tremendous concerts took place at the Dean Dome. The concerts were less amazing when I matriculated, but I know people who kept their ticket stubs from way back.

Several weeks ago, I read a blog post by a lady named Toya Corbett, who attended UNC Charlotte. She wrote about her pride being a Black student who graduated from a White school. Quite honestly, I was disturbed by it. I imagine she meant it as an uplifting piece for people who also attended "predominantly White universities" ("PWI" or "PWU")  in response to those who attended "historically Black colleges and universities" ("HBCU").

What I, and many others who read it, saw was an internal conflict that she had about her own feelings of belonging and "Black pride". It read as though she sought validation for her life choices from people who made different choices for themselves. Corbett seems to want to prove to someone, who I do not know, that she does belong, that she is proud of who she is, and that they should include her in the fold. Again, it begs the question, who is her message for?

My collegiate experiences are somewhat unique, as I attended a "PWU" in the midst of a number of other colleges and universities, both PWUs and HBCUs. My homecomings included parties with Shaw University, Saint Augustine's University and more often North Carolina Central University (my law school alma mater).When I attended UNC the face of the university had changed. My class was one of the largest minority classes the school had ever had. Although my colleagues from HBCUs and I shared jokes and poked fun at our varied experiences.. Yes, I go to homecoming to watch the football games, while my friends may go for the band. So what? No one ever questioned my blackness, pride, or connection with the Black community. I have a homecoming history. My fellow UNC alumnae and I have homecoming traditions.

My sister, my friends, and many of my colleagues attended HBCUs with their own homecoming traditions. So yes, we talk about those things together. We laugh about experiences and who we expect to run into as we head back to Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Hampton, D.C., Atlanta or wherever. We talk about the last homecomings attended, the school rivalries, what to wear and whether or not we will stay the entire weekend or just pop in and out.

Corbett is slightly older than me, and she attended a university that was somewhat isolated from other college campuses. Undoubtedly her experiences were different than my own. However, something she negated to include in her posting, which now appears on Huffington Post, is that her school just recently entered into the foray of homecoming. Until this season, her school never had a football program. Homecoming did not exist at UNCC.

Somehow Corbett has turned her lack of homecoming bona fides  into some Black PWU student vs Black HBCU student battle. It makes no sense when you dig more deeply into it. As my fellow UNC Alum, Michael Felder, who writes for The Bleacher Report said to me, (paraphrasing):

It's not a non-HBCU thing, it's a 'you're UNCC' thing. It isn't that NC A&T is alone in questioning them. UNC, App (Appalachian State University), and NCSU question them too. 

Exactly! No one gives credence to your school pride when you had none to speak of before you had a football team. Do you even have a rival? I rarely see Charlotte 49ers gear on the bodies of people walking around Charlotte. I do see UNC and NCCU emblems on cars, t-shirts, and in the hearts of former students. I'm sorry Corbett, this is your first homecoming, so you cannot act like you've been there before...you have not.

For Corbett to turn this into an HBCU vs PWU issue is disingenuous to say the least. I will try not to diminish what she's feeling on the inside, but as for me and my schoolmates, it does not apply.



Follow @YBBG_Blog on Twitter and use hashtag #YBBGTopic for more interesting discussions. 
Check out YBBG on Facebook.