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About 80 scholars were recently celebrated as part of the inaugural Black Honors College class at California State University, Sacramento.
The college provides its students of all races, cultures, and majors a comprehensive curriculum that focuses on the Black and African American experience. It enrolls students who maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher and demonstrate interest in Black history, life, and culture.
“In my mind, I want everyone to attend an HBCU if they can, but we also know that’s not the right placement for every student depending on where they’re from, and so basically, it’s our alternative to that,” said Sacramento State President Dr. J. Luke Wood, who led the charge in creating the college and wanted to replicate the HBCU experience for its students.
“The long-range vision is that we establish this Honors College focused specifically and designed specifically for Black people by Black people,” he said.
The students, who will start their studies this fall, were honored during an Aug. 8 ceremony. It featured keynote speaker Stephen K. Benjamin, a senior advisor to President Joe Biden.
During the event, Wood asked incoming Black Honors College students to strive to improve life for themselves and others.
Wood secured initial funding and support to enroll the college’s first 500 students. The California State University allocated $250,000 in one-time funding to be used to support the college with another $2.5 million donation recently coming from Sacramento’s Tsakopoulos family.