Episode 4: HBCEwww: We Have Bigger Fish to Fry!

The college convo continues. In part 2 of 2, Howard staff gets the bison boot, too. Plus there she was, Miss North Carolina! Also, AI detection in school might become a thing of the past.

#hbcu #college #ai #missnorthcarolina #howard #tuskeegee

Music for S1 Ep4 and beyond from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/mountaineer/kick-back
License code: WIW2159A5LBSADR2

The very first 2 episodes feature music from https://youtu.be/_uvz1APvCeM?si=clrAURycB1X0SZFx

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to part two of HBCE.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Reiterated it's mandatory attendance. It didn't specify the um penalties.

unknown 0:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Well, I have never been on campus. Um, well, that's not true. When I got my master's, I um that was in the early 2000s, so I had a cell phone, but there's no way you can be on your phone and paying attention in class at the same time. So I get that, and it sucks because when you reach the college level, you're an adult and you're supposed to know better. So I want to know how bad did it get for them to lay out all these rules.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Considering the fact that some of these people are reading at third and fourth grade levels because of, you know, no child left behind. But that's another story. For another day, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Um, I was thinking about that thing that was also on TikTok about the woman writing a letter and pencil, yeah. And she's somebody pinned, and she said she went to college. But again, another story, another day. Absolutely. However, I understand you want to teach kids professionalism, but you can't say you're teaching professionalism and dress code when this is the stuff that's going on in your buildings.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

It's like going exactly. You have bigger fish to fry. Exactly. Because I mean, you you want you want the aesthetic, right? That is such a buzzword now, it's getting on my nerve. But the aesthetic seems to be so more important than what what really what really counts. If I pay for my child to go to your school, I expect there to be clean water. I expect there to be um not no mold. That's the bare minimum. I expect her to have a dorm space. I expect her to still have an acceptance, even if she's not paid in full, because I've never heard of that in my life. The school I just graduated from, they set up payment plans up until that that spread out until the end of the semester. So yeah, you don't miss a payment. Oh no, no, you can't do that. But if you agree, you make your down payment and you make your monthly payment, you're good to go.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

I 100% agree. And my other thing, I think of it like a five-star restaurant. I know it sounds crazy, but hear me on I sent this to David. Okay. Um, so let's say you're going to the French laundry, very expensive restaurant. You know there's a dress code.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

You know the aesthetics are wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

But you would be mad as hell if you went there and near the the bathroom's not working. Right. You spent all this money because food's a necessity. Okay. Yeah. There's no soap in the bathroom. The food's not.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

The bathroom's not working. There's literally bodily stuff. There's mold.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Wouldn't they close that down as a health violation?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Not only that, but the food is horrible. You have um employees in the back. Did you hear about this? Where the employees in the, I think it's a crumble um restaurant, cooking restaurant, braiding hair in the back. Yeah. You don't and yeah, I mean, you you expect the bare minimum. That's the point.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

If your school is a safety violation, a health safety, where the Department of Health has to invade it if it was a restaurant and closes it down, who cares?

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

And it feels very much like a red herring where people are paying more attention to the Tuskegee. Yeah, go ahead. The Tuskegee stuff than students' financial aid. Because, and wasn't that your thesis statement about financial aid?

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Well, so my dissertation was rhetoric surrounding student unforgiveness and female borrowers of color. So um, mainly, because it was mainly black women who would have benefited from Biden's student unforgiveness. So I looked at 300 news articles between Fox News, CNN, and Reuters, which is a new uh a um your middle of the road news service. And I looked at how they worded how what I looked at how they worded things when it came to student unforgiveness and when it came to this to the borrowers. You know, so for example, Fox used terms like handout a lot compared to CNN, may have used it at one time, and I believe that was when they were when they were quoting someone. So there's that.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

And there's a reason I bring up uh Ty's dissertation. Thank you. Most of these students are probably on student first generation. I'm not assuming all, but first generation dealing with trying to get student aid.

unknown 5:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

So they are doing this out not just out of pocket, but they're depending on student aid from FAFSA and scholarships to be here. So it's like this if other schools will process it faster, you're losing money.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

You're losing money. And absolutely, I I'm pretty sure, you know, I can tell you for a fact, when I started at the HBCU, my sister, she was at a um state school, right? And it was a P PWI. I told her about the administrative issues. She was flabbergasted because what do you mean? You're paying to go to the school, however, you're paying for you're paying. And and you're you're dealing with this. Thank you. She said there's no way. This is in the 90s. Like, there's no way. Um, I think I told you about this, and we're gonna um, you know, let you finish with that, but I have to tell you this because this it opens Pandora's box. And I'm back with more from the Scholarship College Mama. That's the Scholarship College M-A-M-A. She's on TikTok, y'all. You better follow her. Um, listen, Howard Freshman, I'm praying for you guys. And in the meantime, if you are still unenrolled and you went through the process and you feel like the decision is final, uh, the scholarship mama wants to share 10 things that you need to be doing if you're not already. Take a step back, that's number one. Breathe, sit down, talk to family, friends, and decompress. Just let it all out. All right, while you figure out your next steps. Um, you're probably at number one already, so let's get to number two. Um, look into community college, uh, look at a uh state program, or take heed to everyone telling you to look into another Maryland school or a New York school, all right. Um we're all here to help you. Number three is take a gap year. Hey, I wish I'd done this. Uh, take a gap year, travel, figure it all out. You know what I'm saying? And you probably don't want to hear this from me, but you might realize that you don't want to go to college, at least not right now. All right, but take a gap year, figure it all out, okay. Um, number four is oh, again, University of DC. They still want you. Go look at the link and go apply if you haven't already. Number five, again, going back to uh state schools in New York, SUNY that's S-U-N-Y, and I'm pretty sure CUNY, which is C-U-N-Y, they are both accepting uh applications. And you know, here's a thought that you probably don't know. Not all the schools go back at the same time. The New York schools they go back in September, whereas this the southern schools down here, they're going back soon, right? By the time you hear this, they'll probably already be back in school, so you should still have a shot at going to a New York school. And who doesn't want to go to New York? New York at 18? Sign me up, please. I might be partial there because I'm a New Yorker, but anyway. Um, again, Maryland also announced that they want you at their universities. Again, you're probably hearing this after the fact. If you are, prepare for next year. Okay, so that's number five. Number six is the Maryland system. Number seven, she suggests going to therapy. And me being a Gen Xer, I agree with that, but also take it to the Lord in prayer. Okay, I'll just leave it at that. You take what you want, leave the rest. Okay. Number eight, talk to a lawyer. That's a good one. Um, you have deposits, you have paperwork, uh, you have your rights, violations, all of these things, mental anguish. Please go talk to a lawyer. Number nine, um, if you have any outside external scholarships, like from a third party, say a uh sorority or a church or a or your job, um, just notify them right now if you haven't already. So listen, um, these are tips that you've you're probably hearing after the fact. Don't be ashamed you did nothing wrong, okay. Ignore social media is number 10. Ignore the comments, ignore, ignore, ignore. Don't listen to people saying, well, you should have paid your bill. Listen, I've been in college three times. This is not how that works, okay? You do not, you're not expected to pay in full unless you have a full ride. You're not expected to pay in full when you start school. You are expected to have a paid and full balance by the end of the semester or by the end of your journey. You cannot graduate in some cases without having your bill paid, but there's nobody that will tell you, outside of Howard, that you have to be paid in full before the school starts, the school year starts. Finally, I'm gonna leave this with you because um, again, I'm going back to the scholarship college mama. She says, and I agree with this: what God has for you is for you. We'll be back with more of the Brown Skin Power Half Hour. You know what it is. This is the Brown Skin Power Half Hour.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Hey everybody, it's Anita from the Brown Skin Power Half Hour. Have you been listening to a podcast in thought? I could have added something to that conversation. Well, this is your invitation. Ty and I are looking for guests to join us on upcoming episodes, and here's the best part. You only need about 10 minutes. Seriously, you don't have to be famous, you don't have to have a huge following, and you definitely don't have to be an expert. If you've got a story, a unique perspective, a lesson you've learned, or even an opinion that'll make us laugh or think. We'd love to have you on. Around here, we believe some of the best conversations happen with everyday people. That's what makes us this that's what makes this podcast special. We talk about life, relationships, careers, culture, current events, and all those moments that make us like, whew, I've been there. So if you've ever been waiting for a sign, this is it.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

This is Ty, and listen, don't overthink this. We're not looking for the perfect speakers. You heard Anita, we're looking for real people with a story that can make someone laugh or think, or just feel that togetherness, if you will. We love to hear from you. I'm not gonna hold you if you're looking for a podcast with a million followers or even a thousand followers. We're not the one for you right now. But that's fine. But here's the real flex. Here's a flex. You can say you went on a podcast that is played on Amazon, Spotify, iHeart, and many other places, right? But those are like the big three, I guess, right? Anyway, reach out to us, the Thailand Collective. That's T-H-E-T-Y L A N D collective at gmail.com. Uh when you see us in the social media street, you can leave a comment or send us a DM. We just might be talking to you next. You never know. So come on. Bye. I went to NC State, took one class, struggled in this class, a journalism class, struggled, but I loved it. Made that class. I think I got like a B or a C out of that class. But that B or C equaled an A at the HBCU. When I went back in the fall, my professor said, What did you do this summer? Because your writing is amazing. Now, I'm not saying, but I'm saying. No, I get what you mean. Compared to the level at this HBCU, it's it's that's embarrassing.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

No, and you can't just blame. I mean, we know systemic system.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

I know there's some system I know it exists. Yeah, we get it. We get it.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

But now when kids have the option and parents have the option and they have the experience you had, yeah. I get the experience of it. Yeah. But at the same time, my kids are gonna have to work in the real world. Absolutely. They're gonna have to be competent. So if a C here at this one that has more brand record is better than this one.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

As and I had this discussion with some of my old classmates. Off topic, shouldn't it be my responsibility to teach them hit that kind of history? Like history?

SPEAKER_00 15:25

I mean, because still in 2026, HBCUs we gotta get it, y'all gotta get it together. You gotta get it together because I took a summer in the schools in Raleigh, the HBCUs in Raleigh. One of the two. Okay, I'll just leave it at that. Sorry. That summer. Sorry, Zen. Hi, I'm Dr. Ty. I'm inviting you or someone you know to Beyond the Letters. I started Beyond the Letters because earning a doctoral, not a doctoral, it's not the finish line, it's the beginning of another chapter. Sidebar, I'm reading a script as you can probably tell by now. The word or the letters that make up doctoral is highlighted in red. So shout outs to you, Apple, because you get it. Anyway, earning a doctoral degree, it's not the finish line, it's the beginning of a new chapter. So every week on Beyond the Letters, I'll spend just a couple of minutes highlighting women who are writing that next chapter, whether they're applying for a teaching position, surviving exams, defending or figuring out life after graduation. For example, what's something nobody warn you about after graduation? Let me know at Beyond the Letters. You can find us on Facebook and Discord. Email the Thailand Collective at gmail.com for more info. That's T H E T Y L A N D collective at gmail.com. Bye. Where is all of this money going?

SPEAKER_01 17:18

That's a good question because according to their website, the average student spends a little over 66,000 a year. If you like, I can give you guys a breakdown of Go ahead and break it down. We are using Howard's tuition fees for this year, according to their website, and this is financial services.howard.ed. So the cost of attendance according to them for undergrad their undergraduate program, their total fee, estimated cost of attendance is $66,182. That includes direct costs, which is tuition, mandatory fees, housing food, indirect costs like books and supplies, transportation, personal slash miscellaneous fees, and they actually charge a fee. If a family slash student opts to take out a loan, federal fees are associated with doing so. Note the fees shown are an estimate, it may be more or less. So a direct Stanford loan fee is $76. A direct parent plus loan fee is $1,180. And like any other loan, there are five credits. The tuition is based on four-time enrollment per semester. Student enrollment less than four-time are subject to a fee of $1,583 per credit hours. Third, students enrolled in more than 21 credit hours pay the following additional fee. $1,014 per credit hours. And like any other fee in a capitalistic society, subject to change each academic year.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Of course, yeah, they're always subject to change. Having said that, they're getting all of this money and more. Where is the money going? Is this becoming another HBCU that mishandles funds?

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

And I hate to say it, but and and I'm not saying that this does not happen to um non-HBCUs or PWIs. So the HBCU I went to in Raleigh before I went there, I went to a small junior college. Do you remember those? It was called the Phillips Junior College Hardbarger Campus. It was on Capitol Boulevard in Raleigh, next to the indoor flea market. Why did I go there? Because I wanted to become the next fashion designer. They had a fashion merchandising course. So a lot of people don't know that about me, but they went out of business, okay, for mishandling funds. So I say all of that to say that it happens, you know? But for an institution like Howard, you know, they pride themselves on being the first, the black, um, the black ivy league, the black Harvard, if you will. And for them to, you know, want to, or if they want to continue the charade, they need to at least look like they know what they're doing with their funds. What are they doing with their funds?

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Well, they're not going in my bank account because if they had allowed those 501 students to go in, they would have made $33,157,182 based off of their estimated cost of attendance. That $33 million is not in my account.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

It's not in mine. It's not in mine either. And you know who else's account is not in? Um former Miss North Carolina, but from what I understand, she is trying to get a paycheck out of her scandal. Tell us all about it.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Okay, so according to thegardian.com, in an article written by Edward Hellmore, Miss Brittany Bolton House, the dethroned Miss North Carolina, is threatening legal action, claiming the staff of pageant organizers let her go wrongfully. And unjustified. According to her attorney Patrick Mincy, he described the removal of her title and crown as another troubling example of cancel culture. According to Mr. Elmore's source, the North Carolina news outlet NCB reported that Bolton House had social media posts showing her frequently using the N-word under the username Sosa the Stallion between 2017 and 2019.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Well, when you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. But you know what? I cannot stand when it comes to people like her. You know, they do this racist stuff. And then when they get caught, no matter how long it takes, but when they get caught, now they want to be the victim. Like, how does that even work? You're you decided, I don't know where she how she grew up, but when you are using words like that, derogatory words, you're supposed to be groomed enough to know whatever you say, especially now in the age of social media, it's gonna come back to haunt. And are you not thinking? If you're going before you become Miss North Carolina or Miss any state, you go through the county, you go through the city, you go through these local events. All of this takes grooming. Now, I may or may not have family who have gone through some of this process. That's how I know about this. But also, you can also look this up. But the the fact of the matter is this they are trained to know, especially now, that anything you say, how if you look at um any episode of any recent episode of the Dallas Cheerlead Cheerleaders, they have a um it's like a class or a um, you know, a lecture on social media training, on social media training, because they know anything they say can and will be used against, you know, in the court of public opinion. So, in other words, anyone that you represent or anything that you represent is going to be tied, whether you like it or not. And that goes for people who have jobs. You have to be mindful of what you say and what you do, no matter how you how much privacy you think you have in your settings, you gotta watch what you say.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

I just don't have to say well, I just believe in old school rule. Don't put something on social media you wouldn't want to put on a billboard in Times Square. Okay, according to the Guardian article, her lawyer says she was targeted because of her Christian faith and her conservative political views. If Miss Bolton House had continued, she would have been the third Latina and first Honduran woman to represent North Carolina at Miss USA.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

And you know what? You know what's so funny is that she'll go outside right now to any given store or gas station, and if Ice is out and about, they can scoop her up just because of her name and just because of her look. It's the irony for me. It's the irony. Breaking news. So apparently, some colleges and universities out here are starting to say, you know what? Maybe the AI detector needs to go. And as somebody who is about to be standing in front of college students, myself, I have questions. Because let's establish something first. AI is already in the classroom, right? It's everywhere, it's at work too. That ship has sailed, circled the globe, and pulled back into port. A recent survey from Instructure, the company behind Canvas, they found that 90%, y'all, 90% of higher ed students say they use AI in class at least occasionally. 90%. And before the professors get too judgy, 61% of higher ed educators say, you know what, we use it too. So everybody is using AI. Everybody, whether they want to admit it or not. The students are using it, the professors are using it. I may or may not be using it. You probably used it this morning. But the problem is schools are still trying to figure out what counts as acceptable use and what counts as cheating. One of the ways they've tried to police that line is with AI detection software. These are the tools that supposedly look at a student's paper and determine whether it was written by AI. But there's only one problem here: the detectors aren't necessarily reliable, at least not enough to make a call. Researchers and universities alike have raised concerns about false positives, meaning a student can write something themselves and then it still can have a detector say, nope, Chat GPT wrote this. And this is something I think about because we're not talking about Netflix recommending a bad movie because the algorithm got it wrong. We are potent potentially talking about accusing a student of academic dishonesty. Students can get thrown out of school for this. It can mean a zero on an assignment, a failed course. Um, yeah, depending on the institution, academic integrity violations are a thing, and that can follow the student. All because software decided their writing sounded a little too much like software. But here's where it gets interesting. If we can't reliably detect AI-generated work, what exactly are professors supposed to do? Because look, maybe I will need to have the students explain arguments. As you all know, guys, I'm going to be teaching soon. We don't want them outsourcing their entire brain, right? Because I don't necessarily care whether you've used it to help brainstorm an idea, but I do care whether you understand the idea, and we need to be more mindful of that as teachers and as students and as parents, because pretty sure this is a problem at all levels of education, right? So having said that, is it time to stop trying to catch students and start changing the assignments? This and more is what you'll expect when you join me on Facebook and Discord for Beyond the Letters.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Thanks for listening to the Brown Skin Power Half Hour. I'm Anita.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

And this is time. We only had 30 minutes, so thanks for listening.