HBCU Triples Grad Rate Thanks to Black Panther’s Grade Inflation

LARRY LITTLE

Winston-Salem State University, a historically black college whose student body is 72 percent African-American. And it managed to triple its graduation rate with a little help from a friendly neighborhood black panther.

In 2006, Winston-Salem State University  had a 14.8 graduation rate for students in four years… the UNC system set their six-year graduation rate goal at 36.9 percent for students who entered WSSU in 2005 and graduated in 2011. The actual graduation rate was 41 percent.

How was this goal achieved?

No passing grade? At Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), that’s no problem.

According to documents exclusively obtained by Campus Reform, students unable to successfully pass a class often have options other than taking a failing mark. And these options bode well for WSSU as higher graduation rates bring more grant money.

In fact, the majority of students enrolled in a constitutional law class in the fall of 2012 were saved by a last minute rescue mission in the form of an independent studies class—less than two weeks prior to the semester’s end.

The “qualified individual” placed in charge of this independent studies program, Larry Little, isn’t without his own scandals at the university.

Little, an activist in the Forsyth County, N.C., community—both for the Democratic Party and the Winston-Salem Black Panthers—provides students with extra credit should they work on campaigns.

Last September, Little invited Democratic councilman Derwin Montgomery, who was running for reelection, to speak to his class. Little then offered his students the opportunity to leave class early in order to vote. Several students accepted rides from Montgomery’s campaign to cast their ballots. While Little wasn’t working for Montgomery’s campaign this go around, he served as Montgomery’s campaign manager during his first run for office in 2009.

That’s the problem with hard graduation targets. They just create incentive for completely trashing academics to achieve them.

  • wileyvet

    Do I have this right, that more than 85% of students failed out of a four year program in 2006, while 8 years later the university is still only graduating fewer than half its students?

    • Larry Larkin

      That’s what you get when you take in 80%+ unqualified juniors. It shows just how poor quality the intake is when they can’t get it over 50% handing out degrees for doing nothing.

  • Raymond_in_DC

    I much prefer the approach taken by the Technion, sometimes referred to as Israel’s MIT. Though they want a diverse student body, there’s no affirmative action, and no entrance quotas, and they’re determined to maintain their rigorous academic standing. So what do they do?

    They run a number of pre-university programs for those with motivation and promise, but substandard academic backgrounds. Even this program is no picnic; for some it lasts 18 months, and not everyone makes it. But those that do are ready for “the machine” – the pressures of a very demanding program.

  • The March Hare

    “the majority of students enrolled in a constitutional law class in the fall of 2012 were saved”
    So much for someone claiming they are a constitutional law scholar. You need to ask where they studied. The majority??? And I am sure the balance wasn’t all at the top of the class, where ever the top of the class was.

    • Daniel Greenfield

      Our future judges…

  • Vernon Alarcon

    grajiateshun aint meanin dat dey gots ne skills, abilities, or knowledge. mosa dem foos couldnt even identify da states of da USA or da countriees dat border da US

  • The Gonzo Historian

    I would encourage the author of this article to reach out and contact Dr. Little, who would more than likely be amenable to explaining his involvement in the cited Constitutional Law course contreversy. I would also invite Daniel Greenfield to come sit in on one of Dr. Little’s classes, one of which I am currently enrolled. In my opinion this article is complete trash! It is fair to criticize a public university’s 4 or 6 year graduation rate. It is fair to contextualize those graduation rates within the framework the UNC’s specified goals, projections or guidelines. It is not fair to critize Dr. Little for his involvement in the Con Law Course contreversy without completely understanding the matter being discussed from the perspective of the students and faculty involved. Dr. Little does not inflate grades. Dr. Little is not amenible to grade inflation based on political activity. Dr. Little routinely kicks students out of class for not being fully prepared to discuss the course material assigned for reading. Dr. Little has an extremely strict attendance policy for all of his classes. Dr. Little has an extremely strict plagerism policy applied to all of his students. Dr. Little routinely invites professionals, bureacrats, and legislaters, and activists to his class in order to enrich his curriculum with the views, opinions and experinces of those practicing applied political science. This is not outside the norm for a POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR. Dr. Little is also sure that his students understand opposing viewpoints, especially views and theories counter to his own. I have argued and debated with Dr. Little over numerous subjects and topics, and though we rarely completely agree on anything, he has always shown me as much love and respect as he has shown most of his students.