To The Bat Cave!

If any of you have Hotmail accounts, then you know, that as soon as you log out, it redirects you to the homepage of MSNBC.

So, as I do my regular evening run-through of the usual junk that floods my inbox, I sign out. I actually do get some of my news from MSNBC so I'm not completely turned off to it when I get there. As I skim through the headlines, this one catches my eye:

"Rabies feared after bats take over college dorm"

The first thought that crosses my mind is "God, I really hope this isn't a Black college".

And sure enough, it is...Texas Southern University.

I don't know all the details of the story; how or why these bats have invaded the dormitory on TSU's campus. Unsettling as it is, it's not very surprising.

Usually there's this age-old stereotype that's perpetuated by some Blacks that didn't go to HBCU's. If you let them tell it, we sit in makeshift classrooms, have rats, roaches and the likes in our dorms, and our college education is comparable to an education from some Dangerous Minds type high school. Even one of my closest friends had some sideways ish to say when I told her I was headed to a Black college.

HBCU's, just like White schools, have a bevy of problems and issues. The only difference is that sometimes the haters and nay-sayers want to make it seem as though it's "indicative" of us (Blacks).

There is not one Black college that hasn't seen darker days. Hell, Clark Atlanta exists because of the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University, both of whom were experiencing some financial difficulties in the 80's. Even of the more "prestigious" Black schools like Fisk almost faced being closed down. Not to mention, Howard having some issues as well. And how can we forget our fallen brethren Morris Brown?

Financial woes are one thing, but overall student quality of life is quite another.


First of all. If I was in that dorm, it wouldn't have been no swinging bats and brooms at ish. My ass would've BEEN up and out the dorm, yelling and screaming through campus, and calling my mom to call up to the school to cuss somebody out. Secondly, that dorm looked new! So why on earth have bats already set up shop?! I mean, when I was at Clark Atlanta, my freshman dorm, Merner Hall (M Phi M, Baby!), was one of the oldest ones on campus, built in the 1930's. We never had any problems like this. Not to mention, our ish has never really been renovated until this year.

I feel really sorry for these students at Texas Southern, who, in the past year have faced the threat of their school losing it's accreditation, their past president is now on trial for embezzlement, and now effin bats in their living quarters.

I know these kids' parents didn't send them to college to be turf fighting winged creatures. I surely hope the student health center has stepped up to the plate in making sure that the residents of Lanier East and/or wherever else there's bats, are properly tested and treated for anything that's rabies-related.