KTLA News: "Interview with Arthur Fletcher of the United Negro College Fund" (1972)

well they are as acute as ever black colleges of course have never gotten the anywhere near the necessary funds needed to maintain the institutions but we have been able and uh to raise uh uh money last year in the down economy we raised $9.5 million which was more than We've Ever Raised before we have a 12 half million gold this year we hope to raise 250,000 of that out of the Los Angeles area and the future is really bright as people understand our story what about government assistance government assistance will come but it will come uh as a result of uh the fund and the colleges and the alumni from the colleges demonstrating uh through their own commitment through contributions and through giving time energy and effort that they want the colleges to to remain and to improve uh the government wants to know who's your constituency and if the black institutions of Higher Learning can demonstrate that they have a sizable constituency and we're shooting at a million a national constituency of a million and we only have 80,000 now then the government will come forth with viable long-term remedies for the school's financial needs the editor to use all right hot in New York yesterday Mr Fletcher what is the status of the black colleges today well it's it's one that's improving the demand on the black colleges is greater than it's ever been before the reason is for the first time in the history of the country the black college graduate is actually moving into the labor market at a level commenced with his preparation uh up until 1969 this had never happened they usually moved in at a level lower than the preparation but it's a different situation today so the demand is greater than ever are you optimistic as to the future of the black colleges yes I'm quite optimistic because uh there is now the recognition that these colleges are indeed have been and are indeed able to develop the human resources that the nation needs they're moving out of their isolated posture into uh the mainstream as human resource development entities and consequently the future is brighter than it's ever been but we don't have a dramatic kind of a uh thing going for us that would put the nation on notice that this is situation it's a kind of a lowprofile thing what about the amount of work and travel uh to to get a real constituency in in behalf of the fund but it can be developed and that's what we're trying to do what are the prospects of government blacks uh on college campuses today we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 450,000 black youngsters on campuses uh attending schools for how learning we should have two million uh in order for them to have their rightful share and rightful place in the labor market the from 19 75 on through uh we're short of that and if this deficiency continues we could well start the decade of the 80s off with a deficiency of some 12 million black college graduates so yes uh we're doing all we can to increase the number that not only go but we want to increase the number that graduate the attrition rate is far far too high uh for blacks and others who come from impoverished areas and and the real way to get out of poverty and into the mainstream is through the educative process and this is more true today than has ever been before are you hopeful there'll be more blacks on the college campuses the near future are you optimistic about the future of the black colleges