Sacramento State — home to the largest number of Black students within the California State University (CSU) system — is launching what will become the nation’s first-ever Black Honors College.
Slated to begin operating in the fall, the honors college will enroll students who have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and an interest in Black history, life, and culture.
Dr. J. Luke Wood
Unlike Honors Colleges at some other institutions that have created specialized programs to attract Black students, Sacramento State’s model is radically different. The entire college is being designed specifically with the Black student in mind.
The college will have its own dean of students, director, counselors, academic advisors, and outreach and support staff, and it will draw from existing faculty who have “a demonstrated record of success in teaching Black students,” said Wood.
The students who are accepted into the college will complete their General Education (GE) classes there and will be taught in small classes and mentored by mostly Black Sacramento State faculty members.
“It’s not just taking any GE class, we’re handpicking GE classes that focus on the Black experience,” said Wood, who noted that the college curriculum will be broadly influenced by Pan-African studies. “It’s a specialized, accelerated, elite experience,” he said.
