Vision Circle

Howard beats Harvard

In this year's moot court competitions Howard University beat Harvard in what was a first for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

My man Bomani, himself a proud product of Clark Atlanta (where his old man Mack produced a generation or three of black political scientists), chimes in.

There is a pride in attending schools like Morehouse, Howard, Clark Atlanta and even Tennessee State that is as strong as fealty to a Christian denomination amongs Christians with a capital "C". I've been to more than a few black homecomings in my day, and there's nothing like being at the football game and hearing thousands upon thousands of black men and women singing their fight song at the top of their lungs.

But I think that we're making too much of kids' decision not to attend black schools.

The bottom line is that the comparison between Howard and Harvard is apt on one level--Howard is the best black law school, and Harvard is the best non-black law school. But on another level it makes much more sense to me to compare Howard as a law school in general to Wayne State. If a student tells me he got into Howard and Wayne State and wants to know which one he should choose? He should choose Howard. Better networking capabilities, better name recognition, probably a better learning experience. If he tells me he got into Howard and Harvard (or a Michigan)? He should choose Harvard.