Knoxville College leader says historic school sets ‘path to liberation’ for Black students

The doors of Knoxville College have been open for nearly 150 years. Leaders of the historically Black college want to make sure prospective students and the Knoxville community know those doors are still open now, even while it rebuilds.

“I’m just hoping that we can be that light again where we do advocate for our community, but provide a culture and provide a place, a sense of belonging and a sense of home,” Knoxville College Vice President Dasha Lundy told Knox News.

Lundy is part of the team helping to revitalize the institution founded in 1875. She’s often reminded of the students, faculty members and even the great leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass who walked the campus before her. They motivate her to uphold the school’s legacy after it has faced challenging times for nearly 30 years.

In collaboration with the University of Tennessee, Morris Brown College in Atlanta and other schools, regaining its accreditation by 2024 after losing it in the late 1990s is Knoxville College’s main priority now.

Thirty-two dedicated students are currently enrolled, and the school only offers online courses for now. A modular leadership building under construction hopefully will bring students back to campus by the fall.

Throughout its storied history, Knoxville College has uplifted Knoxville’s Black residents, produced some of Knoxville’s greatest Black talent and played a crucial role during the civil rights movement. That is what Lundy wants for people to remember and for the school to return to.

“This is the school where you find your liberation,” she said. “We will teach you how to combat (an oppressive) system, of course, not with hate but with a spirit of love and empowerment.”

In an interview with Knox News, Lundy offered an in-depth update on Knoxville College’s accreditation progress and the future of the HBCU.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

When you look at the history of Knoxville College, what stands out the most and what drives you to continue its legacy?

Dasha Lundy: I think you always got to look back. Sometimes we forget how far we have come. Knoxville College was founded 10 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. There's a picture in my office from 1914. It's all these students and the faculty and I just think about the greats that have been here, the greats who walked the land, George Washington Carver, (Martin Luther) King, Frederick Douglass. So many greats walked this land and I think what keeps me going is that call. It’s the call to educate. It's the call to empower. It's the call to elevate. It's the call that we know how to help each other. We understand the oppressive system. And we know that we have to create leaders who are ready to go out into not only the local city and the communities but go out across the world to share what those gifts that God has given you. I think it's just cause of the oppression that we continue to experience in 2023 and people thought all this was over.

It's that driving force that is letting us know we have 52 acres of land and how do we use this land to serve? I'm just sharing my heart with you now, but I have people calling me because they've been evicted and they don't understand why and I’m like, God, can we use this land to build housing and welcome our people in here so we can heal them? We can educate –  I'm gonna keep using the words educate, empower, elevate, because to me, that's the path to liberation. I feel like this is the school where you find your liberation, where you don't have to be broken mentally and spiritually and physically through a system that's not designed for you. We will teach you how to combat that system, of course, not with hate but with a spirit of love and empowerment.

Can you talk a little bit about reaching out to the community and helping people become aware that Knoxville College is open and a resource for the community?

Reaching out to the community is intentional. We have a small staff, but we all are rooted in a love of restoring the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). It's just more of telling your neighbor, telling people and being out there. I spoke at a church and I’m going to speak at another church (soon). I'm also county commissioner for District 1 and my colleagues know that I work for Knoxville College. Every room that I’m in, I tell the Knoxville College story. And everyone who's here that works with us, they're always telling the Knoxville College story.

Knoxville College has historically produced some of Knoxville’s greatest Black talent, and the city is aiming to recruit and retain young professionals. What role does Knoxville College play in specifically retaining Black professionals?

When we were at our peak, I mean when you think about 3,000 students and then the faculty, and how we provided culture here, and a space of safety here, where you can come and be yourself and unapologetically yourself. This year, I want to engage community more and maybe having a Juneteenth event or some kind of events, just to say you can come here and you will be welcome here, no matter what.

We play a big role; I'm not sure if the government understands that role that we played in the past of providing that advocacy work when it comes to Black issues. We fill the void. Knoxville College students were the ones that organized the sit-ins during the civil rights movement. We have to have that back because we are under attack right now when people don't want us to know our history or people don't value our voice here.

It’s a historic campus with buildings on the historic registry. Are there other updates on the campus or any efforts to preserve or reopen some of the buildings?

Yes, (but) it costs a lot of money to do that. So, if anybody wants to donate, they can go to our website. Of course, we want to maintain the historic buildings, and having those conversations with historic preservation people around here and see if there's any grants. The city of Knoxville did give us a $200,000 grant last June and we put that money into stabilizing the library here. But there's no construction or anything with the historic buildings because they are in a state of disrepair, and it takes tons of money to do that. But we're not giving up on that because we know that we've been here for 148 years.

More: Knoxville College building sustains heavy damage in fire

We still have to tell our story because we still live in a space that people don't think we need a HBCU and we’re saying we do. With what's going on in the world and across the nation, people don't want us to learn our history more, as we celebrate Black History Month. We have to do a better job at telling our story, with HBCUs and the Knoxville College story, and how we have a purpose here to help transform our community.

What are some of the main goals and priorities for Knoxville College in 2023?

Accreditation, first and foremost! But really just bringing awareness that we’re here. I've been speaking a lot more, having opportunities to speak and I realize a lot of students don't know that we're open. The community doesn't know that we're open. We offer an associate degree in general studies and the tuition is waived. It's all virtual. And your credits will transfer within the state of Tennessee. Most of our students are working adults and it works for them.

There may be some students out there, especially in our community that may not want to go to school or feel like they can't afford it. Sometimes I get students that say, “I'm not even sure if college is for me,” and we try to encourage them to go ahead and apply. Since we are a small school and we are an HBCU, and HBCUs have always been rooted in helping people, we give a little bit more intention on making sure that we create a family atmosphere and an atmosphere of winning here. They know they can count on us. There are not too many schools that you can call on the vice president or anybody in the administration staff to talk through your issues, but we really make ourselves available and we can do that now. I hope we can continue to do that as we grow and create a culture to really educate, empower and elevate a community.

Regaining accreditation is key to Knoxville College's future. What’s the update on the process?

We got to this point of accreditation because we owned 50% of the Pilot gas station that was on Western Avenue. That sale put money in our bank to pursue accreditation because you really can't pursue it unless you're financially stable. We then hired Dr. Kevin James, the president of Morris Brown College, because he was going through the same thing (of regaining accreditation). It was inspiring because people kept saying, it's never been done that you can gain accreditation after it's been gone for several years. He agreed to help us, give us some pointers. He asked what schools around Knoxville can help. We asked the University of Tennessee if they can help, send some of their students that are working on their Ph.D. in higher education, would they mind being our team. They said yes and it's been quite a journey.

We had our accreditation launch in June and the team – I call them the A-Team – they have been working on our documents and getting them cleaned up, making sure that they’re compliant. We're going through accreditation with Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. We're still finalizing the documents. It's been a long road because accreditation is really about integrity. Are you doing what you say you’re going to do? Do you have what you need? Do you have the money in the bank to do that? Are you compliant with paying your bills? So, hopefully we will be finishing up with the documents and turning in our self-study in to the accreditation agency and figuring out our next steps.

How have partnerships with Morris Brown College, the University of Tennessee and other institutions been?

As far as the partnership with Dr. Kevin James and UT, it's been a blessing. We feel like we have all become family through the process because it’s a stressful process and it's been some hard times. We also have a partnership with Meharry (Medical College in Nashville) to help build and inspire a workforce to go into the medical field. That's what was their answer to the declining workforce after COVID-19. Since we have few students, we actually reached out to the SMART Institute, a local nonprofit that works with the inner-city schools. We have a partnership with them to help expose at least 100 high school students to the medical field.

Spring registration was in January. How is the academic school year going so far?

It’s been great. I think we have about 32 students enrolled. These students have been with us, and they keep showing up. I know people probably question, “Where do they get their students from?” They’re all over the nation. Some have been recruited through alumni because alumni love their school and they want other people to experience it, but we are definitely grateful for our students and grateful for the semesters. Semester's kicked off fine, and we're prepping for graduation.

Are you seeing an increase in enrollment and people applying?

Yes, we are seeing an increase in enrollment and an increase in people applying. A lot of high school students have been applying more. It feels good because when we opened back up, it was probably just that one (student), and then you wonder, “Is this real, can this happen?” But people are applying. We even have people across the waters from a country in Africa applying. So, somehow our name is being spread. And we are rooted in faith here. We just believe that things happen organically because we are doing our part.

Are there any are new classes or academic programs being offered?

We're still sticking with our associate degree of general studies. But with the accreditation, we're hoping to add a bachelor's degree program. I have to go through the state level first. So, we're currently working on that application, to get a bachelor of science in business degree. We will probably have some changes because a lot of our students are interested in business.

Is there anything else that you'd like to share?

As we build capacity, hopefully we can do more, (we) just got to go through that process, but we see the end and we know the end will be great. You just got to go to the process, the troubled times to the other side. We want people to know we're open. We have (McMillan Chapel on campus) open, not (for) church services, but as a community space. If people want to come, if people want to inquire, our doors are open.

Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter for Knox News. He can be reached by email at devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. Follow Devarrick on Twitter @dturner1208. Enjoy exclusive content and premium perks while supporting strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville College seeks accreditation to uphold Tennessee HBCU legacy