DETROIT (WXYZ) – Each week this month, we at 7 Action News take a look at the impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs.
HBCUs are higher education institutions in the United States, most of which were established before the Civil Rights Act. They were designed to provide opportunities for black students where they did not exist in segregated white colleges.
Today, HBCUs are among the most famous and respected schools in the country.
This May, Michigan’s first and only HBCU, the Lewis College of Business, will reopen as the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design. The school, which focuses on industrial design, offers unique master classes, internships and professional training for 300 students in the first semester.
“There is currently no website where you can look for black designers,” said Dr. D’Wayne Edwards, President of Pensole Lewis. He’s certain Pensole Lewis can change that, at least for the city of Detroit.
He has been working on improving it on the west coast, where after his success as a shoe designer he opened the Pensole Footwear Design Academy.
Edwards wants to fill what he sees as a void in Detroit’s creative industries; black talent He wants more of that to be represented and more opportunities for young black creatives.
To fully understand Edward’s vision for the school’s second act, we must first understand the vision of its original founder, Violet T. Lewis.
In the midst of the Great Depression, she founded a college for black women seeking secretarial skills. Some of the early graduates got jobs at companies like Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, and Michigan Bell. Businesses that didn’t employ black people at the time.
“Her vision became a reality,” said Violet Ponders, granddaughter of Violet T. Lewis.
“The first black people that you find in most big companies in this space came from Lewis College of Business, or Lewis Business College back then,” she said.
The latter was first established in Indianapolis in 1928. With a $50 loan, a determined young Lewis bought several used typewriters and founded Lewis Business College, which she once ran from home.
The Wilberforce University graduate had previously accepted a position as secretary to the president at Selma University in Alabama, which gave Lewis a glimpse into the inner workings of college leadership.
“She was looking for an opportunity to hire African Americans. That was always her goal. Beyond employment, she was looking for her students to start their own businesses,” Violet Ponders told Action News.
We sat down with Violet and her sister, Stefeyne Ponders, to talk about their grandmother’s legacy.
“Your formula for success was you hire yourself and at least one other person,” Violet told Action News.
She remembered that her grandmother had two very different sides; there was “Mama TV,” as they affectionately called her, and then there was Violet T. Lewis, the serious businesswoman who they knew wouldn’t repeat their instructions.
Lewis died in the late ’60s after a battle with cancer.
They also remember that their grandmother used to throw the best parties, attended by both lawyers and janitors.
Everyone in Lewis’ circle celebrated with her, it was said. And she was determined to celebrate her successes, too.
Lewis opened a branch of the school in Detroit just before 1940, and it is in the Motor City that the Lewis College of Business really took off. Over the years, thousands of men and women have graduated from school and gone on to successful careers in business. Many of them stayed in touch with Lewis.
Faculty and alumni have become like family, said the younger Violet, who is named after her grandmother. Both she and Stefeyne followed in their grandmother’s footsteps and became governesses themselves.
“You just haven’t learned how to type and do shorthand. She taught you etiquette,” Violet said. ‘She taught you how to answer the phone. I think both Stefeyne and I learned how to answer the phone in a business format as kids.”
Violet Lewis was determined to provide her students with a comprehensive education that often included business trips to Lansing and DC. She also co-founded Gamma Phi Delta Sorority, which provided further opportunities to network and give back through philanthropy that is deeply important to her.
Keeping Violet’s vision in focus is important for Dr. Edwards, who announced last fall that he would be reopening the school, which closed in 2013, with support from the Gilbert Family Foundation.
“Connecting your story to our little short story and then solving a massive need for companies in terms of product design,” Edwards said.
“His vision is very similar to that of our grandmother. And that’s what Violet sold, me and my sister Shirley,” Stefeyne said. “He believes in excellence.”
Product and industrial design will be the focus of the new Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design.
In May, the school will share premises with the College of Creative Studies before completing its own facility in Detroit.
“I have some of my students who left Michigan and moved to Oregon because they had an opportunity there,” Edwards said. He hopes that will change as students seeking an HBCU experience now have an option closer to where they live.
He also sees this benefit Michigan businesses by keeping creative talent here.
Upon acceptance, the first group of Pensole Lewis students will attend a free five-week master class with Carharrt. Its designers helped create the syllabus, which Edward thinks is what really sets this model apart.
“It’s like having a real job for five weeks, but you’re being taught how you would actually work at the companies we work with,” he said.
The school has similar programs with several other major companies, including Procter and Gamble, Wolverine, Versace, and Nike.
“We create a curriculum based on what you would need to get a job at this company. This is how you would work. Also, the company has the opportunity to see these students over the course of five weeks and they have a better chance of making intelligent decisions about who to hire. as interns or as full-time employees,” said Edwards, noting that students will have an internship opportunity after the masters class.
A traditional full 15-week semester begins in the fall, Edwards said, but registration for the 5-week introductory course begins Feb. 8.
To ensure Lewis’ legacy is never far off the mark, it will even be reflected in the school’s aesthetic. Its colors are now shades of purple.
“She had this gift of making people believe they could do the impossible, which wasn’t impossible for them, it was possible,” said Violet Ponders.
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