Historically Black colleges and universities were established more than a century ago during racial segregation. Today, students say there’s still deep pride in attending them — and at Paul Quinn College in Southern Dallas, that pride shows up in everyday campus life. At the only HBCU in Nort h Texas, students gather midweek for a tradition centered on food and community: Wing Wednesdays. The cafeteria line includes homemade mac and cheese, fresh greens from the on-campus garden, sweet potatoes, cornbread and wings. Kristin Williams, a senior psychology major, said it’s more than just a meal and a weekly routine that her friends at other schools don’t get. “We have Wing Wednesdays. So that’s a choice of your flavor wings, greens, mac and cheese, cornbread. Yeah, cabbage,” said senior Kristin Williams. For Williams, being at Paul Quinn is an experience she said extends beyond the cafeteria — into campus culture, student life and the sense of identity students carry as “Quinnites.” Williams said the energy can shift from day to day. “This is a calm day in the caf. Usually they have a speaker on, people would hear line dancing,” Williams said. That sense of meaning, students and faculty said, is also tied to leadership and the college’s evolution. What was supposed to be a 90-day interim role for Dr. Michael Sorrell turned into 19 years. He is now the longest-serving president in the school’s 153-year history. “Yeah,” Sorrell said, joking about the unexpected length of his tenure. “I’m the world’s worst interim college president.” Over the years, admission has become more competitive, with an acceptance rate sitting at just under 34% based on 2023-2024 data. Sorrell said the college is pushing students to new heights through an approach it built around work and outcomes. Sorrell said Paul Quinn created the Urban Work College Program with a specific goal. “We created our own version of higher education, which is the Urban Work College Program, and our goal is the eradication of intergenerational poverty,” Sorrell said. He said the college also requires students to launch a business before graduation, with a focus on ensuring graduates leave with options. “Every Paul Quinn student has to start a business before they graduate. So at Paul Quinn, you either graduate with a job or creating jobs, and this lets us get our students to understand what’s possible for them,” Sorrell said. Sorrell pointed to visible changes on campus, including improved funding and a newer building where the walls reflect Black history. He highlighted one image displayed next to a water fountain. “Take this historic photo, for example. A Black man drinking out of a “white only” water fountain. This historic, powerful image, positioned right next to the water fountain here in this building,” said Sorrell. Sorrell said he hopes the college’s progress has removed barriers for students compared with nearly two decades ago. “What I hope that we have done is move the impediments that those people would have felt 19 years ago to make it a lot easier to chase your dreams and be great now,” Sorrell said. Williams said she’s doing exactly that. She’s on track to graduate next year and said she’s already left her mark — including helping launch a volleyball program that won a national championship this past season. “I started playing volleyball. And this is the first-ever national championship that we won this past season,” Williams said. “I want to just be able to tell people, ‘I did this, I made this happen.'” ...read more read less