HBCU Groupthink Not Hazing

The death of the drum major at Florida A & M is a tragic situation that has forced the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) community to publicly take action on an issue that has been festering for decades.  The editorial about “Why Florida A&M Should Not Ban the Marching 100” was a great read and I have also enjoyed reading other comments on this debate.  I don’t however think this debate about should the band be banned should solely focus on the hazing that is going on at HBCUs, but it should be more about the power of “Groupthink” and how it has infiltrated the HBCU community so heavily.

  Groupthink is a group decision-making dynamic that was initially started by Irving Jarvis, a research psychologist from Yale University.  This dynamic focuses on concepts like: the process of rationalization that sets in when members of a team begin to think alike; when members discount warnings and do not reconsider their assumptions; belief in inherent morality, where members believe in the rightness of their cause and therefore ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions; self-censorship, where doubts and deviations from the perceived group consensus are not expressed, and much more. Some of the consequences that occur due to groupthink are: unethical behaviors, poor and risky group decisions that can have a negative impact and keeping group members from being able to contribute and express their ideals that could be a benefit to the group’s performance.

I bring up this concept of groupthink up because I see these symptoms throughout numerous HBCU institutions and to pair groupthink with authoritative and definitive decision making by HBCU leadership is a recipe for: low morale, weakened alumni support, heightened resistance to change, negative public relations, premature dismissal of faculty and staff, student enrollment decline and a whole lot of other dismal effects.

The death of the Florida A&M drum major was just one of the many alarms that groupthink is wreaking havoc in our HBCU communities and until we address these symptoms the banning of the band will just be another way of solving an HBCU issue the wrong way.

I encourage and challenge our HBCU leaders, caring alumni, and other HBCU constituents to really look at groupthink in your institutions and we need to collectively come together and destroy this disease before it destroys our HBCUs, that I know I love so very much.