Dr. LaTonia Collins Smith

In this episode of The Rundown, Dr. LaTonia Collins Smith, the 21st President of Harris-Stowe State University, joins the conversation to address the institution’s challenges amid potential state funding cuts.

The discussion explores the real impact these reductions could have on academic programs, student support, and the future of the university. Through powerful personal stories, the conversation underscores the vital role HBCUs play in shaping lives and strengthening communities.

From preserving opportunity to protecting legacy, this episode highlights a steadfast commitment to access, equity, and the enduring mission of higher education.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Thank you for joining us for the Rundown with Rendy Nine. For this episode, we are in the Grand Center, not too far away from Harrisot State University. Right now, university officials at Harrisow are on pins and needles. And that is because state funding could hit them and hit them really hard. So we had an opportunity to sit down for this episode with the Chancellor, Dr. Colin Smith, to discuss not just the future of Harrisowe University, but also the legacy she's hoping to leave. It is a pleasure to have you in the house chatting with us about Harrisco State University. Yes. I asked you this earlier about where you are mentally with what the school is facing funding-wise. Where are you right now?

SPEAKER_01 1:07

I am actually at peace. As bizarre as that sounds, you know, you be anxious and worry about nothing, right? I am, I've always said that I'm a champion for Harristo. And I believe in the mission of Harrisow. And what I tell Arching is that Harrisot has been around for 179 years. And what I strongly believe, it'll be around for another 179. But I know who won't, right? And that's me. And so I am a very spiritual person, and my faith tells me that all is well.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

If this state funding is taken away, what does it mean for the future of Heristo? Is it something that could have the school close together or lose a great portion of what's over there?

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Well, you know, we would we would lose. We would definitely have to look at academics. We would have to look at some of the programs that we're that we currently have now. We definitely have to reduce the number of academic programs. We would also, Harrisowe is a special place because we provide so many other additional supports for our students. And that's because we're unapologetic about the population of students that we serve. First generation, low income, under resource. And so with that also come along a lot of other things, right? Students who would need that extra push, they'll need that extra support, they'll need additional services, right? And so definitely those things will take a hit. And that will really kind of impact the fabric and the culture of who we are. And so when we talk about having a being a small-knit community with a family-like feel, well, you know, in the family you have to have certain things, right? And so, of course, initially we're gonna have to look at academics, we're gonna have to take a look at the additional resources that we provide. Yeah. But we're not there yet. We're not there yet. So, what is the fight that you're gonna try to put up in Jefferson City? So, right now, um, you know, a couple of weeks ago, this came out of the house. The house budget chair um decided that he wanted to that this was the year to create a performance, well, actually, a funding model for higher ed. This is this is not anything new. This is something that has been talked about for many years. Um, this budget chair decided that he would take a stab at it and create one. And um, the funding model that he proposed is based upon FTE, full-time student status. Well, what we're saying is that that's not a good funding model for a place like Harris Stowe. Because historically, Harris Stowe has hasn't had 55,000 students, like the flagship. And right now, in my lifetime, I don't necessarily see us growing by leaps and bounds to become a 55,000 um student capacity. And so we're hovering around that 1200, that 1,000. At peak, we were at 1600. And so if you look at that and you're just gonna base um funding based on FTE, that's how you create this infrastructure of have and have nots. And so it went from the House budget chair to the house budget committee, full house. Um, there was some bipartisan support. There was individuals who were um dead set against it. Um, and I've never necessarily been against a funding model. Do I think we need a funding model? Absolutely. But do I think FTE is the way? No, I don't. And so now it rests with the Senate. So um last week the Senate Appropriations Committee said no, um, we're not gonna support this. It's gonna go to full Senate. Um my hope is that that will continue to be the theme. Eventually, there'll be a committee that will come together, representatives from the House and from the Senate, who will have some discussion about what the budget should be. Um, and then it'll go on um to the governor. This year, the governor and his recommendations he recommended um a slight increase from where we were last year, which um which was great. Like we're grateful for that. Um, and so our hope is that we will be able to have the governor's recommendations put back put back in place, and that will be the budget that we will have for next year.

SPEAKER_02 6:05

When people talk about DEI and dissolving DEI and things like that, did this scenario even enter your mind that this is could possibly be DEI based, or were you looking at it, oh, this is unbelievable?

SPEAKER_01 6:19

That never crossed my mind. Um what crossed my mind was the fact that when you look at the institutions that were impacted, the majority of the institutions that were impacted by this cut, um, we would take a 40% cut, which averages about five million dollars from our budget, from what the governor's recommendations were. Um there's others in the state who would take a 50% cut. And when you look at those institutions, what crossed my mind was there's a certain demographic, uh, and it was really impacting those schools who are open enrollment, who primarily serve the marginalized population. There were some similarities there. So that's what I walked away with. Um so no, I didn't think it directly had anything to do with D E and I.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Let's talk about happier things.

SPEAKER_03 7:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Is that all right? So this is what year four, you know, that Harrison? This is four, year four. Uh is it anything like year one?

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Uh no, no two days are the same. So I tell people in this role no two days are the same. Okay. You know, if you're looking for something that uh definitely um is not boring and it is not um replicating every single day, this is probably the space for you.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

What drives you to come back every single day and fight through all the things you need to fight through?

SPEAKER_01 7:57

My students. My students. My students are the catalyst for every single thing that I do. And I say that with all sincerity because I tell people all the time that this is my second career. So I was a social work and public health practitioner in this community for 21 years. And um when I came to Harris Stowe on a public health social work initiative, was only supposed to be there nine months. It was a grant-funded position. It has now been 16 years. This is year 16 for me. But what made the difference was when I got to that campus, I saw myself. And what I mean by that is it was like looking in a mirror. I saw students who look like me, I saw students who were from backgrounds much like mine, and I saw students who were sponges, who would soak things up. And they wanted, they had this intrinsic motivation to do something different. And what they what they realized was that education was the key to do it. And so I saw an opportunity to be who I needed my freshman year in Warren's Burgess, Missouri, right? And it was my students who was the catalyst for me to do a career change. I had no desire to go back to anybody's school. Um but I knew that in higher ed, in order to get to the table to be an advocate for the students that I work with every day, I had to have alphabet suit behind my name. And it was my students who are the catalyst, and really I give them the credit for helping me to find my purpose and my passion. And so I take nothing for granted. Um, I go home every day in anticipation for the next day, regardless of what that day brought, you know, a fight in Jeff City or, you know, the potential of losing funding. I go home every day in anticipation for the next day. And I absolutely love what I do. I love being in a space with individuals who are trying to elevate and also go to the next level with higher education because I know what it did for me. And um I know how it was transformative. Education was transformative for me. It uh changed my life, it changed the trajectory of my life. And I want other students to feel that, right? So I knew I had arrived, not necessarily in this world. I had no desire to be a college president. I just wanted to work on that campus, right? But I knew I had arrived in a space when my husband said to me one day, he said, You must absolutely love it at Harrisow. And I was like, Why do you say that? Because I would rush there every day, four o'clock in the evening. Sometimes I wouldn't come home till 10, 11 o'clock at night. And I thought he was being funny because I'm coming home so late. And he goes, No, you know, you've never once complained. And that was significant for me because as I reflected and I thought back, I'm like, yeah, I haven't. And so I tell people that I go to a space every day where I can show up as me, my true authentic self, and know that I walk away every day that I've helped somebody, regardless of if it's just to show them where the restroom is in the building, right? But I go home every night fulfilled knowing that I've helped somebody. And so I know what it feels like to be in a space where you absolutely hate your job. And it is rewarding and it's a blessing to be on the other side of that. So much so that, you know, I tell people, I love with a passion what I do, and I consider it a ministry, so much so to I would do it even if I didn't get paid. Well, keep that low.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

Not get paid for it. Dude, it's only ever hear that. Well, did she just really say right?

SPEAKER_01 12:25

We won't have to pay out. We won't have to pay out.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

We're gonna take a quick break, we'll come back with more of this conversation because I really want to dive into your passions of it. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Absolutely. In St. Louis, the first question is where did you go to high school? But we like to ask, what do you make? Because making a difference starts with that choice. At Midwest Bank Center, your dollars don't sit on the spot line. They build homes, build businesses, our nonprofits, and help our neighbors achieve their dreams. That's how we work by rising together. In the Lord, the future is ours, but the choice is yours. It matters where you go.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

We were talking about your passions before we went to break, and I started to understand your passion for your job a few years ago. When a little boy decided to walk to middle school graduation from way any other side of North St. Louis all the way down there, when he arrived at Harris Stowe for graduation, he got a surprise of his life.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

You decided to give him a scholarship. Absolutely.

unknown 13:28

Why?

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Because um, you know, I wasn't even supposed to be in there today. My daughter came, she was their their speaker for the eighth grade graduation, and I said, you know, let me get up and go and hear what she has to say. You know, what is she going to talk about today? And um, someone stood up and said, Hey, you know, I'm working with these kids, but before I acknowledge the kids that I'm working with every day, I want to acknowledge um this young man who walked past my center every day. And he walked here today. And he walked from, I can't remember the cross street, but I will say it was, I remember West Florida, and I'm gonna just say Riverview. There was one of those streets over there. And so in my mind, I'm a native St. Louis, and I'm like, who walked from basically Jennings, right? Yeah. To Harristowe? And it was this little bitty kid. And he stood up and he just kind of, and I saw him when he walked in the building. And he had, you know, he had been sweating and kind of dabbed his face and everything, but he just kept that to me was resilient. And it spoke by it spoke volumes to me. Um that that's the type of student and kid that I look for Harris Stowe. Because that is a student who won an opportunity, and he wanted to be present that day. That regardless to what it took to get there, he was coming to that eighth-grade graduation. And when I later spoke with him, he shared with me, you know, he didn't have a map, he did not have a cell phone, he had looked at the cell phone the night before and remembered which way he needed to go in order to get to this eighth grade graduation. That spoke volumes to me. Because what I, you know, what I tell my students all the time, half the battle is just showing up. And when I saw him, it was just, you know, something, you know, I have this intuition, and there was just something inside of me that said, he needs a chance. And so I told I told my my assistant, I said, hey, go get me a certificate. I need a t-shirt, pen, something, because I'm gonna give this kid a scholarship. You know, most times, you know, our kids just need number one, somebody that believes in them. Number two, an opportunity and hope. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. And so, you know, that's what I I specialize in every single day. I travel um to Chicago, Kansas City, Memphis, as far as California, recruiting students to this space. Um, because what I know is if we're able to get them here, that's half the battle. But somebody on that campus is going to impact them or interact with them, get to know them, get to know what makes them tick, what they're interested in, and it's gonna help them to get to that finish line. And that's the work that we do every single day.

SPEAKER_02 16:49

Life-changing work. Life changing working work.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

It's called heart work.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Okay. I love that. Hard work, heart work instead of hard work, but a mix of them both. Yeah. Undoubtedly. When you look at the HBCU, and people will say, well, why do why do they need to have a historically black college and university? I mean, why can't we all just go to school together? In 2026, why is it important that we keep these establishments strong, that we keep them present in the United States?

SPEAKER_01 17:18

You know, um, I I get that question all the time, and I went to some of the um some of the best um predominantly white institutions in this state. Um, one who's right across the street from from Harrisow. Um but it wasn't until I got to Harrisow um and I was literally on that campus and working on that campus every day. And I'll tell you a personal story. There's a difference. When I was in undergrad, um, I came home and I took a summer class. I had to take my college algebra, and um, I started at the community college, and I don't know what made me think I could do it in three weeks, and I said, uh, let me drop that. But I came to Harris though, and here's a personal story. I there was a difference in the instruction. And what I mean by that is there was someone who looked like me who was standing in front of the classroom who acknowledged the very first day. I know everybody in here is probably afraid. I know many of you are needing this for your graduation at your schools, but if you listen to me, you come to class every day, you listen to me, you follow the instructions, and then you go to the lab after, you will be fine. That made a difference for me because it was somebody who acknowledged what I was actually feeling, but also didn't make it easy to set the expectation, but also share with us you will be successful, right? B plus capacity and go back, right? And so when you have, I think it's important for it, wasn't until I fast forward I come back and I'm working there that I can feel the actual difference. That's why I said earlier that being at Harris Stowe gave me the opportunity to be who I needed in Warren's Burg, Missouri. Because now I get to meet students where they are, and I get to say to them, it's okay, you'll be fine. You know, things happen. Let's get back in there. You know, you're gonna get that little extra. It's midterms, you're not doing too well, you know. Um, you're gonna get that knock on the door. Oh yeah. You know, we'll walk across campus, we'll knock on the door and say, hey, you you missed a couple of classes, right? And some people say that that is uh, you know, people shouldn't be doing that in in college, right? But I think it it provides this sense of belonging, this sense of we really care about you. Um and definitely there's a sense, a different sense of culture and sense of pride at HBCU's. So here we are, year four of your tenure.

SPEAKER_02 20:39

So eventually someday you're gonna retire and and ride off into the sunset, and people are gonna look back at your tenure. What do you want the impression to be? What do you want the record to say?

SPEAKER_01 20:50

That I love Harristow in a better place than which I found. And what I mean by that is I want um Harristo to be one of the best regional institutions in this state. I mean, well, in this region, right? That just so happened to be an HBCU. I like how you say that. I can see your eyes. It just happens to be an HBCU, right? You know, we're doing some amazing things at Harrisco.