KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Eight years ago, Knoxville College, my alma mater, lost its accreditation for the first time since the historically Black institution was established in 1875. Usually, the loss of accreditation is a death knell for colleges, with most of them closing their doors within three years after falling from grace.

But Knoxville College has refused to die. And how it has remained alive without accreditation since 1997 can provide a future blueprint for saving troubled historically Black colleges.

And they are worth saving.

Black colleges represent only 3 percent of the nation’s colleges and universities yet produce 24 percent of all African-Americans earning bachelors degrees. Black colleges represent nine of the top 10 colleges that graduate students who go on to earn a Ph.D. And of the top five colleges that produce students who are accepted into medical school, four of them – 80 percent – are historically Black colleges.

Although it has never had a journalism program, Knoxville College has produced numerous notable journalists. They include: Vernon Jarrett, the first Black columnist for the Chicago Tribune and former president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); Barbara Rodgers, anchor for KPIX in San Francisco; my first professional job was as a reporter for Sports Illustrated and Ralph Wiley, also wrote for SI and appeared regularly on ESPN. I served as president of the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME), making Knoxville College the only institution to have had its alumni head both NABJ and ASME.

That’s just Knoxville’s track record in journalism. Similar lists could be compiled for other fields and would include the late “Jake” Gaither, the legendary Florida A&M football coach who won more than 85 percent of his games over a 25-year period; Dr. Edith Irby Jones, the first female president of the National Medical Association; Tuskegee, Ala. Mayor Johnny Ford and Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Grady Jackson.

After KC lost its accreditation, Board Chair Jack LeFlore recruited a half-dozen of us to join the board in an effort to regain the school’s footing. In addition to rejuvenating the board of trustees, the next step was to reinvent Knoxville College. This, perhaps more than anything else, is why it’s still surviving today.

Prodded by LeFlore, Knoxville College became and remains the nation’s only historically Black work college. Students can attend college for $5,600 per academic year. Of that amount, students pay a total of $2,800, with the other $2, 800 subsidized by grants and income from businesses that participate in the work program. When students graduate, they begin their careers virtually debt-free (For more information on the work program, go to www.knoxvillecollege.edu or contact the admissions office at 865/524-5502, 524-5625 or 524-6500).

At the time KC lost accreditation, we had an acting president. To find a new president, the board hired a search firm for the first time in its history. For the first five years or so, the new president performed admirably. Without going into details, suffice it to say that her leadership style became one of several contentious issues. So, three months ago, after an 8-year run, the board of trustees decided Knoxville College would be better served by selecting a new person to guide the institution. I am chairing a board committee that is in the process of hiring a search firm and a new president is expected to be in place by next September.

The change in leadership has transformed the atmosphere on campus. Students and faculty praised the decision, inactive alumni have stepped up their contributions and we are now able to attract people to the board who were unwilling to serve before. Recent board additions include Gregory L. Turner, chief financial officer of Oak Ridge Laboratory; Darrell Akins, former chief executive officer of the Greater Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and vice chairman of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association; Rev. James Foster Reese, a nationally-known pastor and the first director of the Presbyterian Church’s (USA) Racial and Ethnic Ministry Unit, and Nancy Cochran, a local business leader. Under the leadership of Ronald Damper, a Chicago businessman, the board is now stronger and more diverse than ever.

We’re not yet out of the woods. The national alumni association has launched a $1 million campaign for the next year (it has raised almost $300,000 of that goal in three months), the Tom Joyner Foundation continues to come to our aid, student recruitment is being expanded and a team is in place to focus on regaining accreditation. Even without accreditation, KC students have been able to enroll in Ivy League graduate schools and get hired by Fortune 500 companies.

If we’ve been able to stay alive eight years without accreditation, just imagine what Knoxville College will be like after we regain it.