The Truth About HBCUs goes far beyond school pride. In this episode of Prescribing a Healthier Future, Dr. Akilah Webber Pearson and her guest—and Xavier University of Louisiana classmate—Dr. Kelly Elmore—unpack how historically Black colleges and universities literally save lives.

They start with a striking fact: one small HBCU in New Orleans sends more Black students to medical school than Harvard, Yale, or any Ivy League campus. From there, they trace how HBCUs turn high-achieving young people into confident physicians, military leaders, surgeons, and community advocates who go back home to serve.

Dr. Webber Pearson shares painful stories of racism in medical training, and how the grounding she received at Xavier and in Delta Sigma Theta helped her stand firm. Dr. Elmore breaks down what’s lost when HBCUs are threatened with bomb scares and starved of billions in funding—and what’s possible when alumni, donors, and policymakers finally invest at scale.

Together they make the case that HBCUs are not just about degrees; they are engines of health equity. If you’ve ever wondered whether we still “need” HBCUs, this conversation will change how you think about college, community, and who gets to thrive. It’s also a love letter to Xavier.

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