Historically, black colleges and universities, or as we call them, HBCUs, are long time institutions within the United States, they've existed since the 1700s here. As people believed that the persons of African descent who had found themselves here in this country, either as slaves or as free persons, both deserved and needed higher education. And so, the context for these institutions, in terms of their primary goal, which has been to provide higher education for those persons of African descent, who are part of the United States. So that frame work over the past 20 years, has definitely changed. As the context within this country, certainly we know that, in the 1960s, and actually before that, there was a major contest and movement in this country for the rights of people of African descent and African Americans here in this country. Not just for education, but for many, many of the social, political and economic kind of rights of this country. And so, as these institutions also change as that context change for us. So within the last 20 years as we see more and more types of institutions open it to African Americans, many things have had to change for these institutions. Their primary focus, as in some ways now, a focus for all institutions within this country, and the sense of attracting highly qualified African American to Harvard, and to Yale, and to Princeton, and the University of Michigan, has also been something that these institutions have to compete for. At one point in their history, they've got the cream of the crop within the African American community and they still attract highly qualified students. But, certainly, the competition that they now have to face, in terms of many institutions wanting the same students that they want, is a major issue. And that also becomes very, very important as we look at the focus in this country, on access and graduation. And so, the ability for these institutions to attract students who, both can pay, can take full advantage of the educational program. So all the kinds of things that other places are looking for, they are looking for. So that sense of competition and ability to attract students from the African American community, is important. But one of the things that has also happened with these institutions, as we have tried to diversify institutions in many different ways, they also are having to do that. So that one of the things that is happening with these institutions, is there ability now not only to attract African American students, but to diversify their campuses by attracting other students, too. So what you will find at many of these institutions, is that for some of them, they are also looking for students that are not of African American descent, so they also are looking for international students to come to this institution. They're looking for white students in their communities. They're looking for Hispanic students. They're looking for Asian students. So they, like other institutions, are being called on, not just for the sake of diversity, but because I think our research continues to show that that diversity has an impact on learning. And so as institutions, they are also interested in making sure that they're doing a great job, in terms of the learning environments that they create for their students. And so, they are looking for the ability to bring, within these historically black institutions, a variety of students. Another thing that I have seen change over the last 20 years is the focus on quality. All historically black schools, like all of our institutions across the country, certainly want to gain a good reputation for being strong academic institutions. And so, like other institutions, they are also under the descrunity of various organizations around issues of quality. And so, having to think about the persons who service faculty within these institutions, having to think about the type of programs that they're offering, having to think about, indeed, the research that they do. So all of these kinds of things are, indeed, changing for these institution. You would find 20, 30, 40 years ago that most of the historically black institutions were, basically, baccalaureate level institutions. Now, you see more and more and more of them, especially those institutions that are state institutions that are now offering graduate programs. Expanding programs from the liberal arts into stronger and stronger science programs, engineering programs. You are also seeing within these institutions, a real focus on internationalization, not just in the student body, but in their partnerships and contacts with international organizations, corporations, exchanges, and those kinds of things. So what you are seeing within these institutions, in terms of the context over the last 20 years, is much more of a focus on looking like and being like many of the other top institutions within the country. Now, that sometimes causes some conflicts, because movements into those areas oftentimes begin to say, are we still focusing on our primary audience? Are we still focusing on those students within our community, within the African American communities? Because, most of these institutions, most of them, still reside in large concentrations of African Americans. And so, the call, the tug, the call, on these institutions by their communities to continue to serve them in significant ways at the same time that these institutions now are having to take a much broader view of their role within the higher education community. In terms of thinking about HBCUs and their roles with individual students and contacts. It's a very, very important kind of thing to think about, because these institutions, as I suggested, have been created, or were created for a specific community. In terms of the African American community, those slaves, or exslaves, or freed persons who came to those institutions hundreds of years ago. So That was their focus. The communities around them, that was there focus. Even for those institutions that could be considered national institutions. So Fisk, and Howard, and other that attracted, not just persons from their local community, but from across the nation. The focus on working with individual students to bring them to a level where they could compete with white students in whatever field we're at. That was the goal, the purpose of these institutions to take African-American students and prepare them so well. In fact, they've had a very noble history in terms of that ability. So when you look at the historically black colleges and you look at the data on their graduates, you still see that so many of them are at the forefront of preparing. The largest number of persons of color graduating in the sciences and many many fields. If you think about places like Xavier University in New Orleans and it's wonderful reputation in terms of getting persons into medical schools and into the science area so much so that other people now are trying to get into Xavier because it's developed a wonderful reputation in that way. Historically, black institutions have a wonderful reputation of helping young people to excel, and so maybe taking young people who may have come out of communities and homes of low socioeconomic background who may not have had the best education experience not for any fought of their own. Because of the kinds of communities they've come out of. And then, taking those students and being able to educate them in such a way that they can become leaders within their fields. And so, there's so many examples of that within the African-American community and with the historically black institutions. So at the end of visual student level, one of the issues is, as they take on these many other issues, whether they are able to continue to give that focus to the young people that they are educating. And so, I think that is going to be one of the challenges of the historically black colleges, as we think about the future of these institutions. How do we continue to look at the individual students, to utilize the small classes that they've been able to utilize the sort of faculty interest? One of the things that HBCUs have been known for for many years is the individual attention that students receive from very, very caring faculty members, many of those faculty members who were themselves. From the African-American community to who understood the backgrounds of the students of the students that were coming in to their classrooms. Who in may have come out of very similar kinds of circumstances who had a commitment to these students and to their achievement and so worked very, very hard in terms of hoping to make sure that they work selling. That set very, very high standards for them in terms of their accomplishments. So how do you retain that even now as you begin to look at these much broader issues? For example, there is a very strong call on faculty at historically black colleges and universities to be much more involved in research and publishing. Again, because they're wanting to build the reputation of their institutions, to attract grants. And so, many of the faculty talk about mobility, then, to be able to do that kind of nurturing. Many faculty members are solving or resolving that kind of conflict, by having their students join them in those efforts but it is another layer of complexity that these institutions are now having to face. One of the other things too in terms of that individual student level, call it involvement, is the sense of having a students now from these very diverse kinds of communities coming into the historically black schools where faculty may not understand those new students, as well. And so, being able to have a broader view of their ability to educate not only historically black students, us students of color in terms of African-American students, but a much broader set of students too within it. And most of the institutions are embracing this and want this and see this diversity as very positive, as reinforcing, and yet also we have to acknowledge that it creates another level of complexity for these institutions. Absolutely, when we think about that ecological model, we talk about starting with the individual. And so, the whole idea of the individual, both in terms of the student that the institution is interacting with. But in some ways that individual is also the individual institution itself in terms of its ability to see itself as sort of uniquely grounded in a particular community focused on the issues and problems kind of circumstances of that community. And so, one of the things both the student level, the faculty level, the thinking about the individual and how the institution serves that institution and how the institution serves its unique mission, its historical founding, all of those kinds of things. So the idea of the institution as a kind of unique, individualistic kind of unit. And then, we talk about this whole idea of the institution in itself. And so, it's ability now to think about itself as part of a community of higher education. And wanting to be able to address within what it does the kinds of things that it sees within higher education as a larger sort of entity within the United States, or within the sort of world context of higher education. So at the same time that it is now trying to develop and deal with these larger issues of higher education, still going back to that student, that young person from the community that, that adult learner, who's coming back and who may be really, really concerned about their ability, given all of the historic kinds of issues around education for African-American people. How can the institution kind of focus on and really sort of zero on the needs of that when it now needs to also address all of these larger issues within the context of its role within higher education. So they have to now deal with all of the other issues that institutions have in terms of financing, in terms of accreditation. In terms of the competition not just for students, but also for faculty and all of those issues are sort of being compounded in a much more, larger competitive Environment within higher education at the same time that they're having to look back at that individual student that they are called on admissionally to serve, and to pray. Knowing the complexities of that's student's life, in terms of also their background and education and all of that. So the push and pull between sort of the institutional issues, and the individual issues, are certainly one of the things that HPC user having to do with in a much more complex way. And then, of course, these institutions are not just HBCUs alone. They're part of this whole societal system of higher education. And some of the things I just mentioned, all of the forces that are in the part of the political system within both their state, and then the nation, and especially today, in terms of some of the things that are going on in our own country about the politics of race, and culture, and diversity. And so, they're very much caught up in that, as institutions sort of focused on a particular minority or diverse group within the country. So as part of the system of higher education, they have a role in terms of being able to represent, in some ways, that constituency. And so, they can speak into the ability to educate students of color, and especially African- American students as part of the system. And yet, they're a very small part of the system [LAUGH] of our education, in terms of institutions, only about 107 institutions that are identified by legislation as historically black colleges. So within the large system of our education are, they struggle sometimes to get voice within that system and in terms of being able to influence that system for the very stood at, and then for the individual, and so you can see that back and forth, between that individual. That individual institution who is trying to get dollars and resources for itself and yet also to sought of represent and be part of this system, that are the HBCU system, and then part of the higher education system. So the interplay back and forth and between and amongst these various realms of this ecological model. And then, finally, there is the society, and so, the historically black schools are part of this social sort of fabric of this country. With many people within that social fabric even questioning whether they should exist anymore. Are they anachronistic in terms of do we need them? And so, being able to message into that society about their roles, about their continuing roles, about their expanded role. Because many of them now not only serve African-Americans, but of course, they serve the same sort of diverse populations of our culture and being able to have people see that they are doing, that, that they are, for many of them, not simply pigeonholed as historically Black schools which they are. But that they can have a broader influence and a broader influence within higher education as a system, too. And, in fact, as we think about the many institutions look to the historically Black schools, to help them think about how do we educate persons of color because we've mentioned that these institutions have had a good history of preparing a persons of color, especially African-Americans, for the work force for graduate school, a variety of leadership roles. And so, as we think about how they touch base with the larger society to help the society see this role that they have within sort of the higher education community. But also, how they contribute to the larger societal goals around the economy, around politics, around education writ large. Well, given the historic success of many of our historically Black schools, I am working with students of color, but also many students coming from low socioeconomic environments. These institutions have a track record of helping to bring students come from those environs, into the larger society. And to do that well, so that these students can serve in leadership roles. So as many of our institutions, now open their doors and try to attract more students of color, more students from lower socioeconomic conditions, more students from urban settings, more students from environments where they may not have come as fully prepared as they could. You have, within the historically Black college community, a wonderful resource in terms of institutions that have been doing that for hundreds of years. And so, as we think about what these institutions can contribute, one of the things that they can contribute is sort of a mindfulness, a way of thinking about, and even techniques and methods of approaching and of educating students from these various kinds of backgrounds. And so, many institutions do look to them, in terms of their ability to help us think about how do you take a young person, 17, 18 year old, who may not have all the academic skills as they walk into your door, and yet they have wonderful potential for being highly educated. How do you begin to work with them to sort of get those skills? What are the motivating factors of that to increase so, what kind of curriculum works best with these students? What about our pedagogical approaches in terms of teaching students from these particular kinds of communities and so forth. So I think there is a real answer, as we think about looking at the success of some of the historically black college and universities so be. We go to Xavier and we say, how is it that you have been able to get so many African-American students enter medical school and enter the graduate school in the health sciences and so forth? What do you do on your campus? Because we're teaching some of the same courses, and yet maybe not having as much success out with students. Is it the faculty? Is it a particular way that you approach sort of the learning? Is it a caring community and environment? How can we create that on our own campuses or non-historically Black campuses, that would enhance the ability of students to learn and to leave our campuses very well prepared? So I think they have something to teach other institutions in terms of those. I do think they have some other kinds of things to teach other institutions, so that they can bring into The system of higher education. One of the things that they have done extremely successfully is to, and perhaps this is what they don't want to have to teach about, but that they have been able to on very, very scarce resources started to maintain. Even though we've lost some historically black schools over time because of finances. Most of them have been pretty resilient in terms of their ability to utilize scarce resources in an economy where sometimes we don't have all that we need, they would certainly say they need more, but I think there are ways that they can help us think about how we stretch our dollars, how we diversify in ways that we can continue to expand. How we can partner, they have done a great job, I think, in creating affiliations among themselves and other institutions. So how does that, what does that look like? In terms of the ability to bring institutions together. One of the examples I often use as an affiliation between the historically black colleges and Appalachian colleges and the ability to think about together how they do things that they could not do alone. So these colleges have a long history of being able to band together in terms of being able to sort of supplement and complement each other in terms of their resources. Another gap that I think the historically black colleges might help in terms of ease, is this whole idea of helping to bring institutions together. One of the things that has already happened now is a very strong affiliation among the historically black colleges, the hispanic serving institutions. The Tribal colleges and, newly now, within that are the Asian-American Pacific Island institutions. I think, for example, that this is a strong example of how institutions can come together to help create new policy that indeed helps them all, instead of simply being self-serving. And I think this coalition of institutions often led by some of the initial efforts were led by historically black college. So in a way, to be able to influence when we talk back to that ecological model, or when we talk about the system, is to be able to bring disparate parts of the system together, to be able to influence policy. Policy that is about new practice within higher education, but policy that also has to do with how we get more resources to these institutions. And when I think about that particular group or set of institution that we often call minority serving institutions, what we find is that rather than struggling against each other or over resources. The ability for these institutions to come together has indeed netted them much more than if they were kind of looking at a sort of resources separately. So one of the things that I think the work with HPCU is historically, but colleges shows us is that these kinds of correlation benefits the HPCU but also benefits the larger group of institutions. So I think there are many lessons in this and this is a gap. So while I focused on the minority serving institutions, I think there are possibilities and opportunities for these kinds of coalitions building out of each other's strengths, but also out of each other's needs that these institutions can pursue. So that's another gap that I think that the historically black colleges and universities can help us think about. One of the major issues, for the historically black colleges, of course, is leadership. And those leadership challenges have been there for a long time. So they're not simply current, because of the nature of the historically black colleges. The lack of funding, the position that they have within our society, they've always struggled in some ways with leadership issues, turn over of leadership. But also diversity of leadership. It is not lost on us that for many of the historically black schools, that their early leadership was white leadership. That places like Fisk and many of the institutions did not have presidents of color or African-American until the 1950s. And so even though they had been in existence for a very long time time, leadership was coming from outside of their community. Certainly now, most of the historically black colleges and universities have leadership that reflects themselves. However, there are still dynamics, and interesting dynamics around leadership within the institution. One of the big ones for them is the continuity of leadership. We know from research that sustained, continuous leadership is very, very important to the progress of institutions and organizations. And yet for many of these institutions we see a very rapid turnover, especially at the presidential level, at the upper level, the vice president and so forth. We see that churning within the institutions that in some ways mitigates against this kind of progress that this institution so much need. Much of that is because of the difficulty of leading these institutions because of the finances, because of the political pressures being brought on the institutions from state legislator and others because of the demands of the community on it. So, in some ways these are not dissimilar to other types of institutions. And yet because these have been sensitive institutions from the very beginning and much more delicate in terms of their make up and their resources and so forth, those issues get exacerbated at these types of institutions. Again, exacerbating the leadership issues that we see. One of the other issues that we see in terms of leadership is preparation, development of persons for these institutions and so the whole idea of being able to find people within the academic community interested in institution. Understanding how difficult they are to lead in some cases because of these historic kinds of issues and willing to come. And so, the combination of all those create major kinds of efforts for these institutions. There's some literature around the fact that often these institutions are still very much male dominated as within much of higher education in terms of who serves at, The historically black colleges and universities. And now because of the competition for persons of color at other institutions, you get in some ways people talk about the brain drain from the historically black colleges and universities into other. Because these other institutions often can pay more, have different kinds of accommodations for people and so people of talent get pulled away very quickly from the historically black. So there's a continuing kind of saga of issues related to what's happening. Again, not different from other institutions except in maybe degree. One of the big questions about historically black schools is whether they will continue and that is a huge question. Some would say that that question doesn't even need to be entertained. That if we are going to have faith based institutions, if we're still going to have women's colleges, if we're going to have a variety of different institutions. There is a place for a historically black college, as a matter of choice. And so many people argue about, for the future of historically black colleges, not on the basis of a type of institution, but on the idea of choice. That this offers of a type of choice, in the same way that we offer variety of choices for the. Others would suggest too that in terms of thinking about the future of historical, that they need to be there because racism still is alive and well within the Unites States. And that there will be students and others who are more comfortable in terms of their learning in being in an environment that is focused on their particular race. Where they are less likely to encounter the issues of race and racism within their institution. And we know also from research, like we understand around women and women's colleges, the power of our women who have been educated within women's college. And their comfort and so forth when you take those, or even men being educated in unisex institutions. So that there is an argument for having historically black colleges continue to serve a role for those students who may. But also for other students, non-black students who want to have an experience, an encounter, an environment in which they may be the other in terms of higher education as a part of their own learning in college. So there are multiple sort of reasons for these institutions. Of course, on the other side, too people who would say in a more diverse community and diverse world or we want people to come togethe. And therefore that we're not going to move a historically black schools and then close all of them tomorrow. But that the evolution of these institutions may be to much more sort of diverse environments. In fact, there are some historically black schools now already that are historically black by definition and legislation, but in terms of numbers are 70 or 80% non-black. So we see some of that evolution of these institutions. They are certainly the predictions, or that we will lose additional historically black schools. But there are many of us hoping, that while we may lose some, that we are going to have a number of them around for a very long time.
