Many historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were founded more than 100 years ago primarily to educate former slaves and prepare them for teaching careers. Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), however, do not have the same historical mission; those institutions have evolved into minority-serving institutions (MSIs) as Hispanics have…

After Dr. Larry Earvin became Huston-Tillotson University president, he crafted an annual black-tie gala to raise scholarship funds. Despite the country's economic doldrums, Earvin's event this year netted proceeds pushing the cumulative total since 2004 to more than $1 million. When Beverly Hogan became Tougaloo College president, she urged…

Eddie Francis bursts out laughing when he recounts his unexpected coaching debut for Southern University at New Orleans this past semester. The men's track team was planning to travel to Tennessee for a national indoor championship meet, but their part-time coach, a runner himself, couldn't accompany them because of a race he would run in Europe…

Two years after Hurricane Katrina, faculty ranks at New Orleans' historically Black colleges remain noticeably shallower than before the floods. The languishing numbers mirror a decline in student enrollment. Xavier University of Louisiana's student head count, for instance, has lingered at about 73 percent of the pre-Katrina enrollment, a…

Discusses the settlements recently reached between the federal Office of Civil Rights and several Southern and border states concerning desegregation in higher education. Explores problems at historically black colleges and the climate in the new Republican administration for addressing inequitable behavior by states toward such schools. (EV)

Discusses how Los Angeles Southwest College perhaps best illustrates the rising tide of Latinos and other minorities sweeping into higher education institutions of deeply steeped Black heritage, and the challenges and new growing pains such schools face. (EV)

America's few Black classics professors have overcome contempt and criticism to contribute a unique perspective to the study of the ancient world. Dr. Patrice Rankine, an associate professor from Purdue University, has grown used to the irony. As one of the few Black classicists teaching at an American university, he has drawn plenty of skepticism…

When Jackson State University officials and their collaborators assembled a proposal for a $12 million social and behavioral research center to combat terrorism, they hoped Federal officials would give a nod of approval to what they believed was a high-value concept. The proposal, Featuring the predominantly White Mississippi State University as…