This article focuses on the first African American students at two southern land-grant universities, North Carolina State University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech). Although these institutions integrated in the 1950s, most of the current desegregation scholarship focuses on other southern institutions in…

This paper reviews the existing literature to discuss how critical race theory has been applied as a theoretical framework to higher educational research in the United States and what its contributions are. To provide necessary context, I will discuss race and racism in the United States, the background of US higher education in relation to race,…

At the 60th anniversary of "Brown," the authors analyze survey data from a national sample of 1,227 Black and White college students to examine the frequency and nature of cross-racial interactions and their influence on students' sense of belonging in college. Results suggest the cross-racial interactions vary by race and frequent,…

This article chronicles a journey to achieve the type of education that focused on the battles to secure access to schooling and a curriculum for full citizenship. The pursuit of educational opportunity has been and continues to be tortuous, with each step toward progress met by a major societal set back. As the fate of individuals and nations is…