One of a series highlighting key practices undertaken by some of the many successful BEAMS (Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students) schools during the project's five years of data collection and action plan implementation, this practice brief demonstrates how emphasis on co-curricular activities can ultimately result in increased…

The federal Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, defines a "historically" black institution of higher education as "any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principle mission was, and is, the education of black Americans." They are usually referred to as HBCUs. Most private…

Walter Massey and Morehouse College seem to have been destined for each other. His enrollment to the college in the 1950s was more a matter of fate than anything else--when his mother drove a group of boys from his hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, up to the college to take an early admission test, a 16-year-old Massey went along for the ride.…

Student support services are critical to student success, especially at campuses that enroll large numbers of academically under-prepared students. These programs assist students in addressing areas of academic deficiency and provide necessary resources to maximize students' intellectual and social capital while in college. Several…

This article profiles Jackson State University, a historically Black school of more than 8,000 students located at the southern end of Jackson, Mississippi's majority-Black capital city. Founded in 1877, Jackson State has emerged as one of Mississippi's leading research institutions as well as one of the top HBCUs in the country for research. Its…

This article examines the contemporary role of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in public higher education systems. The article is based on the premise that in order to address persistent questions about whether HBCUs are a relevant sector of public higher education, a contemporary, rather than historical, analysis is…

Four historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Howard University, Jackson State University, Talladega College, and Xavier University of Louisiana, participated in a project titled, Learning Communities for STEM Academic Achievement (LCSAA), whose goal was to increase the participation of African American students in the fields of…

After shepherding more than a dozen Black Mississippi plaintiffs in the landmark Ayers v. Fordice case for nearly 30 years, Alvin O. Chambliss Jr. says he never would have agreed to a $503 million settlement agreement as restitution for the state's three historically Black universities or a portion of the $2.5 million the court allocated for…

Profiles attorney Alvin O. Chambliss, Jr., and his fight in "Ayers v. Fordice" to desegregate Mississippi's higher education system. (EV)

From her late teenage years as a civil rights activist to an interim presidency at Howard University, Dr. Joyce A. Ladner has lived as heroic and accomplished a life as any scholar of her generation. A 1964 graduate of Tougaloo College, Ladner, in her college days, with her sister, Dorie Ladner, and other students from the Student Nonviolent…

This paper identifies a role for the HBCU in the neighborhood revitalization process. HBCUs have a unique history and mission, which directly lends them to external outreach in their respective communities. This study looks at one such HBCU, Tougaloo College, a small private HBCU in Jackson, Mississippi, and its efforts to provide housing,…

Describes a plan to end Mississippi's 26-year-old college desegregation case, which is hailed by government officials but criticized by others, who say it fails to improve access to college for black students. (EV)

Tougaloo College has built on its tradition of community outreach--highlighted by its vanguard role in the Mississippi civil rights struggle--by serving as the founder of the HBCU Faculty Development Network in 1994 and creating its own Center for Civic Engagement & Social Responsibility in 2004. The network has been hosting the annual HBCU…

Assesses changes in black segregation and black student representation in institutions of higher education in the United States between 1982 and 1992, and determines the institutions that have contributed most to the segregation of white versus black undergraduate student enrollment. Findings confirm previous studies that show states with…