This article examines the relationship between gender and leadership in southern public Black colleges from the late nineteenth through the early twentieth century. Public colleges offer a unique view of this relationship because, in an era of disfranchisement, the political stakes of leadership were more obvious than in private schools. I argue…

The recent surge of anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, intersex, and asexual+ (LGBTQIA+) state legislative bills throughout the United States prompt one to consider the multiple ways Black LGBTQIA + students in historically Black college and university (HBCU) settings will encounter challenges within and outside healthcare settings. Thus,…

This essay describes Open Admissions in the South during postsecondary desegregation, providing a comparative analysis of policies and debates in Tennessee, Louisiana, and Georgia. Statewide Open Admissions policies emerged in the 1960s as part of superficial efforts to comply with desegregation but were ineffective; consequently, they were…

The summer of 1961 was the summer of the Freedom Rides. Interracial groups led by college students drew global attention as they traveled on intercity buses in the teeth of white-supremacist violence. Today, powerful youth-led social movements--Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, the campaigns against gun violence and climate change, and anti-abortion and…

Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi are the three Black women and founders of #BlackLivesMatter (BLM). Despite being founded by Black women, public discourses about BLM often foreground Black men's lives, and deaths, at the hand of the state. When attention is given to the violence against Black women, they are either blamed for their…

Few realize that, historically, the women elected to serve as "Queens" of Howard University, were often reflections of political, social, and cultural issues of the time. This parade of beauty, intellect, and charm, was an unofficial barometer of where the University as well as the country stood on matters that pertained to cultural…

This article explores the complex contexts and relationships that enabled student civil rights advocates to emerge at Howard University in the 1930s and 1940s. Such histories are valuable given their realistic portrayal of the daily challenges, interpersonal collisions, collaborations, and organizational positioning that made some human rights…

Eighteen years after the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Fordice, many states have complied somewhat or not at all to its mandates. This has been particularly evident in Maryland, where the presidents of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are pressuring the state to fulfill its commitment with the Office of Civil Rights…

In this article, we provide an overview--a primer--of the rise of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) as context for understanding the contemporary place of these institutions in our broader system of higher education. We also demonstrate how the emergence and the evolution of MSIs stem from our nation's struggle to provide equal educational…

In this paper, the author challenges stakeholders (i.e., administrators, educators, students) of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to examine how HBCUs can continue to serve as sites of resistance against the prevailing cultural norms of materialism, Western masculinity, and spiritual malefaction. The author traces his…

Students in the University of Rhode Island's GLBT community are fed up with what they describe as their marginalization. They are seeking, among other resources, respectable headquarters, where they can invite professors, hold events, and develop a sense of belonging on the campus. Since a week-long protest this past fall, they are gaining ground.…

On February 6, 2009, the president of Clark Atlanta University, an historically black institution in Atlanta, Georgia, terminated 55 full-time faculty members without notice. Many of these faculty members had tenure. These individuals, some of whom had worked at the university for over 15 years while making $45,000 a year as associate professors…

Although ambiguity exists regarding how states must respond to the mandates of Fordice to dismantle dual systems of education in previously segregated states, several scholars note Fordice should manifest itself in the enhancement of public Black colleges. Responding to Fordice, the state of Maryland entered into an agreement with the Office of…

Federal and state officials investigating the student-loan industry are turning their attention to matters of race, hoping to protect students of the nation's historically black colleges. But the colleges themselves are not sure they want the help. New York's attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, and the chairman of the U.S. House education…

When leaders of the NAACP gather this month to formally begin a year-long recognition of 100 years of civil rights work, they'll be talking as much about the organization's future as they will be honoring its past. On dozens of college campuses across the nation, where plenty of groups have taken on justice issues that for decades only the NAACP…