Hampton University President William Harvey's initial readings of proton therapy for cancer sparked his interest. Within a few months, Dr. Harvey was assigning widely respected Hampton nuclear physicist Dr. Cynthia Keppel to do more exploration. Today, the new $225 million Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute, one of eight therapy sites in…

In 1940 Atlanta, the color line between black and white citizens was clearly drawn. This color line not only kept blacks and whites apart physically, but it also prevented blacks from attaining educational opportunities, economic equality, healthcare services, and many other public amenities readily available to white citizens. Most people, black…

One of the major outcomes of the educational reform movement in the United States during the past decade has been the increased focus on the professional preparation of educators (Darling-Hammond, 1997). According to Sanders and Rivers, numerous studies indicate that educators make a significant difference in their students' education (1996). In…

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…

This article discusses the effort of U.S. Rep. James Clyburn to help historically overlooked constituents and disadvantaged students get to go to college through his annual Rudolph Canzater Memorial Golf Classic. Elected to Congress in 1992 after a nearly 20-year stint as an appointed state official, he worked his way through the Democratic Party…

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…

An examination of the history of media coverage reveals a pattern of unfair news accounts and shows that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have experienced intense scrutiny from the beginning. The mainstream media's often-negative portrayals of HBCUs mislead the public and can even exacerbate problems some HBCUs already face.…

The Open Academic Analytics Initiative (OAAI) is a collaborative, multi-year grant program aimed at researching issues related to the scaling up of learning analytics technologies and solutions across all of higher education. The paper describes the goals and objectives of the OAAI, depicts the process and challenges of collecting, organizing and…

Mississippi's three historically Black universities, like other HBCUs around the country, are gradually becoming more diverse, and their administrators say the shift in enrollment is enhancing their mission, not detracting from it. One of them, Alcorn State, is the first and only HBCU in Mississippi to reach a court-mandated goal of having 10…

There is no shortage of challenges facing postsecondary institutions in the US. One that cuts to the core of the enterprise is whether they are preparing their graduates to live productive, civically responsible lives in a dynamic global marketplace mapped onto diverse, yet increasingly interdependent, social and cultural systems. Much of the…

When fans of intercollegiate basketball see the month of March approach, they know it's time for the near-marathon round of March Madness when the best of the nation's college basketball teams square off in a battle to the finish for the NCAA Division I championship. It's the month when basketball powerhouses seek to reaffirm their status and…

When veteran educator Dr. N. Joyce Payne handed the reins of the organization she founded, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, to entertainment lawyer and board member Johnny Taylor, Taylor began pursuing a remake of the prestigious group that has turned it on its head in just a matter of months. Today, with just more than a year of leading the…

From Louisiana to West Virginia to North Carolina--and many states in between--a growing number of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are coming off the sidelines and finally getting into the major fundraising game. In the face of a cash crunch, the colleges are rushing to launch serious capital and planned giving campaigns.…

In this article, the author features the Opportunity Funding Corporation's (OFC) Venture Challenge, a business competition that allows HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) students to develop and foster sustainable business ventures. The OFC Venture Challenge was established to help HBCUs develop a comprehensive entrepreneurship…

Many universities are having a tough time weathering the economic storm because of state-funding shortfalls and dwindling endowments. Humanities programs at public universities like the University of Iowa and University of Minnesota have been cut. Kean University in New Jersey has proposed restructuring and merging some programs. Nevada's top…