Administrative Challenges and Organizational Leadership in Historically Black Colleges and Universities A volume in the Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development (AHEPD) Book Series (original) (raw)
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The Urban Review, 2012
In this article we provide a brief history of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as a part of the sociopolitical context framing this special issue. The aim of this issue is to situate HBCUs as centers of leadership, change, and influence as well as repositories of Black education and the Black American experience through their legacy of intellectual, cultural, and communal engagement. We argue that the lived experiences of HBCU graduates provide a deeper understanding of their positionalities in the landscape of U.S. American higher education outcomes.
Journal of African American Studies
Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) continue to provide a substantial role in the black community and in higher education by providing a culture of excellence. Yet, their role in higher education is the center of many academic and political debates. Defining this role has been thwarted with questions of HBCUs relevance in society, in the African–American community, and in higher education. The relevance of HBCUs is neither the dilemma nor the question for higher education and HBCUs. The conundrum for HBCUs is ensuring that they are equipped with the necessary tools to address global and economic twenty-first century challenges. The purpose of this article is to examine existing challenges that contribute to HBCUs struggles in the twenty-first century in sustaining their culture of excellence. This article highlights how HBCUs are able to address challenges of accreditation, funding, and HBCU’s leadership and management in the face of global and economic challenges.
Orienting Historically Black Colleges and Universities for the Future
2009
Public historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have a rich history but an uncertain future. The purpose of this article is to discuss the continuing relevance of the historic HBCU mission, and to suggest that a (re)formation of pedagogical policy designed to deliver on that mission-thereby qualitatively differentiating public HBCUs from non-HBCUs-is required to secure their future. In line with this discussion, related topics of prime economic and social justifications for public HBCUs, three top threats facing these institutions, and some important ontological organizational considerations receive attention to ensure that a proper context is set for a rejuvenated, mission-based pedagogical policy to succeed. Some practical pedagogical policy recommendations are offered in the final section. This article also contains many new suggestions for future HBCU research.
The Urban Review, 2012
Providing a brief history of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs)-including how and why they were founded, funding sources and needs over time, and an examination of mission statements-the author considers the relevance of HBCUs in the current twenty-first century context. He makes an argument that the educational opportunities HBCUs offer continue to be strongly needed in the contemporary U.S. economic and sociopolitical climate. Finally, he offers HBCU faculty and administrators some suggestions for consideration as they face significant challenges ahead. Keywords HBCU Á Black history Á Higher education Á Racial uplift In a recent edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Marybeth Gasman (2009) wrote an article entitled ''Minority-Serving Colleges Deserve More Respect,'' where she asserts that minority-serving institutions (MSIs) continue to go above and beyond the call of duty as they educate African American, Latino, and Native American students. Additionally, Gasman argues, ''Minority-serving institutions empower, support and challenge their students to fully participate in American society, in many cases making up for the deficiencies in primary and secondary schools'' (p. 3). Gasman's argument reflects the acclaimed, educational legacy of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Defined by the Higher Education Act of 1965 ''as institutions of higher learning established before 1964, whose principal mission was then, as is now the [higher] education of Black
2017
This study examines the role of Afrocentric curricula in higher education. Using four HBCU institutions (Dillard University, Hampton University, Howard University, and Spelman College) as a case study, the researcher selected the institutions on the basis of program quality and geographical spread. Program quality means the institutions must be accredited; geographical spread implies that the institutions must represent different parts of the country where HBCUs are concentrated. A mixed methods approach was used to analyze the data gathered from each institution's course catalog during the 2011-2012 school year. The purpose was to determine if curricula dedicated to the black experience existed. The study found that all of the four institutions offered Afrocentric curricula. However, the courses vary in terms of their breadth, scope, and function. The conclusion drawn from the findings suggests that although the offering of Afrocentric curricula supports the goal of African-centeredness at each HBCU, the offerings are not ii widespread enough to bolster the HBCUs' goal of dedication to leadership in the black community as mentioned in the institutions' mission statements. In an attempt to address the gap between the HBCUs' mission statements and what the collected data demonstrated, the researcher offered curriculum recommendations designed to enhance the effectiveness of the HBCUs as they promote black leadership in the community.
Learning from the Past: Leadership Philosophies of Pioneer Presidents of Historically Black Colleges
Online Submission, 2011
At the close of the Civil War the United States was forced to grapple with the tremendous challenge of what to do with the millions of newly freed men, women, and children who, for more than three centuries, had been denied basic human rights, including learning how to read and write. During Reconstruction, several educational institutions were founded for the purpose of teaching basic literacy to former slaves. With few exceptions, white missionaries and former soldiers initially administered these schools. However, by the beginning of the 19 th century black men and women took on the task of developing and guiding these institutions through the arduous journey of becoming fully accredited, degree-granting colleges during an era of extreme racial tension exacerbated by the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, race riots, political propaganda, and limited governmental protection. This article examines writings and speeches of five of these leaders to determine the philosophical tenets that ultimately sustained these institutions. The five researched presidents are
C19 Bi-Annual Conference Presentation: In Search of the Black University
Students of color and conscience across the country wonder today if higher education is able to meet their demands for black knowledge produced by black people. For anyone familiar with the nineteenth century history of universities and twentieth century movements to radicalize them, this is an alternately thrilling and sobering fact. For we can and should recognize that student movements for diversity, inclusion, and curricular change are taking us not only back to the 1960s but to America's 19 th century racial history. They are making that history real and necessary and indispensable, bringing it home to roost within the very infrastructure that produces knowledge about the nineteenth century: the twenty first century academy. " Abolition, " increasingly used an antiracist trope on college campuses, and institutional structures of racial inequality are with us again today within the university because they unfolded within the university and it structure of knowledge creation their 19 th century forms. Abolition, I now believe, should be understood not so much as a public sphere that happened to employ contemporary national and local markets of print media but an insurgent, improvisional attempt to create an alternative educational space—a para-university-that employed mass media and community forums because and when formalized curricula and degrees fails racial justice. In the 1960s, activists like Nikki Giovanni would be called a " black
The following article considers the missions of public Black colleges and universities, asking whether or not these missions are focused on liberal arts or professional education, or perhaps a hybrid of these foci. More importantly, we will explore the long term impact of these institutional missions on African Americans. Our discussion and examination will be contextualized using historic arguments put forth by African American leaders Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois. These arguments, although often simplified, are highly complex and can offer insight into the purpose of education at public Black colleges and universities in the current day.