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While some in the higher education community have used anecdotal evidence to argue that Black students were attending historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) because of the broader racial climate due to Donald Trump’s rise as a political figure, few studies have provided empirical evidence to support this notion. Therefore, in this current study, we interviewed 80 Black students, who were engaged in the college search process in 2016 to 2018 to understand to what extent, if any, did the racial climate under Trump’s presidency influence their choice to enroll in HBCUs. Data were collected in the Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 from across four diverse HBCUs. Findings indicate that the racial climate under President Trump played a salient role in participants’ selection of HBCUs. Implications for research and practice are provided for both HBCUs and PWIs.

Using Celious and Oyserman's (2001) Heterogeneous Race Model as a conceptual framework, this article discusses how historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) helped participants to better appreciate the heterogeneity among Black students in Black colleges. This article also delineates how intraracial diversity among Black students at HBCUs led to some students feeling excluded from peer groups. This study concludes with implications for HBCU officials to help make the campus environment more inclusive for all students and considerations for future research.

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