“Peeling back the layers”: A deeper look at the diversity among Black students at historically Black colleges and universities.

Abstract

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.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Performance-Based Funding: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…We also urge policymakers and policy advocacy centers to underscore the importance of considering institutional missions-especially those missions rooted in access-in the development of formulas for high-stakes accountability policies. Furthermore, because many of these tools and mechanisms have been historically dismissive of HBCUs (Palmer et al, 2011), we recommend consulting with research and policy organizations and public affairs teams that advocate on behalf of HBCUs and Black education, including but not limited to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, and Howard University's Center for HBCU for Research, Leadership, and Policy, among many others.…”

“…Research shows that state legislators can sometimes use their intuition or "gut" instead of evidence or research to support their decision making (Gándara, 2020). As previously highlighted, state legislators, coordinating boards, and higher education systems have largely ignored the requests of their HBCUs (Palmer et al, 2011). For anyone who is seeking racial justice and more equitable funding across their institutions, it is critical to consider the unique infrastructural issues, student demographics, and personnel challenges that HBCUs face, which are different than many of their MSI and PWI counterparts given their problematic history and relationships with state leaders (Cole, 2020).…”