Re-Coloring Campus: Complicating the Discourse About Race and Ethnicity at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

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

“…Frequently when diversity is discussed, there is a primary focus on racial diversity, while other forms of diversity are not given as much attention (Celious & Oyserman, 2001). This is certainly true at HBCUs, leading Mobley et al (2017) to note that HBCUs are not only racially diverse, but also ethnically diverse. For this reason, scholars need to give more attention to examining the heterogeneity among Black students at Black colleges.…”

“…Specifically, this research has explored the experiences of Black men and Black women as well as aspects of student diversity (e.g., non-Black students, LGBQ students, and foreign born Black students). Despite this, there remains a limited number of studies that have examined within-group differences among Black HBCU students (George Mwangi, 2014; Mobley et al, 2017); therefore, the goal of this study is to discuss the heterogeneity among Black students at HBCUs.…”

“Why aren't all the White kids sitting together in the cafeteria?”: An exploration of White student experiences at a public HBCU.

“…With regard to the aforementioned, it is also important to note that public HBCUs have faced much pressure to reconfigure their enrollments due to continued reductions in state budget allocations. These fiscal concerns have forced public HBCUs to consider how to actively recruit White, Asian, and Latinx students as they strive for financial stability amid an increasing need for revenue (Mobley et al, 2017).…”

“…While 11% may not appear to be an especially significant percentage, it is important to juxtapose this number with the representation of Black students in higher education more broadly. Black/African American students account for 14.5% of all students enrolled in higher education; a campus with a student body of 10% Black/African American students is often considered to have reached a critical mass in terms of making substantial progress regarding structural racial/ethnic diversity (Mobley et al, 2017). Given these shifting demographics within HBCU communities, it is critical that researchers continue to explore the experiences of non-Black students that attend these institutions.…”

Black Women, Black Colleges: An Application of the Culturally Engaging Campus Environments Model

“…As all may not experience HBCUs positively, there is a need for a greater understanding of the ways that students with all of their intersecting social identities (e.g. race, gender identity and expression, social class, religion), experience and interact with the culture of HBCUs (Arroyo, Palmer, Maramba, & Louis, 2017;Mobley, Daoud, & Griffin, 2017). With this critique in mind, are there better ways to construct (or restructure) institutional environments that maximize success among increasingly diverse student populations, even within the seemingly "homogeneous" HBCU setting?…”