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Looking to Rebuild the MEAC? There's a Model in the SIAC

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It was hard to visualize just a few months ago how a historically Black Division I athletic conference would lose five teams and not lose its commissioner, but the prophecy of the obvious came to pass yesterday as long-serving Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Commissioner Dennis Thomas announced plans to retire in December.

Some MEAC fans will look at Thomas’ departure as an overdue exit. The departures of North Carolina A&T State University, Hampton University, Florida A&M University, and Bethune-Cookman University had already underscored a growing discontent with the conference and its inability to maximize the reach of its member schools’ brands from Florida to Delaware.

But there were many accomplishments. In 19 years at the helm, Thomas was part of the leadership that brokered two nationally televised annual football games between the MEAC and the Southwestern Athletic Conference, steered as the conference pulled into new harbors of corporate dollars moving towards HBCU programs, and he was in charge as the league pushed into televised competition across cable and digital networks.

He is the longest-tenured commissioner in league history for a reason, and it’s because he successfully achieved his number one objective as a commissioner; don’t let the conference fold. But there are questions about his departure that raise concern.

Why is he leaving halfway through the academic year in between fall football and winter basketball championships? Why now and not after the conference is able to recruit more schools to replace the five it has lost in recent years (the previously mentioned four and Savannah State University, which dropped to Division II last year).

Savannah State may just be the answer to the equation. Forget the big four who independently improved their sports stock and sought better outcomes for their investment in athletics; consider the rest of the neer-do-well league members who struggle to compete in the revenue-bearing sports year-to-year, and the options they have in returning to Division II.

There is a soft place some to fall in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which in many ways has been behaving like a Division I rival of the SWAC and MEAC for the better part of nearly a decade. This league boasts some of the “first and only” HBCU conference accolades that we typically would associate with the two historically Black FCS conferences.

Relationships with both the NFL and NBA Players Association have boosted professional outcomes for current and former players in Division II. It claims many of the same broadcast opportunities as the MEAC and is lightyears ahead on digital streaming rights and social media rankings among all HBCU leagues both inside and outside of NCAA membership.

The MEAC was the first to have a woman officiate a college football game, but the SIAC was the first to have an entire crew comprised of women. And many of the SIAC’s corporate sponsorships are on par or ahead of those in the MEAC in money value or length of term.

Rebuilding the MEAC’s membership and holding institutions like Howard University, Delaware State University and North Carolina Central University back from other DI destinations will be the top order for the new commissioner. But considering that the same number of schools the MEAC has lost has been about the same number the SIAC has gained over a similar period should give an easy sense of the blueprint the conference should follow and who should be in charge of designing it.

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Alumni Group Looking to Reopen Saint Paul's College

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A group of consultants and alumni advocates from Saint Paul’s College are looking to re-open the HBCU that closed in 2013 due to financial strain and the loss of its accreditation.

In a letter obtained by the HBCU Digest, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges President Belle Wheelan wrote to members of the SPC4LIFE organiza…

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What Took Tuskegee So Long to Name Charlotte Morris as President?

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The winding road to Charlotte Morris finally being named as Tuskegee University’s permanent president reached its destination today, as the long-serving executive will finally steer the Machine with a formal executive’s title, salary, and expectations.

Her credentials as a key part of the university’s academic enterprise for the better part of 30 years affirm her as the right choice for the job.

For over three decades, Dr. Morris has served in several roles at Tuskegee University including Chief of Staff to the 5th President and Secretary to the Board of Trustees. As Chief of Staff, she assisted in the development and implementation of a successful $169 million capital campaign in 2005. Most recently during her tenure, Dr. Morris also served as the Director of the University’s Title III Program and has acted as Interim and Associate Dean in the Brimmer College of Business and Information Science. Through Dr. Morris’ leadership, she has strengthened the University’s strategic partnerships with corporations such as Google and Cargill to generate $6 million in gifts and donations to strengthen career readiness initiatives and invest in the next generation of STEM leaders. In addition to the many honors and awards Dr. Morris has received, she was given the Distinguished Administrative Staff Achievement Award at Tuskegee University. Dr. Charlotte Morris has always been held in high regard by her peers and superiors while meeting and exceeding expectations.

What was omitted from the write-up is that she has four times served as acting or interim president of the university, following the retirement of Benjamin Payton, and the resignation or removal of Gilbert Rochon, Brian Johnson, and Lily McNair.

Along with the joy and respect that the TU community must have over Morris’ appointment, the community should also ask the obvious; why is she good enough now when she hadn’t been good enough in the last decade of executive turmoil? Why is the table now set for Morris, who has always had her hands in grantmaking, fundraising, and federal collaboration on behalf of Tuskegee, when it wasn’t appropriate to do so after each of her test drives in the preceding years?

Tuskegee has only had nine presidents in 140 years, and five of them, including Morris, will have been appointed since 2010.

HBCU Digest
Presidential Departure Shows its Time to Follow the Money at Tuskegee
A month ago, Tuskegee University President Lily McNair shared her excitement with the campus community about the prospects of returning from her second medical leave of absence since her appointment in 2018…
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Something is wrong there and the board is either flailing to fix it or working hard to find the person who can best hide it. Perhaps in Morris, given her institutional knowledge and her familiarity in the campus community, they have found the one who can address both needs at the same time.

Her leadership saga is almost a mirror image of Larry Robinson’s journey at Florida A&M University, who also found the presidential promised land after several turns at leadership in the wilderness of interim status.

HBCU Digest
Florida State President John Thrasher Endorsing Larry Robinson for FAMU President is Nothing Good
A history of bad intentions doesn’t change just because it’s Martin Luther King Day. If the presidents of two schools which lose funding, enrollment and valuable metrics in performance-based support by the mere existence of Florida A&M University say that they endorse a particular candidate for president of FAMU, then how exactly should we feel about tha……
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But Morris didn’t need to be found. She wasn’t even hiding in plain sight. They have long known that she could lead because they put her in charge to do so. Whether she is in the seat for a good time or a long time remains to be seen; chances are it is the former, because she’s already worked hard for 30 years waiting on this moment.

No matter how good she is in either case, the university seemingly subtracted five to seven years away from the difference she could’ve made with other searches to finally get her where she clearly always deserved to belong.

Tuskegee finally got the “who” right, now the board just needs to clarify and support the “why” behind it.

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Here Are Four Ways That HBCUs Can Boost US International Education Outreach

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Officials from the US Department of Education released a blog post this morning outlining its commitment to educational opportunities for students from around the world.

Here is what the department is emphasizing in its international approach, which is a complete reversal of most foreign engagement policies enacted by the Trump Adminstration towards student and information exchange among nations.

  • A coordinated national approach to international education, including international students on our campuses, study abroad for Americans, and the internationalization of U.S. campuses and classrooms.

  • A welcoming environment for international students coming to the United States, encouraging a diversity of participants, disciplines, and types of schools and higher education institutions where they can choose to study, teach, or contribute to research.

  • Encouragement for U.S. students, researchers, scholars, and educators who reflect the diversity of the U.S. population to pursue overseas study, internships, research, and other international experiences.

  • Promotion of expanded access to international education, including using technology where in-person experiences are not feasible, to connect U.S. students, researchers, scholars, and educators with their peers abroad.

  • Partnerships of the U.S. government with higher education institutions, schools, state and local governments, the business community, and others to support international education.

The timing couldn’t be more vital for the higher education sector in the United States. Total college enrollment among Americans is falling but relatively steady among international students. Domestic job growth is increasing but remains a key factor in individuals and families’ ability to pay for school, and public health concerns remain a factor in how people will teach and learn over the next year.

How can historically Black institutions, in spite of these challenges, be a sector asset for these international goals? Some existing HBCU programs already provide a blueprint for success.

  • Fortify current HBCU relationships with Caribbean, East African, and Middle Eastern nations by expanding federal grantmaking opportunities in public health and applied science. Many Black colleges already maintain strong connections with these countries, and only need resources to attract more students through existing pipelines.

  • Relaunch and offer details for previous State Department guidance on HBCU-China relations. Under the Obama Administration, the federal government backed a formal relationship building program between historically Black and Chinese universities. Beyond executive trips and cultural exchange with the nation, there has been no formal report on the amount of professors, students or professional placements which emerged as a result. How can the State Department, with its existing programs to encourage careers in diplomacy and foreign relations rebuild this program and expand it to nations Like South Korea and India?

  • Create grantmaking programs for campus cultural liaisons. None of these ideas work if HBCUs are not equipped to manage cultural and social expectations of international students and faculty members. The Department of Education can play a role in supporting English as a Second Language programming, infusing resources for cultural training and sensitivity, and chronicling best practices for low-resource institutions who want to expand international learning.

  • Deploying HBCU sociology, educational talent to allied countries. One of the fascinating things about HBCU outreach is that very little is done to Black people and enclaves in countries like Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, and other friendly nations. How can the United States, as part of its diplomatic portfolio, build bridges between Black Americans and Black international neighbors to cultivate international research, learning and development in areas like social justice, community activism, educational support infrastructure, environmental justice and political mobilization?

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Dillard Denies Claims of Academic Fraud Made by Former Dean

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Officials at Dillard University are denying claims of widespread academic fraud made against the school president and several administrators between 2013 and 2019, and considering legal action against the former faculty member making a public case against the university.

According to a letter forwarded to the HBCU Digest and to several print and broadcast outlets nationwide, former College of Business Dean Christian Fugar says that President Walter Kimbrough, Dillard Vice President for Academic Affairs Yolonda Page, and others within the executive cabinet facilitated the awarding of degrees to dozens of students who had not qualified for graduation.

In a nine-page memo addressed to Dillard Board Chair and attorney Michael Jones, Fugar accused administrators of overriding academic protocols for graduation clearance, changing grades and test scores, allowing make-up examinations, and falsifying enrollment and graduation rate data to the federal government.

The memo dated June 24 also says that Dillard administrators provided fraudulent data to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) regarding faculty credentials and teaching loads.

READ THE MEMO

READ SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

In a statement to the Digest, officials vowed to protect the integrity of the institution against claims it describes as lies.

“Dillard University is in the process of reviewing Dr. Fugar's correspondence and weighing all of its options, including litigation, to protect its good name and reputation as well as the reputation of our staff, students, and faculty.”

Since 2013, Dillard has not faced accreditation standards sanction for academic impropriety or faculty qualifications. The university was last reaffirmed by SACSCOC in 2020.

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Social movements, not management, are the new standard of HBCU leadership

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Former West Virginia State University President Nicole Pride was forced out of her post last week, shortly after members of her executive cabinet publicly accused her of creating a culture of volatility among her employees.

Pride was at the institution for less than a year. If public letters to board members and street committees are accurate, she’s out…

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Hampton's Kadidja Dosso Talks Winning $250K from Pharrell

The Legal Outlook for COVID on HBCU Campuses This Fall

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White House Senior COVID-19 Equity Policy Advisor Cameron Webb

Virginia State Renames Campus Facilities Named for Confederate Sympathizers, Honors Black Women

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Four buildings on the Virginia State University campus formerly named for sympathizers of the confederacy and discrimination against African Americans have been officially renamed to honor Black women with historic ties as graduates and educators at the institution.

“As an Historically Black University, VSU has always set the tone of celebrating those who came before us to create the legacy that we have today,” said VSU President, Makola M. Abdullah. “ Unveiling names that celebrate and honor amazing black women, especially those who have contributed to our VSU history in such an impactful way, shows that we proudly make space for and celebrate those up-and-coming trailblazers who have in the past, and will in the future, make Virginia State University their home.” 

The renamed facilities were revealed in a ceremony last week on the campus. From a release:

The building formerly known as Vawter Hall is now named Lula Johnson Hall for Virginia State Alumna, Lula Johnson who was the first Black woman to graduate from the University. The formerly named Eggleston Hall is now Lucretia Campbell Hall. Alumna, Lucretia Campbell was the first Black woman faculty at the University.  The new name for the formerly named Trinkle Hall is  Johnnella Jackson Hall. Musician and Civil rights Activist, Johnella Frazer Jackson wrote the music for the Virginia State University’s Alma Mater. The formerly known Byrd Hall is now Otelia Howard Hall. Petersburg native, Otelia Roberta Shields Howard served Virginia State University for more than two decades as a professor, advisor, and a charter member of two organizations on campus. 

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Walter Kimbrough to Resign as Dillard President in 2022

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Walter Kimbrough, one of the highest-profile college presidents in the country elevated by his activity on social media and takes on the intersections of pop culture and higher education, will resign as president of Dillard University effective next May.

“Watching the Olympics also reminds me that the presidency is also a relay. Some are like the swimming relays, where the new swimmer dives right in,” Kimbrough said in a statement issued with the university’s release. “This is what happens when there is a sudden need for a new leader. But ideally, it looks more like a track relay, where the runner with the baton runs at full speed and the next runner begins to run in the transition zone so that when the baton is passed in the zone they are both running. Only after the exchange can the previous runner slow down.”

Kimbrough was appointed in 2012 to lead the private liberal arts institution in New Orleans. Under his leadership, the university experienced gains in philanthropy and public profile, last year breaking its institutional record for single-day philanthropy.

Enrollment at the institution remained relatively stable, with fall total headcount standing at 1,307 during his first year in office, and 1,225 in 2019, the last year of reported statistics offered by the U.S. Department of Education.

“Walter is an innovative leader who has made an indelible impact on Dillard University,” said alumnus and board chairman Michael D. Jones. “His commitment to our mission has resulted in significant growth financially, academically, and in the community. I am excited about Dillard’s future as we enter this next era of leadership.”

Last month, Kimbrough joined renowned author Malcolm Gladwell to discuss the frailty and fraud of the U.S. News & World Report annual college rankings, and their specific misrepresentation of historically Black institutions.

Last year, Kimbrough drew national attention as an advocate for Black Americans considering the covid-19 vaccine. He, along with Xavier University President C. Reynold Verret, volunteered in clinical vaccine trials and drew a blend of praise and criticism for their role in encouraging HBCU students and alumni to consider experimental inoculation.

Earlier that year, Kimbrough made headlines for his criticism of Texas Southern University and its handling of former president Austin Lane.

“But let me issue this public warning to anyone who would consider being president at Texas Southern. Stay away until they clean the board,” he wrote in Diverse Issues. Don’t get caught up in the idea of wanting to be a president, because any president working under this board is asking for a tenure filled with micromanaged misery. Chances are you will suffer a similar fate, and there will be no one to advocate on your behalf. Fit is critical to a successful presidency.”

It was his second public criticism of an HBCU board over a four-year period, following an equally scathing 2016 review of the board at Alabama State University.

“As things stand today, there is absolutely no way I would recommend anyone to seek the presidency of Alabama State University. In fact, it could be career suicide. Any time you watch a board take seemingly arbitrary actions, with the students, faculty, staff and alumni rallying together asking for answers and this same board ignoring them, it is troubling, to say the least.”

“Good candidates will talk to respected leaders in the field. Good candidates will read years of news stories in the Advertiser in online archives. And good candidates will realize that their careers are not worth risking for Alabama State. That is a tragedy.”

A month earlier, Kimbrough was at the center of controversy when a political debate featuring former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke drew crowds of protestors to the campus and resulted in dozens of students being pepper-sprayed.

As a fraternity hazing expert Kimbrough has been at the forefront of a number of cases involving severe injury or death resulting from college pledging, including the 2011 death of former Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion.

Kimbrough was an expert witness in the 1998 hazing case of FAMU clarinet player Ivery Luckey, hospitalized for 11 days with kidney failure after he was paddled during an initiation ritual.

“There is a major hazing-culture problem on this campus,” Kimbrough said. “This has to be a wake-up call.”

In 2014, Kimbrough was named Male President of the Year during the annual HBCU Awards held at the campus, and according to his executive biography, has been listed among America’s top Black professionals in industry and pop culture.

His announcement comes more than a week after accusations from a former dean charged Kimbrough and members of the executive team with academic fraud, nepotism, and the provision of false information to accreditors.

HBCU Digest
Dillard Denies Claims of Academic Fraud Made by Former Dean
Officials at Dillard University are denying claims of widespread academic fraud made against the school president and several administrators between 2013 and 2019, and considering legal action against the former faculty member making a public case against the university…
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Good Move from Biden to Include HBCUs in Vaccine Mandate Policy Discussions

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Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick will be part of an executive meeting this afternoon to discuss corporate strategies for vaccine mandates. Howard is one of several HBCUs and a growing number of colleges and universities to require faculty, staff, and students to show proof of vaccination, or be subject to stringent testing and distancing requirements upon their return to campus this fall, or possible termination.

The Biden Administration deserves kudos for having the kinds of conversations that can uplift best practices in places and spaces where vaccinations remain a tough subject to broach with people. Howard is a nearly perfect corporate entity to include in this conversation; the school has been a national leader on covid awareness and vaccination advocacy conversations, with Frederick and HBCU medical school leaders in particular lending voice to the urgency of vaccination to protect against infection in health vulnerable populations.

Washington D.C. stands at a 57% full vaccination rate, seven percent higher than the rate for the United States at large and with a significant number of Black folks who live and work in the city who remain on the fence about the safety or usefulness of getting shots in arms. Even though Howard demands protection, the city around the campus has yet to embrace a similar approach to limiting sickness; this is a topic that Black institutions and Black people need to lead in discussing.

It is also important for Howard to represent the business side of vaccination politics and economics. Employee turnover and vacancies, worker morale, medical and personal leave policies surrounding the question of being or not being vaccinated are critical for all companies, and specifically low-resource historically Black institutions.

If the federal government ties funding for student loans, grants, and programmatic development, the implications of these policies will hit HBCUs differently than many other industries or educational sectors. Being at the table to outline cost-benefit ratios for HBCUs is important on a number of cultural and operational levels.

Howard’s president will represent the institution, but the HBCU role in the conversations well. The advisers and staffers who made that kind of representation possible have the right idea on how to keep promises made during the campaign, and how they can turn into action in the years to come.

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LISTEN: Edward Waters President A. Zachary Faison is Trying to Get Free

What 2020 Census Data Reveals About the Future of HBCU Student Recruitment

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The population of the United States is browner, more metropolitan, and shrinking in numbers according to the 2020 Census data, released earlier this week. The report shows what we’ve all known for the last decade, that the prediction of a minority-white nation in 2045 may arrive sooner than scheduled, based upon the number of American residents who classify as multi-racial.

From the Associated Press:

People who identify as a race other than white, Black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander — either alone or in combination with one of those races — jumped to 49.9 million people, surpassing the Black population of 46.9 million people as the nation’s second-largest racial group, according to the Census Bureau.

So what do the numbers mean for historically Black colleges and universities? Here are four takeaways from the Census data.

  1. HBCUs will have a bigger student pool in their backyards — Southern migration is the new wave according to census data, with ten of the nation’s fastest-growing cities in the south, particularly in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. Costs for recruiting should be easier, out-of-state enrollment a little more manageable, and alumni engagement a little more expected given the growth of population and wealth in unexpected places.

  2. Recruiting adult learners is priority one for HBCUsThe population of adults 18 years or older grew by more than 25 million over the last decade, while the group 18 and young declined by more than 1 million. This suggests that online learning, satellite campuses, flex, and competency-based learning curriculum will be more of a priority for institutions looking to keep pace with enrollment trends among working adults.

  3. HBCUs must immediately get better with multi-cultural recruitment and student engagement — The fastest-growing ethnic groups in the country are, in order, Hispanics, Americans classifying as multi-racial, Black Americans, and Asian-Americans. Recruiting from these groups is one thing, but welcoming, retaining, and graduating them is another. Will HBCUs be able to hire faculty and staff that better reflect the changing demographics? Will students and alumni feel that the ‘HBCU experience’ is being lost with any increases in non-Black student populations?

  4. Watch for redistricting — The new Census data will determine two key things that mean a lot for HBCU student recruitment: where schools will be constructed and students located, and which elected officials will represent redrawn legislative districts. These areas are both meaningful for how HBCUs deploy tuition reduction or scholarship support programs based upon geography, and the priorities that will be set for these programs by the people elected from these districts. It will be up to HBCU students and alumni to advocate for legislative support of HBCU student access development, and HBCU executives to set the details for how these programs function and grow.

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Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell Announces Retirement

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Spelman College President Mary Schmidt Campbell will join a growing list of leaders at historically Black institutions to retire in 2022, with her tenure sealed as one of the most prolific in fundraising and profile building in school history.

“I speak on behalf of the entire Spelman College Board of Trustees when I say we deeply appreciate  Dr. Campbell’s leadership of the Spelman community,” said Rosalind Brewer, Chair of the Spelman College Board of Trustees and CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance. “The Board has enjoyed an endearing and fruitful partnership with Dr. Campbell, making this transition bittersweet. While we understand and accept Dr. Campbell’s assessment that this is the right time to return to retirement, we will greatly miss her impactful and compassionate leadership.” 

Officials say that a national search will identify the next president by the start of the 2022-2023 academic year.

Campbell is the third president to announce retirement plans in the next two years, following Alabama A&M University President Andrew Hugine, who will retire at the end of this year and Hampton University President William R. Harvey.

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The Resurrection of Ghost HBCUs?

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A while ago, I wrote a piece about the survival of ‘ghost HBCUs,’ institutions that had years ago lost accreditation, students, financial stability, and hope within changing geography and economies, but remained open for business.

HBCU Digest
Tracking the Survival of ‘Ghost HBCUs’
Former Winston-Salem State University Chancellor and higher education consultant Alvin Schexnider writes for Inside Higher Education today about the diminishing prospects for some small-sized HBCUs – but his assessment may be less about how HBCUs can move into the future, and more about how institutions cling to the past…
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Today, several of those institutions are hoping to come back to life thanks to renewed interest in Black colleges and debt forgiveness from the federal government.

Morris Brown College has raised money and secured application status with an accreditor decades after losing its membership and the campus falling into disrepair.

HBCU Digest
It's Time to Just Believe in Morris Brown's Big Lie
In 2019, the New York Times profiled the collapse of a chain of for-profit colleges that, before being laid to waste by policies from the U.S. Department of Education four years prior, had allegedly defrauded hundreds of thousands of students out of millions of dollars they paid for non-transferable college credits and useless degrees…
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Knoxville College is looking to reorganize and reestablish membership with an accrediting body and has created a curious relationship with nearby the predominantly white flagship University of Tennessee Knoxville campus.

HBCU Digest
Why is the University of Tennessee Really Partnering with Knoxville College?
Global tech and business development consulting company CGI will open a new domestic delivery hub in Knoxville in the coming years. In exchange for a $27 million investment in the city, the company will create an estimated 300 tech jobs and boost employment opportunities beginning this month…
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Barber-Scotia College is soliciting community feedback on how it should resurface as an institution several years after temporarily closing and reopening again with a handful of students and no eligibility for them to receive federal financial aid.

From the Charlotte Observer:

The Concord Community Vision Input Project surveyed residents about developments they hope to see as part of the college’s revitalization. Questions included what educational programs and community impact facilities should be added to the campus.

The survey gathered responses from 797 participants.

Some 59% believed that a trade school program should be explored while over 60% supported the college creating community-related programs, such as a job training center and mixed-use area for office buildings and residential space.

Accreditation afterlife has yielded a second chance for these institutions, one that draws them closer to eliminating debt and being able to attract students. But it hasn’t brought them closer to solutions that can help them flourish against institutional competition growing stiffer by the semester.

For Barber-Scotia and Knoxville, community members are suggesting that the campuses do something other than jumpstarting their way back into being traditional, private four-year institutions. Morris Brown is going in the opposite direction of that concept, but it, like the others, still faces an uphill battle. Deferred maintenance costs will range in the millions, basic personnel and infrastructure prices can range in the hundreds of thousands, and these are all just to get to the part where they can recruit and retain the hundreds of students they’ll need to remain financially solvent — if they can make it that far.

The quiet element of conversations around all of these campuses is the struggle with the land upon which these campuses were built. In Atlanta, Morris Brown trustees and supporters have fought hard not to cede the acreage to municipal or private developers, ever since their last attempt to do so resulted in a court rejecting the effort.

Despite being sold in 2017 to a China-based investment group, the land of the former Saint Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Va remains a target for community leaders seeking to replace the economic impact the private institution used to yield for local businesses and economy.

It’s smart for Black people, (in this case, HBCU trustees) to hold fast to dreams of using land that was so hard to get hundreds of years ago in the name of emancipation. Today’s economics, zoning rules, and politics make it difficult to do that in any corporate model other than a college, and this is what leads us to the ongoing struggle.

Financial windfall and cultural resonance may resuscitate these institutions but will it help them to eventually thrive? Are we at a point in history where sharing ‘the struggle’ is no longer kindle enough to light people’s interest in our plight or progress?

HBCU Digest
Why HBCU Students Don’t Trust The Media
So many of the connections between black people and the United States are fear-driven, the same fear that drives the success of the news industry. Americans fear violence, poverty, sickness, judgment, and not being free. Black folks fear the exact same things in this world; but we understand, at varying levels, that much of the med……
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How long will we torture these institutions by not fully bringing them back from the dead and not letting them rest in peace?

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A Bad Week For HBCUs in National Media

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Recent coverage of historically Black colleges and universities tells dramatically different stories about how well the sector is doing heading into the fall semester and shed new light on the need for reporters who actually understand higher education and HBCUs in a meaningful way.

One story from Yahoo! News suggests that HBCUs are having an identity crisis because of increasing non-Black student enrollment. The example for the article’s premise; West Virginia State University, one of a handful of HBCUs with predominantly non-Black student enrollment.

Enrollment at HBCUs over the decades has increasingly included non-Black students, federal data shows.

  • In 2018, non-Black students were 24% of enrollment at HBCUs, compared with 15% in 1976.

  • As HBCUs sought out more non-Black students, a handful — such as West Virginia State University and Bluefield State College — became predominantly white, leading to racial tensions.

Another article published by NBC’s Washington D.C. affiliate suggests that HBCUs are having an enrollment explosion, citing growth at Bowie State University and Howard University as case studies on the sector at large.

“Our enrollment continues to rise and increase year over year,” Bowie State University President Aminta Breaux said.

Bowie State expects an 8% increase in overall enrolment this fall.

“We're seeing more students from the West Coast, the Midwest, from the southern states,” Breaux said.

Howard University had a more than 15% enrollment increase last year during the pandemic. The numbers are expected to be even higher this fall.

“This has the potential to be our largest freshman class ever … certainly in the last 30 years,” Howard Provost and Chief Academic Officer Anthony Wutoh said.

This kind of coverage is the best form of disinformation that good intentions and lack of nuance can create. Both stories cite extreme examples of a premise to apply it in ways to suggest that the premise applies to all HBCUs.

It also doesn’t uncover why certain truths in both stories exist. For the identity crisis piece, the reporter doesn’t delve into data about the Black population in the state of West Virginia, which is around 4%, or population loss in the state at large; both of which can significantly impact the racial composition of WVSU’s student body.

It also constructs a dangerous narrative for HBCUs as places where discrimination or segregation should be welcomed as a remedy for racial ills of the past when the schools were never established for that reason. Imagine if this article on fraternities and sororities at the University of Alabama and their struggles to root out racism among members and to be more racially diverse, bore the same headline of having a ‘cultural identity crisis?’

The enrollment explosion piece doesn’t unpack the narrative of the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan corridor, where both Bowie State and Howard are located, as one of the most affluent locales for Black professional families. It also doesn’t examine how the region is one of the most highly vaccinated in the country, which might contribute to more families feeling more comfortable sending students to campus.

Finally, there was a story late last week that reported a strike among faculty at Spelman College protesting on-campus instruction mandates.

Except, it wasn’t really a protest according to one faculty member. A thread:

The “strike” ended shortly after the local and national coverage had spread at best an incomplete story about what was happening at the institution.

These are just a few examples of how certain headlines can create a false sense of the sector’s status, but there are others. MacKenzie Scott’s millions haven’t bailed HBCUs out of financial hardship, Vice-President Kamala Harris’ HBCU ties don’t make millions of African American students want to attend HBCUs, and if HBCUs were a safe space to shield Black folks from racism, they wouldn’t be losing enrollment at a record pace.

HBCUs have enough venerability and vulnerability that it doesn’t have to be manufactured by the press. But when reporters and editors make more of a story than is required, it is extremely difficult for schools to correct the record and even harder to reach audiences with a fact check that were barely checking for the institutions in the first place.

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LISTEN: How Tougaloo College Navigated a Cyberattack

LISTEN: How Alabama A&M Broke Fundraising Records, Into the Beer Business

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Mississippi Valley State University alumnus and Alabama A&M University Vice President for Marketing, Communications and Advancement Archie Tucker discusses the university’s recent record-breaking anonymous gift.

He also shares behind-the-scenes details on how the institution bolstered its revenues with a beer manufacturing deal.

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Trustees at Alabama A&M Owe Everyone a Quality Presidential Search

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Alabama A&M University’s Board of Trustees has announced a slate of finalists to replace outgoing president Andrew Hugine at the end of this year. Philander Smith College President Roderick Smothers, Huston-Tillotson University President Colette Pierce Burnette, and A&M Provost Daniel Wims will be interviewed in the coming days to take the helm of one of the pillars of historically Black land grant and liberal arts education in the south.

A&M is working to replace Hugine’s long-standing leadership not just in institutional management, but in capacity building, research and development, and legislative positioning. For all of the years Hugine spent simultaneously building a school and fighting off public and private attempts from the governor’s office to thwart that work, those efforts are likely to be immediately rejuvenated upon Hugine’s departure.

HBCU Digest
Alabama Governor’s Attack on HBCUs Must Be Stopped
Black folks generally accept that we have to play by a different set of rules just to get by, but there comes a point where we have to warn the powers that be that we notice the blatant and the covert efforts to keep us marginalized. And sometimes, we have to show that we’re just not going to sit back and take it…
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The impact this particular search will have on the sector cannot be understated. What AAMU trustees do in the next few days in listening to state lawmakers, outside influencers or interlopers, or in prioritizing their own politics will not only shape the identity of the institution, but it will level set how similar searches will be conducted by states and their public HBCUs throughout the south.

We’ve already seen an HBCU land-grant subsector threatened in the last two years by leadership instability in varying forms. While Alabama A&M is a part of those presidential defections, its forthcoming transition doesn’t appear to be a casualty of politics or political jockeying.

HBCU Digest
Is HBCU Land Grant Leadership in Crisis?
Southern University System President Ray Belton announced today his plans to retire in fall 2022. Belton has served as system CEO and chancellor of the flagship Baton Rouge campus since 2014 and has a total of 21 years in system leadership. His departure seems natural given his length of service and the pressure associated with running the nation’s only……
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Trustees would be wise to keep it that way. They have to be intentional about keeping waymakers’ expectations within the proper context of the school’s ultimate roadmap for success. They have to be diligent about carefully matching the campus’ needs with the skills and experiences of their finalists.

They must avoid the temptation to use the presidency as a colorful chip in a covert game of financial benefit, fraternal favors, or other standards of evaluation that have nothing to do with who can be a long-term leadership asset to this institution.

To the untrained eye, this list of finalists looks like a carefully curated group reflecting diverse experiences, gender equity, and executive backgrounds which all could suit Alabama A&M well in its hopes for growth. To those of us who know how searches work and the usual suspects who tend to interfere in them, the list looks like it is set up for a preferred candidate to be selected for reasons that are beyond what is actually good for AAMU.

Regardless of which view is accurate, everyone with eyes on Alabama will believe that its process could and should work in places like Orangeburg, Baton Rouge, and other cities where other flagship HBCUs will likely have leadership transitions in the next 2-4 years. If the Alabama A&M search concludes with an outcome that people even assume to be biased, compromised, or done without the best interest of the campus in mind, it will punch holes in the credibility of the incoming president and will create an environment for people to believe that other HBCU searches can be exercises in gamesmanship.

In many ways, the HBCU sector is a constant, unwilling contestant on the regrettable game show, ‘what happens to one happens to us all.’ What AAMU trustees do next is bigger than what is to come in Huntsville; they should be mindful that all of us are looking to them and expecting that they will look out for the rest of us in the form of managing a responsible search.

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