Chapter 10: The Tale of Two Institutions: An Examination on White Student Engagement on Public HBCU campuses

Student enrollments at historically Black colleges and universities (HB-CUs) have become increasingly diverse over the past 3 decades (American Association of University Professors [AAUP], 2007; Libarkin, 1984; Standley, 1978). While HBCUs have historically been predominantly, if not exclusively Black, many of these institutions have reported increasing numbers of non-Black students on campus, including White, Latina/o, and international students (Allen & Jewell, 2002; Brown 2002; Nahal, 2009). Public HBCUs have attracted higher enrollments due to mandates stemming from both federal and state desegregation laws. As a result of the 1972 Adams v. Richardson case, public HBCUs and their predominantly White institution (PWI) counterparts were mandated to establish policies for increasing campus diversity. States in which public institutions were located were accountable for ensuring the dismantling of dual systems of higher education, diversifying student and faculty bodies, and funding capital improvement projects (Brown et al., 2004).