Chapter 12: Black Undergraduates at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Multiple Identities

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were established to challenge the general practice of exclusion based on racial discrimination that kept Blacks from accessing education. In fact, in 1856, Wilberforce University, the first college owned and operated by Blacks and founded by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, began its mission to educate all Black people (Ashley, Williams, & Ingrum, 2004). Today higher education institutions, whether historically Black or White, are challenged to be more inclusive of individuals of diverse racial, ethnic, class, gender, and religious backgrounds.

In the past 40 years, scholars have conducted a myriad of research on HBCUs. We know a considerable amount about the experiences of students both inside and outside of the classroom (Allen, Epps, & Haniff, 1991; Fleming, 1984). We know about the differences between the experiences of Blacks at HBCUs and those at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). For example, Black students at HBCUs have more opportunities to engage with faculty members than their counterparts at PWIs (Bridges, Nelson Laird, Morelon-Quainoo, Williams, & Holmes, 2007). We know that Black women account for much of the academic success at HBCUs (Lundy-Wagner & Gasman, 2011); however, Black men are not more academically successful at HBCUs than they are at PWIs. Both institutional types need to concentrate their efforts on empowering Black men. We know that HBCUs tend to be conservative institutions that rarely have services for gay and lesbian students and sometimes foster hostile environments in which these students strive to learn (Harper & Gasman, 2009). Unfortunately, we know almost nothing about class issues (i.e., SES) at HBCUs as researchers have focused their efforts on studying race while ignoring its intersection with class. Overall, little to no research has examined the intersection of identities, including race, class, gender, sexuality, and religion on the experiences of Black undergraduate students, particularly those at HBCUs.