Opportunities and Challenges at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

305 Pages·2014·1.804 MB·English

by  Marybeth Gasman, Felecia Commodore (eds.)

Opportunities and Challenges at Historically

Black Colleges and Universities
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Opportunities and Challenges
at Historically Black Colleges
and Universities
Edited by
Marybeth Gasman
and
Felecia Commodore
ISBN 978-1-349-50267-7 ISBN 978-1-137-48041-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-48041-5
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES AT HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Copyright © Marybeth Gasman and Felecia Commodore, 2014.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-48040-8
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–1–137–48040–8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gasman, Marybeth.
Opportunities and challenges at historically black colleges and u niversities /
Marybeth Gasman and Felecia Commodore.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–1–137–48040–8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. African American universities and colleges. 2. African Americans—
Education (Higher) I. Commodore, Felecia. II. Title.
LC278.G37 2014
378.7308996073—dc23 2014023454
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: November 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to the students, faculty, and staff at Historically
Black Colleges and Universities across the nation.
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C O N T E N T S

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Marybeth Gasman and Felecia Commodore
Part I Pipelines and Plans
One Black Colleges, Media, and the Power of Storytelling 11
Quinton Stroud
Two Spelman College: A Case Study of Student Retention
Strategies 27
Sakinah I. Rahman
Three The Crisis: Decreasing Male Enrollment at HBCUs 39
Matthew Nelson and Phillip Scotton
Four Three Layers of Underrepresentation: Academic
Pipeline Issues for African Americans 57
Ufuoma Abiola
Five White Faces in Black Places: HBCUs and the White
Faculty Experience 75
Atiya Strothers
Six HBCU Young Alumni: Paying It Forward 89
Brandy Jackson and Jacqueline Amparo
Part II People and Programs
Seven E xpanding the HBCU Legacy: Enrolling and
Supporting the Rising Latino Population 107
Paola Esmieu and Andrew Martinez
viii Contents
Eight B eyond the Fifth Quarter: The Influence of
HBCU Marching Bands 129
Yulanda Essoka
Nine Study Abroad at HBCUs: Challenges, Trends,
and Best Practices 139
Sarah Mullen
Ten L GBT Centers on HBCU Campuses: Bowie
State University 165
Joseph Barone
Eleven Leveraging Honors Programs at HBCUs 181
Channing Johnson and Tyree Williams
Twelve Black Greek Fraternity Experiences on
Predominantly White and Historically Black
Campuses: A Comparison 201
Dennis Daly
Part III Purpose and Philosophy
Thirteen Black Lesbian Identity at HBCUs 219
Alexandra Iannucci
Fourteen Not in My Backyard: Puritan Morality versus
Puritan Mercantilism and Its Impact on HBCUs 235
Tiffany N. Decker
Fifteen Searching for Whitley Gilbert: Pluralism, Belles,
Bourgeoisie Activism, and HBCUs 253
Christian Edge
Sixteen A Place at the Table: Etiquette and Invalidation
in the Quest for Cultural Capital at Spelman
College 269
Tiffany N. Decker
List of Contributors 295
Index 297
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

I am grateful and in awe of the students that participated in our Black
college seminar. They worked hard to understand the issues surround-
ing Black colleges and to create new knowledge. It is because of them
that Felecia and I were able to bring this book together.
I would also like to thank Felecia for being an excellent coeditor. I
look forward to seeing Felecia develop as a scholar, professor, and even-
tually president of a Black college. She has tremendous skills.
Many people helped with putting this book together including
Melanie Wolff, Audrey Wilson, Thai-Huy Nguyen, and Tope Ligali. I
am thankful to each of them for their hard work. I am also grateful to
the entire staff at the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions as
they provide support across every dimension.
Last, I want to thank my best friend Nelson Bowman for his support
during the editing of this book and my daughter Chloe who thinks that
I can do only great things in life. What a motivation!
Marybeth Gasman
Philadelphia, PA
All of the students who contributed chapters have pushed my thinking
about various HBCU subjects, and have made me a better scholar by
being awesome scholars themselves. This has been a great experience
and I am excited about the conversations this book will spark.
I want to thank Marybeth Gasman for giving me the opportunity to
be a coeditor with her on this project. She continues to be a great men-
tor, guide, and example of greatness in higher education. I would also
like to acknowledge my parents, Bedelia and Franklin Commodore Jr.,
my sisters, Angie and Yura, my niece, Michaela, nephews, Michael and
Brian, and Godchildren, C.J. and Sydnee, who I work hard to make