Opportunities and Challenges at Historically Black Colleges and Universities This page intentionally left blank 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. This page intentionally left blank 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