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In the context of ongoing antagonism on college campuses, attacks on Critical Race Theory, and widespread backlash against racial justice initiatives, this paper underscores the growing need to recognize co-optation and other counterinsurgent strategies used against racial justice to make room for transformative scholarship. By presenting qualitative interviews from 15 white HBCU students, we illustrate how diversity research, advocacy, and organizing previously used to advocate for racial justice has instead constructed distorted understandings of race and racism and has been used to expand ideologies of whiteness. The findings show what CRT scholars have cautioned about for decades—when left uninterrupted, ahistorical approaches to racial diversity programming and research may lend to the co-optation of justice-focused diversity language and the appropriation of BIPOC strategies of resistance. This not only inhibits and detracts from racial justice work, but can function to expand white supremacy. We relate these narratives to an emerging racial backlash whereby white people attempt to distort understandings of structural racism to claim a “persecuted” status—a delusion that we argue warrants a new ideological frame. We posit this work lays the foundation for advancing equity in one of the most counterinsurgent eras in higher education (Matias &amp, Newlove, 2017).

The prevailing theories of student persistence have been developed in Predominantly White Institutional (PWI) contexts. The extent to which these theories—in whole or in part—apply to Minority Serving Institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) has not been studied in depth. This study tests a PWI-based theory of student persistence in residential colleges and universities at two residential HBCUs. Four-hundred and fifty-one residential students completed a survey testing the theory, and then administrative data were used to link student persistence data. Findings suggest that theories developed at PWIs—such as the model tested in this study—hold salience for understanding student persistence at Minority Serving Institutions such as HBCUs. However, a complete picture of student persistence at HBCUs may benefit from the addition of HBCU-specific constructs and models.

While research has shown that the racial diversity of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is increasing, the efforts of student affairs professionals to foster racial inclusivity are under examined. This case study discusses findings from student affairs professionals at one HBCU to understand what they are doing to foster a supportive environment for non-Black students. Findings presented in this article are critical as HBCUs seek to increase the racial diversity of their student bodies.

This qualitative study contributes an original holistic understanding of the perceptions and experiences of non-Black students (e.g., Asian American, Latino, and White) as they matriculate into historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), persist to graduation, and reflect on their experiences as graduates at HBCUs. Findings from this study confirm, challenge, and extend existing research regarding the preenrollment experience, institutional experience, and culminating outcomes of non-Black students enrolled in HBCUs. Implications are offered for researchers, practitioners, and current and future non-Black HBCU students.

This chapter closely examines trends in White student enrollment at 4-year HBCUs between 1987 and 2012 and discusses the implications of those trends for policy, practice, and future research.

Drawing from the qualitative tradition of narrative inquiry, and situated in an online learning environment at a historically Black college or university, this study explores the potential transformative impact of an original teaching philosophy from the perspectives of a tenure-track assistant professor and four former, nontraditional undergraduate students of age 28–62. We use our experiences to investigate (a) how we made practical meaning of the teaching philosophy? (b) what we learned about ourselves? and ultimately (c) whether we might have been (trans)formed in the process? When analyzed through the framework of Jack Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning, our narratives offer evidence of transformative learning that is at least incremental in nature.

This chapter focuses on effective leadership at one group of minority-serving institutions (MSIs), historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). We discuss two areas of HBCU senior leadership: chief student affairs officers (CSAOs), especially those who occupy an executive role in the president's cabinet, and the presidents themselves. The chapter advances a working conceptual model of highly effective CSAO leadership for HBCUs, and makes the argument that current and aspiring HBCU presidents can draw important insights from the model. A small number of reputed HBCU presidents have emerged from student affairs. The chapter begins with a brief review of the relevant literature regarding senior student affairs and presidential leadership at HBCUs. The consensus of the academic and trade literature is that student affairs leadership is a dynamic enterprise requiring intentional development. A reader can see how an HBCU student affairs division can be a proving ground for an HBCU presidency.

This conceptual study builds an institution-focused, non-Eurocentric, theoretical framework of black college student success. Specifically, the study synthesizes the relevant empirical research on the contributions historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have made for black student success, leading to an original model that all institutions can adapt to their contexts. Significantly, this is the first HBCU-based theoretical model to appear in the academic literature. The study concludes with several implications for research and practice, including testing the model and using it in institutional planning.

With the general practice of online teaching still in relative infancy, nuanced approaches for teaching target populations such as black students are especially scarce. This article submits a theoretical framework for approaching the activity of teaching black students online using a transformative, postmodern pedagogy that is sensitive to black learning styles. It also offers practical suggestions for course design and deployment in online religion courses. In the interest of providing an optimal learning experience for every student, all instructors are encouraged to consider the race and culture variable in their online teaching, whether their roster contains one black student or many.

Drawing from the non-Eurocentric and Afrocentric approach of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the authors advance the first HBCU-based learning communities model in the literature to date. The model combines institution-level assets and inputs with student-level assets and inputs to foster a supportive learning community environment that is consistent with HBCU tradition and postmodern organization. Implications for practice and research conclude the chapter, with an emphasis on preparing HBCUs to meet relevant challenges and opportunities.

A frequent theme in the literature on historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is their supportive and nurturing environment. Despite the consistency of this theme, less research has provided context about some of the contemporary experiences of Black men at HBCUs. This information is critical because many Black colleges, much like their predominantly White institutional counterparts, have high Black male attrition rates. This article seeks to help Black colleges reduce attrition among Black males by using empirical literature specifically focused on Black men at HBCUs to inform a model of retention and persistence for this student demographic. In addition to fully contextualizing the model, this article concludes by discussing implications for future research on Black men at HBCUs.