Few institutions have embodied African-American history as completely as Wilberforce University. Established before the Civil War, the nation's oldest private Black college was a powerful focal point in the struggle for equality and served as a destination point on the Ohio Underground Railroad. Closed briefly during the Civil War, officials with…

It's not surprising that urban colleges and universities with large commuter populations are among the most racially and ethnically diverse of all U.S. campuses. Many of those campuses have struggled over the years to fully appreciate and accommodate that student diversity by providing adequate academic and social support. That support includes a…

More black leaders are making the deliberate choice to serve historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). However, black leaders whose careers have been mainly at black schools find it nearly impossible to attain leadership positions at either majority white schools or national higher education organizations. Controversy over the issue…

Discusses recent high-profile appointments of Black presidents at predominantly White colleges and explores the issue of a two-track system in which leaders of historically Black colleges are not considered to be in the same candidate pool as Whites or Blacks who have served at White colleges. Also explores the goals of Black colleges that have…

From her late teenage years as a civil rights activist to an interim presidency at Howard University, Dr. Joyce A. Ladner has lived as heroic and accomplished a life as any scholar of her generation. A 1964 graduate of Tougaloo College, Ladner, in her college days, with her sister, Dorie Ladner, and other students from the Student Nonviolent…

Discusses the career paths of several black and other college presidents, focusing on how they rebounded from firings or forced resignations. Considers political and other issues that particularly affect minority presidents of community and private colleges, as well as the importance of the fit between institution and president. (DB)

Under the leadership of President David H. Swinton, Benedict College (North Carolina) has provided leadership and support for local economic development, benefitting both the community and the school. Trustees invested college endowment funds to help save the sole black-owned banking institution in the state, which now promises to become a…

William P. Hytche opened a successful campus diner at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore while a faculty member. Later, as chancellor, he expanded the historically black university substantially to keep it from merging, becoming a community college, or closing, and garnered support in surrounding communities. The retiring administrator has…