Purpose, Service, and the Common Good: Why Higher Ed Professionals Choose HBCUs

In honor of Black History Month, HigherEdJobs recently spoke with a group of current and former presidents of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Here, they share insights on why HBCUs are an important part of the academic landscape, the challenges and opportunities at these institutions, and why others might consider a career at an HBCU.

Kelly Cherwin, HigherEdJobs: HBCUs play a vital role in higher education and society. From your perspective, what makes them such an essential part of the academic landscape?

John Silvanus Wilson, Jr., former president of Morehouse College: HBCUs are an essential part of the academic landscape for reasons that have yet to go viral. That sounds strange, but it’s true. To really understand it, consider some of the history behind the assertion. HBCUs share a common, equity-centric legacy with three remarkable institutions, often referred to as “the abolitionist colleges.” That distinctive group includes Oberlin College, Berea College, and New York Central College. They made unique contributions during the antebellum period, yet not merely by assuming an anti-slavery posture, like a number of other institutions that rarely, if ever, enrolled students other than white males. Beyond simply objecting to the visible and stark inhumanity of human enslavement, the abolitionist colleges aggressively enrolled and hired African Americans and women, thereby making their on-campus experiences a model for the pluralistic America they wanted to see. And even though each of them persisted in this enlightened mode for only a decade or two before those values faded, their impact was poignant.

Similarly, by the time HBCUs entered the landscape on the heels of emancipation, it was already clear that they could not be like everyone else. They, too, chose to educate differently, guided by an equity imperative. The essence of their abiding value resides in that crucial difference. After spending decades waging a foundational war against illiteracy and poverty, they then began building enough of a Black middle class to enter the legal and social service professions to take on the larger battle against marginality or systemic racism. Their work culminated when their graduates served as the primary authors of a scaled Civil Rights Movement that fundamentally changed the quality of life for the least well-served Americans.

The secret formula, still yet to be emulated by the rest of American higher education, was to educate people to have a dual competency — that is, beyond being equipped for the kind of employment that yields material success, they also armed graduates with an outlook that compelled critical masses of them to pursue social justice. In other words, HBCUs were uniquely able to educate thousands of people with what I refer to as both “a skill set for a better me” and “a mindset for a better we.”

That dual competency is desperately needed in today’s world, where the quest to join an exclusive aristocracy seems far more coveted by many undergraduates than the more noble quest to perfect an inclusive democracy.

Charlie Nelms, former chancellor of North Carolina Central University: While there are numerous reasons why HBCUs are an essential part of the academic landscape, four reasons stand out, among others. First, they still graduate a disproportionate number of Black students in law, medicine, engineering, medicine, and other areas. Second, compared to other institutions, a disproportionate number of HBCU graduates pursue PhDs and professional master’s and doctoral degrees. Third, HBCUs are disproportionately engines of social mobility for Pell-eligible and first-generation graduates. Fourth, they are engines of economic stability and cultural outlets for the communities in which they are located.

Morakinyo A.O. Kuti, president of Central State University: I believe that fit with an institution is a strong predictor of student success in higher education. Therefore, students need a place that provides an environment where they can flourish to achieve their goals. Too many students come from socioeconomic backgrounds that have not allowed them to find their path. Please note that this includes all income groups, not just lower-income citizens or underrepresented individuals. HBCUs provide a unique nurturing space for individuals to achieve their goals based on our history of welcoming individuals who were not welcome at other institutions.

Cynthia Jackson Hammond, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation: HBCUs are America’s assets for American citizens. These designated institutions historically and currently are changing the trajectory for thousands of students who seek to expand their academic experiences and careers. HBCUs have never been a segregated enterprise…opening their gates to anyone who values diversity of experiences, intellectual progression, and cultural empowerment. HBCUs provide spaces for students, faculty, and staff to challenge societal misrepresentations, stereotypes, and biases for the purpose of enriching the common good. HBCUs are the foundations for truth, academic integrity, and self-growth.

Cherwin: What motivated you to pursue a career at an HBCU, and how has it shaped your professional and personal growth?

Wilson: I was inspired to pursue a career in the HBCU sector because my experience in higher ed showed me how much better the world would be if more students emerged from campuses with goals and ambitions that are more ecocentric than egocentric. In my view, that requires more educational leaders to reshape and enhance their campus cultures, curricula, and communications using what I call “an HBCU mindset.”

As an undergraduate, I attended Morehouse College, which, despite being under-resourced, still cared enough to emphasize shaping graduates to be ecocentric, defined broadly as caring about overall human wellness — from the physical condition of the planet to the social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and financial condition of its inhabitants. Thus, the aforementioned dual competency was essential. Then, I attended Harvard University for my advanced degrees, and it was a very different experience. Compared to Morehouse, while Harvard was very well-resourced, it was without a detectable institutional focus on preparing people to advance the common good. Hence, closing the resource gap between the Harvards of the world and the Morehouses of the world began to drive my ambition.

Frankly, it was pretty easy for me to imagine how much better off the world would be if we somehow convinced the philanthropic community to channel more resources to campuses that are more explicitly preparing people to be better citizens. Both my personal and professional growth have been defined by the question of how best to position our educational experiences to result in a demonstrably better world. Too few of us are asking that question, and the consequences of our negligence are increasingly apparent. HBCUs did a lot of things right, and the HBCU mindset is largely responsible for some of the most measurable enhancements of American democracy. What many HBCUs did, and what some continue to do, remains worthy of replication to this day.

Nelms: Although I am a proud HBCU graduate who spent the overwhelming majority of my career at PWIs, my goal was always to end my career as chief executive officer at an HBCU and to use everything I learned on my leadership journey to enhance HBCU excellence, responsiveness, and competitiveness. As an HBCU undergraduate, the values of service and uplift to our community were emphasized by faculty and staff and embraced by members of the student body. These values served as the guiding compass of my 50+ year career in higher education.

Kuti: Faith and purpose. I came to Central State University as a student from Nigeria through special circumstances and came as an employee four years after graduation and never left because every day I see the transformative power of education. I am committed to improving myself because the better I am, the better I can advance CSU’s mission.

Jackson Hammond: My parents were graduates of a prestigious HBCU. They and their friends who were also part of the Black intelligentsia provided excellent models of service and commitment to equity and social justice. My generation wanted to continue that rich legacy. Although my career was scattered among institutions from every part of this country and at different types of intuitions, there was and is an incredibly special passion for HBCUs. Their historic mission was and is, today, more relevant than ever before.

Cherwin: Every institution faces challenges, but many at HBCUs see them as opportunities for innovation and impact. What are some unique challenges HBCUs navigate, and how do faculty and staff work together to turn them into strengths?

Wilson: I am inclined to bring a wide lens to this question. One of the biggest, most persistent headwinds still facing too many HBCUs is the challenge to provide a competitive education while being disadvantaged by having what are often relatively uncompetitive learning environments. The public HBCU learning environments predictably struggle more than their predominantly white counterparts simply because a tradition of unlawful state funding has authored and preserved two very unequal systems — one Black, one white. Similarly, private philanthropists have consistently provided both private and public HBCUs with small doses of transactional, rather than transformational, investments despite the extensive HBCU record of pro-America outcomes. Conditions have worsened because we are now in an era of billion-dollar capital campaigning by many campuses, causing the gaps to persist and widen. Only six HBCUs have completed capital campaigns with goals in excess of $100 million. And while the most competitive universities raise over $1 billion annually, the 100 HBCUs each raise an average $3 million to $4 million annually. How do highly productive yet undervalued HBCU campuses clarify their value proposition under these circumstances?

Navigating unequal conditions in an unshakably inequitable world is the biggest challenge. HBCUs have had to navigate precarity for far too long. And while many people simply applaud HBCUs for their annual miracle of producing scores of consequential graduates while “doing so much with so little,” I see that as a lack of imagination on the part of those who make those observations. Instead of admiring HBCUs for their considerable grit, imagine if the most productive HBCUs received their fair share from the state governments, as well as the elusive transformational investments from private philanthropists. In other words, what if the key decision-makers who control public and private wealth began to reward institutions with outcomes more explicitly aligned with the common good?

I firmly believe there is unharvested abundance in funneling more capital to campuses that emphasize character development.

Nelms: To be sure, all institutions face challenges, but there are two that I believe threaten the long-term sustainability of small private HBCUs, no matter how assiduously faculty and staff work together in an attempt to turn those challenges into opportunities. First and foremost is the high level of dependence on tuition and fee revenue for all aspects of institutional operations. This issue is further exacerbated by the high level of financial need of the overwhelming majority of students, the “discount level” required to attract and retain students, and the lack of strong endowments. Second is the challenges associated with curating a consistently high-quality curricular and student-life experience that contemporary college and university students expect, deserve, and demand and that figure prominently in student retention and graduation rates. The area in which I would observe that many small private HBCUs have successfully succeeded in navigating the challenges is in doubling down on strengthening the culture of caring that many students are seeking.

Kuti: The inadequate resources at HBCUs force employees to take on additional roles or operate without adequate backup that would be present in other institutions. The reality of taking on additional responsibilities allows faculty and staff to see things from other perspectives and enables them to assist students outside of their official job description.

Jackson Hammond: Misinformation and misrepresentations of HBCUs are challenging. Faculty and staff are professionals and have learned not to be distracted by the “noise.” They are unapologetically dedicated, proud, and determined to provide pathways to innovation and student success.

Cherwin: What opportunities and challenges do HBCUs present in regard to the professional and personal growth of faculty and staff?

Wilson: For years, many HBCUs have excelled at nurturing campus cultures wherein students experience faculty and staff as “a family.” That phenomenon is real, and so is the magic of it. A disproportionate number of students who emerge from HBCUs remain loyal as alumni for that very reason. This dynamic is also key to the personal and professional growth of the faculty and staff because it is at the root of why so many HBCU professionals align themselves with and invest in the institutional agenda beyond their personal or career agenda. The net effect of that is profound. It is logical that students who truly feel like they belong on a campus tend to perform better academically. Similarly, many HBCUs tend to get better performance from faculty and staff who feel like they belong and are invested in a clear institutional mission. Simply put, meaning matters.

Nelms: Title III funding, via the U.S. Department of Education, has allowed all fund recipients to strengthen both the academic credentials of faculty and the skills of staff, spanning a period of more than four decades. Among the positive features of the program is that each institution gets to determine the focus of the expenditures. Recognizing the importance of faculty to student success, a decade ago, my spouse and I endowed a faculty professional development fund at a small liberal arts HBCU in our home state. To provide maximum flexibility to campus leaders, we abstained from being overly explicit in specifying how the funds would be used.

Kuti: I wouldn’t know. I have spent all my higher education career at CSU. I do understand that HBCUs have budget limitations and cannot offer faculty and staff all the professional development they would like.

Jackson Hammond: Every HBCU has some form of Teacher and Learning Center for professional growth and development.

Cherwin: How have HBCUs contributed to shaping leaders in higher education, and what role do faculty and staff play in that legacy?

Nelms: Servant leadership has been a guiding HBCU tenet since the founding of the first HBCU, Lincoln University, in 1854. Whether private or public, leadership development has been a major part of both the formal and informal HBCU curriculum. The biggest role faculty and staff play in shaping leaders are twofold: sponsorship and mentorship! I never could or would have become chancellor of three different universities without the unswerving support of the faculty at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, my alma mater, nearly 60 years ago!

Kuti: [Faculty and staff play a role by] discovering and nurturing students inside and outside the classroom.

Cherwin: What are some signs that a career at an HBCU could be a good fit for someone?

Nelms: If individual and institutional impact outweigh one’s desire to work at a well-resourced institution with all the bells and whistles, an HBCU should definitely be on an aspiring faculty member or administrator’s radar. Because of the positive impact I believed I could have on the long-term success of an HBCU, on two occasions in my career, I took a salary cut to work at an HBCU. What I gained in personal and professional satisfaction far outweighed the salary differential.

Kuti: If one truly understands the transformative power of education and is willing to provide opportunities for any and all individuals willing to work hard and learn, then you will succeed at an HBCU!

Jackson Hammond: A career at an HBCU should not be viewed any differently than at a non-HBCU. If you are qualified and meet the criteria for excellence in teaching, scholarship, and research, an aspiring faculty or staff member should consider applying. Many HBCUs are land-grant institutions that foster research, advancements in teaching methodologies, and community service. There are no shortcuts at an HBCU. These institutions are serious about their work and their promise to students, families, and communities to provide institutional and programmatic quality assurances.