Changing Pathways of Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Any Place for Afrocentric Ideas?

• In Event: U.S. Higher Ed: A Peculiar Institution

Abstract

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are not only distinctive in America’s higher education landscape, but their special role in providing educational opportunities for many Black Americans who have historically been marginalized cannot be underestimated. While many have continued to applaud HBCUs for their extraordinary contributions to the upward mobility of Black communities, these institutions continue to face many challenges and changing trends or pathways since their establishment. These challenges and changing dynamics such as funding issues, student recruitment/retention, faculty composition, the debates on their reliance on Eurocentric ideas/ethos and their future prospects deserve further scholarly inquiry. To enhance our understanding of these issues, the chapter will examine the changing pathways of HBCUs and the question of whether Afrocentric or African-centered ideas/ethos are intentionally being integrated into their changing pathways. The research question of interest becomes: Is there any place for Afrocentric or African-centered ideas/ethos in the changing pathways of HBCUs?

Author

• Felix Kumah-Abiwu, Kent State University