Involvement, Interaction, and Satisfaction: The Human Environment at HBCUs

Recent court decisions and legislative actions have called into question the continued existence of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as institutions with the primary mission of serving the nation's African American community (United States v. Fordice, 1992). While these challenges to the unique character of HBCUs have taken many forms, a primary area of contention has been the racial/ethnic composition of HBCUs' student bodies. These schools are coming under increasing pressure to reconfigure their enrollment policies to include more non-African Americans (Mixon et al., 1995; St. John, 1998; St. John & Hossler, 1998). When [End Page 331] one considers the mounting challenges to educational equity for African Americans and other students of color posed by changes in admissions policies in an ever-growing portion of the United States, including California, Washington, Florida, and those states affected by the Hopwood v. Texas (1996) decision, it seems likely that HBCUs will become ever more important sources of educational opportunity for African-American students. Thus, HBCUs will likely become more important at the very time they face increasing threats to their very existence and missions. A better understanding of the means by which these institutions achieve success with their student population becomes vital.