The Black

Campus

Movement:

African

American

collegians’ fight

for equality in

Historically

Black Colleges

and Universities

Gissel Lopez

May 06, 2013

Statement of Purpose

This paper will study the history of African American students in higher

education and the issues they faced in HBCUs. This research study will

also look into the manifestations that sparked the Black Campus

Movement and its implications on HBCUs. Finally, this study will

provide implications this era has had on higher education today.

Research Question:

What were the challenges faced by African American students and

Historically Black Colleges and Universities alike that brought about the

Black Campus Movement?

Literature

Review

Information for this research paper were formulated from the following sources:

• College graduation rates: where Black students do the best and where they fare poorly

compared to their White peers. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education

• Cozzens, L. (June 29, 1998). Brown v. The Board of Education.

• Harris, R. P., Worthen, H. D. (March 1, 2004). Working through the challenges: struggle

and resilience within the historically Black land grant institutions. Education, 124(3)

• Lawson, J., ‘‘Statement of Purpose,’’ 17 April 1960, SNCCP-GAMK.

• National Park Service. (2013). Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

• North Carolina History Project. (2013). Greensboro sit-in.

• Redd, K. E. (June 1, 1998). Historically Black

• Rogers, I. H. (2012). The Black campus movement: Black students and the racial

reconstitution of higher education, 1965-1972. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan

• The Martin Luther King Papers Project. (2013). Student Nonviolent Coordinating

Committee (SNCC).

Major

themes

gathered

from the

sources:

Historically Black colleges and Universities, as defined by federal law, are institutions

whose priority is the servicing of African Americans.

Their first beginnings were in the 1800s, around the Civil War years where African

Americans were facing uncertainty as they were no longer slaves but freed citizens

allowed to attain the same rights awarded to their White counterpart.

Institutions that opened up around this time were mostly private, nonprofit

institutions, receiving absolutely no funding from the state government. It was not

until the first of the Morrill Acts that granted land for the development of public

institutions to serve the African American population.

Out of these land grants came the creation of Historically Black Colleges and

Universities. HBCUs came across new challenges in the 1950s and the 1960s that

forever changed not just HBCUs, but higher education in the United States.

Literature

Review

Cont.: The Black

Campus

Movement

Timeline

The Black Campus Movement

could be said to have been paved

by the landmark United States

Supreme Court Case of Brown v.

Board of Education. In 1954, a

class action suit was filed by

numerous parents in the town of

Topeka, Kansas that called for the

school district to reverse its policy

on racial segregation On May 17,

1954, the U.S. Supreme Court

ruled in favor of Brown allowing

desegregation of public schools.

On September, 1954, nine African

American students tried to enroll in

Little Rock High School in

Arkansas. After much disturbance and

failed attempts to get these students

enrolled, President Eisenhower stepped

in by sending over the 101st Airborne

Division paratroopers to command the

Arkansas National Guard to surround

the school and preserve their safety .

Under the protection, these nine

students enrolled and finished out the

school year.

On February 1, 1960, four African

American freshmen students from

the North Carolina Agricultural and

Technical State University

meticulously planned a sit in at the

Greensboro, North Carolina

Woolworth store. Soon after,

students across the state were sitting

in on lunch counters in various

department store chains. This

ultimately forced Woolworth and

other establishments to change their

segregationist policies.

In 1961, a group of college

students, both black and white,

traveled to the Deep South of

Mississippi and Alabama to test

the federal rulings stating the

unconstitutional segregation of

interstate bus and rail

stations. The group became

known as the Freedom

Riders. As a result, interstate

travel desegregation laws were

enforced.

In Jackson State University, where

a group of Jackson police and state

patrolmen stormed to the school

after a daylong of disorderly and

riots and open fire to students and

dorms killing two and injuring

numerous others. This incident

was believed to have been one of

the causes of the demise of the

Black Campus Movement as the

level of activism had dramatically

dropped by the fall of 1970.

The fall of 1972, Southern University

in Louisiana saw themselves in the

mist of yet another protest, this time to

get rid of President G. Leon

Netterville After Netterville’s refusal to

resign, students marched through the

streets demanding that the state house

interfere and get him out of office. A

failed attempt found them back at the

campus where they were met by a

wave of sheriffs and state troopers.

This fateful standoff resulted in the

deaths of a couple of students.

Conclusion

As student affairs professionals, we need to be:

• Sympathetic and empathetic of this phenomenon as it would make us more

competent to service this population in a higher education setting and

throughout.

• Gain an understanding and knowledge of the different circumstances that get in

the way of a student’s education.

• Understand the societal struggles that decreases a student’s chances of success

• Ensure a smooth transition of African Americans into higher education

• Act as advocates to ensure proper treatment and representation of all minority

groups are visibly present

References: Anonymous. (October 1, 2009). College graduation rates: where Black students do the best and where they fare poorly compared

to their White peers. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. Retrieved March 15, 2013 from

http://www.jbhe.com/features/65_gradrates.html

Harris, R. P., Worthen, H. D. (March 1, 2004). Working through the challenges: struggle and resilience within the historically

Black land grant institutions. Education, 124(3), 447-455. Retrieved March 15, 2013 from

http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2561/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=13378c4d-ae5c-

4b5fa4728623c9fe4f5%40sessionmgr110&hid=126

North Carolina History Project. (2013). Greensboro sit-in. Retrieved May 05, 2013 from

http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/commentary/299/entry

Redd, K. E. (June 1, 1998). Historically Black colleges and universities: making a comeback. New Directions for Higher

Education, 102, 33-43. Retrieved March 15, 2013 from

http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2561/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=13378c4d-ae5c-4b5f-a478-

28623c9fe4f5%40sessionmgr110&hid=126

Rogers, I. H. (2012). The Black campus movement: Black students and the racial reconstitution of higher education, 1965-1972.

New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan