New research found that an increase in applications and enrollment at one-third of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) over the past three years directly correlates to the current social and political climate created under President Donald J. Trump’s presidency.
Response to Racism: How HBCU Enrollment Grew in the Face of Hatred was carried out by the associate dean of extended learning at Widener University Dr. Janelle L. Williams and Dr. Robert T. Palmer, chair and associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Howard University.
It was sponsored and funded by the Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE) Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) and NODA: Association for Orientation, Transition and Retention in Higher Education.
“The findings are really rich and important and really help inform or reinforce the relevancy of HBCUs and also the critical role they play in creating a safe environment for Black students, particularly when they feel that the larger context of society is really being challenged and being tampered with to a point where they no longer feel safe,” said Palmer.
To conduct the research, Williams and Palmer interviewed 80 freshman and sophomore students from four HBCUs including Howard University, Grambling State University, Clark Atlanta University and Morgan State University.
Through conversations with the students, it was discovered that in addition to the election of Trump, the Black Lives Matter Movement and the “Missouri Effect”-a phrase coined by Dillard University President Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough after a series of protests occurred post-election on the University of Missouri’s campus to fight social injustice-influenced their decision to attend HBCUs over predominately White institutions (PWIs).
In the 10 days following the election, 140 hate incidents were reported at PWIs across the country. Additionally, campus hate crime rose 25 percent for a reported 1,250 crimes in 2016, the research noted.
