HAMPTON, Virginia – As part of Zuri Murph’s urban policy class at Hampton University, she was assigned a question: Do Black people deserve reparations. Murph wrote about how reparations should be paid back to Black land grant colleges. “Reparations should be paid in part to HBCUs, since y’all are already scamming us,” the graduating senior […]
Higher Education
Posted inHBCUs, Higher Education, Public Safety
Black Colleges Enhance Security in Response to Bomb Threats
This story is a collaboration between Capital B and Open Campus. HAMPTON, Virginia — Just weeks into the start of the fall semester, Nick Jones was walking back to his Hampton University dorm when he got an alert that the campus was on lockdown. “Yo … should I be outside?” he thought to himself, but really, he was […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education, Politics & Policy
Republicans Allege Discrimination at George Mason, but the Data Tells a Different Story
FAIRFAX, Virginia — Amani Banks, a George Mason University freshman, sat on the south side of the campus last week and pointed out that the student body is more diverse than her professors. When the college’s president, Gregory Washington, arrived on campus in 2020, he encouraged the hiring of more people of color through what […]
Posted inEducation, HBCUs, Higher Education, Voting
Inside Blexit’s Bid to Win Over Young Black Voters at HBCUs
BOWIE, Maryland — On one of the last stops on the Educate to Liberate tour, conservative influencer Siaka Massaquoi and other supporters stood behind the student center on Bowie State’s campus for nearly four hours asking students about their ideologies and thoughts on being Black. “It was a surprising, on-the-spot type of thing,” said Daniel […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Culture, Higher Education
Hazing Death Prompts Soul-Searching for Divine Nine
The calls, texts and emails have been pouring in. Since news broke in late February that a 20-year-old student at Southern University died in what police called “a fraternity hazing incident,” messages and voicemails continue to fill the inbox of filmmaker Byron Hurt. Hurt heard from some of these same people three years ago, when […]
Posted inHigher Education, Politics & Policy
Black Students Confront Right-Wing Visitors as HBCU Security Tensions Grow
It took less than 30 minutes for white men with signs that read “Deport All Illegals Now” and “DEI Should Be Illegal” to know they weren’t welcome on Tennessee State University’s campus. The conservative group was quickly escorted off campus by law enforcement as Black students shouted phrases like, “Go, get out of here,” and […]
Posted inHigher Education, Politics & Policy
Black Professors on Turning Point’s Watch List Face Harassment On and Off Campus
As the news spread of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination two weeks ago, a student in Professor A.D. Carson’s “Black Voice” class made sure the room door was locked. The University of Virginia professor had told them in passing that he was on the Professor Watch List, a website created by Turning Point USA, a […]
Posted inHigher Education, Public Safety
HBCU Lockdowns Lifted After Day of ‘Terroristic Threats’
Several Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the country have lifted lockdowns after a series of threats. Early Thursday morning, Hampton University and Virginia State University said they received terrorist threats. Later, the list grew as Alabama State University, Clark Atlanta University, Southern University in Louisiana, and Bethune-Cookman in Florida reported threats. Spelman College ordered […]
Posted inHigher Education, Politics & Policy
Harvard Fights Trump in Court. Black Students and Academics Say The Real Battle Is on Campus
A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students. The move comes after the nation’s oldest institution of higher learning requested a temporary restraining order against the federal government’s action. Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration earlier Friday. In the suit, the school […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education
Inside One Student Movement to Save DEI on College Campuses
Bradley Price traveled to the Kentucky governor’s office to show her support for the veto of an anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion bill. Alexandria Underwood took part in a letter-writing campaign calling for the preservation of inclusion programs on college campuses. And Savannah Dowell organized a demonstration in support of anti-discrimination efforts at Kentucky colleges and […]