As higher education navigates restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, Black History Month remains a time of positive reflection, stakeholders say.
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As higher education navigates restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, Black History Month remains a time of positive reflection, stakeholders say.
Timothy Welbeck
A shifting political landscape
Veteran journalist Georgia Fort, founder of BLCK Press, a social enterprise newsroom connecting journalism to Black culture, says she has received several reports from college students that have not only had issues heading into Black History Month, but have consistently experienced issues throughout the academic year.
“We’re talking about young people who are at the beginning [of] their lives having to navigate this level of turbulence,” says Fort. “They should be able to focus on their studies, building community and developing skills they need to be successful, not having to navigate the political violence that we’re seeing.”
In mid-December, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Legal Defense Fund, alongside the Intercultural Development Research Association, sent a letter to the office of the president at Texas State University expressing grave concerns over the cancellation of Dr. Khalid el-Hakim’s Black History 101 Mobile Museum event.
“Silencing university guest speakers for constitutionally protected expression undermines core democratic values, including academic freedom. Additionally, the underlying justifications for the cancellation demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of state law,” notes the letter signed by representatives of the three organizations.
The letter cites case law for freedom of speech as well as noting that Texas State University’s citation of S.B. 17 in an email to el-Hakim, a restrictive state law prohibiting public colleges and universities from engaging in DEI initiatives, is not applicable. It calls for an apology to el-Hakim and reinstatement of the event. On Dec. 22, Texas State University responded, indicating that the person who cited S.B. 17 as the basis of decision was incorrect, but the cancellation stood. As of mid-January, the ACLU of Texas had not made decisions about how it would move forward.
“It’s their position that S.B. 17 doesn’t apply; they haven’t really addressed any of the other positions in our letter advocating for Dr. el-Hakim,” says Charelle Lett, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas. “At this time, we are unsure of how they feel. They have expressed that they will be continuing to do Black History Month programming. That’s fine and dandy, but it’s not really reflective of the conversation that Dr. el-Hakim had with the person that was coordinating whether or not he would be attending.”
Lett says the attorneys of the ACLU of Texas have not seen any other instances of a Black History Month event being cancelled with S.B. 17 being cited as the reason. According to Lett, while Texas State University has stated that citing S.B. 17 was a mistake, this instance shows how dangerous that law is.
“It can easily be misconstrued and lend itself to overcompliance where people are having more harm than necessary under the law,” Lett says. “The school also cited the political climate of the state as another reason for the cancellation. We definitely do see an impact at other public institutions in Texas around the political climate.”
Planned celebrations
Although Florida has a similar law to Texas, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), an HBCU, will have a series of events celebrating Black History Month, including Ebony Weekend celebrating 100 years of Black history. A military exhibit opened at the Meek-Eaton Black Archives Research Center & Museum at FAMU on Feb. 1, honoring its collection of uniforms and military regalia from alumni and the community at large, which date back to the American Revolution.
FAMU is also one of five institutions involved in an exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., “At the Vanguard: Making and Saving History at HBCUs,” which opened in January and will run through July. After that, it will travel to HBCU campuses.
“It’s a consortium to begin to digitize the collections and make them available to the public,” says Timothy A. Barber, director of museum operations for the Meek-Eaton Black Archives. “It’s giving us a broader platform for our collections.”
Barber says people will never know where they come from unless history is researched and celebrated, such as with Black History Month. Having time set aside to focus on specific histories, such as Black inventors and scientists, helps people learn and continue innovating.
Temple University in Philadelphia has events scheduled throughout the month of February — from panel discussions to podcasts to films to social mixers. The Center for Anti-Racism is working with several scholars on campus to create a scholarly series around Black history, particularly highlighting the work of Temple scholars past and present.
“We can have a multi-generational, contextual approach looking at not only the current condition but how past works and present works give us insights into what’s happening both in the U.S. and abroad,” says Welbeck. “Celebrations bring to a campus not only a celebration of Black people and Black history, but also it helps to affirm the dignity of all people … and shows that prior omissions are not something that should continue into the future.”
Fort, who is also the president of the Center for Broadcast Journalism, a nonprofit created to coach the next generation of reporters, has been a keynote speaker at campus Black History Month celebrations, including at Metro State University in St. Paul, Minn. “It’s our history,” she notes. “Black History Month oftentimes gets framed as ‘that’s for Black people,’ but without the contributions of Black Americans, what would America be?”
Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU), an HBCU in Charlotte, N.C., creates a list of Black History Month events based on what faculty and academic departments indicate they want to present. It typically involves a film series, a keynote speaker and interactive events, and 2026 will be no different. Dr. Terza Lima-Neves, professor of political science in the Department of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies, says her department creates a master list of what professors want to present, so that schedules are coordinated and the offerings are robust. She has seen a difference between how private liberal arts institutions, including predominantly white institutions (PWIs), are handling events versus public institutions.
Many JCSU events are open to the Charlotte community, which includes several PWI institutions. Lima-Neves notes that pre-pandemic there was a lot of participation from the students at University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Queens University of Charlotte, but that has decreased due to changes in social interaction.
“We get less folks coming in from the different universities, but we still get a good number of folks from the community,” says Lima-Neves. “Normally, the business department will have … Black professionals come and do speaking engagements or other interactive activities with our students.”
Enduring value and overcoming challenges
“Black history on a campus helps to not only affirm that history and complete the story, but hopefully it inspires a more complete telling of history of our country and society at large that would include all people,” says Welbeck.
Welbeck has had conversations with higher education colleagues across the country, and throughout 2025, individuals spoke about various types of difficulties when trying to implement Black history programming.
“Each of them responded differently,” Welbeck says. “Some of them elected not to host any programming at all as it related to Black history, some scaled back their programming, some tried to rework it into other forums of affinity group celebrations or broader celebrations at large. In a general sense, the consensus is that people have been trying to navigate this new space and everyone is still trying to figure out the best way to implement programming that they believe is best and within the confines of the law.”
Based on conversations with faculty around the country, Lima-Neves says people do not seem to be overly cautious about planning Black History Month activities, but they are not being extremely outspoken or declaring that they are clapping back at the system.
“Most are just planning the events and seeing them through … because people are concerned about calling the wrong kind of attention,” Lima-Neves says. “That doesn’t mean that they’re sacrificing or not holding activities, but they’re just making sure that the attention is somewhat controlled.”
Resistance is historic in nature, and some of it dates back to Reconstruction following the Civil War, notes Welbeck. That historic battle continues today.
“Resistance is a way to stifle the effort towards racial progress,” he says. “To acknowledge Black history, you have to acknowledge not only the progress but also the great historic atrocities that were suffered by Black people in America. There are people who do not want to deal with that aspect.”
For those willing to open their minds, Black History Month events can enhance their lives, says Lima-Neves. “For anyone attending an event, particularly those individuals that are not Black, this is how we get to understand our world,” she explains. “When we stop listening to soundbites and actually have conversations … that’s where the deep appreciation for all of our differences and similarities comes in. That’s why Black History Month is important.”
