From the very beginning, Bill Cox and I just hit it off.
I often teased Bill that we were both fortunate to have married up, by finding two strong Alabama women who had a passion and commitment for education and civil rights.
I still mourn the loss of my friend, and business partner of more than 40 years. His death comes three years after the loss of my beloved wife, Joan Morgan Matthews. Joan and Bill’s wife, Lee, were our most ardent supporters when we defied the naysayers and decided to launch Black Issues In Higher Education.
It was their endless support that motivated us to keep on keeping on.
Truth be told, we had no guarantee that Black Issues — which we renamed Diverse in 2005 — would take off. Launching a national publication is akin to starting up a new restaurant. The long-term probability for survival is very slim. Although Joan was a professional journalist, neither Bill nor I had a background in media and journalism and no experience in the publishing world. Still, in 1983, with the unprecedented backlash that African Americans and other minorities were experiencing at Predominantly White Institutions, the heightened questions about the need to perpetuate HBCU’s, and the growing public policy debates around issues like affirmative action, there was a dearth in the coverage of Blacks in higher education, and we knew our reporting had the potential to fill that void.
One day I said to Bill, “This is just ridiculous. Higher education professionals need better information.” It was that simple. He agreed, and thus, Black Issues In Higher Education was born.
The journey was not easy.
