Howard University’s Ph.D. program in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies emerged from a “seed of people trying to bury” historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), says the inaugural cohort of students in the program.
With research interests that touch on Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Title IX and sexual assault, accountability and governance at HBCUs, gender parity in the presidential pipeline, Black women athlete’s identity development and the experiences of high-level LGBT administrators at HBCUs, the graduate students are committed to redefining the narrative surrounding HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs). At the same time, they face a distinct set of challenges as they navigate their experiences as graduate students of color.
“We want to be those people who are telling our own stories,” said John Roberts, a second-year graduate student and education specialist in opioid-related misuse and overdose on college campuses for the Bizzell Group. “Who else better to write it than those who have those lived experiences?”
Ashley Gray, a third-year student and program manager at the American Council on Education, said each year, her philosophy for approaching her graduate studies changes.
“This was the year of learning boundaries,” said Gray, who is examining the intersections of gender and race in the higher education presidency pipeline. “I thought I was superwoman until this semester and I got humbled very, very quickly.”
For Roberts and Bilal Badruddin, another second year student who is senior special assistant to the vice president of development and alumni relations at Howard, this year’s focus was about overcoming impostor syndrome and building academic confidence.
“This year was very much [about] owning it … that I am ready and that I just need to push myself more,” said Badruddin, adding that it has been “refreshing” to have a solid cohort to talk to and share ideas. Badruddin’s research focuses on the ways that AANAPISIs use their funding to build and foster east and south Asian identity.
