Scholars, sitting presidents, practitioners, and higher education leaders gathered virtually for the Black Leadership Across Campuses Summit, focusing on what organizers called the "health and well-being" of historically Black colleges and universities at a pivotal and politically turbulent moment for the sector.
The daylong convening, hosted by the Center for the Study of HBCUs at Virginia Union University and co-organized with the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning at Rice University, drew participants from across the country to examine funding disparities, presidential leadership, student mental health, institutional sustainability and the broader economic role HBCUs play in their communities.
Dr. Roderick L. Smothers Sr., executive director of the Center for the Study and Preservation of HBCUs, framed the gathering's urgency plainly.
"HBCUs remain among the most important educational institutions in America, and yet they continue to operate within a complex financial, political, and social environment," Smothers said in his opening remarks. "Too often, our stories are told by other people. Today, through the work of the center, we are committed to ensuring that the scholarship about HBCUs is produced by us, for us, and with us."
Keynote speaker Dr. Brian K. Bridges, former secretary of higher education for New Jersey and former vice president of research and member engagement at the United Negro College Fund, offered a sweeping assessment of the sector, arguing that despite persistent structural inequities, HBCUs have more momentum than at any point in their history.
"I would posit that HBCUs have more momentum now than ever," said Bridges. "My question is: how do we accelerate that forward motion further?"
Bridges also did not hold back about the obstacles facing the institutions, citing data showing that HBCUs received less than 1 percent of the approximately $60 billion in federal research and development spending distributed in fiscal year 2023. Of the 43 federal agencies that distributed R&D funds to institutions that year, 17 — nearly 40 percent — did not allocate a single dollar to an HBCU.
