‘Laboratories of success’: why HBCUs are the best models for race-blind admissions

Post-affirmative action, Black schools show why cultivating diverse campuses should extend beyond the application process

Ever since Cheyney University opened in 1837, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have provided educational access to students who were once barred from attending white institutions. By the 1890s, to support newly freed Black Americans following the civil war, more than 200 HBCUs had opened. And by the 1950s, more than 90% of Black undergraduates in the country were attending Black schools.

Once the US supreme court ended state-mandated segregation with its 1954 decision in Brown v Board of Education, followed by the introduction of affirmative action policies designed to rectify segregation's effects, the number of Black students at predominantly white colleges grew significantly. Still, HBCUs remained a touchstone for Black students. So it might be surprising to learn that some experts argue that in light of the supreme court striking down affirmative action earlier this summer, HBCUs could be models for race-blind admissions.