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Preserving the HBCU mission: experiences and sense of belonging of Black alumni at a PW-HBCU

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PRESERVING THE HBCU MISSION: EXPERIENCES AND SENSE OF BELONGING
OF BLACK ALUMNI AT A PW-HBCU

Danielle Kamille Clark

A DISSERTATION
In
Education

Presented to the Faculties of the University of Southern California
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education
December 2018

________________________________________________________
Dissertation Supervisor

________________________________________________________
Dean, Rossier School of Education

Dissertation Committee:

Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux, Research Associate Professor

John Brooks Slaughter, Professor of Education and Engineering

Alan Green, Associate Professor of Clinical Education

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Copyright

Danielle Kamille Clark

2018

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Abstract
PRESERVING THE HBCU MISSION: EXPERIENCES AND SENSE OF BELONGING OF
BLACK ALUMNI AT A PW-HBCU

In 1895, Bluefield State College (then called Bluefield Colored Institute) was founded to
educate the children of Black coal miners in segregated West Virginia (Meraji, 2013). However,
today, Bluefield State College (an HBCU) has 8 percent Black students and 86 percent White
students (NCES, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which Black
alumni made meaning of their experiences at this PW-HBCU (Predominately White-Historically
Black College and University). To do this, a Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Sense of
Belonging framework was used to show the insidiousness of racism and how the whitening of
the Black spaces decreased the Black students’ sense of belonging. The research question to
guide this study is:
1). What was the experience of being a Black student at a PW-HBCU?
The sub-question addressed is:
a). What role did attending a PW-HBCU play in shaping Black students’ sense of
belonging, from the perspective of an alumni?
With these research questions, the study examined the implications of whitening the
Black space. The implications to be considered are the conceptions of HBCUs in regard to
educational access for Black students, the differences between a PWI and an HBCU, and the
continued oppression of Blackness is social constructs. With each implication, the ideas of
policies, practices, and procedures are to be kept in mind when understanding how Bluefield
State College can move forward in reclaiming their traditional HBCU status.
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To help observe the alumni perceived experiences, an interpretive or hermeneutic
phenomenological research methodology approach will be used. While using this methodology,
interviews were conducted. The data was analyzed through transcription to help elicit statements
that highlight pertinent information that will transform into the holistic themes of the findings;
this being the key themes that many participants shared towards their experiences. This study
contributes heavily to the research topic of experiences because although Black students are
often studied at HBCUs and PWIs, the literature is scarce for schools that intersects the two
institutional types and finding the alumni that are a product of these experiences.

Key terms: Black students, PWI, HBCU, Student experiences, Sense of Belonging, Bluefield
State College, Critical Race Theory, diversity

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Dedication
I dedicate this dissertation, first and foremost to God, my Lord and Savior, my Spiritual Father,
and my King. Without him and his mercy, grace, and love, I would not have been able to be
where I am today. Countless nights of prayers passed asking Him to order my steps and guide
my words. I thank you Lord for your mighty kindness and endless blessings. I love you.
Next, I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my loving mother (Delsheena Lamar-Clark),
father (Richard Clark Jr.), and grandmother (Annye Wilson). From May 19, 1989, to present,
you all have nurtured my soul. You raised me to be a hardworking and fearless woman. You all
have instilled in me a sense of resiliency and have provided me with the tools to succeed in every
area of my life. This doctorate is as much yours as it is mine. Together, we did it. I love you
more than you will ever know.
I would also like to dedicate this dissertation to my auntie and my Soror, Katrina Finley. The
moment I could utter words, I remember you gifting me with books and educational games to
prepare my mind for this very moment. I remember going to the mailbox and there being a new
educational tool waiting for me to explore. You set that foundation for me from hundreds of
miles away. You saw something in me worth training. Having a principal in my family came in
handy! Auntie, I am Dr. Clark now, and it’s all thanks to you and the foundation you set for my
life long ago! I love you.
Next, I would like to dedicate this dissertation to four individuals who encouraged me and paved
the way for this moment. Dr. Parham, Dr. Foote, Dr. Estrada, and last, but certainly not least, Dr.
Pannell (may you rest in peace), you each orchestrated my future with your constant love,
support, and interest in me. Whether it was talking about my future, allowing me to TA and
shadow under your tutelage, being my confidant, or just being present, I found peace and
confidence knowing that you each believed in me and were cheering me on. You each prepared
me for this very moment, and I would be remiss to not acknowledge you, for your patience got
me here. “Thank you” will never be enough, but I hope that behind my “thank you” you hear and
feel the love that is infused. Thank You….
Lovingly, I would like to dedicate this dissertation to the illustrious organization of Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority, Incorporated. My dissertation is about the importance of Historically Black
Colleges and Universities and the ways they foster Blackness. I am a member of a sorority that
was founded at an HBCU and have benefited from its teachings, the individuals it has produced,
and the legacy it has left. “Sisterhood, Scholarship, and Service” is not just a phrase we use. It
was a way of life for our 22 founders in 1913, and it is still a way of life for my sorority sisters
and me today. We would not have this empowerment without our HBCU ancestors, and for that I
am forever grateful to what HBCUs have done for the Black community and will continue to do.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, I love you.
Lastly, I would like to thank my “Avengers.” You all have played an instrumental role in my life
since the moment we met. God has single-handedly placed you in my life, at the right time. The
encouragement, the love, the support, the inspiration, and, most important, the prayers, have been
the key component to me pushing through. THANK YOU. Thank you for being the iron, that
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sharpens my iron. You all brought out the best in me when I needed to remember who I was,
why I am here, and my purpose. I love you all!

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Acknowledgments
Going into this process, I did not know what to expect. There were moments where I
doubted myself, there were moments I cried, and there were moments where I wanted to give up.
There were also moments that were full of laughter and pure bliss. Together, they created an
unforgettable and unimaginable experience that I will never forget. This final product is
dedicated to my academic village that supported me, pushed me, and believed in me. You all
never let me forget my purpose, my passion, or my place in academia. For that, I thank you. Dr.
Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux, Dr. Marybeth Gasman, Dr. John Slaughter, Dr. Alan Green, and Dr.
Rachelle Winkle-Wagner, you are all individuals that I have looked up to before I even met you.
Reading your work was the stepping-stone that led me into higher education.
As a first-generation student in higher education, role-models are important because we
need someone who has reached where we desire to go. I always had big dreams and aspirations,
but I never thought that I would one day be able to call you all my colleagues. You each have
improved my life so much. You each have molded me through your words of encouragement,
your genuine interest in me and my work, and your unwavering support.
When applying for doctoral programs, I was denied from every institution, except one;
the University of Southern California. I have no doubt in my mind that I was placed here for a
reason. Because of USC, I was able to attend a conference, AERA, where I met Dr. Gasman and
Dr. Winkle-Wagner. Because of USC, I was able to meet Dr. Malcom-Piqueux, Dr. Green, and
Dr. Slaughter. Because of USC, I found my passion. I want to thank every institution that denied
me because those denial letters introduced me to some of the most amazing individual’s
academia has ever known. I would not trade my experiences for anything in the world. Thank
you all for never giving up on me, and for never allowing me to give up on myself. I am forever
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grateful for your continued strides within higher education and for inspiring individuals like
myself. You all gave me hope and helped me fulfill my dreams. The love I have for you all
cannot be matched, and I am excited for the world to see the final product of my dissertation. I
was able to finish because you all cared. Thank you.
-Dr. Danielle Kamille Clark-

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………….. iii
Dedication ………………………………………………………………………………… v
Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………… vii
Tables of Contents ……………………………………………………………………….. ix
List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………….. xi

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1
Purpose of the Study and Research Question ……………………………......3
Significance of Topic ……………………………………………………...... 5
CRT and Sense of Belonging …………………………………………….…. 6
Organization of the Dissertation …………………………………...……..… 7

 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW and FRAMEWORK ............................................9
Black Students in Higher Education: The Historical Context ……………… 10
The Value of Historically Black Colleges and Universities ……………….. 13
Predominately White Institutions and the Black Experience ………………. 18
Introduction to Theoretical Frameworks: CRT and Sense of Belonging …… 21

 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY .........................................................................................26
Research Approach ………………………………………………………… 26
Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………………. 28
Methodology ………………………………………………………………. 29
Site Selection ………………………………………………………………. 31
Access and Entry …………………………………………………………... 32
Participant Selection ………………………………………………………. 33
Data Collection and Analysis …………………………………………….... 35
Trustworthiness and Ethical Consideration ……………………………….. 40
Role of the Researcher ……………………………………………………….42
Limitations ………………………………………………………………… 43
Summary …………………………………………………………………... 45

Chapter 4: FINDINGS ….……............................................................................................. 47
Participant Profile ………………………………………………………….. 47
It’s a Different World: The NEW Black Experience ………………………... 55
Visibility/Invisibility of Campus History …………………………….…… . 59
White Support System ……………………………………………………….. 61
Black Support System ……………………………………………………….. 66
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Preparedness ……………………………………………………………….. 69
Sense of Belonging ……………………………………………………….... 72
Participant Summary ……………………………………………………….. 75
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………….. 80

Chapter 5: DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION/IMPLICATIONS ………………………….. 81
Discussion …………………………………………………………………… 82
Limitations …………………………………………………………………... 84
Future Research ……………………………………………………………... 85
Recommendations …………………………………………………………… 87
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………... 90

APPENDIX A: Informed Consent …………………………………………………………92
APPENDIX B: Interview Protocol and Questions.………………………………………...94
APPENDIX C: Recruitment Flyer ….....................................................................................97
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................98

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LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
1. Demographic Table………………………………...........................................................35
2. Research Questions and Interview Table ……………………………………………...... 36

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1
Chapter 1: Introduction

Established in 1837, the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) in Cheyney, Pennsylvania was
the first higher education institution founded with a mission to educate Blacks (Hill, 1979). In
the ensuing years, 121 additional colleges and universities opened in order to provide educational
opportunity to Blacks who were excluded by law, or bigotry, from attending predominantly
White institutions (Brown, 1999; Evans & Evans, 2002). Even as late as the year 2000, 13% of
Blacks who enrolled in college attended HBCUs. However, with the end of de jure segregation,
Black college enrollments shifted to PWIs. By 2015, at least 15 Black colleges had closed,
including five out of seven Black medical schools, leaving only Howard University Medical
School in the District of Columbia and Meharry Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee. This
had a significant impact on Black enrollment in higher education. For instance, the closing of the
medical schools was due to Abraham Flexner’s report in 1910 that referred to improving medical
schools by eliminating the weaker (often Black) ones and by raising admission standards, while
non-medical colleges closed due to factors such as finances, natural disasters, accreditation
rejections, and decreases in enrollment (Flexner et al., 1910). The proportion of Black students
enrolled in HBCUs had declined to 9%, with non-Black enrollees making up 22% (NCES,
2011). Overall, many HBCUs still have predominantly Black campuses, although an influx of
non-Black students are rapidly enrolling (Gasman, 2013). In “The Changing Face of Historically
Black Colleges and Universities” by Dr. Marybeth Gasman (2013), Cheyney University
President, Michelle Howard-Vital, voiced her support for the increase in diverse enrollment at
HBCUs by stating: “We need to admit students from a wider range of ethnic and income groups,
so that they too can benefit from best practices that will eventually lead to a more educated
citizenry.”

2
In 2011, some HBCUs had enrollment percentages where the White student body
dramatically outnumbered the Black student body (NCES, 2005). These HBCUs were West
Virginia State University and Bluefield State College, while others like Kentucky State
University, Tennessee State University, and Fayetteville State University had White student
populations ranging between 16-19% (NCES, 2011). Title III of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (HEA) codified the HBCU designation into law and states that the principal mission of an
HBCU is to educate African Americans (Andrews et. al., 2016). Additionally, Title III awarded
eligible HBCUS funding, in which each institution must submit statutorily required data in order
to continue receiving money (U.S Department of Education, 2017). Although Black students
were attending HBCUs long before the passage of the HEA, this law eventually became the
primary source for providing postsecondary education to Black Americans (U.S Department of
Education, 1991). In 1989, Former President George H. W. Bush stated: “At a time when many
schools barred their doors to Black Americans, these colleges offered the best, and often the
only, opportunity for higher education.”
With the introduction of the Second Morrill Act in 1890, HBCUs were being established
in each southern and border states (U.S Department of Education, 1991). However, with the
implementation of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, also known as the G.I Bill –
which provides educational assistance to servicemen – and the low-cost of HBCUs, the idea of
attending these Black schools became more popular for non-Black students (Meraji, 2013). The
demographic shifts within HBCUs transformed the identity of some of the campuses because
HBCUs did not prohibit participation of other groups of people (Brown & Ricard, 2007), in
particular, Bluefield State College in Bluefield, West Virginia.

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Purpose of the Study and Research Question
The purpose of this study is to examine the ways in which Black alumni made meaning
of their experience at this PW-HBCU. To help guide this study, a research question, and sub-
question, were formed to allow for Black students to deconstruct their experiences:
1. What was the experience of being a Black student at a PW-HBCU?
a. How did attending a PW-HBCU shape Black students’ sense of belonging,
from the perspective of an alumni?
Given the persistent underrepresentation of Blacks among college students and college
degree holders, understanding the experiences of Black students as well as the factors that shape
those experiences is vitally important. While there is a significant body of literature exploring
Black students at HBCUs, little to no research has been done to understand the Black
experiences of Black students at PW-HBCUs. With non-Black student enrollment at HBCU’s
continuing to grow, it is important to examine the ways in which these shifting demographics
affect Black students, whom these institutions were originally founded to serve.
Bluefield State College is a Historically Black College located in Bluefield, West
Virginia. During the conception of BCI, Bluefield, West Virginia was a majority Black town
with its population being mostly coal miners. However, with the decline of the coal mine
industry, a demographic shift occurred, causing Blacks to leave from the rural local communities
surrounding the college (Brown, 2002). In 2015, there were 2.75 times more White residents
than any other race in Bluefield, West Virginia (Census Bureau, 2015) and for this HBCU.
However, it is pertinent to understand a continuous trend within academia highlighted by this
racial decline: the missing Black student. Studying Bluefield State College can inform other
HBCUs on why fostering Black students is vital. Initially, Bluefield Colored Institute (BCI) was
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supervised by Hamilton Hatter. In today’s terminology, Hatter would be considered BCIs first
president, however, being denied the title, he was referred to as the principal instead. With no
legislative support, Robert P. Sims, the new leader of BCI starting in 1906, gave Black aspiring
educators a platform to train, and by 1909, Bluefield Colored Institute became a leader in the
education of teachers and teacher training certificates.
By the 1920’s, enrollment increased, and by 1931, the school changed its name to
Bluefield State Teachers College. The institution’s football team won two national Negro
College Athletic Association championships, and its alumni became physicians, pharmacist,
businessmen, and administrators (McGehee & Wilson, 1995, p. 14; Meraji, 2013). The
reputation of Bluefield State Teachers College was increasing, and in 1939, Black society
immersed its institution into pro-Black culture such as the Harlem Renaissance and introduced
the campus to positive Black figures such as Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington and Joe Louis
(Bluefield State College website, Retrieved March, 2018). During this time, the institution had
yet to become accredited but continued to preserve its mission of educating underserved students
in southern West Virginia. In 1954, just two years after the end of Henry Dickason’s tenure as
president, and after the school was awarded full accreditation, the Brown vs. Board of Education
Supreme Court decision desegregated the educational system, giving many Black students
expanded educational options. However, Bluefield State College was still predominantly Black
with only 3 White students enrolled in 1943, and an all-Black faculty.
With the integration of institutions and the GI Bill benefits, by the mid 1960’s Bluefield
State College was roughly fifty percent Black. In 1966, Bluefield State College appointed its first
White president, Wendell G. Hardaway. With Hardaway’s appointment, the demographic shift
penetrated the administration as well. By 1968, Hardaway hired 23 new faculty, all of them
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White (McGehee & Wilson, 1998). Concurrently in 1968, when Bluefield State College’s
gymnasium was bombed, the school’s response was to shut down the dorms (Newkirk, 2012;
Roach, 1998). Knowing that Black students relied on dorms to attend school due to the distance
between their homes and the institution, the school faced its last and final demographic shift. At
this point, the school transformed from an HBCU to a PW-HBCU. In 1998, just 6 percent of
BSC’s faculty was Black, and by 2017, Black students comprised only 8 percent of the student
body (Roach, 1998). Additionally, BSC would not have another Black president until 2002, fifty
years after Henry Dickason. Today, the president of the college is again non-Black. With the
changing demographics of HBCUs, understanding the ways in which Black students perceive
their experiences is pivotal to this study and to the future of higher education. This study aims to
offer insight on the process of whitening the Black space and the importance of preserving
Blackness within academia. According to Roach (1998), once the demographic shift occurred,
the only part of Bluefield State College that stayed true to its roots was the Alumni Association.

Significance of Topic
Institutional types like HBCUs have many benefits for persons of color. African
American students graduate at a higher percentage when attending an HBCU than at a PWI
(Ehrenberg & Rothstein, 1994). Many HBCUs open their doors to students with lower academic
credentials to provide educational opportunities that previously had been closed to them (Redd,
1998). Additionally, they serve as a safe haven and cultivate hope in an otherwise racially
demoralizing society (Brown, 2001; Brown & Ricard, 2007). Without HBCUs, the ivory towers
would not be tested, and barriers would still impede educational opportunities for Black students
(Winkle-Wagner & Locks, 2013). Even after the end of de jure segregation, HBCUs continue to
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live up to their principal mission of educating Black students. And, even though Black students
can and do gain admission to top-tier PWIs, the benefits associated with attending an HBCU are
a compelling reason to enroll for many Black students.
Blacks continue to demonstrate a desire for education. However, enrollment and
completion rates among Black males in higher education are dismal compared to other groups
(Palmer et al., 2009). HBCUs improve the social and academic experiences of Black students,
whereas Black students suffer alienation and lack of engagement at PWIs (Palmer & Gasman,
2008). The legacy of HBCUs are the driving force that feed the experiences of Black students
and create a sense of belonging that cannot be duplicated in other institutional types. It is critical
to understand whether the benefits conferred to Black students enrolled at HBCUs remain when
an HBCU becomes predominantly White. The current study contributes to the research literature
by examining the experiences of Black students who attended Bluefield State College, which has
been predominantly White since 1968.

CRT and Sense of Belonging
Critical Race Theory (CRT) is being used for this study as the theoretical framework to
understand how an institutional type, once categorized as inferior, lower-quality, and mediocre
(Jones, 2012), became a hub for White students. Because the alumni are Black, and this
dissertation is focused on the Black experience, their lens will portray experiences that will be
unique to them and their worldview. Sense of Belonging is being used as a theoretical framework
to show how the psychoemotional burden of having to strategically navigate a racially politicized
space occupied by few peers, role models, and guardians from one’s same racial or ethnic group
(Harper et al., 2011, p. 190) may shape a person’s experience. Additionally, Sense of Belonging
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is essential to the college success (Kuh et al., 2006). Exploring the participants’ sense of
belonging involves understanding from whom the Black alumni received peer and mentor
support, whether they were involved in campus activities, if they felt comfortable on their
campus, and other areas that are contingent of campus experiences. The two frameworks, CRT
and Sense of Belonging, work together to inform this study’s focus and design, as well as the
implications of this work on policy, practice, and the future of the HBCU mission.

Organization of the Dissertation
This dissertation is organized into five chapters, with Chapter I being the introduction.
Chapter II is a critical review of research literature. These resources are used to help the reader
gain a better understanding on the significance of the study, how the Black experience on college
campuses is critical, and the importance of preserving Blackness within HBCUs. This study will
also help readers gain insight on this demographic shift at some HBCUs and its impact on Black
students.
Chapter III outlines the methodology used to conduct the study. It illustrates the
processes utilized and information gathered in order to conduct the study, such as the factors that
informed the study, site selection, and the identification and recruitment of study participants. It
also gives an overview on why the study takes a qualitative approach, the steps taken to collect
the data, and the analytical approach employed to address the research questions from the data.
Additionally, Chapter III speaks on the limitations of the study and the researcher’s biases.
Chapter IV is devoted to the findings of this study. It highlights the themes that emerged
from the interviews with the alumni participants. In addition, this chapter uses the voices from
these participants to narrate the results.
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Chapter V presents the discussion, conclusion, and implications of this research. This
chapter summarizes the impact that attending a PW-HBCU has on Black alumni, outlines
implications for practice, and provides suggestions for future research. The chapter concludes
with a discussion of the ways the findings align with and/or diverge from the extant literature,
and how the findings might inform the theories that constituted the overall framework of the
study.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review and Framework
Previous research on Black college students has focused primarily on understanding the
factors that shape their access to higher education, their experiences on HBCU and PWI
campuses, and the determinants of various academic and developmental outcomes. Within the
research literature, there has not been much exploration of the experiences of Black students who
attend predominantly white HBCUs. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to understand the
college experiences of Black alumni of Bluefield State College, a PW-HBCU. This study
examines the ways in which Black alumni make sense of their experiences at BSC and how
attending this PW-HBCU shaped their sense of belonging during college. To date, very little is
known about these institutions that were founded for the purposes of educating Blacks but now
enroll far more White students than Blacks.
In this chapter, I review the research literature that forms the basis of our current
understanding of the experiences of Black college students. Reviewing this literature enables me
to place this study in the context of what we currently know about the experiences of Black
students attending HBCUs and PWIs. This literature review is divided into four sections. The
first section of the literature review provides an overview of the socio-historical context of
Blacks in America and how that history has shaped college opportunity and access and led to the
founding of HBCUs, including Bluefield State College. The second section of the chapter
highlights the value and the benefits of HBCUs for Black students and explains how these
institutions foster resiliency within Black students. The third section of this review of the
literature will focus on Black students’ experiences at PWIs and how these experiences shape
their educational progression. In addition to contrasting Black students’ outcomes at PWIs and at
HBCUs, I will provide some insight into the reasons for which PWIs are not as effective at
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HBCUs in retaining Black students. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the theoretical
framework that guides this study.

Black Students in Higher Education: The Historical Context
Since the founding of the United States, Blacks were denied education as a means of
subjugation. Some African Americans did gain access to basic education, but only due to the
covert efforts of educated Blacks and abolitionists. Dartmouth College and Oberlin College were
among the first higher education institutions to offer admission to Blacks in 1824 and 1833,
respectively. However, in 1837, the Institute for Colored Youth became the first higher education
institution founded for the express purpose of educating Blacks. Following the Civil War during
the Reconstruction Era (1861-1877), an “emancipationist vision” of society emphasized freedom
and equality for Blacks (Blight, 2001). This “emancipationist vision” called for the
acknowledgment of the immorality and injustice of slavery and the creation of political, social,
and labor systems in which newly freed Blacks would participate.
Though this emancipationist vision imagined equality for Blacks, this ideal was never
realized because the end of slavery gave way to other forms of Black oppression (Blight, 2001).
Following the abolishment of slavery in 1865, racial caste systems (e.g., Jim Crow laws)
emerged and racial violence surged, further perpetuating the oppression of and the
disenfranchisement of Black people (Yosso, Parker, Solorzano, & Lynn, 2004). In the book
entitled, Making Whiteness: The Culture of Segregation in the South, 1890-1940, author Grace
Elizabeth Hale (1999) explained that making and perpetuating the myth of absolute racial
differences in the Southern states to divide the world into absolute Blackness and Whiteness,
required the creation of racial segregation as the central component of the new regional culture.
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Indeed, segregated schools, bathrooms, water fountains, and restaurants were the reality of the
southern states in America. However, changes within the country slowly started to occur, and
this change also impacted the educational system: “If the freedom of association is denied by
segregation, integration forces an association upon those for whom it is unpleasant or
repugnant,” (Bell, 1980, p 521).
With this new “freedom,” Blacks wanted to create a learning environment that would
allow them access. In 1865, most higher education institutions would not allow Black students to
enroll, except for a few institutions in the North (Gasman, 2007). In order to expand educational
access, schools founded for the expressed purpose of educating Blacks were established, with the
Institute for Colored Youth being the first in 1837 (James, 1958). By 1890, seventeen of these
schools created to educate Blacks, later known as HBCUs, were funded by the Morrill Act
(Gasman, 2007). Whites were threatened by these educational institutions because they felt that
they were in competition with PWIs (Duster, 2009). In fact, Whites throughout the South and
many in the North supported efforts to disenfranchise and disempower Blacks by conducting
campaigns to limit education and resisting universal public education for rural Blacks (Anderson,
1989; 2014).
Even though the “White supremacist vision” triumphed over the “emancipationist vision”
in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Brown vs. Board of Education decision reshaped the
American educational system in 1954 by ending de jure segregation (Bell, 1980). However,
before the educational racial laws changed, the Servicemen Readjustment Act, also known as the
GI Bill was introduced in 1944 by President Roosevelt, which provided educational assistance to
veterans (U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, 2018). With this bill, many servicemen began
attending schools with low costs (Brown, 1973). Most low-cost schools were Historically Black
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Colleges and Universities (Brown, 1973). Whites benefited from the GI Bill more-so than Blacks
(Frey, 2016), and were able to integrate into Black schools. However, Blacks were still not
permitted to integrate into White schools easily. It was not until 1954 that Blacks would have the
opportunity to attend PWIs. Additionally, Brown vs. Board of Education was also the leading
contributor to ending the notion of “separate but equal.” Separate but equal gave permission to
the Fourteenth Amendment to only validate “Negroes’” substantially equal treatment to the
standards of Whites (Roche, 1951). Therefore, states were not required to give Blacks equal
opportunities or treatment as their White peers. However, within their own racial group, there
must be order. With Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896), the case that referred to landmark decisions
segregating Blacks and Whites from different facilities (Richardson & Harris, 2004), being
overruled during the Brown vs. Board of Education trial, educational freedom eventually became
the future for Black students (Erwin, 2015; Charles, 1987).
Until the mid-1960’s HBCUs were the only higher education option for Blacks (Gasman,
2013). Post-Brown, Blacks’ enrollment in colleges and universities previously off limits to them
rose, leading to a drop-in enrollment at HBCUs. As a result, HBCUs’ main objective of
educating the Black middle class changed (Gasman, 2013). For Bluefield State College, the
expanded educational opportunity available to Blacks after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 sparked
the beginning of the demographic shift in student enrollment (Brown, 1999).
This transition impacted Bluefield State College tremendously. In 1966, Wendell G.
Hardaway became BSC’s first White president. The beginning of his tenure saw a marked shift
in the racial makeup of the faculty, which had been predominantly Black up to that point; 23 new
White professors were hired by 1968, ushering in a White majority (McGehee & Wilson, 1996).
The institution’s demographics transitioned from a predominately Black campus to a
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predominately White campus with more than half of its students and faculty being non-Black.
Roach (1998), expressed how the demographic shift manifested throughout the campus in such a
way that Bluefield State College’s Black roots can only be seen within the Alumni Association.
The association remains Black because of its efforts to create initiatives that would continue
BSC’s legacy. These efforts were the scholarship initiative, the founding of the Hatter Hall
Alumni House (which pays tribute to BSC first Black “principal”), and reunions (Bluefield State
College National Reunion Souvenir Journals, 1976-2002). Additionally, the Alumni Association
was, and still are, the key players intervening in critical issues, such as the demographic shift,
dorm reform, retention, upholding traditions, and more (McGehee & Wilson, 1995; Payne,
2002).
The historical context of Black students within higher education alludes to the importance
of soliciting places for these students to be educated. Finding an educational environment that
strives to nurture the minds of the Black community was, and still is, difficult to find. However,
HBCUs have remained at the forefront of producing Black talent when other institutional types
denied them access. Although Black students are presently permitted to attend predominately
White institutions, enrollment acceptances, graduation rates, and satisfaction are much lower
than they are at HBCUs. Below, the value of HBCUs will be discussed in comparison to Black
students attending a PWI.
The Value of Historically Black Colleges and Universities
HBCUs were established with the assistance of the Freedman’s Bureau, Black churches,
Northern missionaries, private philanthropists, and governmental initiatives to provide access to
higher education for African Americans (Palmer & Gasman, 2008). This showed that the long-
PRESERVING THE HBCU MISSION

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term success of schooling depended on Afro-Americans and not external entities (Anderson,
2014). Their historical missions are what separated HBCUs from other institutional types.
Understanding the historical context of Blacks within the higher education system is important
because the rise of HBCUs changed the lives of and opened up many opportunities for this
population throughout history (Brown, 2002). HBCUs are unique in their mission to educate
Black students. HBCUs are the only institutions in the United States created for the express
purpose of educating Black citizens (Gasman, 2013). The challenges that these institution’s face
today may differ from those of the Reconstruction and Jim Crow era; however, HBCUs have
been able to evolve to maintain their position of importance in providing educational opportunity
to Blacks (Lomax, 2006). Lomax (2006) explains that historically, HBCUs provided a college
education to the vast majority of Black college students who had been denied access to other
educational options. Today, however, HBCUs are needed as an educational option for Black
students who want a unique and nurturing institutional environment, a small-college experience,
and a chance of success within higher education despite inadequate high school preparation
(Lomax, 2006). Because of this, the experiences that students at an HBCU encounter are
rewarding (Lomax, 2006).
There are three key factors that demonstrate the importance of an HBCU. These factors
are: 1) a social contract 2) social capital and 3) social equality (Brown & Davis, 2001).
HBCUs share a reputation of servitude. The collectivist mentality that uplifts communities to
create equal opportunities is a characteristic that helps HBCUs leverage success in Black
students. This is considered a social contract. Outcalt and Skewes-Cox (2002) found that Black
students are both more comfortable and more successful overall in their HBCU environments
than in predominantly White settings. Additionally, Black students demonstrate higher academic
PRESERVING THE HBCU MISSION

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achievement, greater satisfaction with their campus environments (including extracurricular
activities), and better relationships with faculty at an HBCU than their counterparts at a PWI
because of the mission-centered curriculum, pedagogy, and activities that HBCUs specialize in
(Fleming, 1982; Fleming, 1984; Outcalt & Skewes-Cox, 2002). When students graduate, they are
still infused within a network that supports their growth past their classroom endeavors.
Providing Black students with access to this kind of social capital is a benefit unique to
HBCUs. Pierre Bourdieu (1985) defined social capital as “the aggregate of the actual or potential
resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized
relationships of mutual acquaintances or recognition” (p. 248). For HBCUs, the continuance of
leadership, networking, and the promotion of societal relevance are how these institutions built
their village. Palmer et al., (2010) noted that the racial homogeneity of an HBCU provides a
positive frame of reference for students as they can interact and have a visual representation of
Black students who value learning and academic success. Additionally, Palmer et al., (2010)
found that HBCUs challenge society’s depiction of Blacks by showing the diverse groups of
Blacks across the diaspora. HBCUs allow for the reclamation of self and the nullification of
stereotypical ideas wrongly placed upon them based on ethnicity alone:
Seeing other Black people makes us want to succeed too. Like so much of society, they
show us as scavengers…they show us as not intelligent. Corporate America shows us
what they want us to see, and they show people what they want us to be thought of as,
and I don’t like that. But when I came to the university, I saw Black people. I saw
Trinidadian people. I saw people from all shades of Black, who are motivated and driven
for success (Palmer et al., 2010, p. 93).

In 1977, at least 35% of bachelor degrees were awarded to Blacks by an HBCU. By
2002, that number declined to 22% (Camp et al., 2009). Perceptions that PWIs were more
prestigious than HBCUs, coupled with the geographical proximity and sometimes wider
PRESERVING THE HBCU MISSION

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curricular offerings of PWIs, became a major reason why Black students began to choose PWIs
over HBCUs (McDonough et al., 1997). However, because Black students’ representation on
PWI campuses remains relatively low, HBCUs continue to offer opportunities that PWIs do not.
According to Fries-Britt and Turner (2002), those Black students that do choose to attend
HBCUs benefit from social, historical, and emotional connections, which are some things that
PWIs cannot offer. HBCUs are vehicles for the transmission of Black cultural knowledge (Davis,
1998). Students at HBCUs are given the opportunity to learn about their specific history within
the classroom, around the campus, and through casual conversation. Furthermore, faculty at
HBCUs often make concerted efforts to illustrate the relevance of the academic curriculum to
social justice and other issues important to the Black community (Gasman, Lundy-Wagner,
Ransom, & Bowman, 2010). Although Black students may adjust well at a PWI, they are less
likely to feel that their needs are being met (Kim & Conrad, 2006).
A core reason that a Black student would choose an HBCU over a PWI is that a PWI may
be less accepting or even a hostile source of stress for Black students (Barnett, 2004). The
difference between experiences at HBCUs and PWIs can be summed up by Allen (1992):
On predominantly White campuses, Black students emphasize feelings of
alienation, sensed hostility, racial discrimination, and lack of integration. On
historically Black campuses, Black students emphasize feelings of engagement,
connection, acceptance, and extensive support and engagement (p. 39).

To negate that stress, HBCUs present their students with Black academic role models in
the form of faculty, staff, alumni, and peers with whom they can identify. HBCUs also represent
Black culture (Davis, 1998). Positive role models can transform their stress and experiences into
positive student-faculty interactions (Camp et al., 2009) and reaffirm students’ self-concept.
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Financially, Black students at HBCUs are met with institutional financial support or
financial literacy when compared to Black students that attend a PWI (Jackson & Swan, 1991).
On average, HBCUs have cost less to attend than PWIs. Today, the cost of an HBCU is still
relatively lower than a PWI (Coupet & Barnum, 2010). Originally, HBCUs fostered many
students from lower socioeconomic statuses; however today, enrollees at HBCUs are not in the
same financial bracket as their HBCU predecessors and this is a plus (Locks et al., 2008). This
meaning, the population is diverse in the economic statuses of its attendees.
Additionally, colleges with populations that are socioeconomically diverse provide an
inclusive environment, which can aid in persistence for students of color and low-income
students (Locks et al., 2008). Since their humble beginnings, HBCUs have graduated key
societal players such as Oprah Winfrey, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King Jr. HBCUs
enroll, graduate, and prepare African American leaders who go on to make significant
contributions to society and to the Black community in particular. Although HBCUs represent
just three percent of the nation’s institutions of higher education, they manage to graduate nearly
20 percent of Blacks who earn undergraduate degrees (Thurgood Marshall College Fund 2012).
With 103 HBCUs left in the United States, it is essential to continue to further utilize
these institutions for the benefits they continue to bestow on Black students. Although some
would say that HBCUs are not as rigorous as PWIs, based off stereotypical ideologies or
presumptions, they are much more efficacious in providing Black students with a stronger sense
of self and self-esteem (Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002). While the literature shows the benefits of
HBCUs and highlights the non-duplicated characteristics of both their mission and purpose, this
study aims to understand whether these benefits to Black students’ college experiences,
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outcomes, and sense-of-belonging are maintained when an HBCU is predominantly White and
asks if this is any different than attending a traditional predominately White institution?

Predominately White Institutions and the Black Experience
With the rise of America’s first Black president, and college campuses being more
“diverse,” there is an idea that institutionalized racism has ended. However, Gusa (2010) argues
that any structure, institution, or system can be absent of blatant racism and still remain
completely racialized. This can be a form of microaggression, verbal and nonverbal messages
aimed at a person of a marginalized group (Sue, 2010). Black students attending PWIs face a
Black campus population that is drastically smaller and a Black experience that is much different
than that of an HBCU. Racial-stressors that are created due to the lack of belongingness have
been linked to psychological and health issues, such as declines in self-esteem, depression,
anxiety, and the inability to focus (Reynolds et al., 2010). Negga et al., (2007) stated that college
students are vulnerable to experiencing stress, and these events can manifest in poor choices and
devastating health and academic consequences. Additionally, stress in Black students that attend
a PWI differ from Black students that attend an HBCU because of the race-related encounters
with non-Black students, faculty, and staff (Neville, 2004). In fact, Black students attending
PWIs report that their White peers see them as underprepared for college and are uninviting to
their presence (Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002).
A way to dictate the experience that is desired and lessen these stressors is for a student
to dissociate themselves from their former community to enable academic and social integration
into a college (Tinto, 1993). However, Black students are eager to pursue college as much as
their counterparts but do not benefit from the same support systems:
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What the universities have failed to realize in almost every case is that the
American educational experience is a white experience, an experience based on
white history, white tradition, white culture, white customs, and white thinking,
an education designed primarily to produce a culturally sophisticated, middle
class, white American (Wisdom & Shaw, 1969).

Black students at PWIs experience a disconnect between their high aspirations and their
ability to be academically integrated into their institution (Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002).
Additionally, Blacks students are prone to experiencing declines in their academic performance
because of the harsh challenges that they endure daily (D’Augelli & Hershberger, 1993). Black
students have lower grade-point averages, lower persistence rates, lower academic achievement
levels, higher attrition rates, a lower likelihood of enrolling in advanced degree programs after
earning the bachelor’s degree, poorer overall psychological adjustments, and lower postgraduate
attainments and earnings when attending a PWI than Blacks that attend an HBCU (Darden et al.,
1996; Steele, 1992; Allen, 1991). Feagin and Sikes (1995) found that the Black experience at a
PWI is a continuous battle:

Life for Black students in mostly White schools often mean daily struggle and
recurring crisis. They struggle to find out what the rules of the fame are, officially
and unofficially. When Black students say “Whiteness” is an omnipresent
problem, they are not just talking about color or racial identification. They are
reporting being at sea in a hostile environment. Painful difficulties, White
teachers, fellow students, and curricula not only accumulate year after year for
Black children as individuals and as a group but also regularly ring to mind the
collective memory of past discrimination (p. 97).

Isolation is often a key experience for Black students at PWIs. However, Black students
have continued to graduate from both HBCUs and PWIs over the decades. A key difference
between graduating from an HBCU and a PWI is that HBCU graduates emerge with higher
levels of self-concept, a greater sense of belonging, and had more positive experiences overall.
Because the Black community is diluted on White campuses, and the support system is scarce,
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achieving academic integration is not as simple for Black students as it is for their White
counterparts. On average, White students are more likely to be continuing-generation college
students, with parents and family members that provided them with the resources and support
needed to navigate the college environment (Longwell-Grice et al, 2016). Unfortunately, many
minority students, in this case Black students, are first-generation college students and do not
have those same kinds of support systems (Longwell-Grice et al, 2016). Because PWIs do not
enroll many Black students, those that do attend these institutions are often tokenized, having to
represent their race as the arbiter of Black issues and answer questions about Blackness or Black
people in the classroom, instead of being taught about prominent Black figures in American
History and highlighting Black pride (Davis et al. 2004; Guffrida & Douthit 2010; Solorzano et
al. 2000).
According to Fries-Britt and Turner (2002), this sort of attention is unwarranted and causes a
feeling of discomfort. Due to the many stressors and unwanted experiences, Negga et al., (2007)
found that Black students attending a PWI may need additional intervention or counseling
services that are culturally sensitive to issues of racial discrimination, isolation, and coping. The
literature displays the struggles that Black students experience on PWI campuses. This study
aims to understand how the integration of this PWI experience shapes the homogeneity that
HBCUs provide for Black students at a PW-HBCU.
To bring a clearer understanding of the magnitude of Black experiences, I will be basing
the study on two frameworks: Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Sense of Belonging. CRT will be
ultimately used to bring race as the main focus of this research. This study focuses on Black
alumni as the primary research subject, with whiteness being the influential factor on Bluefield
State College’s institutional transition. Sense of belonging will be used to show the readers,
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through the lens of the alumni participants, how the demographic shift shaped their experiences
and how those experiences influenced their sense of belonging.

Introduction to Theoretical Frameworks: CRT and Sense of Belonging
Critical Race Theory (CRT)
A critical race theory in education challenges ahistoricism and the unidisciplinary focus of most
analyses and insists on analyzing race and racism in education by placing them in both a
historical and contemporary context using interdisciplinary methods (Grant & Chapman, p. 123,
2012).

Developed by Derrick Bell, Richard Delgado, Charles Lawrence, Mari Matsuda, and
Patricia Williams, CRT rejects colorblind meritocracy (Crenshaw et al., 1995). Meritocracy is a
tool used to preserve the existing power structures that are based on white supremacy and white
privilege (Godsey, 1995). Harris (1995) wrote an article within Crenshaw, Peller, Gotanda, and
Thomas’s (1995) book, Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings that Formed the Movement,
which discusses formal equality overlooking structural disadvantages and how it requires mere
nondiscrimination or equal treatment. In contrast, Delgado and Stefancic (2012) mentioned that
CRT calls for aggressive, color-conscious efforts to change the way things are. Kennedy (1995)
added by stating that CRT contemplates race-conscious decision making as a routine, non-
deviant mode, a more less permanent norm. This study focuses on Black students and their
experiences at Bluefield State College, a PW-HBCU. Although there are many studies on Black
students within academia, there have been very few studies about Black students’ experiences at
an HBCU that has experienced a dramatic shift in the racial demographics of its student body. To
help guide this study, Critical Race Theory (CRT) is one of two theoretical frameworks that is
used. CRT is a body of legal scholarship used to identify and combat ideology committed to the
struggle against racism, particularly as institutionalized in a by-law (Bell, 1995).
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Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) described CRT as a dissenting chorus of colored voices
and multiculturalism. They suggested that CRT rests on three tenets: (1) race continues to be
significant in the United States, (2) U.S. society is based on property rights as opposed to human
rights, and (3) the intersections of race and property create an analytical tool for understanding
inequity (Ladson-Billings & Tate,1995). Schools and universities are natural sites to observe
interest convergence because inequitable access to quality education ensures white social
advantage (Shih, 2017). Interest convergence is a critical tenant of CRT (Milner, 2008). Bell
(1980) described interest convergence as when people with power will support ideas that may
serve others when there is some benefit for their own privilege embedded within. CRT
recognizes that revolutionizing a culture begins with the radical assessment of it (Calmore,
1992). Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) described CRT as a dissenting chorus of colored voices
and multiculturalism. According to Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995), Harper et al., (2009), and
Ford and Airhihenbuwa (2010), there are seven central tenets of CRT that can assist in
combating the root causes of structural racism:
1. Racism is a normal part of American life and is often difficult to recognize,
eliminate, or address;
2. CRT rejects the notion of a colorblind society;
3. CRT uses counter-narratives to highlight discrimination;
4. CRT recognizes interest-convergence, where Blackness is promoted if it advances
Whiteness;
5. It requires a more nuanced understanding of race, and for this study Blackness,
and requires taking a critical perspective toward examining historical events;
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6. CRT relies on Racial Realists, or individuals who not only recognize racism as a
social construct but also realize that racism is a means by which society allocates
privilege and status;
7. CRT continuously critiques claims of meritocracy that sustain white supremacy.

This dissertation uses CRT as a means to problematize the demographic shift at Bluefield
State College, which acted to whiten the ‘Black space’. It explores the ways in which this
demographic shift affected the Black student experience and examines the extent to which
Bluefield State fostered a sense of belonging among Black students. The study’s methodology
and the presentation of the findings are also informed by this theoretical lens because CRT calls
for the frequent use of the first person, storytelling, narratives, and creativity (Bell, 1995).
Chapter IV utilizes the participants’ voices to illustrate their point of view. CRT gives these
unique perspectives a voice. Despite the substantial impact race has in generating inequities in
society and educational institutions, race continues to be untheorized (Ladson-Billings & Tate,
1995), and this study aims to bring the importance of race to the surface. Too often, White
leaders typically tolerate advances toward racial inclusion if those advances are not too severe
and do not disrupt the status quo (Harris, Barone, & Patton, 2015). By recognizing these societal
limitations of higher education and barriers that conflict with institutional missions of equity,
inclusivity, and positive learning climates, this study is guided by the tenets of Critical Race
Theory and aims to address the insidiousness of Whiteness and privilege within academia.
The “Sense of Belonging” Theory
Fundamentally, branding is a profound manifestation of the human condition: belonging to a
tribe, to a religion, to a family. Branding demonstrates that sense of belonging. –Wally Olins

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Abraham Maslow (1962), who first theorized the notion of sense-of-belonging, defines
the function of belongingness as a major source for basic human motivation. Maslow
categorized belongingness as part of his hierarchy for needs period, where belongingness was
placed in the middle of the pyramid. Its placement suggests that it is a centralized need and
theme that all people desire (Maslow, 1968). Whereas, personal relationships constitute the
central meaning of an individual's life (Lambert et al., 2013). When these relationships and
bonds are lacking, the individual is going through a status of “social malnutrition”, in which
Maslow defines as “deficiency needs” (Maslow, 1968). Humans cannot sustain purposeless
living (Klinger, 1998). If deficiency needs are not tended to an individual will feel anxious and
tense, which will, in turn, create deficiencies in other areas such as motivation and focus
(Maslow, 1954). For this study, “sense of belonging” is being used to illustrate how these alumni
yearned for something that BSC could not provide, therefore, leaving them malnourished and
creating social deficiencies.
From an academic perspective, Strayhorn (2012) defines sense of belonging as the
student’s perception of affiliation and identification with the university community.
Understanding the impact that the demographic shift has on the Black students, relies on the
sense of belonging framework. Strayhorn (2012) divided sense of belonging into three
categories: 1) belongingness as a concept, 2) circumstances that thwart belonging, and 3) the
relationship between belonging and other outcomes or behaviors.
For this study, the focus will be towards belongingness as a concept, circumstances that
thwart belonging, and the ways in which Black students use this as a measure to validate their
presence within academia. Hoffman et al., (2002/2003) argues that perceived peer support should
be considered as one of the key factors to assess the notion of sense of belonging. When a person
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experiences belongingness their satisfaction, coping mechanisms, and sense of self and purpose
are positively heightened (Wilczynska et al., 2015). However, the shock of disruption helps to
clarify place attachment and sense of belonging (Inalhan & Finch, 2004). It brings a sense of
awareness to what is missing because the individual feels deprived or a sense of longing (Inalhan
& Finch, 2004). Hausmann et al., (2007) and Strayhorn (2012) suggest that students who are
marginalized in college environments experience a low sense of belonging, as these students
often lack the supportive relationships within the college context that are imperative for a sense
of belonging.
This additional reason is why sense of belonging is being used for this study. It shows the
alumni on a journey in which they were searching for support, community, relatability, culture,
etc., and how the absence of those variables reinforced their sense of belonging. When all of
these variables are present, sense of belonging can be positive. Sense of belonging is positively
correlated with students’ perceptions of their own learning, their grades, and their awareness of
some aspects of racial privilege and discrimination (Kernahan, Zheng, & Davis, 2014).
Additionally, school experiences, that can be examined through interactions with faculty, staff,
and peers, are the foundation for integration into any academic community (Tinto, 1975).
Because the overarching essence of sense of belonging is the desire to be a respected and valued
member of a group or community of people (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; 2007; Marshall et al.,
2012), this framework, coupled with Critical Race Theory, provides a means for bring insight
and understanding to the experiences of Black students at PW-HBCUs.

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Chapter 3: Methodology

In this chapter, I describe the qualitative research methods for the study. This chapter
comprises seven sections: (1) Justification for qualitative study; (2) theoretical framework and
methodology; (3) participant and site selection; (4) methods for data collection and data analysis;
(5) trustworthiness and ethical considerations; (6) limitations; and (7) the role of the researcher.
The purpose of this chapter is to describe the research methods used for this qualitative study.

Research Approach

Because of the interpretive nature of qualitative research, it derives from social inquiry
and focuses on the way people interpret and make meaning of their experiences and the world in
which they live in (Holloway, 1992). John Creswell (2007) describes five traditions that
encompass qualitative research: narrative research, phenomenology, ethnography, grounded
theory, and case study. Typically, qualitative researchers are interested in the lived experiences
of their participants and the way they make meaning of those experiences. This study focuses on
the experience of being a Black student at a PW-HBCU, Bluefield State University, from the
perspective of alumni. According to Jupp (2006), the qualitative research approach is based on
the principles of constructivism, interpretivism, and inductivism.
Constructivism contends that knowledge is created through interactions with others and
objects in the world. This epistemological position acknowledges that concepts are situational
depending on the context (Jupp, 2006). A tenet of constructivism is that social reality is
constructed through social interaction and that as interactions and contextual changes occur
reality changes (Jupp, 2006). Interpretivism emphasizes the idea that people experience and
understand the same phenomenon in different ways and form their own meaning of their
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experiences based on their personal worldview. Inductivism is an approach to reasoning that
relies on observations to infer new knowledge, rather than looking to current or past ideals to
form the basis of their study. Here, I aim to build an understanding of how the whitening of the
student body at Bluefield State College shaped the experiences of Black alumni. Hence,
qualitative research is best suited as the research approach for this study.
This topic is significant because of the evolution of many HBCUs in terms of their
student demographics. The issue being addressed is that some HBCUs, particularly Bluefield
State College in Bluefield, West Virginia, are transforming into PWIs, enrolling more White
students than Black students. The importance of this problem is that HBCUs were intended to
foster the Black students’ right to a higher education during a time where segregation denied
Black students’ educational choices. With the demographic shift changing the racial identity of
these campuses, understanding the experiences of Black students at this PW-HBCU required a
compelling method that would accurately capture the perspective of these Black students and
their experiences. To do this, I initially intended to interview Black students currently enrolled at
Bluefield State. Having the opportunity to interview current students would create an inside lens
on present experiences. However, after reaching out to multiple Bluefield State College
personnel in the Research and Sponsored Programs Office and the Division for Student Affairs
and Enrollment Management, and receiving push-back responses, the profile of the participants
changed. Instead of interviewing current students, the focus of the study shifted to understanding
the college experiences of Black alumni of Bluefield State.
Interviews are tools that create room for rich data to arise based on the recollection of a
person’s lived experiences or second-hand accounts. Interviews also allow for these experiences
to be deduced in ways that capture the results from the participant’s lens. Secondly, a historical
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context is imperative to the significance of this study. When considering the location of the study
and the individuals involved, examining the past as it relates to the present is critical to this
study’s foundation. This sort of examination requires a descriptive record to understand the
transition of Black students into higher education and the pivotal role HBCUs played in their
progression. The qualitative descriptive research will allow for the study to answer the “what”
question regarding the ways in which Black alumni made meaning of their experiences at PW-
HBCUs.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework that is used for this study draws on Critical Race Theory
(CRT) and the psychosocial construct Sense of Belonging. For this study, the use of CRT is
beneficial because it highlights the insidiousness of racism and allows for the critiquing of the
notion of Whitening the Black space. Developed by Derrick Bell in the 1970’s, CRT is based on
the idea that White elites will tolerate or encourage the racial advancement of Blacks only when
such advances also promote White self-interests (Race, 2017). With the fall of segregation,
Blacks having the opportunity to seek educational refuge outside of HBCUs, and the G.I bill
supporting education for many returning veterans, HBCUs became more attractive to non-Black
individuals. Additionally, HBCUs were historically founded within rural areas, and the cost of
attendance was significantly lower than other institutional types. Given the proximity of many
HBCUs to rural areas with large White populations, and the perception that Blacks had been
granted “access” into PWIs, many White students from these rural areas viewed these institutions
as an affordable way to attend college locally and amongst their peers. CRT provides a way of
making sense of the broader context in which these Black alumni were located. CRT is
appropriate and helpful to understanding the external forces that have led to the changing
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demographics at Bluefield State College and other HBCUs. The Black experience is valid, and
although each experience is unique and individualized, CRT can bring both a historical and
contemporary lens on the issue of racism, the role it plays within academia, and how that relates
to the college experiences of Black Bluefield State College alumni.
Sense of Belonging is critical to this study’s framework because it is an important
contributor to student success that is shaped by many factors in the institutional context,
including student demographics and diversity. Previous research suggests that as a student body
becomes whiter, Black students’ sense of belonging goes down. For this study, sense of
belonging is being used as a way to understand the experience of being a Black student at a PW-
HBCU.
When combining the two frameworks, this study focuses on the experiences of the Black
alumni from a narrow lens. CRT allows for race to be a prominent contributor to this study, and
Sense of Belonging creates an arena where alumni could convey various elements that shape their
experiences at Bluefield State College. It will negate the message that all Black students share
the same experiences based on their ethnicity alone. Each unique experience will bring
awareness to what it means to attend a PW-HBCU, particularly Bluefield State College.

Methodology
This study uses a phenomenological research methodology. According to Patton (2002),
a phenomenological approach focuses on exploring how human beings make sense of
experiences and transform experience into consciousness, both individually and as a shared
meaning. According to Connelly (2010), there are two types of approaches to phenomenology,
descriptive (founded by Edmund Husserl) and interpretive (founded by Martin Heidegger).
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Descriptive phenomenology is the emphasis of describing universal essences, while interpretive
phenomenology is understanding the phenomena within a context (Wojnar & Swanson, 2007).
For this study, the phenomenon being addressed is the Black student experience at Bluefield
State, a PW-HBCU, as recounted by Black alumni. Central to the study are the ways in which
Black alumni are making meaning of their experiences in the context of Bluefield State’s
demographic shift. Because this study intends to understand how the participants make meaning
of their experiences within this context, we can categorize it as an interpretive phenomenological
study, also known as hermeneutic phenomenology (Langdridge, 2007).
Hermeneutic phenomenology acknowledges the notion that removing oneself from a
phenomenon and the essence is not possible. The individual is part of the phenomena (i.e., the
college experiences of Black Bluefield State College alumni) (Sloan and Bowe, 2014). Thus, this
approach allows for individuals to make meaning of their experiences and interpret those
experiences in their own way, which is a central characteristic to hermeneutic phenomenology.
To access the information for this study, I will interview Black alumni of Bluefield State
College. Patton (2002) states that it is imperative to interview people who have directly
experienced the phenomenon of interest; that is, they have firsthand lived experience, rather than
secondhand experience. Man van Manen, 2007, stated the following: “Phenomenology is a
project of sober reflection on the lived experience of human existence – sober, in the sense that
reflecting on experience must be thoughtful, and as much as possible, free from theoretical,
prejudicial and suppositional intoxications.” This study assumes that there are shared aspects of
experiences from all Black alumni at Bluefield State College. I am trying to better understand
that assumption through hermeneutic phenomenology.
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There are different extensions to phenomenology, such as philosophy, inquiry paradigm,
interpretive theory, social science analytical perspectives and orientations, a major qualitative
tradition, and a research methodology framework (Patton, 2002). I opted to do a
phenomenological study because this research tradition solely focuses on the portrayals of
people’s experiences, how they make meaning of those experiences, and in what ways the
context in which they are situated shapes their meaning of those experiences.

Site Selection
This study will focus on one PW-HBCU, Bluefield State College in West Virginia, and
the college experiences of their Black alumni. Bluefield State College, a public co-ed HBCU
founded in 1895, is part of the West Virginia’s public education system and offers baccalaureate
and associate degrees. The setting is rural, and the campus size is 50 acres. The institution
operates on a semester-based academic calendar. Overall, Bluefield State College offers 13
nationally accredited programs of study and a variety of career-focused academic disciplines
(Bluefield State College website, Retrieved March, 2018).
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the student population
is made up of 1,362 total enrollments, with 62 percent being female, 82 percent full-time, 8
percent identified as Black or African American, and 86 percent identified as White. On average,
64 percent of the undergraduate students are younger than 25 years old, and 36 percent were 25
and over. The student-faculty ratio is 14 to 1. There is no on-campus housing for students at
Bluefield State College, and 88 percent of the total enrollment are in-state residents, with 59
percent of students enrolling in some form of distance education. When submitting SAT and
ACT scores, more students submitted ACT scores (25 students submitted SAT and 197 students
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submitted ACT). The median SAT score for Critical Reading was 420, SAT Math was 450, and
SAT Writing was unknown. The median ACT score was 17 for ACT Composite, 15 for ACT
English and 16 for ACT Math. Out of the 83 percent of applicants admitted to the institution,
only 41 percent enrolled.
At Bluefield State College, approximately 97 percent of full-time undergraduate students
receive need-based financial aid, with 58 percent receiving Pell Grants. Additionally, there is a
69 percent first-time student retention rate for full-time students and a 50 percent rate for first-
time part-time students. Overall, there is a 25 percent graduation rate and an 18 percent transfer-
out rate. Seventeen percent of Black students pursuing a bachelor’s degree graduate within 6
years, while 23 percent of White students pursuing a bachelor’s degree graduate within 6 years.
Finally, out of the 30 students that receive the Post-911/GI Bill Benefits, 100 percent of the first-
time full-time students were retained, and 67 percent of first-time part-time students were
retained.
Access and Entry
Bluefield State College is the chosen site for this study. I originally set out to study Black
undergraduate sophomores and juniors to understand their experiences and sense of belonging at
a PW-HBCU. However, due to the unresponsiveness of the numerous Bluefield State personnel
that I contacted to obtain permission and IRB approval to conduct research on campus, I opted to
shift the focus from studying current undergraduate students to alumni.
After many phone calls to the BSC administration, and constant emails from September
2017-October 2017 (with sporadic responses from the Vice President of Student Affairs and
Enrollment Management), it was concluded that entry onto the campus would not be granted. On
October 11, 2017, after reaching out to a BSC employee with access to a broad network of Black
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alumni of the institution, I was able to shift to studying alumni. Since these alumni were no
longer students, I was able to proceed with the study without having to gain permission from
BSC administrators. However, gaining current student perspectives would have been most
relevant to what Bluefield looks like presently.

Participant Selection
This study is interested in the firsthand accounts of Black alumni from Bluefield State
College. Because these individuals were students and have now used their educational
experience to transcend into the “real-world,” this study aims to understand how they interpret
their experiences as students, how they interpret those experiences as alumni, and how those
experiences have shaped their lives post-Bluefield State College.
As the study aims to understand the experiences of all Black alumni, there were no
participant selection criteria related to gender, religion, sexuality, nationality, specific majors, in-
state residency vs. out-of-state residency, etc. However, it is important to note that I only
examined the experiences of Black students that were born in the United States and not Blacks
born in other countries. The reason behind keeping the study from a U.S. native’s perspective is
because Blacks in the United States of America have a unique sociohistorical and cultural
experience due to slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, and other oppressive tactics. Blacks that are
foreign-born may not share the same experiences or view how their Blackness impacts their
experiences in the same way as U.S. citizens. Therefore, the sampling method for the study was
purposive sampling based on the objective of the study. While all individuals that met the criteria
were eligible to participate, it was impossible for every person to participate due to various
circumstances or reasons; thus, I used convenience sampling.
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The study anticipated 15 participants. This number was determined based on
understanding the time it would take to interview the alumni. Additionally, in the case of
necessary follow-up interviews, I wanted to make sure that the interviews were not rushed, and
that time would be permitted for the extra sessions. The recruitment of alumni was done through
flyers sent to BSC’s Black Alumni Association (see Appendix C). Once the flyers were sent with
my contact information, the alumni could either email me directly or email the contact in the
Black Alumni Association office, who would then connect me with the potential participant.
Once I had the email addresses of potential participants, I reached out with a message that
contained the purpose of the study, the criteria of the students of interest, my role in the study,
and the acknowledgment of their confidentiality. Ultimately, 15 candidates were identified as
willing participants for the study. However, after reaching out to each candidate, only eight
responded. Out of the eight participants, four preferred to be contacted through
telecommunication, while the other four preferred to be contacted through email correspondence.
Each participant, regardless of telecommunication or email correspondences, received the same
interview questions (Appendix B). Completion of the interview questions via email
correspondence had a due date of December 1, 2017, to ensure that transcription and data
analysis for both interview types were done at the same time. Below is a demographic table
displaying the characteristics of the study’s eight alumni participants (Table 1).

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Demographic Table (Table 1)

NAME GENDER INTERVIEW TYPE GRADUATION YEAR
DG Female Email 1990
JP Male Phone 2013
JC Male Phone 2012
NK Male Phone 2011
RA Male Phone 2012
MG Male Email 2007
LA Male Email 1999
DT Female Email 2002

Data Collection and Analysis
All phone interviews ranged from 45 to 60 minutes. Emailed responses to the interview
questions were roughly three to five pages each. Each participant received an interview protocol,
which encompassed the purpose of the research, a note to the interviewee that disseminated
information about the length of the interview, a reminder to the participant of their
confidentiality rights, and a closing statement (see Appendix A).
Multiple participants will be introduced per section; however, their identity is not
revealed due to confidentiality agreements. Any names present are pseudonyms being used to
protect the identity and privacy of the participant. The participants were asked a series of
questions about their overall experience and sense of belonging at Bluefield State College. The
interviews were semi-structured, with all questions being prepared ahead of time. Each interview
contained two acquaintance questions, 13 interview questions, and a closing statement
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(Appendix B). Given the use of semi-structured interviews, a paper-based interview guide was
created that listed all prepared questions and topics to help navigate the interview (Fontana &
Frey, 2000). Below, I present a table referencing the development of the interview questions and
how they relate to the research questions.

Research Question and Interview Table (Table 2)

Interview Questions What was the experience
of being a Black student
at a PW-HBCU?
What role did attending a
PW-HBCU play in shaping a
Black students sense of
belonging, from the
perspective of an alumni?

Tell me about the support that
you receive at your institution.

✓

Can you describe how you
perceived the support that non-
students of color received, if
any?

✓

Can you describe your
interactions with White
students?

✓ ✓

Can you describe your
interactions with White faculty
and staff?

✓ ✓
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Describe your overall
experience at Bluefield State
College.

✓

If you could create an ideal
experience at Bluefield State
College, what would that look
like?

✓

Some people may have a
different experience than you,
and feel as though your
experience were different
because you didn’t put forth
the effort. What are your
thoughts on this perspective?

✓

How would you describe your
sense of belonging at Bluefield
State College?

✓
What is your current
profession? How did Bluefield
State College prepare you for
your current position?

✓ ✓
Did Bluefield State College
live up to your collegiate
expectations? Explain.

✓

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Can you describe the ways in
which you interact with
Bluefield State College now?
Are you still engaged with the
campus community? If so, in
what ways? If not, why?

✓ ✓
What would you say to current
students at Bluefield State
College about what to expect
at Bluefield State College, how
to make meaning of their
experiences at Bluefield State
College, and/or how to stay
connected at Bluefield State
College?

✓

I understand that diversity may
not mean much to some, but
may mean a lot to others. How
would you respond to someone
saying that diversity isn’t
needed in the classroom or on
a college campus?

✓ ✓

When appropriate, I moved away from the interview guide and allowed for the
interviewee to direct the session. This is considered reflexivity. Langdridge (2007) states that
when a researcher is cognizant of the methods, questions, participants, and the way those
variables can impact the study, that brings realism to the study. This loosens the grip of the
interviews to allow the participants to guide, creating genuine responses and authentic reactions
towards the phenomena and limiting researcher collusion.
However, with the permission of the interviewee, I also recorded the interviews to keep
their perspectives valid and to professionally transcribe the tapes for later analysis. After
transcription, the participants were able to overlook their portion of the interviews (Patton,
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2002). This is referred to as member-checking and ensured that nothing was misinterpreted or
omitted through the dialogue.
Once completed, I analyzed each member-checked text in order to find connections,
themes, and meaning that allowed for interpretation. The most important aspect of interpretive
phenomenology is to remember to let the context of the phenomenon dictate the way in which
the data is analyzed because the experience is the focus, not the researcher’s perspective
(Langdridge, 2007). To analyze, van Maanen (1997) suggested to take each interview and
transcribe them, ultimately creating a hermeneutic circle. The hermeneutic circle is the process in
which the researcher analyzes the transcription for each participant in individual segments, in
order to fully understand the context as a whole. Consider the task of putting together a puzzle.
Ultimately, the bigger, completed picture is the objective. However, one cannot get to that end
result without first putting together the many disjointed puzzle pieces. In reference to this study,
understanding the Black student experience at Bluefield State College is the ultimate goal, but
first, understanding each participants’ individualized perspective is what will make meaning to
that experience. For this study, this technique was executed as follows:
1. Once the interviews were transcribed, themes were identified as a whole per transcript.
2. Statements and/or phrases throughout the transcript are highlighted and rewritten.
3. An overarching phenomenological theme is created, combining the interpretation from
each participant interview.
When the process was completed, quotations from each participant were used to illustrate
each emergent theme. Presenting direct quotations in the findings allows the voices of the
participants to be heard through the study. Using their words eliminates contextual biases from
the researcher and presents a valued authenticity to the research topic.
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Trustworthiness and Ethical Considerations
To establish trustworthiness, four criteria must be met: (a) credibility; (b) transferability;
(c) dependability; and (d) confirmability (Shenton, 2004). For credibility, member-checking was
involved by going back to the source of the interviews to ensure that their words were interpreted
correctly. Guba and Lincoln (as cited in Shenton, 2004) stated that member-checking is
imperative for interviews since information can be misarticulated or wrongly captured, and the
checking process ensures that the participants are properly represented, and their words were
received as they intended.
Some issues arrived when listening to the audio of the conversational interviews. There
were times when the participant mumbled words or what they were saying was unclear. Being
able to reconnect with the participants was sometimes difficult because of time differences
(depending on where they were located) and availability. For those that completed their
interviews via email correspondence, instances of vague responses caused me to need further
clarification because the response as written left an open interpretation. However, for both the
phone and email interviews, accuracy was pertinent. Member-checking allows the participants to
determine if I accurately reported their experiences (Koelsch, 2013). Sending participants their
part of the interview, to ensure that their words and meaning were not misrepresented, was how I
enforced fact-checking. This also permitted the participants to play an active role in the research
study.
Transferability relates to the ability to apply the findings to another context (Graneheim
& Lundman, 2004). This study incorporated detailed descriptions of how data was collected,
where data was collected, the methods and methodology used, and other pertinent information
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regarding the research. This ensures that readers can make informed decisions about the study
and how it should, could, or would be used within multiple contexts (Houghton et al., 2013).
Dependability, according to Shenton (2004), suggests that by explicitly stating your
study’s process another researcher would be able to duplicate your study. If the study cannot be
duplicated, or if similar findings cannot be made, it implies that information was lacking and
could render the study as either invalid, untrustworthy, or incomplete.
Confirmability relates to the notion that the participants’ voices are being heard in the
study and not interjected by the researcher’s biases. It also suggests that the audit trail will allow
any observer to trace the course of the research step-by-step based on the decisions made and the
procedures described (Shenton, 2004). This helps ensure that the study accurately portrays the
participants’ responses to the interviews.
To ensure that ethical concerns are addressed, each participant was made aware of their
participation in the study was voluntary and their responses would remain anonymous. The
participants signed an informed consent document to acknowledge their willingness to
participate in the study and that they were informed them of their rights. Additionally, being
forthright with the participants about the true purpose of the study, how their responses would be
used, and their role in the study was essential to building rapport and trust between the researcher
and the participants.
Overall, this study posed a minimal risk since asking Black alumni about their college
experiences would not cause harm to the participants or the institution. As defined, minimal risk
means that the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research are
not greater in and of themselves than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the
performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests (National Research
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Council, 2014). At Bluefield State University, the Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB)
is the office used for the institutional review board. However, because I studied alumni and not
current students, and did not have to go onto the campus, I did not have to undergo WIRB
approval and only needed approval from my home institution's IRB application system (ISTAR).

Role of the Researcher
As a Black student that has attended PWIs for my entire collegiate career, I have typically
been the token Black student in my classes. As an administrator within PWIs, I have often been
the token Black professional in my department and have witnessed the dwindling numbers of
Black students on these campuses. As both an Academic Advisor at a prominent 4-year
institution and a Black Scholars Counselor (faculty) at a community college, noticing the
absence of Black students on two different college campuses and the disparities that they face,
encouraged my passion to help Black students solidify a position on any college campus.
Because Black students within PWIs are often studied, I wanted to understand how their
experiences differed at an HBCU where they are surrounded around others that ethnically
identify with them. While researching students’ experiences at well-known HBCUs such as
Howard, Spelman, Clark Atlanta University, Morgan State, etc., there were empirical articles
that introduced a concept that I never took into consideration—White students comprising the
majority at historically Black schools. From my experience of attending PWIs, working in PWIs,
and matriculating within a predominantly White educational system, the idea of HBCUs
becoming White raised concern. It raised many questions such as: If Black student enrollment in
PWIs and Community Colleges is low, and HBCUs are now being whitened, where are the
Black students going? How will they obtain their education? Are they working instead? Are they
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embedded in the prison system? Is the deficit-minded assumption that Black people do not want
to attend school true? With these questions, my multi-perspectives and experiences, and the
absence of fruitful information on this issue being addressed in the literature, choosing this
avenue to navigate was not only essential to the Black community but to academia as well.

Limitations
Limitations are considered weaknesses or areas potentially limiting by the internal or
external validity of the results. Limitations that must be addressed are the studied population,
participant sample-size, single-raced (Black, U.S native), one institution participant criteria and
the researcher’s biases.
Eight alumni that were interested in expressing their perspectives on their experiences at
Bluefield State College participated in this study. The sample size is seemingly low based on the
time constraint of the study and the participant criteria that must be met. Although the sample
size was small, eight participants were enough to highlight the experiences and sense of
belonging of the alumni. I also proceeded with the eight participants because their participation
can be viewed as a foundational perspective into PW-HBCUs that other researchers can further
explore. The eligibility criteria were another limitation. Participants had to be alumni and native-
born Americans. Individuals that were not alumni OR were born elsewhere in the Black diaspora
were not included. However, these individuals might have a unique perspective on their
experiences at Bluefield State College.
Researching alumni from a single institution could be considered a limitation because it
is a narrow lens, and one institution cannot speak for the experiences of students at another.
However, the experiences of Black alumni from one PW-HBCU can inform further explorations
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of other PW-HBCUs. This study also raises awareness about the importance of exploring the
Black student experiences at other PW-HBCUs.
The next limitation to be addressed is the communication with the study participants.
Initially, I hoped to study and observe current Sophomore and Junior students at Bluefield State
College. However, I was unable to gain access to the institution due to the lack of
communication from the institution’s liaison. After reaching out to the designated administrator
and being met with resistance at the prospect of me coming to campus to observe the students,
my study transitioned to studying the college experiences of Bluefield State alumni. Although
the alumni were great participants, because they live all over the world, the only way to
communicate was via phone or email. Learning the perspectives of alumni had its own
interesting take on the study. Yet, the inability to communicate face-to-face, explore the
institution that framed their lens, and observe them created a different dynamic for the study then
was initially anticipated.
The way in which communication took place was another limitation. Phone calls were
helpful for connecting with the participants, however, there were some participants that preferred
to communicate via email only. Other participants responded to the interview prompts via email
due to their time constraints and an inability to schedule time for an interview. The inability to
communicate directly and build rapport with participants was reflected by the differences in
conversational topics and the length of transcripts between the email and phone participants.
With the phone conversations, topics beyond the interview questions were introduced, the alumni
were able to elaborate on their responses, they were able to express themselves on their concerns
about the demographic shift at their former institution, and we were able to develop a
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relationship about the study. The emailed participants were only able to answer the questions as
presented.
Each limitation is reflected in the study. However, the limitations did not cause the study
to lose its purpose. Using alumni instead of current students created a unique lens that allowed
for the absence of campus life to frame the perspective from a different timeline. For instance,
each alumnus varied in age and in graduation years. They have the ability to reflect on their time
at Bluefield State College and to give insight on an institution that has framed who they are.
When individuals enter college, traditionally they are coming directly from high school.
However, some of my alumni participants were non-traditional students and had a more mature
perspective to derive from. The alumni were able to disconnect from the institution because they
are no longer students there and were able to reflect on how it has prepared them for where they
are today. They were also able to combine all 4-years of their collegiate experiences to
completely focus their lens.
The last limitation that should be addressed is the researcher’s biases. Being aware of
these biases are imperative to the trustworthiness and credibility of the study. Because I share
similarities to the participants in the study, including race, gender, experiences, and attending
predominantly White institutions, my perspectives and biases must be considered while
understanding the importance and context of this study.
Summary
This study examined the college experiences of Black alumni from Bluefield State
College and the ways in which the institution’s demographics shaped their sense of belonging.
Many scholars are aware of predominantly White-HBCUs. However, those outside of academia
are unaware of this phenomenon. Because of this, the Black experience at this institutional type
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is universally unaccounted for. Chapter IV will show the results that emerged from the
interviews and will characterize the Black student experience at a PW-HBCU from an alumni
perspective. The results depict the voices of each participant, which creates a sense of realness
and urgency to this topic.

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Chapter 4: Findings

The purpose of this study is to learn about the different experiences of Black alumni of
Bluefield State College and whether or not their experiences and sense of belonging were
influenced by the demographic shift. This chapter is organized to illustrate the findings from
both the email correspondence and the over-the-phone interviews with the alumni participants. I
will present the findings as categorized into themes that derived from the interviews. From the
interviews, narratives were extracted to tell the story. Narrative inquiry is a way of understanding
human experiences through stories that, in turn, help us better understand the human phenomena
and human existence (Polkinghorne, 1998). Therefore, the findings will be displayed in the form
of individual mini-biographies to give a background on each participant, followed by quotes in
order to capture the voices and unique experiences of each participant. Towards the end of the
chapter, the following research questions will be addressed:
● What were the experiences of being a Black student at a PW-HBCU?
● What role did attending a PW-HBCU play in shaping a Black students’ sense of
belonging, from the perspective of alumni?
The findings are categorized into themes that derived from the interviews. These themes
are: (a) Black experience, (b) support systems, (c) campus history, (d) sense of belonging, and
(e) preparedness.

Participant Profile
Nico
My name is Nico, and I graduated from Bluefield State College in 2011. I was a non-
traditional student who chose BSC to receive a promotion from work, as I was working
for the department of corrections in Oklahoma. BSC had a program called RBA, which is
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a Regents Bachelor of Arts, and it came down to how I could finish my degree without
spending the most money. I did my research before selecting Bluefield State College,
however, no research could have prepared me for what the school actually was. It was an
HBCU that did not resemble your typical HBCU. I did what I had to do to earn my
degree, but the institution itself did not help me. I was fortunate enough to be older than
most of the other students, so my expectations were different, and I understood how to
handle my business. Nevertheless, the institution needs a facelift, and Blackness needs to
be a part of it.

Introduction
Nico and I met randomly. He was not a part of my scheduled interviews. In fact, he was
not even a part of the alumni emails that were sent to me. Nico was referred to me by another
participant. While I was awaiting my interview with a participant, I received a phone call from
an unknown number. As I answered, a stranger responded and said: “Is this Danielle? The
Danielle that is doing research on Bluefield State College from USC?” As startled as I was, I
responded back with, “Yes. That is me. And you are?” It was that moment, that the conversation
blossomed, and the information began to flow. As he began to give me the context behind many
HBCU’s, why he attended BSC, and how disappointed he was with the state of his beloved
HBCU, I interrupted our conversation, asked if I could record, and the interview officially began.
His perspective is unique because he is the only non-traditional participant in this study and
attended BSC for purposes of professional opportunities.

James
My name is James, and I graduated from Bluefield State College in 2013. I chose BSC
because I am a third-generation BCS student. My grandmother graduated from there
when it was still a teacher’s college back in the 1940’s. Then, my mother came 40 years
after her and graduated from the business department. My father, who is a retired veteran
that fought during the Vietnam era, graduated from BSC also. For me, it was familiar, but
also, it was the location. I lived closed to Bluefield State College. Additionally, obtaining
a degree from here meant good job opportunities later. It also used to be a very pro-Black
school. Now, it’s just a school, with minimal Blackness involved, and that worries me.
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Introduction
James and I were introduced via email. He expressed his interest in wanting to be a
participant in this study after receiving my flyer. He was also the individual that referred Nico
(my surprise interviewee) to me. Passionate about Bluefield State College, due to his upbringing,
this study meant a lot to him. Anxious and hopeful about the potential of this study, James was
willing to divulge a lot of information about what he learned from his relatives that attended,
what he experienced as a student, and how much it means to him to bring back the true face of
Bluefield State College. With those sentiments, and my recorder ready, the interview started.
James is critical to this study because he is a local participant who has a long lineage of family
members that attended BSC. Growing up within the proximity of the school and having that
personal connection makes him a critical factor to the study.

Donna
My name is Donna, and I graduated from Bluefield State College in 1990. I have a
Bachelor’s Degree in PE/English from Bluefield State College, and I received both my
Masters and Ph.D. from other institutions. My mother is an alumnus of BSC and taught in
the West Virginia school system. All of my siblings and my father received their degrees
from an HBCU as well. In the beginning, I attended a PWI and realized with the major
that I was in at the time the professors there kept me in my place. They made it much
harder for me, so I decided to transfer to Bluefield State College. It was the best decision
I could have made. However, the school my mother and I graduated from is not the
school BSC is today. Out of 1,379 students, 116 are African American. That is not the
demographic of an HBCU.

Introduction
When I was struggling to gain access into Bluefield State College, I reached out to a staff
member to help as a last resort. Fortunately, the response from Donna was positive as she was
willing to help me recruit participants for the study. Within an hour of sending her my initial
email, my cell phone started to ring. Upon answering, I heard “Soror, my sweet, sweet Soror,
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how can I help?” I explained the roadblocks being presented and not being able to conduct my
research on Bluefield State College’s campus. To my surprise, Donna was a member of my
sorority and a current employee of the college. Because of our sisterhood and her campus status,
she offered to assist me in any way that she could. It was because of Donna that I was able to
gain the remainder of my participants. And so, the study began. Due to schedule conflicts, we
had to conduct our interview via email correspondence. However, her responses were critical to
the study, and her perspective unique. As an individual that grew up around BSC, an alumna and
current employee, she was able to present a lens that no other participant had. Additionally, she
was the only participant that started off at a PWI and left for an HBCU because she was not
receiving the support that she needed. She was also the participant that attended BSC in the
1980’s, therefore, she was able to witness many of the demographic and institutional shifts that
happened along the way.

Miguel
My name is Miguel, and I graduated from Bluefield State College in 2007. I chose BSC
because I am a third-generation alumnus of the school and grew up visiting the campus
and attending events since I was a young boy. I had an appreciation for the institution at
an early age. In my mind, it was a family institution that dates back generations. I also
chose it because of its location. As I was entering adulthood, I wanted to be close to my
immediate and extended family, from both my mother and father’s side, that lived close
to the institution for emotional and physical support. The next reason I attended BSC was
that of the cost. Bluefield State College was an institution that was extremely affordable
for people to attend. Lastly, I chose BSC because of the environment. I consider myself
to be a ‘government baby’, therefore, we moved around a lot in my childhood and we
have lived in major cities throughout my childhood. I wanted to change that and live in
an area with a slower pace to allow myself to stay focused on my goals and get more help
with things to be successful within my college years. I did not want to attend an
institution where I was nothing but a number. However, I didn’t realize I would be
attending an HBCU that didn’t represent Black people either.

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Introduction
Miguel reached out to me via telephone after hearing about the study from Donna, his
aunt. He expressed that he was extremely busy as a filmmaker, however, he wanted to make time
to talk about his experiences at BSC. Due to his busy schedule, I emailed him the interview
questions and asked him to answer them at his earliest convenience. Two weeks later, I received
an email from Miguel with what turned out to be a great assessment of his experiences while at
BSC. Although an informal interview, his perspective highlighted questions, comments, and
concerns that many of the other participants described, and now, his voice can be heard. His
relevance to the study is that he was intentional in his choice to attend BSC. He attended BSC
seeking refuge, support, and a community. BSC did not provide that for him once he attended.
His intentions and expectations, versus his reality, is what makes Miguel essential to this study.

Denise
My name is Denise, and I graduated from Bluefield State College in 2004. I was born and
raised in Bluefield, WV. When I was a senior in high school, not many schools came
around to recruit students. Bluefield State College was the first school that came into our
high school to recruit. I wanted to go to college, but I did not want to be a burden to my
parents as far as them having to pay for college. I played basketball, and BSC offered me
a scholarship, so that is why I attended. I was a part of Minorities on the Move,
ambassadors, and the honor society. While at BSC, I was able to stay at home to cut the
cost. However, I was unaware at the time that I would not only be cutting the cost of
school but also cutting the cost of a true Black experience.

Introduction
Denise and I were introduced via email. She responded to an email I sent out to
prospective participants. She was eager to participate as if she had something to get off her chest.
We never spoke on the phone, however, her answers to the interview questions were extremely
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detailed. It was as if you could sense her passion through the computer screen. Her relevance to
the study stems from her connection to the community. As a Bluefield native, she knew and
understood the demographics of the community, versus the demographics of the campus. This
disparity is what influenced her experiences and sense of belonging and is the reason why her
perspective is vital.

Richard
My name is Richard, and I graduated from Bluefield State College in 2012. I am from
Columbus, Ohio, and I currently live in Alaska. I chose BSC because I was looking for
some schools to go to and there was a good guy who was a trusted family friend who was
good about getting kids into college. He gave my name to some schools without me
knowing about it, and I received a call from the Head Basketball Coach at Bluefield State
College, Don Jones, and he asked if I wanted to play for him. I had a teammate they were
interested in as well, so he and I both took a visit, and I wanted to jump on the
opportunity because they were offering me a full athletic scholarship. So, I would say, I
didn’t choose Bluefield State College, more so, they chose me. They were interested in
me, and I was fully committed. Although the Black population was not in abundance at
the school, I was able to find refuge within local churches, the community, and the Black
BSC alumni back home in Columbus, Ohio. I didn’t need the campus to provide a Black
community, I found my own.

Introduction

Richard and I conversed on the phone for hours discussing his life, interests, and his
experiences at Bluefield State College. We initially connected over email, as he was a potential
participant who expressed interest in my study after viewing my flyer from Donna. As a college
athlete, his experiences and sense of belonging are a little different than his peers. However, his
desire for institutional change was the same as his fellow participants. As our conversation began
with pleasantries and me developing rapport, I wanted to make sure that I did not forget to
capture our dialogue. I asked if I could record him. The moment that he agreed, I typed his name
in the “subject line”, pressed the little red recording button, and the interview started. Richard is
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important to this study because, although he felt disappointed in the campuses involvement
within the Black population, he was the sole participant who had an overall positive BSC
perspective based on his own personal beliefs.

Jonathan
My name is Jonathan, and I graduated from Bluefield State College in 2012. I initially
choose the school to play basketball there. The education is more than anything. I also
have some history there. My great -grandfather and my grandmother they attended
Bluefield State College as well back when things were more predominately Black. I am
also from the area and it was just a convenient choice at the time. They had what I
wanted to study, engineering, and it all worked out. Once I attended there, I quickly
learned that Bluefield State College is just…different.

Introduction
Jonathan and I initially met through email, as he was one of the individuals that informed
me of his interest after receiving my flyer from Donna. Like Richard, he was an athlete, so his
experience differed from many of his peers. We were able to reconnect after our initial email
exchange and conduct the interview over the phone. His laid-back demeanor proved beneficial as
it allowed for the interview to go at his pace. His perspective was interesting not only since he
was an athlete, so it presented a different lens from the some of the other participants, but
comparing his experience with Richard, the other athlete, showed how two individuals who
played the same sport, and were a part of the same team and shared the same locker room, had
different experiences. With that, I pressed record, Jonathan began to talk, and my ears began to
listen.

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Andrew
My name is Andrew, and I graduated from Bluefield State College in 1999. I chose BSC
because I was a basketball player on scholarship, and they paid for 100% of my school. I
wanted to be a pharmacist or X-Ray technician, however, BSC didn’t have that major so I
pursued a degree in Elementary Education. Bluefield State College was not what I
expected, however, it did not disappoint. It wasn’t because the campus provided me with
what I needed, but more so the Black administrators and my neighbors helped me feel at
home when otherwise I felt misplaced being from out-of-state.

Introduction
Andrew responded to an email from Donna that invited him to participate in my study.
After connecting with him, we found it difficult due to time conflicts to converse over the
telephone. Therefore, I emailed him the interview questions, and once completed he emailed me
his responses. Andrew, also a BSC athlete, had the outlier experiences. His responses brought a
different perspective to the study that was not relayed through the other participants. He is the
only male participant that graduated in the 1990’s and he, unlike the other athletic participants,
did not connect with his teammates. Therefore, he did not have an already infused community.
He is also important to this study because his support and community did not come from his
peers but from the Black administration that was there during his time at BSC. Today, that Black
administration is almost nonexistent. Even so, I regret not being able to speak with Andrew over
the phone. His dissimilar lens brought a different point of view to the study.

These introductions are used to allow the readers a chance to become familiar with the
participants. It also allows the readers to be able to make the connection between the
participant’s background and their experiences and sense of belonging, in relation to the themes
below. Each theme was formed from each individual interview with the participants. These
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themes are: a) The Black experience, b) the visibility of campus history, c) support systems, d)
overall preparedness, and e) sense of belonging. From these themes, the participants expressed
how their perceptions of a traditionally Black HBCU and the reality of BSC shaped their tenure
at the institution.

It ’s a Different World: The NEW Black Experience
The Black Experience is defined in two ways: (1) The shared experiences of those that
identify with being of African descent that were born in the United States of America, and (2) the
ways in which Black individuals describe a “traditional” HBCU, such as predominately Black,
NPHC, strong Black alumni presence, institutional pride, etc., versus the PW-HBCU that they
attended. Does the Black experience measure up to the expectations of the Black alumni that
attended Bluefield State?
Each alumnus had a unique experience while attending Bluefield State College. The
findings showed that, for the eight alumni participants, the Black experience at Bluefield State
College was abnormal compared to their perception of life at predominantly Black HBCUs.
However, each person interpreted their Black experience differently. Richard felt that his
experience was much different than others because he was grateful for the opportunity to attend
college and now belongs to a fraternity of BSC graduates:
My experience is different than others. I was prouder that I was able to graduate from
college. I’m proud of the institution I graduated from, and when I go home to talk to
people who are from there, or have roots there at that college, they're all Black. They see
my Bluefield State hoodie and it is moments like these that make me feel good.

However, Denise believed that systematic barriers interrupted her overall experience:

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If you are looking for a “Black experience” at this HBCU you will not get it or let me
rephrase, you will get a Black experience but not the one you were hoping for. There are
prejudices and systemic racism within the confines of the walls of BSC.

When thinking about the traditional characteristics of HBCUs, the main categories that
the alumni continuously reflected on were the demographics. Although each alumnus agreed that
diversity is important to educational growth, they did not agree that their campus was diverse.
When asked about the campus demographics, in relation to their experiences, Miguel felt that the
campus was overwhelmingly non-Black which is not a characteristic of an HBCU. Miguel says,
My thoughts about the campus demographics composition are very clear. There was very
little diversity on the campus with students and professors at the institution. Although the
institution was a Historically Black College; the majority of the students, staff,
professors, and administration were non-Blacks or non- people-of-color which does not
represent my idea of what an HBCU was established for and represents.

Donna added an inclusive perspective of what diversity means and the ways in which BSC
straddles the line. She believed that the word “diversity” is broad, easily manipulated, and has
lost its ability to protect Blackness under its umbrella. She states:

Well, diversity, as it was first defined, was for Black people. Now the country and
government have taken that word to make it fit so many underrepresented groups—
women, LGBTQ community, etc. If we are talking about POC (people of color), then this
campus is not diverse. If defined by society, then yes, the campus is diverse.

The stereotypical four-year collegiate experience consists of living in dorm rooms,
joining a sorority or fraternity, congregating around campuses, joining clubs/organizations,
attending sporting events, and being able to explore. One might attend a college or university
expecting this experience, however, it does not necessarily reflect the reality. During the 1960’s,
a campus dormitory was bombed (which is now the engineering building), turning Bluefield
State College into a commuter school. Because there are no dorms on the campus, no football
team, no Black sorority/fraternities, no marching band, and no past memorabilia to
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commemorate its rich history, the sense of belonging and experiences are created by the students
and not because of any campus effort or action. Richard believed that his time at BSC was
overshadowed by this disconnect of campus life and student life. This, coupled with the White
student percentage, created a non-HBCU campus environment. Richard says,
No, I don’t feel like I attended an HBCU at all. It was predominately white with 86
percent white when I was going there. It was a community college basically, primarily
because we didn’t have any campus housing on the campus. There was an old Ramada
Inn that they changed it to Mountain View Residence which served as a dormitory setting
for Bluefield State Students and other people who decided to live there. So, it was an old
hotel that they made it into like some dorms. I did not feel that it was a historically Black
college at all.

Missing the cohesiveness that dormitories provide was the overarching theme that was
reflected by the participants. The lack of on-campus housing appeared to be the driving force that
caused the demographic shift to stay permanent. The bombing that occurred in 1967, which
dismantled the dormitories, caused Bluefield State College to transition into a White commuter
school. With Black students needing the dorms to attend, the demographic shift continued.
Dormitories are essential to creating memories, cohesiveness, and utilizing all that campus has to
offer. Because the dormitories never reopened, and there are not many campus activities that
BSC offers, once students leave class, they do not have anything to do, or anywhere to go, except
off campus, to where they live. Donna believed that this was the moment BSC lost its Black
coalition:
We are at a disadvantage when it comes to other institutions because of the 1967
bombing. The dormitories shut down for the break at Thanksgiving and never
reopened. Payne Hall was directly in the line of the bombing and it was claimed to have
had “structural” damage and was demolished. Can you imagine coming back to school
to find yourself homeless? To me, that was the beginning of the end of this institution as
an HBCU.

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Agreeing with his aunt, Miguel added that the removal of the dormitories was the
removal of the “B” in HBCU:
The demographics, it worries me. It’s completely lopsided and it’s predominantly White;
even when you get to the faculty and staff.

Disappointed in her time at BSC, and being a Bluefield, WV native, Denise does not see
hope in the institution’s future. She believes that the legacy that Bluefield State College once
had, will forever be a past thought. The historical attributes that brought her to BSC, such as
Langston Hughes and other Black figures visiting, the percentage of Black educators that the
institution produced, the Greek life, athletic awards, and more, are all non-existent. Denise says:
I would consider BSC an HBCU of the past, but its present and future will never go back
to being a true HBCU. Its legacy is dead.

Diversity within the classroom is critical for equitable learning experiences. Although
collegiate classrooms do not always reflect diversity, Bluefield State College (as well as other
higher education institutions) describe diversity as being a factor that shapes the world. When
asked about the dangers of the demographic shift Bluefield State College, and how the resulting
lack of diversity had impacted the learning experience, Denise believed that the demographic
shift changed the way in which Blacks were educated at BSC. She stated:
I think that if the shift had never happened Blacks would have gotten a better education
then what they have received since the shift.

Because history shows that Black people were denied access into so many areas, having
the opportunity to have something that can be self-identified as “theirs” was a turning point in
their legacy. The alumni participants saw these spaces and structures as being for and by Black
students. Eliminating these spaces and structures through both the bombing of the dorms and
through institutional decision making was the tipping point. Diluting the Black experience at
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Bluefield State College caused frustration and dissatisfaction towards their collegiate years.
Understanding the campus history and the foundation paved to create Historically Black
Colleges and Universities, was the saving grace that salvaged their overall Black experience.

Visibility/Invisibility of Campus History
Campus History is defined by the legacy of Bluefield State College. It refers to the ways
in which the institution displays and teaches the history, if there are any markers on campus that
mention the history, and how does the campus reference its history today.
Bluefield State College was founded in 1895 and was utilized for the education of Black
youth. It later transitioned into a Teachers College, using its platform to prepare educators and
eventually award many teacher certifications. The legacy of this institution is long and proud.
However, the participants described the history of the school as vaguely represented and
unknown to the masses due to the institution’s reluctance to display its heritage through visible
representation. According to the participants, there is little-to-no recognition of the rich history
that this now PW-HBCU once had as a traditional HBCU. Through interaction with their peers,
the alumni realized that many students, Black and White alike, were unfamiliar with its history.
Jonathan believed that BSC would never return to its HBCU roots and that the institution's lack
of historical display was due to wanting to protect enrollment numbers. He says:
Very few White students that currently attend and plan to attend BSC are even aware that
the school is an HBCU. Most have never even heard of an HBCU. I recall having this
conversation with various white students who were clueless. The school itself
(administrators etc.) rarely speak about the school’s history. I always felt that maybe the
school was afraid of hurting their enrollment numbers by voicing this and potentially
causing white (non-Black) students to enroll elsewhere.

Like most higher education institutions, there is a prescribed seal/crest that signifies the
foundation of the campus, displays the history of the campus, and pays homage to its beginning.
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However, according to James, at Bluefield State University, the original seal/crest was removed
and for those that do not have prior knowledge of BSC, its history erased. James states:
The board and the president spent 250,000 dollars to have the original seal of the school
removed which had the word Black and colored in it. It was recommended that they don’t
do it because of the historical significance, but they did it anyway.

When asked if there were any historical markers on the campus, James stated:

Yeah, there are two historical markers on the campus. One reads the history like Bluefield
State was founded in 1895 as a negro college for teachers. So, they have a couple of
those types of markers on the campus. That’s about it. The last time the fraternities and
sororities were there was about fifteen years ago, so they still have some of their insignia
engraved on the campus as well.

Having those markers on the campus gave the Black alumni a way to commemorate their past
and be a part of its story. Nico believed that the President of the institution removed everything
that reminded the institution that it was a Black college in order to transform its identity. The
history of the campus, in theory, would always be there. However, the visibility of the history
would not. Therefore, the only way an individual would know that Bluefield State College is an
HBCU or its story is by research or through conversation with alumni, community residents, or
academics. On the day that Nico graduated, he went to take a picture of the signs to celebrate his
accomplishments. He had no idea that at this moment, the removal of the last reminders of BSC
as an HBCU and a teacher’s college, was going to be removed. Nico remembers this moment by
stating:
When I graduated, I took a picture in front of the administration building. At this time,
they only had two signs. They had already taken down all the stuff that said anything
about Bluefield State being a Black college. However, while I stood in front of both the
signs, they were simultaneously taking them down.

The invisibility of campus history heightened the lens of the participants. They sought to
redefine their HBCU experience through support systems, campus involvement, and peer
interaction. Support is a critical part of a student’s tenure and matriculation within higher
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education. The participants distinguished their perceptions of the support they received from
Whites and from Blacks. The following section describes the differences in support and how it
ultimately shaped their experiences and sense of belonging.

White Support System

Support is defined by the ways in which the alumni received help, who helped them, and
what that help looked like. Support is used in a broad term, so it does not only mean academic
support, but also personal, professional, and other types of help that a person can give and/or
receive.
As described in Chapter II, BSC’s history reflects solidarity, uplift, and a mission-driven
orientation (Brown et al., 2004). Brown (2002) found that in the past, BSC offered systems of
support to promote learning among students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, the past of BSC is
characterized by a collaborative spirit with the goal of advancing the institution and obtaining
resources to further grow and develop the institution. It has proven to be one that used its support
systems to foster learning in its students, faculty, and staff. Furthermore, history proclaimed BSC
to be an institution that worked together to provide resources and opportunities to facilitate
growth and development within its institution. According to the participants, what they
experienced does not reflect the nurturing environment that the previous generation experienced
when they attended BSC. The influx of White students not only shifted the campus
demographics, but also the way in which the Black students received support while attending
Bluefield State College. Miguel reflected on his support system during his tenure by expressing
how there was segregation between Black students and those that supported them. In fact, he felt
that his White counterparts received all of the support, and due to the lack of Black faculty, his
support did not exist. He states:
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I would consider my institution to be predominately white. Not a true HBCU but an
HBCU in name only. The support we received was not the same as others experience
from other true HBCUs. White faculty doesn’t want to help, and the Black faculty is
nonexistent.

Support is an action that can be provided in many ways for different things. Some
examples of support are informational, emotional, companionship, and tangible (Lanford,
Bowsher, Maloney, & Lillis, 1997; Heaney, & Israel, 2008; and Willis, 1991). This theme
focuses on each of those support systems. Informational support may come in the form of guide,
advice, and for the purposes of this study, academics. Emotional support may come in the form
of empathy, compassion, and acceptance. Companionship support aligns with the alumni sense
of belonging. It refers to the social aspect of emotional support. Lastly, tangible support, for this
study, refers to financial assistance and opportunities available for the participants when they
were students.
Many of the participants explained how they were marginalized by the White students
and looked upon as not carrying their own weight when they needed assistance. For example,
several participants recounted experiences of not being selected in class for group projects.
Additionally, the White faculty and staff were not inviting, and they would have to seek
assistance elsewhere. Many participants described the White faculty and staff as uninviting,
leading the Black students to seek assistance elsewhere. These are examples of lack of
informational and companionship support by their White counterparts. When asked about the
way in which the Black alumni interacted with White faculty, staff, and peers, Denise felt
discontent. She perceived the institution providing support to White students but neglected the
needs of the Black students. With White faculty and staff not wanting to solicit help from Black
or non-White students, their form of micro-aggression seemed to condone systematic racism. She
also expressed how support was based on racial identification. Denise says:
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The Whites’ support looked like them and the Blacks’ support looked like us. Often times
Black students would have problems with White professors. You either stood up for
yourself and suffer the consequences, or you dropped the class and took it at another
local college just to avoid prolonged problems. The White students didn’t have the same
problems that the Black students had with these professors. Seeing and knowing the
distinction between the treatment of Blacks versus Whites within the confines of this
“HBCU” made me question the institution as a whole. Why would an HBCU hire
teachers that would carry out systemic racism knowing the history of the college? No
matter how many complaints the administration got on these professors, nothing was
done.

The lack of support also came from the academic advisors as well. Many of the
participants stated how they would often be turned away or ignored when seeking class advice or
funding. However, Nico felt that his academic advisor undermined his academic trajectory and
did not want to advise him based on his race. He felt that his advisor avoided conversations with
him without having to integrate another party for her comfortability. Because of this, he felt
frustrated and disrespected. Nico states:
My advisor didn’t care for me and she would include somebody else in the conversation.
So, I questioned her, who is this person and why can’t you talk to me alone? She never
advised me on what to take. I learned to do it on my own. It was her job to make sure I’m
on the right track, but she refused.
The same was said about the financial aid department and advisors. Financial support was
critical to every participant. These alumni shared that they chose Bluefield State College because
of its affordability. Some were athletes and were able to attend for free, or other were able to
attend because it was lower cost than other institutions. However, everyone at BSC was not as
fortunate, and financial assistance was needed. Denise recalled moments where her peers would
seek financial aid and would be awarded much less than their White counterparts, or not awarded
at all. Asking for financial help within the Black community is viewed through a stigmatized
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lens. For students at BSC, that negative stereotype followed them there, with White
administrations suggesting the students subject to government assistance. Denise states:
When Blacks would go to the financial aid department and ask why we didn’t get that
much financial aid, the head of that department looked at us and said if you go have some
kids you can get financial aid. The Blacks never did receive any of those scholarships
even if we did have the grades, but yet the institution receives money for being an HBCU.
The White students received more financial help than we did.
Nico agreed that support was scarce for Black students and they had to help themselves:
Man, you had to get it while you could find it.
Other types of support were in the form of campus opportunities. Work study and
apprenticeships were unavailable, and often Black students were overlooked for academic
positions even if their GPA (grade point average) was higher than their White counterparts.
These are examples of a lack of tangible and informational support. James recounted numerous
Black individuals at BSC that assisted him with campus opportunities. He felt that if it was not
for them, he would not have been able to work or receive recognition for his accomplishments.
He believed that if it was not for the Black faculty and staff protecting him, the White faculty
would have allowed his White peers to replace him for those opportunities. James states:
The main support I got was from Ms. Teresa, Ms. Maggie Dr. Jefferson, and Dr.
Browning. It was because of them that I was able to receive my work -study position and
receive the Marker Student of the Year my senior year. Unfortunately, the White
professors were trying to cheat me out of my award and give it to another White student
that I was tutoring. I was fortunate. However, for my peers, they pretty much had to
figure it out on their own along the way.

From an administration perspective, two participants, in particular, stated that when a
high-ranking position at the institution became available, there was not a single Black candidate
being interviewed and that Black faculty and staff were overlooked for promotions. Instead,
outside options were sought out (who were also non-Black). James reflected back to this moment
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and stated that having a high-ranking position, as a person of color, did not guarantee you being
equally accepted, and qualified persons often left BSC because of their discriminatory practices.
James says:
I was on the Board of Governors when they were in the process of finding a new
President and there were many African Americans who put applications in that
didn’t even get interviewed, including the Provost, Dr. Collins. He was an African
American and they staged a ‘no confidence’ vote against him to get him out. They
wouldn’t interview him.
When asked about their current interaction with the campus and how, if any, the campus
has improved on its employment profile, Denise stated:
I do not interact with BSC in any capacity. BSC has nothing to offer. They do not interact
with the local community or alumni to garner a relationship. The administration and staff
during my time there and after has always been predominantly White. Blacks have a hard
time trying to get hired at BSC. The Alumni Association doesn’t keep me integrated with
the campus at all.

Additionally, athletic coaches that were performing well were fired and replaced with
White coaches that were not performing equally as well. The trend was noticeable, and this
created a greater ripple effect in the decline of Black faculty and staff on the campus. James
responded with the following:
There’s plenty of well-qualified Black people that’s been applying for jobs for years such
as Dr. Jefferson. He has a doctoral degree and they never hired the man. They never
gave him a chance. They forbid well-qualified Black people from getting good jobs. The
White individuals they hire have plenty of other predominantly white institutions to go
work at. I don’t mind having a few here, but I mean the majority shouldn’t be White not
at a historically Black institution.

The participants expressed the disconnect that was felt between themselves and the White
faculty, staff, and peers. Opportunities were not being distributed equitably and the participants
desired a change. With a majority of the campus being White, the participants gravitated to
Black faculty, staff, and peers to help them in their time of need.
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Black Support System
The campus is predominately White, which includes the students, faculty, and staff. The
few faculty and staff of color that openly identify as “Black” are from within the diaspora and
not native U.S born, which the alumni participants mentioned being non-beneficial when seeking
cultural likeness. Richard explained:
We did have a lot of non-U.S. Blacks so, we had African descent Blacks or Nigerians, or
you know, a list of others. So, there's situations and things that they can’t truly relate to
you know, like those people who are born here and lived in lower socioeconomic areas
here. They didn’t have the same type of experiences and I think that kind of hindered
some things to an extent.

The participants shared that although the “Black” faculty tried to be the best
representation that they could to promote the presence of Blackness on campus, the cultural
difference was sometimes a barrier for complete cohesiveness. Richard continued by stating:
So, they had their own experiences and they had their own beliefs and thoughts and other
processes, but they tried their best to be relative to what we're going through and what
we were enduring and tried to uphold whatever we had as far as traditions, beliefs, and
stuff that we abide by as an institution.

However, there were three African American individuals that were highlighted by the
participants a critical source of support. To protect their identity, I will only refer to them by
pseudonyms; Dr. Jefferson, Ms. Gray, and Ms. Martin. They assisted the participants with
anything that they needed to ensure that they would be successful during their tenure at BSC.
When asked about the way in which the participants interacted with Black faculty, staff, and
peers, the responses were different. Denise commented:
The Blacks that I encountered was different than Whites. The Blacks I encountered were
always trying to help each other. We all knew we were in the same boat, so we always
helped each other out whether it was feeding one another or give someone a ride. We had
a strong bond and we stuck together for the most part. There were some disagreements
here and there, but not enough to say we wouldn’t stand for each other in a battle.

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Richard, a student -athlete, recounted a story that summed up his experience with the
Black faculty and staff at Bluefield State College. His story showcased how prominent of a
figure Ms. Gray was and continues to be for Black students at BSC. She believed in Richard and
suggested him for the Thurgood Marshall Leadership Institute. When he did not have anything to
wear, she found him a suite and helped him get to New York. He recounts:
I didn’t have a suit to go out to this institute because it was business professional the
entire time I was in New York City. Well, Ms. Gray already talked to the individuals on
my behalf and she bought me a men’s suit because I didn’t own one. I went to the
Leadership Institute and there were about 697 students from over 30 institutions. I was
the only Black person from my school that was a Black person born in America that went.
I would never have had that opportunity with Ms. Gray!

Donna, who graduated in 1990, reflected on her time at Bluefield State College, and the
differences that she sees now as an alumnus. She mentioned how when she was a student, Black
students had much financial assistance and other support mechanisms in place. There was Black
faculty during her time that assisted students to make sure they were going down the right path.
They were mentors. Today, those Black mentors do not exist because the Black faculty and staff
do not exist. She states:
SOC (students of color) cannot receive the assistance today if they do not have IOC
(instructors of color) here to help guide them in becoming successful. I had IOC’s here
to tell me what I should be doing and how I should be doing it. During my time here as
an undergrad, really think the instructors were just interested in you doing your work.
As an employee, there are so many problems with SOC and instructors. I see how these
students are treated and that bothers me to no end.

The ways in which the participants interacted with the individuals on their campus, or the
ways in which others interacted with the Black participants, played a critical role in their
experience and sense of belonging. Richard stated that the Black staff and administration
supported them at every basketball game. They helped fundraise and they were really involved
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and invested in their presence on the campus. However, the White administration was not
interested. He stated:
The White faculty that graduated from different institutions that had pride in their
institutions that they graduated from more so than the institution that pays them to work
there. So, they pretty much didn’t really care. They just wanted to collect a check and do
their job. Anything extracurricular, they were off by four o'clock. It’s time to go home.
So, they didn’t really show the support that we deserved to have as students.

He continued by addressing the ways in which Ms. Gray showed her support and his admiration
for her. He stated:

Ms. Gray who was part of our Alumni Affairs. I look at her as my Auntie because I love
Ms. Gray. She’s everything to me. She made my experience a Bluefield State so amazing.
Every time I stepped on campus I went to her office pretty much every day...But pretty
much the Black faculty and staff were involved in our lives.

Andrew shared the same sentiments of Ms. Gray with the following:
Ms. Gray was my favorite. She really took care of me. Knowing I was from Columbus
Ohio, she looked out for me…… Thanksgiving dinner was awesome…

Donna believed that an increase of Black instructors would equate to an increase of Black
support and sense of belonging:
Black instructors have more of a caring, nurturing attitude about us. We are genuinely
concerned about the student. We want them to succeed. How many Black instructors do
you feel do not take a student to the side and explain to them the meaning of a good
education or to encourage them and say hey listen, you have beat the odds. I need you to
be better and do better. That no longer happens—not even with those who are Black
here now. We need to take an interest in our own race. When they are not doing right,
let them know.

Taking an interest in the student’s life, going the extra mile, participating in their
extracurricular activities, and helping when the student needs, help was the type of support that
the participants were seeking from Bluefield State College’s entire campus. However, that type
of support was only provided by Black faculty, staff, and peers.
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The connections made, the support given, and the experiences that college students
engage in creates a foundation for the type of jobs they seek out later, relationships they form,
and the ways they progressed through their collegiate years. Because the participants
acknowledged the difference in the support that they received, the following theme will highlight
the ways BSC prepared them academically and professionally.

Preparedness
Preparedness is linked to support but also has its own definition. The findings use
preparedness to show the ways Bluefield State College, its peers, faculty, and staff helped create
opportunities that could lead to professional growth while at BSC and after BSC.
Higher education is a place where individuals go to gain new knowledge, engage in once-
in-a-lifetime experiences, and make lifelong connections. It is also a place where individuals go
to prepare themselves for their future careers and reach their goals. For these eight participants,
Bluefield State College was not that place. During the interviews, I asked questions to
understand the ways in which Bluefield State College prepared the participants for their current
careers. The participants agreed that the school did provide a space for them to receive their
degree, with James responding:
I feel like I got a good education there. I went to Vanderbilt with graduate students who
were in the finance program and they said, that I knew more about what they were
studying than they did. You know so, you know, I do feel like I got a quality education.
I’m at Liberty University. I’m excelling now and all my grad courses you know, my
writing is really good. So, I think I got a quality education. It prepared me to compete
you know, with other students from bigger schools.
Richard responded with the same sentiment:
My degree was in Education, so I’m kind of in my field since I train. You know, train a lot
of new hires. Make sure we're in correspondence with all of our federally compliant
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agencies and stuff like that, but that’s typically what I do. I mean as far as preparing me
for the future, I think they gave me some good tools within the education field and I feel
like it prepared me for whatever I chose to do. It’s pretty much a mindset because college
to me is just about the application. You can apply you can do the work then you can
pretty much succeed anywhere in life.
However, the school did not necessarily prepare them for life post-college. There were
not many networking or workforce opportunities that students could connect with at BSC. The
institution had a job fair, however, according to the participants, the fair was not substantial.
Jonathan responded to this with the following:
It took a couple of years before I actually got in my field. Bluefield State. We don’t have
the greatest, that’s another thing Bluefield State could definitely work on is a job fair and
they have a job fair, but it was fairly poor when I was there. I... especially when it comes
to you know, companies that are looking for minorities in particular like I have some
friends that went to North Carolina [UNC] and they were in the Engineering field as well
and they actually had employers come in that were in need of minorities or whatever and
you know, they would have interviews and whatever, what not, right there at their fair.
One of the guys that I know very well, he got on as an Engineer with...with Pepsi. I don’t
think I had a whole lot of assistance from professors or anything to help me get into the
work environment.

Donna had a different perspective:
BSC has not prepared me for my current position however, it did prepare me to interact
with the students.
Miguel, however, expressed both sides of how BSC’s help and lack of resources shaped his
preparedness and experience:
Yes and No--- I wanted more in the education aspect and campus. I wanted diversity and
I wanted to study a different field that wasn’t offered at my institution, therefore, I had to
work hard in another program while working in another. I learned other necessary skills
that had me sharper and Intune with things in my current position because of that
experience. I work in the entertainment industry in film and television. Bluefield State
provided me with opportunities to travel and interact with people. This is what I do every
day in my job and how to deal with them.

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In college, preparedness is a shared responsibility. While the student is obligated to
ensure that they are trying to complete their degree successfully and utilizing all available
resources, institutions have a responsibility to provide those resources. However, what happens
when those resources are not available to “all” students, or not available at all? The alumni have
expressed how they were discounted before they could even try, and the lack of preparedness
was an indicator of how their presence was valued on the PW-HBCU campus. When asked for
an example of the BSC lack of academic preparedness, Denise stated that BSC did not offer
African American classes, and when asked about it, they would purposely schedule the class at
the same time as other classes. She felt that BSC falsely advertised curriculum and opportunities
to lure students to its school. She states:
BSC didn’t live up to my expectations in the classes that were in the catalog they didn’t
offer, like African American History. How does an HBCU not offer classes about African
Americans? I should have never had to approach them to ask for this class that they
advertised for in their catalog. They made it hard for a person to graduate because they
didn’t offer classes people needed to graduate. BSC is not all it appears to be in the ads
they present.

The overall consensus from each participant was unanimous:
Overall, it helped me get my degree, and I made lasting relationships.
Those lasting relationships were quintessential to the belonging of the participants. It created
pathways when they felt that the administration was preventing their progress through the lack of
institutional support and professional development. The efforts put forth by the Black faculty,
administration, and peers helped prepare the alumni and helped define their sense of belonging.

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Sense of Belonging
Sense of Belonging is defined by whether or not the alumni felt isolated or integrated
onto the campus based on the demographics. For some of the participants, having someone that
they could look up to and guide them was important for their sense of belonging. For Denise, not
having that role model or personal connection was difficult. In fact, being at BSC complicated
her sense of belonging and created an internal battle within herself. She states:
My sense of belonging was one of I did belong and didn’t belong at times considering the
atmosphere that I was in at that given time. When you identify with people you tend to
have a sense of belonging, but when you don’t identify with anyone you are left seeking.
The factors that play a role in my sense of belonging is how welcome I feel, comfort,
identifying with others, and commonality. My sense of belonging before BSC was good,
but you encounter the same problems within the confines of a tiny community like
Bluefield. I felt a greater sense of belonging outside the classroom because I didn’t
always have people in my class that looked like me or understood me. At times, I felt like
the odd ball out. I think that having more teachers that looked like me would have helped
and classes that were worldlier would have been great.

However, there was a sanctuary on BSC’s campus, and that was the Alumni Association.
According to the participants, this office still maintains its HBCU roots. The Director of the
department (who is also an alumna of the institution) has continued to play a pivotal role in the
lives of current students and the alumni. In fact, this office and its Director was the primary
positive topic that each participant agreed on. Andrew, who was an athlete at BSC, talked about
his experiences with the Director by stating her presence saved his experience. He says:
My sense of belonging at BSC was not pleasant at first. Being from a big city to small
BSC was a challenge at first. I had nothing in common with 90% of my teammates. So,
hanging out with the Alumni Association Director and other people was easy for me.
Being connected otherwise was different.

Her ability to reach out to the Black community and create a safe space for them to
congregate, foster opportunities for them such as conferences and scholarships so that they can
benefit from their time at BSC, and her continued service to an institution that she believes in,
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shows how the presence of Black peers foster positive experiences and sense of belonging for
students. Richard talked about Ms. Gray by stating that her constant presence in his life was a
benefactor to who he became in college and how he transitioned afterward. Because of her
genuine support and love for the students, Richards has a sense of allegiance to her. He states:
Ms. Gray made me feel welcomed. Made me feel like I was the representation of what
Bluefield State stood for. It was just amazing and I’m forever in debt for everything she’s
done for me since you know, I got to the institution, so... That’s the kind of respect that I
have for Ms. Gray throughout that entire experience down there. So, whenever she said,
hey this person needs help. This person wants to do this, I’m in.

The participants’ feelings about their sense of belonging were largely consistent. They
each believed that they belonged there and the lack of Blackness on campus did not deter them
from that notion. James said that because BSC is technically an HBCU, he belongs there more
than anyone else and he will not be stripped of that belief. He says:
I felt like I owned the place. I mean, just because we were the minority. I felt like the
white people were out of place because I understand the history of the school. You know,
I followed it and I know what’s going on and I know a lot of the infiltration really is what
it is. And it’s been a systemic white supremacy take over the college and it’s blatant. I felt
I belonged. A lot of people knew me because I was known for sports in the area and not
only that, I’ve had my own business, my parents went there, and you know, it’s a small
area so pretty much everyone knows who I am.

Donna’s sense of belonging was the same:
Me, I made myself belong. I came here with the attitude that BSC was mine. My motto
about the institution is that it was made by us for us. You have to be confident. I have
the right to be here. I KNEW that BSC was for me.

Although unhappy with the lack of activities, campus engagement, opportunities, and
ability to harvest the benefits of a true HBCU experience, they were pleased that they were able
to achieve their main goal: a college degree. When questioned about whether they would
recommend Bluefield State College to anyone else seeking an education, the participants’
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responses varied. Generally, the participants felt that any prospective Black students interested in
attending BSC should decide based on their personal needs and interests. Jonathan felt that BSC
is an institution that needs to be understood by a potential student before committing. He stated
that a student must fully comprehend their intentions of attending BSC and not to expect more.
He states:

If a student is looking to obtain a degree with low tuition, then BSC would be a good
school for them. However, if the student is looking for a true collegiate campus
experience with dorms, multiple athletic teams’ games to attend, Greek life, marching
band, etc., then no, I wouldn’t recommend this school. This is a school for degree
purposes only, not college experiences.

The findings show the differences in the tones and opinions of each participant.
Understanding the experiences that transpired throughout their tenure at Bluefield State College
and the effects of those experiences on their sense of belonging is valuable to the future of
Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the Black student. These findings reflect a
growing issue within higher education. The uniqueness of this study is its focus on Black
students’ experiences at a PW-HBCU. HBCUs are renowned for their exemplary promotion of
cultural competence, the uplifting of the Black student, and its legacy. To better understand,
Miguel states that BSC should not hide its Black history or its students because combined, those
to attributes were the heart and soul of BSC. He states:
Diversity is needed in everything we do and is realistic of what is out in the world. We
can’t hide from it or deny it. However, in regard to the Black Experience, the lack of
diversity and overthrow of Blackness on an HBCU campus killed the Black experience
and life on the campus. We had people who cared more not only for the students but the
institution. If the shift did not occur, Bluefield State would be a powerhouse HBCU in the
country and a very powerful for change in the country.

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The whitening of the Black space, in a way, shifts that paradigm by restructuring the
demographic composition of its campuses and classrooms. These findings shed light on what it is
like to be a Black student on a PWI campus. Unfortunately, this time, this PWI is also an HBCU.
When reflecting on the research questions, the responses from the participants show clearly how
they perceived their experiences and sense while at Bluefield State College. The research
questions are:

● What were the experiences of being a Black student at a PW-HBCU?
● What role did attending a PW-HBCU play in shaping a Black students’ sense of
belonging, from the perspective of alumni?

Participant Summary
To illustrate the differences and/or similarities, each participant will be presented individually.

1. Nico ’s experience, as a non-traditional student, differed more than the others. He was an
individual already in his career and looking for a promotion. Therefore, his presence in
college was one for personal gain. However, his maturity allowed him to see the world
with a different lens. From talking to Nico, I learned that he had a deep understanding of
the importance and history of an HBCU. He appreciated the idea of fostering the learning
in individuals that were once denied entry. Going to Bluefield State College, he quickly
discovered that the history that he once knew about BSC, was not the present state of the
institution. He found it hard to adjust to the lack of Blackness at a once all-Black HBCU.
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He joined organizations, reached out to the Dean and other administrators about the need
of dormitories, Greek life, campus activities, Black faculty and staff, and started/joined
initiatives to combat racial disparities and lack of minority presence on BSC campus. So
how was his experience of being a Black student at BSC? Nico described his overall
experience as “horrible,” and the main contributor was people not listening to the needs
and desires of the Black students. Lack of dorms, lack of visible history, lack of
mentorship, and lack of leadership were all contributors to his experience. From Nico’s
perspective, his sense of belonging was not necessarily shaped by the PW-HBCU but
strengthened. He already had a sense of who he was, and why he was a BSC. However,
he knew that others did not have that same mindset and he wanted to help his fellow
Black peers regain their status and presence on campus. He also wanted all students to
understand the history of the school and thought that knowing the foundation of BSC
would instill a sense of belonging in Black students who felt isolated, lost, or anywhere in
between.
2. James ’ experience was great. Overall, his perspective portrayed the most positive
experience. Because he had family members that attended BSC, and was raised within
the institution, he felt a sense of entitlement and had self-awareness. He was the Vice
President of the Student Government Association, an activist, and he involved himself in
activities and organizations that allowed for him to travel around the country. He felt like
he owned the place. Because, technically, BSC is an HBCU, James felt that as a minority,
the campus was his, and the White individuals were out of place Additionally, he didn’t
feel out of place because he is primarily from the area and the individuals in the area
knew him, and he knew many of the students (regardless of race) that attended. For him,
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attending a PW-HBCU helped him want to help more Black students, advocate for
dorms, help initiate change, and stay involved, even as an alumnus. Overall, his sense of
belonging and experience was not impacted negatively by attending a PW-HBCU.
3. Donna had a unique experience because she was a legacy. This meaning, she was not the
first member of her family to attend Bluefield State College. Therefore, she was not new
to the campus, and had a great appreciation for the institution. Also, she attended during
the 1980’s and graduated in 1990. This also plays a role in her experience and sense of
belonging. During her time, BSC was still 20 percent Black. Although not an
overwhelming number, it is much better than the underwhelming number that BSC has
today. Also, during Donna’s time at BSC, there was still an immense amount of Black
faculty, activities for students to participate in, Greek life, financial support, and more.
She had a good experience as a student. She also had non-instructors of color that
supported her, treated her with equality, and rooted for her success. However, as an
alumnus, she sees how attending a PW-HBCU is hindering Black students. Because she
currently works at the institution, she has a unique view into the current state of the
institution. She now thinks that BSC is a PWI receiving HBCU financial resources and
says that very few administrators recognize BSC as being an HBCU. Attending in the
80’s-90’s, although now majority Black, the campus still resembled its prior years which
allowed for her sense of belonging to be positive. Today, however, she fears her students
are not receiving that same positive experience.
4. Miguel ’s experience was fair. He was active with campus organizations and student
government and stayed busy with schoolwork. He wished that he could have gone to a
school with a diverse mix of students, staff, and administrators who care about the
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students and what is best for the institution. He believed that everyone has their own
experience and journey with the institution. He put forth an effort to help and care about
the people at BSC and did what he could with what he had at the time. Regardless of the
demographics or his circumstances, he believed that he belonged at BSC. He knew the
history of the institution and grew up around it because many of his relatives were
alumni. However, he never felt comfortable in the classroom or outside because he was
an outsider (i.e., Black). He spent his collegiate years searching for belongingness but
insisted that he did not feel as if he was ever alone, but more so on his own journey
searching for answers and trying to navigate his own path through those answers.
5. Denise ’s experience was positive when she encountered other Black students. However,
when encountering White students, faculty, and/or staff, her experience was negative.
She felt as if she belonged and did not belong at the same time. She expressed that when
you identify with people, you have a good sense of belonging and a good experience,
however, when you do not identify with anyone, you are left seeking for belongingness.
She did not feel welcomed, comfortable, or share commonality with most. Her sense of
belonging before BSC was good and felt a greater sense of belonging outside of the
classroom because she did not always have people in the class that looked like her or
understood her. At times, she felt like the outlier.
6. Richard ’s experience was fair. He believed that his positive outlook changed a lot of
potential outcomes. He did not like the lack of Blackness on campus, activities,
mentorship, and opportunities. However, he did not let that shape his experience. He
received help from whomever he could and made sure to pass his friendliness around to
those that needed it. He does not think he attended an HBCU, however, he does
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appreciate, respect, and acknowledge BSC and is thankful that he was able to obtain his
degree. He feels as if he now belongs to a legacy and fraternity of Black individuals that
have attended BSC and wears its letters proudly. Overall, He did not feel as if he
belonged, but more so maintained, and that was enough for him.
7. Jonathan ’s experience was much like Richard. It was not negative, it was just different.
Because there weren’t dorms, there was not a real way to connect with others. Especially
as an athlete, his schedule was prescribed to him, and living away from others made it
even more difficult to connect with non-athletes. Jonathan knew what he was getting
himself into when he signed to BSC, and he knew a lot about the school’s history. Also,
because most of his teammates were Black, and that is who he spent the most time with,
he did not see as much racial disparity outside of the classroom, as he did within the
classroom. This shaped his overall sense of belonging as well. He was already giving a
set community, and as an athlete, a prescribed identity. Therefore, his sense of belonging
was created for him, and because of that, his lens differed from the others.
8. Andrew attended BSC in the 1990’s on a basketball scholarship. However, he expressed
that if his education was not free, he would have returned back home and attended Ohio
State. He did not feel as if he received a real college experience and that majors were
limiting, dorms were not existent, and support was limiting. His sense of belonging was
confusing because him and his peers had different schedules, they did not live near each
other (due to not having dorms) and he was from out-of-state, so he had very few people
to connect with. For Andrew, attending a PW-HBCU was not the problem, it was the lack
of campus community that was.

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Conclusion

Overall, the findings show that each participant was different in the way they interpreted
their experiences and sense of belonging, and how they handled situations involving their
experiences and sense of belonging. Alumni that had ties to the institution had a better sense of
belonging than those that did not have those familial ties. Also, student -athletes shared different
experiences than non-student athletes. Despite the different views, there was one commonality:
Bluefield State College and its demographic shift impacted their lives in some way. Some may
have been impacted to become activist and fight for Black rights on the campus, while others
may have shied away from BSC altogether. The findings show that the demographic shift created
an unparalleled experience for 8 alumni, and it is because of those experiences that these
participants wanted to be heard.

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Chapter 5: Discussion/Conclusion/Recommendations
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss and interpret the findings and to consider their
implications for practice. The chapter also presents the limitations of the study, recommendations
to improve Black student experiences at Bluefield State College and to foster their sense of
belonging. I conclude by identifying areas that ripe for future research and inquiry.
The findings showed that each participant, in some way, felt impacted by the
demographic shift at Bluefield State College. They felt that the pretenses of BSC being an
HBCU was masked by the deliberate invisibility of its history and Black presence on the campus
from the students, staff, faculty, and leadership. Because of that, their sense of belonging was
impacted, but not always negatively. There were some participants that felt that the demographic
shift altered their experiences and sense of belonging and, therefore, they had a negative
perception of the institution. However, there were participants that used this lack of Black
presence on the campus to shift the conversation from “where are the Black people,” to “what do
we need to do to get more Blacks on campus.” This change is what led some participants to still
be involved with BSC today and participate in trying to reconstruct the identity of BSC. With
that, the research questions were answered:
● What were the experiences of being a Black student at a PW-HBCU?
● What role did attending a PW-HBCU play in shaping a Black students’ sense of
belonging, from the perspective of alumni?
A clear consensus emerged from the participant interviews: The Black Bluefield State
College alumni did not believe that they attended an HBCU, which shaped their experiences.
They each acknowledged that the school did not meet their expectations in terms of their
experiences, however, they agreed that institution did provide an affordable means of earning
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their college degree. Many of the participants no longer associate with the school and none
believed that the institution would return to its HBCU roots. Additionally, they believe that
Bluefield State is an HBCU in name only, and no longer an institution suited for Black student
learning. Though they were skeptical that it would ever happen, the participants expressed their
hopes that BSC would revive its HBCU identity. However, the participants stated that such a
revival would only be possible if major changes occurred. These participants suggested that BSC
would have to bring back the dorms, recruit within the community and from other states to
diversify the student body and bring revenue to the institution and promote its history.

Discussion
HBCUs have, and continue to be, an important source of educational opportunity for
Blacks. The research literature suggests that a disproportionate percentage of Blacks in the
workforce and Blacks obtaining an advanced degree attended an HBCU during their educational
experience (Arroyo & Gasman, 2014; Gasman, 2013). Additionally, students that typically
choose HBCUs to foster their learning do so because of the same-race role models, historical
legacies, and/or curricular offerings (Gasman et al., 2010). As described by the participants,
Bluefield State College lacked a critical mass of same-race role models. Tangible evidence of the
institution’s historical legacy was absent, and curricular offerings that were relevant to Black
history, identity, and experiences were scarce. The theoretical frameworks helped me identify
racism and the whitening of the Black space. CRT informed my topic selection and the ways in
which I framed the study and the questions that were asked. Additionally, the frameworks helped
me to know what to look for in terms of analyzing the data. For sense-of-belonging, community
and support were two examples that the participants explicitly desired. Using these two
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frameworks, allowed for me to determine what questions to ask and what answers to look for
when conducting the interviews. Through the interviews, and while using these frameworks, I
was able to get a consensus on the overall impression of BSC. The participants shared that they
would not recommend the institution to others, it is possible that some students would be
satisfied with the experience that attending Bluefield State would offer depending on what they
were seeking. If the prospective student is in search of a collegiate experience that involved a
“true” HBCU experience, institutional support, and professional opportunities, then Bluefield
State College is not for them. However, if the student is seeking to simply obtain a degree at an
affordable institution and emerge relatively unscathed by their experiences, then BSC could be a
good choice for the student.
The alumni participants felt that despite the demographic shift, they still were able to
determine their own experiences and foster their sense of belonging. There was not a participant
who stated that their experience or sense of belonging was completely negative. However, the
average of experiences and sense of belonging was ranked as “fair.” The findings show that each
participant, in some way, left BSC different from when they entered. They chose to attend BSC
because of its rich history but soon realized that the campus once teeming with Black students
and awash with professional development, financial and academic resources, cultural
opportunities, and institutional support, had now transformed into a PWI. The participants
largely agreed that the resources, opportunities, and support were not easily accessible to them.
Each participant mentioned a struggle that they experienced, a sense of demographic discomfort,
and lack of overall support. Yet, they stated that their experiences and sense of belonging was
not “completely” negative, just simply fair. The findings illustrate a slightly different narrative.
One narrative being that their experience was altered by the demographic shift and their sense of
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belonging dependent on their own survival and urgency to maintain a sense of Black pride on a
campus that has seemingly discontinued is HBCU presence. Whether the students were athletes,
participated in campus government, or came there with the history of Bluefield State College
already in their mind, they utilized what they had to obtain their degree, and that was their
biggest goal. They all wanted a better campus experience and acknowledged the racial
discrepancies that impacted their time there. Before the conclusion of each interview, one
question, in particular, was asked: “what do you hope is gained from this study for people are not
familiar with Bluefield State College and its history?” Each participant had the same view and
stated that they hope this study raises awareness about the existence of PW-HBCUs and its
impact on the Black education, and the trajectory of Bluefield State University’s rich history
prior to the institutional presidency of Wendell G. Hardaway to its demographic shift today.

Limitations
The limitations of the study discussed in a previous chapter should be kept in mind when
interpreting the findings. While the study is still informative in spite of the limitations, these
factors are important to consider. For example, what if the study was able to interview current
students instead of alumni? Because current students have a more prevalent experience, their
recollection could be more meaningful. When considering the sample size of 8, and only
focusing on U.S native-born Black individuals does limit the transferability of the findings.
Additionally, studying more than one PW-HBCU would have allowed for comparison in
experiences and sense of belonging amongst the Black alumni population. Lastly, not having the
opportunity to meet the alumni face-to-face to conduct interviews was challenging. Current
students would have been more accessible because they are located within the same area. The
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alumni were located in different regions of the country. Also, some were unable to talk on the
phone due to schedule conflicts, which led to differences in the richness of the data generated by
the phone interviews compared to emailed responses to the interview questions. These
limitations are relevant; however, they do not negate the outcome of the study. The limitations
could be addressed in future research that explores the gaps that my dissertation was unable to
(i.e., current students’ experiences and sense of belonging, proper observations and in-person
interviews, campus life and the ways in which Black students engage, the ways in which the
demographic shift is currently impacting students, and not just how they impacted the alumni).

Future Research
Further research, including the areas that were limited within my study, would provide
further insight into the Black experience at PW-HBCUs and the impact on students’ sense of
belonging as well as the importance of preserving the HBCU. One question that was asked of
each participant was: What do you hope will occur because of this study? I am placing the
responses to this final question in this chapter because of its impact. The alumni each desired
acknowledgment of the shifting demographics at HBCUs because they believed that prospective
students, their families, and others might be unfamiliar with the concept of a predominantly
White HBCU. However, one statement from a participant captured the sentiments of all of the
participants:
The first thing I hope your study does is to bring awareness to what’s going on. I would
hope that it would show a timeline of the history when the white supremacy started. I
hope that you interview more people that know what happened in the dorms. I mean
when they were bombed, to get to the bottom of who did that. You know, I hope that
again, you make a timeline starting with Wendell G. Hardaway; when he came in and
fired 23 staff members at one time. Just create the awareness of that. The governor of
West Virginia, this is important. The governor is the one who appoints the people on the
board. Show how the governor has worked to systematically incorporate the change in
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demographics by putting white people on the board throughout the years and by the
board, in turn, hiring white people in all kinds of positions. Pinpoints show how that’s
happened up through the years and prove that it’s been primarily a systematic white
supremacy takeover of Bluefield State and bring the awareness to it.

This quote relates directly to the CRT framework. The perspective of the alumni was
impacted by the movement of those in control at BSC through micro-aggressions. The power
struggle that Blacks lost during Wendell G. Hardaway’s presidential tenure contributed to the
color line, that creates a differentiation between racial groups and shows superiority or
dominance of one race, over another; in particular Whites (Banks, 1995). Solorzano, Ceja, and
Yosso (2000) contend that the racial climate is a direct indicator of the undergraduate
experience. In this case, the lack of Blackness on an HBCU campus altered a presumed
experience of the Black alumni. The whitening of the Black space was a monopolization of
territory (Harris & Ladson-Billings, 1999), and the blatant discrediting of Black faculty on the
campus, and elimination of Black opportunities on campus and Black history on campus were
ways to maintain White property and White priorities. With the demographic shift, Black
students witnessed their “property value” take new ownership. Though some Historically Black
Colleges and Universities like Spelman, Howard, Morehouse, Hampton, and Clark Atlanta
University, are widely recognized, there are many more that go under the radar, like Bluefield
State College. However, the history of lesser known HBCUs is just as important and relevant to
the current times.
This research looked at the college experiences and sense of belonging of Black Bluefield
State College alumni. Future research should examine the timeline of current students and their
transition to being alumni. Future research should also evaluate how the institution has prepared
the Black students and how important the history of the institution is to their experiences. It is
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important to see how their perceptions of the institution evolve as they progress academically
and how the involvement of Black students can stimulate their sense of belonging. By examining
only one class and not the other, the story is incomplete. In order to address Black students’
belief that fostering their sense of belonging is solely dependent on them, Bluefield State College
needs to reevaluate its current policies and procedures for campus life, practices for cultural
competency, and build awareness of the campus racial climate. The dissatisfaction of Black
students is abundant and the changes, according to the alumni, are non-existent. Increasing Black
student satisfaction and living up to its mission as a minority-serving institution, is partially
dependent on enacting the campus improvements that the alumni desire to see. Research on PW-
HBCUs requires cross-institutional examination over time. Bluefield State College is not the
only PW-HBCU, but, is it the only PW-HBCU that is experiencing a decline in Black student
satisfaction? Future research should also consider examining predominately Black HBCU
campuses and its Black experience and sense of belonging in comparison to PW-HBCUs. This
would allow us to compare and contrast of the extent to which they nurture and promote learning
and engagement among Black students.

Recommendations
When thinking about institutional recommendations, the interviews with the participants
should be considered. There were three main themes that stood out: (1) Dorms; (2) Professional
Opportunities; and (3) Black history. Each of these themes was shared ideas by the participants
in ways to increase the experiences and sense of belonging of Black students.

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Bring Back the Dorms
When the dorms were bombed, Bluefield State College transformed into a White
commuter college. Although the bombing occurred in 1968, the dormitories are still missing in
2018. The dorms missing is important and an issue because the students desired these dorms to
resemble their “Black space”. This could be the place where, although the rest of their campus is
White, they dormitory community would be Black. They would have a space to congregate and
feel as if they had a space of their own. Bluefield State College leaders must adhere to the need
of dorms for the growth of its institution and overall collegiate experience. Literature shows that
students living on campuses, in either residence homes or Greek housing, display more
developmental benefits than those students living off campus (Pace, 1984; Chickering & Reisser,
1993). The location of residence halls fosters a community that can only be created by living on
campus (Palmer et al., 2008). These interactions help form peer groups that ultimately help
define a student’s experiences and sense of belonging (Astin, 1993). Bluefield States College key
players should evaluate the importance of student needs, student growth, and student experience
and sense of belonging when determining whether or not dorms are a priority. The results in this
dissertation would show that dorms are both desired by Black students and critical to their
overall connection with the institution.

Equal Professoriate Opportunities
Having Black faculty at an HBCU shows the students an “authority” figure and
academic that resembles their ethnic background and creates intercultural competence (King &
Baxter-Magolda, 2005). However, in 2009, only 7 percent of faculty were Black on college
campuses (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). Attending an HBCU where there is no Black
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faculty is confusing and off-putting to the Black student. Having faculty that has experience
working with students from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds is important to
student success (U.S. Department of Education, 1991). This is due to Black faculty focusing
more on their scholarship of teaching and how that translates into the students’ scholarship to
learning and application, more strongly than White faculty (Antonio, 2002). Bluefield State
College should create professoriate opportunities for Black faculty to recruit, retain, and educate
Black students. HBCUs have a history of accommodating the needs of educationally
disadvantaged populations (U.S. Department of Education, 1991), and Bluefield State College
must return back to that commitment to foster Black student experiences, belongingness, and
learning.

Black Pride, Black Roots, Black History
Historically Black Colleges and Universities have a history of producing some of
the most influential Blacks in American History. Bluefield State College is an HBCU that shares
in this rich history, such as the visitation of Langston Hughes and Duke Ellington, and its
immersion into the movement of the Harlem Renaissance. The institution won athletic
championships, had the Divine Nine (i.e., Black Greek Organizations) on campus and was a
pillar for the Black community by being the leader in producing Teacher Education
Certifications. Today, that history is all-but-gone on the BSC campus. The demographic shift did
not just change the student population. A recommendation would be to do an analysis of
institution artifacts to see whether or how the HBCU identity is or is not presented at Bluefield
State College. The demographic shift also changed the campus’s identity. The mascot, Blue
Devils, is no longer associated with the school, the crest removed, Black Greek organizations
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gone, football team dismantled, and signs/monuments that indicate that BSC is an HBCU are
nonexistent. The leaders of this institution and the community must not let the history be
forgotten. It is important for students to understand the foundation of Bluefield State College. It
is also important for students to have the opportunity to share in its history while creating their
own memories. Ignoring the past does not remove the past. The results showed that the alumni
desired to have the history of BSC displayed. Although there has been a demographic shift and
majority of the campus is now White, having those historical markers, bringing back the Greek
organizations, allowing the students to see how Bluefield State College began, will realign their
sense of belonging because they will now have a connection with the institution. As of now, their
experience and sense of belonging is “fair.”

Conclusion
Overall, HBCUs are an institutional type where Black students are permitted to be
unapologetically Black, where the history of its conception involves their heritage, and they have
a regal connection to the mission. Black students were not always allowed to attend higher
education. Too often, articles are published on the performance gap of Black students at PWIs or
how Black students present high performance at HBCUs, but never about the integration of
Predominantly White Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. PW-HBCUs,
although known to scholars, is not a familiar concept to those outside of academia. This study
sheds light on what PW-HBCUs are, and what they can potentially do to the Black education,
Black experience, and the Black (HBCU) mission. Although Black students are now permitted to
attend PWIs, their enrollment percentages are extremely low. HBCUs are still the institutional
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types that are the safe-haven for the Black educational growth and future research should
examine the consequences of liquidating that haven.

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Appendix A: Informed Consent

Thank you for agreeing to participate in my study today about the Black experience at
Bluefield State University. I understand that your time may be limited, so I truly appreciate
you for allotting some time to answer some questions. This process will take roughly 45
minutes to an hour to complete. Is that okay? Initial here: ______

There are various ways for participants to partake in this interview process. The options are:
1. Through email correspondences
2. Through telephone
3. Through Skype, Facetime, or other means of virtual communication

If you have chosen to participate through email correspondence, please answer the questions
below, and return to me by Friday, December 1, 2017. Additionally, if you have selected to
be interviewed over the phone or through Skype, Facetime, or other means of virtual
communication, the deadline is Friday, November 17, 2017. If there is additional
information that you think would be pertinent to the study and that impacted your experience
at Bluefield State College that I did not mention, please feel free to add to mention it. Any
and all information will be much appreciated. Do you understand that there is a deadline and
when that deadline is, according to your selected interview method? Initial here: ______

Before the interview begins, I want to give you some background on my study and answer
any questions that you may have. I also want to inform you that if at any time, you feel
uncomfortable about a question, please do not feel obligated to answer. If you are answering
the questions through email, and you do not feel comfortable answering a question, feel free
to skip that question and leave it blank. I also want to let you know that this is a judgement
free study and your presence here is confidential. This means that, although what we discuss
will go into my study, your identity will not and you will remain anonymous throughout this
entire process. Additionally, none of this information will be used for anything other than my
research. This means that I will not give this information to any administrators, professors,
classmates, etc. Are you okay with that? Initial here: ______

The study that I am conducting is about the Black experience and sense of belonging at a
Predominately White-Historically Black College and University (PW-HBCU). A PW-HBCU
is an HBCU that has more White students than Black students. This is a completely
qualitative study. This means that interviews are my means of data collection. The primary
reason for this study is to examine the ways in which Black students and alumni make
meaning of their experience at this PW-HBCU (Bluefield State College). Do you understand
that nature of my research study? Initial here: ______

If you have chosen to be interviewed via phone or virtual communication, in order to make
this process go smoothly, and eliminate any potential miscommunication, I will recorder our
conversation. Are you okay with that? Again, you will remain anonymous. Your name and
identity will not be exposed. To make you feel more comfortable, I will be more than happy
than to provide you with a copy of my final research so that you will have the opportunity to
PRESERVING THE HBCU MISSION

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see the result and how your identity was not revealed. Would you like that? The interview
will have 13 questions that will gage your experience at Bluefield State College and the role
that attending a PW-HBCU played in your sense of belonging. Do you have any questions
before we get started? If not, do I have your permission to start the interview process?
Initial here: ______

***Please initial in the designated areas, and email back to me PRIOR to starting your
interview process. This is to confirm that you understand the nature of the study and have
willingly committed to participate. Having an informed consent ensures the anonymity of
the participant and interviewer relationship. Feel free to keep a copy of this for your
records. Again, all consent forms are due BEFORE I can interview you. Thank you again!

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Appendix B: Interview Protocol and Questions

I ’d like to start by asking you some background questions about yourself. This does not
count as the 13 questions I will ask you. This is mainly to help us get to know each other a
little and help you feel comfortable throughout this interview session.

● First, may you please tell me about your background?
o Why did you choose this institution?
o What year did you graduate Bluefield State College?

● What are your thoughts about your campus demographic composition?
o What are the pros and cons?
o Do you think that your campus is diverse?
o In what ways can improvements be made for a more diverse campus setting?
o Do you feel that you attended an HBCU?
o How would you describe an HBCU?
o What would you consider your campus?

Now I would like to ask you some questions about your overall experiences at Bluefield State
College. Please feel free to elaborate as much as you can.

1. Tell me about the support that you receive at your institution
a. Who provided the support?
b. What did this support look like?
c. What did this support sound like? Can you recall an incident in which you felt the
most or least supported and how that made you feel?

2. Can you describe how you perceived the support that non-students of color received, if
any?
a. Who provided the support?
b. What did the support look like?
c. What did the support sound like? Can you recall an incident in which you felt that
non-students of color received more support than students of color, and how that
made you feel?

3. Can you describe your interactions with White students?
a. What did that interaction look like?
b. How often did you have these encounters?
c. How did these interactions differ from your interactions with Black students?

4. Can you describe your interactions with White faculty and staff?
a. What did that interaction look like?
b. How often did you have these encounters?
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c. How did these interactions differ from your interactions with Black faculty and
staff?

5. Describe your overall experience at Bluefield State College
a. Were you involved in any campus activities, if so, what were they? If you weren’t
why not?
b. What was a typical day-to-day at Bluefield State College for you?
c. How would you rank your experience?
i. Great. I loved Bluefield State College and I would recommend the school
to someone else
ii. Fair. The school had its pros and cons. Overall, it helped me get my
degree, and I made lasting relationships
iii. Poor. The school did not live up to my expectations at all and my
experiences were not good. I wouldn’t recommend the school to anyone
else.
iv. Other (Please Explain)

6. If you could create an ideal experience at Bluefield State College, what would that look
like?

7. Some people may have a different experience than you, and feel as though your
experience were different because you didn’t put forth the effort. What are your thoughts
on this perspective?

I would to ask you some questions about yours sense of belonging

1. How would you describe your sense of belonging at Bluefield State College?
a. How would you define sense of belonging?
b. What factors played a role in your sense of belonging?
c. How was your sense of belonging before you came to Bluefield State College?
d. Did you feel greater sense of belonging inside of the classroom or outside of the
classroom? Describe that feeling.
e. What do you think could have improved your sense of belonging at Bluefield
State College?
f. How would you rank your sense of belonging?
o Great. Bluefield State College made me feel involved and connected.
o Fair. I sometimes felt involved and connected at Bluefield State College
o Poor. I never felt as if I belonged at Bluefield State College
o Other (Please Explain).
I would like to now ask you about your experience as an Alumni

1. What is your current profession? How did Bluefield State College prepare you for your
current position?

2. Did Bluefield State College live up to your collegiate expectations? Explain.

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3. Can you describe the ways in which you interact with Bluefield State College now? Are
you still engaged with the campus community? If so, in what ways? If not, why?
● Describe the administration and staff. What was the demographic make-up of the
administration and staff when you attended Bluefield State College, and to your
knowledge, has is changed?
● How does the Alumni Association keep you integrated with the campus?

4. What would you say to current students at Bluefield State College about what to expect at
Bluefield State College, how to make meaning of their experiences at Bluefield State
College, and/or how to stay connected at Bluefield State College?

5. I understand that diversity may not mean much to some, but may mean a lot to others.
How would you respond to someone saying that diversity isn’t needed in the classroom
or on a college campus?
● How do you think the demographic shift of Bluefield State College impacted the
Black experience and in what ways, do you think it would be different (if at all), if the
shift never occurred?

Closing Question:
That is all the questions that I have. Do you have any questions for me or anything else that you
would like to add that you feel that I didn’t cover or that you feel is pertinent to my research?

Closing Statement:
Thank you so much for taking this time out for me. I really appreciate your openness and time.
Everything that you have said to me was extremely helpful and will be vital information for my
study. Again, you will remain anonymous, and at the end I will be more than happy than to give
you a copy of my final study. If I find myself with any follow-up questions, will it be alright to
contact you again? Would email or phone be the best option? Again, thank you for your time.
Have a great day!

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Appendix C: Recruitment Flyer

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Asset Metadata

Creator Clark, Danielle Kamille (author)

Core Title Preserving the HBCU mission: experiences and sense of belonging of Black alumni at a PW-HBCU

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 10/18/2018

Defense Date 06/19/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag black students,Bluefield State College,critical race theory,diversity,HBCU,OAI-PMH Harvest,PWI,sense of belonging,student experiences

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Malcom-Piqueux, Lindsey (committee chair), Green, Alan G. (committee member), Slaughter, John Brooks (committee member)

Creator Email dkclar05@gmail.com,drclark.d@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-83757

Unique identifier UC11675580

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Legacy Identifier etd-ClarkDanie-6881.pdf

Dmrecord 83757

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Clark, Danielle Kamille

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Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

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