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Reviewed by:
  • The Black College Mystique
  • Benita J. Barnes (bio)
Charles V. Willie, Richard J. Reddick, and Ronald Brown. The Black College Mystique. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005. 160 pp. Paper: $19.95. ISBN: 0-7425-4617-9.

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) came into existence during a period in American history when African Americans were not permitted to attend predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Today, however, at least 75% of African American students attend a PWI (Brown & Freeman, 2004). This change in enrollment patterns has called into question the continued need for HBCUs. Many critics of HBCUs have asked: What purposes do they serve today? This is precisely the question that Charles Willie, Richard Reddick, and Ronald Brown answer in their book The Black College Mystique.

In their introduction, the authors identify what they call five secrets about HBCUs, which presumably give HBCUs their mystique and make them inimitable. The five secrets are: (a) Black colleges are not just for Black students; (b) HBCUs have the most diverse faculties among all institutions of higher education; (c) Black college administrators tend to believe that a college is no better than its faculty; (d) Black colleges have a twofold mission of individual and community advancement; and (e) Black colleges are, have been, and will continue to be part of the higher education mainstream (pp. xv–xxii).

Beyond the preface and the introduction, The Black College Mystique is divided into four parts. [End Page 198] The two chapters in Part 1 take a look at HBCUs a generation ago. Interestingly enough, both of these chapters are reprints, with minor revisions, of papers co-authored in 1979 and 1978 respectively by the senior author. More specifically, Chapter 1 speaks to the educational goals of HBCUs of the late 1970s, while Chapter 2 addresses the priorities of Black college presidents then. Although it could be fitting to use previously published pieces to appraise HBCUs as they were a generation ago, it would have been helpful if the authors had provided additional commentary and reflections on why those two particular pieces were selected and the contributions they make to our understanding, then and now, of Black colleges as unique institutions.

Part 2 makes the best case for the contributions of and continuing need for HBCUs. Chapter 3 focuses on the multiple ways in which HBCUs are diverse and the value diversity brings to educational institutions as well as to the faculty and students who are a part of them. Chapter 4 highlights several of the unique contributions that HBCUs make to higher education. These contributions include "a unique educational and service purpose, a unique pedagogical and curricular focus, the mentoring approach of faculty in the education of students, and [an] admissions [philosophy] that favor[s] hard-working students with potential" (p. 71).

Part 3, consisting of a single chapter, paints both a personal and professional picture of those who are currently at the helm of the nation's four-year HBCUs. The data used for this chapter were collected by the American Council on Education (ACE) in 2001 from presidents of various types of American higher education institutions. After disaggregating and reanalyzing the ACE data, the authors use descriptive statistics to develop three different profiles of contemporary HBCU presidents. The first profile consists of demographic information such as race, gender, marital status, and highest degree earned. The second profile provides information on the career paths of HBCUs presidents and includes such information as the number of years they serve, the types of positions they held prior to becoming presidents, and their professional experiences in and out of higher education. The third profile describes various management issues and challenges that HBCUs presidents face.

Part 4 serves as a summary and provides action strategies. Chapter 6, a summary, is also a reprint (with minor revisions) of an article originally published by the senior author in 1979. The most baffling aspect of the entire book is why the authors would use a previously written article to serve as a "summary" chapter. Once again, it would have been extremely helpful if the authors had provided some insights about why they thought an article written a generation ago makes...

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