Embracing Queer Students’ Diverse Identities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Primer for Presidents, Administrators, and Faculty

INTRODUCTION

(Re)Calling the Past and Present

STEVE D. MOBLEY JR.

Embracing Queer Students’ Diverse Identities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Primer for Presidents, Administrators, and Faculty has been a long time in the making. This book began as an idea in 2017 and has now come to fruition in 2024. This book is both a call to action and a passion project—imbued in Black love. This communal anthology summons a protective care for Black queer and trans* folx, Black communities, and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The volume is a for us, by us (FUBU) project. It does not talk at or down to HBCUs with voices from the outside. Further, this volume is the first of its kind. It is indeed a shift changer. While there have been several edited volumes within the fields of higher education and student affairs that focus exclusively on queer and trans* issues and may feature HBCU perspectives, these works have not focused exclusively on HBCU contexts.

It is also important to note that historically and contemporarily, HBCU communities have been misrepresented and exploited not only in the broader societal context, but in education research as well (Milner, 2007; Mobley & Johnson, 2019). As editors, we understand that HBCUs have been victims of anti-Black and ill-intended research that has gravely impacted how the public perceives them (Williams et al., 2019). As such, this book features the much-needed perspectives of HBCU scholars, presidents, faculty, administrators, and alumni that have been and are invested in the work of ensuring that these distinct institutions are champions for their queer and trans* stakeholders. This is vital to consider because mainstream HBCU narratives are often sanitized and would lead one to believe that these unique postsecondary contexts have been devoid of queer and trans* communities (Mobley et al., 2019).

Any discussion about the presence of HBCU queer and trans* cultures has to make clear that these particular communities have always attended, graduated, led, and taught at these schools (Sales, 2011). This is not a contemporary discussion or phenomena. Black queer and trans* HBCU stakeholders have shaped and transformed the U.S. societal context to effectuate change not only for Black queer and trans* individuals but for society writ large. There have been countless prominent Black queer and trans* HBCU alumni, faculty, and administrators. Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Audre Lorde, Bayard Rustin, Pauli Murray, Alain Locke, Barbara Jordan, Andre Leon Talley, Wanda Sykes, Lucy Diggs Slowe, Alice Walker, and countless others have various ties to HBCUs. However, when they are heralded in the mainstream or within HBCU discourses, their queer or trans* identities are often erased or their HBCU affiliations are left out of dialogues surrounding their lives. This is negligent and conveys that Blackness, queerness, or transness cannot be one with HBCU experiences.

(RE)ADDRESSING A PALPABLE VOID IN HBCU SCHOLARSHIP

Several decades of HBCU research have enhanced our scholarly perspectives of the histories of these institutions, the challenges they have and continue to face, and how their students, faculty, and administrators experience these contexts. Much of the extant HBCU research has also sought to affirm their legacies and (re)assert their relevancy among higher education landscapes that are often white supremacist and anti-Black. As Williams et al. (2019) note, Broader narratives about HBCUs—not unlike the narratives attached to Black Americans in general—too often depict them from a deficit perspective, without balanced or nuanced consideration of their assets (p. 558).

HBCUs should be celebrated for how they unabashedly provide Black students with culturally affirming academic and social environments (see Fleming, 1984; Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002; Johnson & McGowan, 2017; Njoku et al., 2017; Williams et al., 2022). Also of note, although HBCUs make up just 3% of U.S. postsecondary contexts, in 2020, Black students earned 44% of the associate’s degrees, 79% percent of the bachelor’s degrees, 72% of the master’s degrees, and 59 percent of the doctoral degrees conferred by HBCUs during the 2019–2020 academic year (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020, para. 6). This must be commended, especially considering that HBCUs have been intentionally underfunded since their inceptions compared to historically white institutions (HWIs) and still outperform HWIs regarding Black student success.

However, while it is vital to mention these facts, it is also important to note some nuances. Most scholars, to date, have treated HBCUs and their students as a monolith. As a result, many facets of these institutions are understudied. For example, research exploring the intraracial differences among Black communities on HBCU campuses is still scant. Specifically, although there is a bourgeoning research lineage that deliberately underscores the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) HBCU stakeholders, this scholarship has significant gaps. The majority of this scholarship features the experiences of LGBQ students—with most featuring the lived experiences of gay HBCU students (e.g. Carter, 2013; Ford, 2015; Means & Jaeger, 2013; Patton, 2011; Squire & Mobley, 2015). Very few studies in the literature on LGBQ HBCU students feature the experiences of lesbian-identified students (e.g., De la Cruz et al., 2022; Patton et al., 2020; Patton & Simmons, 2008). In addition, work on the experiences of trans* HBCU students does not exist. We also still know very little about how LGBQ and trans* HBCU faculty, staff, or administrators navigate their HBCU campuses.

Thus, as editors, we were driven by one question that we grappled with constantly as we conceived and thought about what Embracing Queer Students’ Diverse Identities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities should contribute and then address: Are the experiences of Black LGBQ and trans* HBCU stakeholders overlooked in previous scholarship or have these perspectives been included and presented as just Black, thus dismissing the unique and diverse sexual and gender identities that are abundant in HBCU communities (Mobley et al., 2020; Stewart, 2015)? It is sobering to contend with the reality that the queer and trans* identities of LGBQ and trans* students, faculty, staff, and administrators have been minimized or erased in previous studies simply for the sake of including Black voices in previous research. Conversely, it was not lost on us that due to the conservative cultures that HBCUs often engender, their LGBQ and trans* stakeholders may have been reluctant to be out even in research realms. Even in books, book chapters, and journal articles, LGBQ and trans* folx have not been safe. So what we as editors and the contributors in this volume sought to do was to make clear how various LGBQ and trans* HBCU stakeholders have stood and do stand at the forefront of ensuring that these educational contexts are among the sites where Blackness can be and has been everlastingly (re)imagined and given space to be (re)presented in its infinite possibilities (Mobley & Hall, 2020).

ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK

Part One

This book consists of thirteen chapters and is organized around three parts that encompass diverse perspectives on how to best engage LGBQ and trans* communities at HBCUs. The first section—Essential Queer and Trans* Voices from with/in Historically Black Colleges and Universities—is uniquely powerful. These contributors travel across space and time and (re)tell their stories in the form of scholarly personal narratives. In Liberating Scholarly Writing, Nash (2004) wrote, scholarly personal narratives … are about giving yourself permission to express your own voice in your own language; your own take on your own story in your own inimitable manner (p. 24). Each narrative is bold and candid and invites HBCUs to learn and liberate themselves in a particular manner.

In chapter 1, Dr. K. T. Ewing sets the tone of the entire volume with their work titled And Some of Us Are Queer: An HBCU Sankofa Story. Dr. Ewing shares their lived experiences of being Black and queer at an HBCU and how they navigated these particular identities as an HBCU faculty member. In the Ghanaian Twi language, Sankofa means go back and get it. In its simplest rendering, Sankofa conjures what it means to look to the past to gain what you need for the future. HBCUs remain appealing to Black students because they can provide an environment that values the histories and lived experiences of Black people. However, what Ewing underscores is that despite how HBCUs have stood at the forefront of historical movements for Black liberation and equality, they are subtly and sometimes strikingly conservative environments. Dr. Ewing beautifully conveys the beauty and tensions of their HBCU experiences. In particular, this chapter examines what support systems and self-care for queer students can look like from the perspective of a Black, queer HBCU alum and faculty member. They also offer recommendations for how HBCU faculty members can fully support their queer students.

The author of chapter 2, Yémaya Diavian Pope, provides an intimate look at how trans* HBCU students navigate their institutional context. In her chapter, The (Mis)Education of Yémaya: Fostering Togetherness with Black Trans* Womx[x]yn Students at Historically Black Colleges & Universities through Policy Reformation and (Re)Education, you will observe a theme woven throughout: Black womx[x]yn. Her (re)telling is especially compelling because she is the first trans* female on record to graduate from Morehouse College in the school’s over 150-year history. Also, Yémaya was the first full-time female student on the Morehouse student record since the 1930s, which, as a graduate, makes her the first institutionally documented Morehouse woman in over eighty years. She even shifts language in her chapter. Her spelling of womx[x]yn when referring to Black womx[x]yn (cisgender and trans*) in plural form is meant to create a visual distinction (with the use of brackets) that acknowledges biologically constructed notions of gender and highlights both the pluralistic and specious nature of womanhood. Yémaya’s contribution focuses on Black trans* HBCU womx[x]yn in higher education and the nature of their (mis)education at HBCUs—a miseducation rooted in a lack of togetherness. She makes clear that she does not emphasize Black trans* womx[x]yn students in order to negate or erase Black trans* men and other trans* and queer identities. Yémaya’s choice to underscore the experiences of Black trans* womx[x]yn is because they are and have been relegated to the margins and erased in broader societal discourses, in HBCU scholarship, and on college and university campuses.

With chapter 3, Trinice McNally rounds out this portion of the work and provides a rich journey. Her contribution, Intersectionality in Theory and Praxis: The Role of Student Organizing as Preparation for Fostering Inclusive Spaces as an HBCU Administrator, highlights her journey as a Black, queer immigrant woman who began her journey of activism, from founding the first Gay-Straight Alliance at an HBCU in Florida to becoming the founding director of the first Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Multicultural Affairs at the University of the District of Columbia. In addition, her work provides recommendations about ways HBCUs can foster both intersectional and inclusive learning environments that are committed to centering the experiences of historically marginalized students in order to bring about the transformation required to shift the learning environments and culture for queer HBCU students.

Part Two

In the second part—Acknowledging the Urgent and Necessary: Organizational Accounts of Cultural Transformation at HBCUs—the contributors delve deeply into how HBCU organizational structures, including HBCU boards of trustees, presidents, faculty, and administrators, can best engage their GLBQ and trans* communities. In chapter 4, titled Inclusion Flows from the Top: The Role of Boards in Building Inclusive Campuses at HBCUs, Drs. Felecia Commodore and Ashley Gray, highlight how institutional leadership at HBCUs can intentionally and strategically support LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff. Focusing specifically on the board of trustees, the chapter explores how board composition can impact the decision-making processes and ultimately the decisions that shape strategic planning and culture of an institution. With a special focus on private institutions, they discuss board diversity, board member values, ideologies, and external relationships and the ways boards can collectively work to address the needs of LGBTQ students. They also make recommendations for future research and practice.

Chapter 5, Blazing the Trail: Creating an LGBTQIA-Inclusive Campus, is especially unique because it features a blueprint of how an HBCU president and their cabinet can and should endeavor to support queer and trans* inclusivity on their campus. Chevelle Moss-Savage and Drs. Letizia Gambrell-Boone and Makola M. Abdullah highlight how Virginia State University (VSU) has worked to best support their lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and asexual/agender+ (LGBTQIA+) students. Under the leadership of President Abdullah, VSU has been at the forefront of conveying a model of how presidential buy-in is especially important for engaging queer and trans* HBCU stakeholders. This chapter also provides commentary for future research and action steps for HBCU presidents interested in creating a more visibly inclusive campus for HBCU LGBTQIA+ community members who are navigating multiple intersecting identities.

Chapter 6 features a dynamic scholar-practitioner team. With Dr. Darryl B. Holloman at the helm, this contribution, When HBCUs Speak OUT: Navigating HBCU Culture and Queer Student Expectations as Student Affairs Professionals, documents how the vice-president of student affairs and his cabinet at Spelman College have engaged this work. His narrative is distinct because he is the first openly gay man to serve as vice-president of student affairs at his traditionally all-women HBCU. In this chapter, Dr. Holloman, Daryl Lowe, Dr. Bonnie Taylor, and Dr. Leslie Hall affirm that queer and trans* communities have always contributed to HBCU cultures. The chapter also underscores how it is imperative for HBCU vice-presidents of student affairs to lead the charge to ensure that their campus environments promote student success for all of their students. This chapter also highlights the innovative initiatives occurring at Spelman and provides recommendations to help to guide HBCU vice-presidents of student affairs as they advocate for and provide programming and services for their queer and trans* students.

In chapter 7, Understanding the Engagement and Politics of Quare HBCU Student Leaders, Dr. Tobias Raphael Morgan foregrounds his experiences as a queer and questioning HBCU student leader and places them in conversation with his time as a student affairs administrator to convey how HBCUs can best serve their LGBQ and trans* HBCU student leaders.¹ This chapter provides rich insights into how HBCU student affairs stakeholders should challenge tradition and make room for queer and trans* students who aspire to or currently are involved in HBCU royal courts or student government and even those who may pursue membership in Black Greek letter organizations.

Chapter 8, Creating Inclusive Academic Spaces for Queer Students at HBCUs, is based on major developments that have occurred at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) to increase academic inclusivity and advocacy for its queer students. In this chapter, Dr. Kathryn Wymer, Jennifer Williams, and Dr. W. Russell Robinson offer valuable insights into how HBCU faculty can create inclusive academic environments and offer specific strategies for engaging HBCU communities inside and outside the classroom. NCCU has also had to grapple with legal challenges, such as North Carolina’s HB2, which many at the time deemed the most anti-LGBT law in the United States. Faculty and administrators responded by creating academic spaces to facilitate productive conversations and action. Together these three authors highlight the academic programming that has been developed and show models for how HBCU faculty and administrators can actively support their LGBQ and trans* communities.

In the final chapter of this section, Drs. Christopher N. Cross and Diana Lu provide guidance about how HBCU advancement offices can engage their LGBQ and trans*stakeholders. Chapter 9, The Lavender Fund, the First Officially Recognized University-Wide LGBT Fundraiser in HBCU History: How It Came to Be, and How It Continues, describes the establishment of the Lavender Fund at Howard University. This initiative is the first university-sponsored HBCU platform for actively engaging current queer and trans* students and alumni. The authors discuss how this initiative was championed using a top-down administrative approach that began with the Board of Trustees and the university president to establish key infrastructures coupled with fund-raising to engage queer and trans* students, alumni, and allies. This work also offers thoughtful recommendations for how this type of work can be replicated in other HBCU communities.

Part Three

The final part of the book, Deliberate and Intentional Queer and Trans* Scholarly HBCU Explorations shows how researchers can and should engage LGBQ and trans* HBCU communities with an ethic of care. In chapter 10, A Manifesto for Black Quare Liberation and Inclusion at HBCUs, Dr. Jarrel T. Johnson outlines four tenets for HBCU administrators to consider as they seek to create inclusive environments for their quare and trans* collegians: (1) quaring student identities, (2) quaring HBCU organizational structures, (3) quaring student policies and practices, and (4) quaring for co-conspirators. The basis for these tenets is a quare theory framework (Ferguson, 2004; Johnson, 2001; Johnson & Henderson, 2005) that highlights the lived experiences of Black queer and trans* identities, illuminates the relationship between theory and practice, and dismantles forces of power and oppression that relegate quare and trans* collegians to the margins of HBCUs. Dr. Johnson also used the quare theory framework to empower HBCU administrators to understand the roles they can play in affirming the emancipation of Black identities at multiple intersections and in systematically mobilizing queer and trans* student inclusion efforts on their respective campuses. At the conclusion of this manifesto, Dr. Johnson provides recommendations for future institutional practices and policies at HBCUs.

Chapter 11, Outsider Within: The Experiences of Queer Black Women College Athletes at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, provides insights into a topic that has rarely been discussed. The content of this chapter will benefit professionals in higher education and student affairs and members of HBCU communities. In this chapter, Drs. Christa J. Porter and Akilah R. Carter-Francique illuminate the experiential realities of Black queer women college athletes at HBCUs. Research on this topic has found that Black women college athletes live at the intersections of marginalization based on their race, their gender, and their social class and are consequently rendered silent and invisible. Only a tiny portion of that literature has highlighted the multiplicative identity intersections that queerness creates. Acknowledging HBCUs and their cultural climate, Drs. Porter and Carter-Francique employ intersectionality and the concept of outsider within status to unpack the contemporary structural, political, and representational effects that occur within athletic HBCU realms.

In chapter 12, Drs. Michele K. Lewis and Isiah Marshall Jr. provide insight and guidance about how HBCU administrations can use financial and relational resources to address and support queer issues within the context of the HBCU experience. In their study, Queering the Yard: LGBTQ Advocacy, Experiences, and Socialization at Two Public HBCUs, the authors focus on Winston-Salem State University and Jackson State University. Their work illustrates a continuing need for the expansion of policies that foster inclusivity and sensitivity, including policies for transgender students on campus. The chapter concludes with a discussion of current and planned social activities and advocacy efforts and the curricular and co-curricular changes HBCU stakeholders in North Carolina and Mississippi identified as necessary for the support of queer and trans* students.

The final chapter of this book offers critical insights from my co-editors, Drs. Nadrea Njoku, Jennifer M. Johnson, and Lori D. Patton. In chapter 13, Researching, Alongside, for, and by Black, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Communities at HBCUs: A Reflection, they provide guidance and offer reflections on their experiences researching alongside and for LGBQ HBCU communities. Each of the chapter authors has contributed to the current research pertaining to the central nature of this volume. Each also has an insider/outsider status which is quite captivating to see them unpack in their contribution to this work. Each coauthor has individually and collectively worked to amplify the experiences of LGBQ and trans* HBCU communities through their research, scholarship, and practice. This chapter makes space, asks and answers questions, and provides room for the next phase of HBCU queer and trans* work in a particular