Those were among the major points that several HBCU leaders and experts made to Diverse, as a new wave of HBCU leaders prepared to sit at the helm of these beloved institutions. Their ascension comes at a time when the higher education landscape is undergoing radical shifts and threats to longstanding student programs and revenue streams, such as the Pell grant. Amid the convergence of threats, experts stressed the need for a strong focus on providing meaningful programs that lead to employment and building a culture of caring.
βThe future of HBCUs will be determined by their contemporary relevance, responsiveness, excellence, and competitiveness, not their historical accomplishment,β says Dr. Charlie Nelms, a higher education consultant who has served as chancellor at North Carolina Central University, an HBCU.
Nelms says that schools must do more to offer minors or interdisciplinary programming that enable students to approach problems from multiple perspectives.
βMost of the challenges that weβre dealing with as a global enterprise require an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving, and so students need an understanding of not only the humanities, but they need an appreciation and understanding of the sciences,β Nelms says. βTo the extent that we embed those kinds of things into the curricula, we have a high probability of building a graduate who will be in higher demand by the workforce.β
Dr. Marybeth Gasman, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education & Distinguished Professor Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University – New Brunswick, also stressed the need for coursework that makes students competitive.Β
βI would stress innovation, specifically in terms of technology upgrades around AI and preparing students for the future of work,β Gasman says.Β
Dr. Jermaine Whirl, who in April 2025 became the 15th president of Savannah State University, Georgiaβs oldest public HBCU, says that his institution constantly reviews federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data to βkeep the pulse of industry for our programs.β
βWe also connect with our alumni, foundation board members, and individuals of influence and affluence who provide us with good insights,β Whirl says. βAligning this information with our new strategic plan is how weβll move the needle for students,β he adds, referencing his schoolβs efforts to offer micro-credentials, badges, accelerated degree completion programs and a host of noncredit continuing education programs to students.
A culture of caring
Moving forward, Nelms urges HBCU leaders to prioritize high-quality support to students, mentorship, and competitive scholarships.Β
βA college education is more than a collection of classes,β Nelms says. βOne of the distinguishing characteristics of a high quality, responsive institution β period but especially an HBCU β is a culture of caring, and you canβt fake caring. It has to be real. It has to be part and parcel of the institutional culture and institutional responsiveness.βΒ
Nelms says HBCU leaders must build deeper relationships with alumni β starting from the moment they became students β and reframe the way people talk about financially supporting their alma maters.
βWe need to approach the support weβre asking for as an investment as opposed to a donation,β Nelms says. βWhenever people invest, they become vested not only in the brand of the institution but in the individual success of students who matriculate to and through the institution.β
That has to be a message, Nelms says, βfrom the day those students arrive until the day they leave, and we have to really invest in contemporary ways of communicating with people,β he continues. βItβs really wonderful to have an alumni magazine, but what about the people who may prefer social media? We need to diversify our approach to connecting with our alumni.β
Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough
βThereβs still way too many alums who expect the president to go and find a Robert Smith and ask him to donate a couple million dollars,β Kimbrough says in reference to the billionaire businessman Robert F. Smith, who donated $34 million to pay off the debt of Morehouseβs Class of 2019.
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βWe keep looking for some rich person to come and give us a lot of money and they donβt have any connection with us,β Kimbrough says. βIt can happen but itβs rare and I think people expect presidents to just go out and hit a home run and then the alums donβt have to do anything but just tell the president what to do.β
The threat to HBCUs
Dr. David A. Thomas, the former president at Morehouse College β and the one who oversaw the Robert F. Smith donation β says the most significant threat facing HBCUs in 2025 is a βconvergence of ideological, economic, and demographic forces that seek to undermine the very principles on which these institutions were built: access, truth, and justice.β
In addition to declining federal support, shifting enrollment patterns and threats to critical funding streams, Thomas points to legislative actions aimed at suppressing academic freedom and dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives βinitiatives he says are foundational to the mission of HBCUs β as major challenges that confront HBCUs.Β
βThese factors, coupled with disinformation campaigns that distort the value of liberal arts and public scholarship, risk rendering HBCUs less competitive and less visible at a time when the nation most needs our clarity, moral leadership, and educational excellence,β Thomas says. βIf we do not act with urgency, we risk becoming collateral damage in a broader effort to dilute the transformative power of higher education.β
Thomas made those remarks as he prepared to hand the reins of Morehouse over to Dr. F. DuBois Bowman, who assumed the presidency of Morehouse on July 15, 2025. Bowman most recently served as dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Kimbrough says itβs important for newly minted HBCU leaders not to treat the institutions like other places where they may have worked. He says heβs not worried about that with incoming president Dr. Willie L. Todd Jr., his successor at Talladega. Todd holds both a Master of Education in English education and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Albany State University, an HBCU, and is a member of the HBCU Learning Ecosystem.
βYou canβt treat an HBCU like a regional institution that is predominantly white,β Kimbrough says, noting that two thirds of HBCU students are eligible for Pell grants.
βThat means youβre dealing with a student population that is very much influenced by everyday life situations,β Kimbrough says. βYou could have a student that drops out because their car doesnβt work anymore or the mom loses a jobβ and the student needs to help out at home.
βThose are the kinds of things that you might not deal with at another institution,β Kimbrough says. βThey have those same students but theyβre fewer in number. So, you know, they donβt have to deal with them as much.
βYouβre dealing with the financially fragile student body for the most part, or the way I always try to say it: HBCUs are under-resourced institutions that serve under-resource people,β Kimbrough continues. βAnd when you work at a place like that, thereβs so many different things that will impact you.β
Gasman says HBCUs have faced βquite a few external threatsβ since the Trump administration took over in January 2025.
βI think the most pressing relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) backlash, even though HBCUs donβt fall under this category,β Gasman says. βRegardless, grants have been canceled, programs have been canceled, and public HBCUs in conservative states have had to contend with attacks on DEI in their courses, student services functions, policies, and the selection of their presidents.β
But not all threats are external. Kimbrough cited the need for HBCUs to βfix governance.β
βWeβve got to have better governance that works with presidents and not against them,β Kimbrough says. He said part of the problem behind the short-lived tenure for so many HBCU presidents is the relationship with the board βgoes south and then the personβs gone.β
Gasman agrees, adding that stabilizing leadership at these institutions is essential.
βInternally, HBCUs often contend with challenges that are a reflection of long-standing and evolving concerns,β Gasman says. βFor example, leadership turnover is higher than ever, creating instability in some cases. A constant issue is the lack of training of governing boards in terms of higher education governance. This leads to a misalignment with the presidentβs vision and sometimes mission creep.β
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HBCUs, she says, should invest in succession planning, board development, and greater president-board alignment to ensure stability.
Thomas says the urgency of the moment requires bold leadership.
βThe moment is not waiting on you,β Thomas says to his fellow HBCU brother and sister presidents. βYou have stepped into leadership at a time when HBCUs must not only defend their right to exist, but reassert their right to lead.β
He adds that HBCU presidents should be the institutional memory of resistance and renaissance in American higher education.
βBut memory alone wonβt sustain us,β Thomas says of HBCUs. βPresidents must be bold in aligning mission with innovation, unapologetic in asserting our value, and vigilant in protecting our autonomy.β
He urges HBCU leaders to build their endowments, fortify their faculty and invest in research that βspeaks truth to power.β
βAnd above all, keep your students at the centerβthey are not only our legacy, they are our leverage,β Thomas says. βIn this season of heightened scrutiny and structural volatility, the world needs HBCU leadership rooted in moral clarity and strategic conviction. Rise to meet that need.β
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