The Athletic Experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Past, Present, and Persistence

Edited by Billy Hawkins; Joseph Cooper; Akilah Carter-Francique and J. Kenyatta Cavil

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are valuable institutions that provide intellectual domains for racial uplift, racial refuge, and cultural empowerment within a continually polarized nation. Today’s current racial climate reminds us of the historical context that gave birth to HBCUs and segregated athletic experiences. While the sporting life at HBCUs is an integral part of these institutions’ mission, there is a dearth of research about HBCU athletics.

In The Athletic Experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Past, Present, and Persistence, leading scholars from across the nation present a holistic examination of the integral role sports have played at HBCUs. Chapters in this volume cover a range of topics, from HBCU Football Classics to economics. It begins with a historical overview of HBCUs and the early sporting life before delving into the experiences of today’s male and female student-athletes—including the unique perspectives of athletes who transferred from historically White colleges and universities to HBCUs. Other chapters examine economic issues at HBCUs, such as the financial viability of their athletic departments in the context of the larger NCAA economic framework, and recommendations for the future of HBCU athletics to restore both academic and athletic excellence at these institutions.

An important addition to the existing literature on race in contemporary society, this volume provides a narrative of the Black experience from the historical origins of educating Blacks, their early athletic experiences, and the current state of athletics at HBCUs. The Athletic Experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities is a significant contribution to the debate on college athletics and higher education, in general, and athletics at HBCUs, specifically. It is a must-read for sport studies scholars and students, sport management practitioners, and sport enthusiasts of the inter-workings of athletics and the HBCU experience.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 282 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-4422-5368-1 • Hardback • August 2015 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4422-5369-8 • eBook • August 2015 • $105.50 • (£82.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies, Sports & Recreation / Essays, Sports & Recreation / Sociology of Sports, History / African American, Education / Organizations & Institutions

The Athletic Experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Past, Present, and Persistence

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are valuable institutions that provide intellectual domains for racial uplift, racial refuge, and cultural empowerment within a continually polarized nation. Today’s current racial climate reminds us of the historical context that gave birth to HBCUs and segregated athletic experiences. While the sporting life at HBCUs is an integral part of these institutions’ mission, there is a dearth of research about HBCU athletics.

In The Athletic Experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Past, Present, and Persistence, leading scholars from across the nation present a holistic examination of the integral role sports have played at HBCUs. Chapters in this volume cover a range of topics, from HBCU Football Classics to economics. It begins with a historical overview of HBCUs and the early sporting life before delving into the experiences of today’s male and female student-athletes—including the unique perspectives of athletes who transferred from historically White colleges and universities to HBCUs. Other chapters examine economic issues at HBCUs, such as the financial viability of their athletic departments in the context of the larger NCAA economic framework, and recommendations for the future of HBCU athletics to restore both academic and athletic excellence at these institutions.

An important addition to the existing literature on race in contemporary society, this volume provides a narrative of the Black experience from the historical origins of educating Blacks, their early athletic experiences, and the current state of athletics at HBCUs. The Athletic Experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities is a significant contribution to the debate on college athletics and higher education, in general, and athletics at HBCUs, specifically. It is a must-read for sport studies scholars and students, sport management practitioners, and sport enthusiasts of the inter-workings of athletics and the HBCU experience.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 282 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-4422-5368-1 • Hardback • August 2015 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4422-5369-8 • eBook • August 2015 • $105.50 • (£82.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies, Sports & Recreation / Essays, Sports & Recreation / Sociology of Sports, History / African American, Education / Organizations & Institutions

Author

Billy Hawkins is professor at the University of Georgia in the Department of Kinesiology. He has written numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles and is the author of The New Plantation: Black Athletes and College Athletics (2013).

Joseph Cooper is assistant professor at the University of Connecticut in the Department of Educational Leadership (Sport Management Program). He has published several articles that examine the experiences of Black male athletes at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Akilah Carter-Francique is assistant professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Health and Kinesiology. Her research interests seek to explicate issues in sport and physical activity, education, and health at the intersections of race/ethnicity and gender.

J. Kenyatta Cavil is assistant professor at Texas Southern University in the Department of Health and Kinesiology and the coordinator of their Sport Management Program. Cavil has published numerous articles for publications such as College Sporting News, Journal of African American Studies, Journal of Education Foundations,and Global Education Journal.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Billy Hawkins

SECTION I: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Chapter 1. Examining the Historical Origins of Educating Blacks in the United States: The Evolution of Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Frankie G. Collins
Chapter 2. Early Athletic Experiences at HBCUs: The Creation of Conferences
J. Kenyatta Cavil

SECTION II: THE STUDENT ATHLETE EXPERIENCES AT HBCUs
Chapter 3. Black Female Athlete Experiences at HBCUs
Akilah R. Carter-Francique and F. Michelle Richardson
Chapter 4. The Culture of Revenue-Producing Sports at HBCUs: The Experiences of Black Male Student-Athletes
I.S. Keino Miller, Jessica L. David, and Jesse A. Steinfeldt
Chapter 5. Athletic Migration Experiences of Black Athletes
Joseph N. Cooper and Billy Hawkins

SECTION III: ECONOMIC ISSUES AND HBCU ATHLETICS
Chapter 6. Legal Issues and the Black Female Athlete’s Collegiate Experience at HBCUs
Courtney Flowers
Chapter 7. “It’s HBCU Classic Time!:” Origins and the Perseverance of HBCU Football Classics
R. Pierre Rodgers
Chapter 8. The Economic State of HBCUs and their Athletic Programs: The Financial Relevance and Viability of HBCU Athletic Programs
Charles Crowley and Geremy Cheeks
Chapter 9. Separate, Unequal and Irrelevant: HBCU Revenue Sports
Emmett Gill and Algerian Hart

SECTION IV: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF HBCU ATHLETICS
Chapter 10. Financing HBCU Athletics: Men’s Basketball – Problems and Opportunities
John C. Lillig
Chapter 11. Black College Athletes: The Sporting Life at HBCUs – Essential Factors for Restoring the Academic and Athletic Excellence at HBCUs
Wardell Johnson, Charles Crowley, and Akilah R. Carter-Francique

Conclusion, Billy Hawkins
Epilogue, Crystal deGregory
Bibliography
Index
About the Editors
About the Contributors

Reviews

[T]his book was immensely gratifying and applicable to my work and interests in sport management and sport sociology. . . .The Athletic Experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Past, Present, and Persistence is wonderfully edited to illuminate the historical and contemporary experiences of HBCU athletes.
— Sport in American History