Student activism and the historically Black university: Hampton Institute and Howard University, 1960--1972

The late 1960s were a time of intense ferment on U.S. college campuses. During the early part of the decade, student protests were centered around segregation and voting rights in the southern states. By the late 1960s, the student protests had shifted to their own colleges and universities. Students at both HBCUs and at predominantly White campuses were protesting the involvement of the U.S. military in Vietnam, and the rules, leadership, and curriculum on their campuses.;At HBCUs, students questioned the relevance of the curriculum, demanding changes in "the substance and character of their educational experiences." 1 Students also began to challenge the autocratic nature of their administrations. Although some Black college administrators had been generally supportive of student efforts during the sit-ins and marches of the early 1960s, these administrators took a different position when the protests were directed at their institutions and themselves colleges and universities, which generally had more resources at their disposal.;In this study, I will examine student activism at two historically Black colleges, Howard University and Hampton Institute, between 1960 and 1972. I will ask: (1) What issues concerned activist students at Howard University and Hampton Institute? Why and how did they want to change the university? (2) How did administrators respond to student protests at their institutions? What factors influenced the institutions' response to student protest?;I have chosen these two institutions because of their rich histories dating back to just after the Civil War. Hampton and Howard have served as models that other HBCUs have tried to emulate. In addition, the archives at both these institutions have extensive material on the student protests of the 1960s.;There are no in-depth historical studies of student activism at HBCUs. Their absence is particularly unfortunate because the 1960s was an important period in the development of historically Black colleges and universities. An examination of the protests on Hampton's and Howard's campuses can help to illuminate some of the issues that both HBCU students and administrators were wrestling with during the wave of student protests that swept the country in the 1960s.;1Harry Edwards. Black Students . (New York: Free Press), 1970, 82.