“Building Bridges, Not Fences”: A History of Civic Engagement at Private Black Colleges and Universities, 1944–1965

Abstract

HBCUs traditionally build bridges, not fences, for their neighbors.–Barbara S. FrankleIn its truest sense, higher education is aimed at fostering academic achievement and educating students for good and productive citizenship. With this purpose in mind, over the past few decades there has been a proliferation of research on civic engagement. Although substantial in size and reach, the civic engagement literature is limited in terms of depth and scope. Many scholars working in this area have sought to define civic engagement as well as service learning; service learning is believed to lead to greater civic engagement and to increase educational attainment by some scholars and practitioners. Of note, this scholarship aims to defend civic engagement by providing a philosophical justification for it, reclaiming the historic civic purpose of higher education, or providing an assessment of student outcomes, including participation in protest, voting knowledge and behavior, and the impact of service learning. The civic engagement literature also demonstrates the level of engagement among undergraduate students and provides in-depth case studies of college and university initiatives to engage local communities throughout the nation. Scholars of civic engagement have focused on many different types of majority institutions, including small private colleges, state universities, land grant institutions, and private research universities. Most of these studies draw on how the unique histories of these various sectors of higher education position them for civic engagement work as well as the institutional efforts to engage local communities.