In the late 1980s and early 1990s, A Different World, The Cosby Show spinoff series about life on a fictional Black college campus was must-see TV in Black households all across the country. It was the first time we got to see an all-Black cast in a college setting and it made us crave an HBCU experience of our own.
This year, more than 35 years after the series premiere, the cast took their show on the road in a 10-city reunion tour of HBCUs across the country to connect with fans, inspire interest in historically Black colleges and universities and raise scholarship money for students. They even hung out with Vice President Kamala Harris, a Howard University graduate, at the White House to shine a spotlight on the current administration’s student debt relief programs.
The tour comes as HBCUs across the country are seeing an uptick in applications and enrollment. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, enrollment growth at historically black colleges and universities exceeded overall undergraduate enrollment growth by more than six percent between 2021 and 2022. Howard University’s undergraduate admissions department reported a record-breaking 37,000 applicants for the class of 2028, a 12 percent increase from the previous year.
However, experts say this overwhelming interest in HBCUs is about more than ‘90s nostalgia.
Former high school principal Torry Bennett-Davis told The Root that Republican’s attacks on diversity initiatives and attempts to whitewash curriculum are driving students of color to look to HBCUs for the information the right doesn’t want them to have.
“There is a push against teaching African American history at the secondary and post-secondary level in Republican-run states. That, combined with GOP backlash against programs aimed at recruiting students of color and the slashing of DEI programs generally is what’s driving students into HBCUs at higher rates,” she said.
Bennett-Davis says safety is another factor in students’ decision to opt for HBCUs over predominantly white institutions (PWIs). According to data released by the FBI in January, there were 13,346 hate crimes reported in 2022, up from 8,492 in 2018. The data revealed schools, colleges and universities were the third most common location for hate crimes between 2018 and 2022.
At the end of the day, Bennett-Davis says students are craving community as they worry about attacks on their civil rights. Even Black students at PWIs tend to create their own HBCU experience – joining historically Black Greek letter organizations, local NAACP chapters and organizations that support their academic and professional success, like the National Society of Black Engineers and the National Association of Black Journalists.
“Students want to be and learn about themselves,” she said.