Affirmed Action

The issue of diversity on college campuses automatically conjures up the familiar scenario of the individual scholar of ethnic descent struggling to overcome the obstacles of predominantly white universities. While this certainly remains a reality on campuses across the country, little has been written about the lives and careers of a different minority__white professors in the realm of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Here for the first time is a wide-ranging collection of essays by white faculty who explore the unique goals, successes, and challenges they encounter in choosing the unusual position of the OotherO in a higher education environment dedicated first and foremost to the empowerment of Black Americans. Edited by three African American scholars at HBCUs and a predominantly white university, this rich array of voices, all speaking on behalf of academic freedom and equality of opportunity, comes at a particularly contentious moment in higher education, as institutional diversity struggles against continued assaults on affirmative action.