When Historically Black Colleges and Universities were founded in this country — in some cases more than 100 years ago — they provided a higher-learning opportunity for African-American students who were excluded by segregation practices of the time.

The principal mission of HBCUs was to provide an avenue for those who had no place to turn in hopes of receiving undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

By nature, those schools’ enrollments became historically black, but they weren’t designed as being exclusive to African-Americans.

Times have changed, but the HBCU mission hasn’t. Those schools’ doors remain — as they always have — open to anyone, regardless of race.

 Interestingly, though, as predominantly white colleges and universities strive to diversify their campuses, including students, faculty, coaches and administrators, HBCUs are looking to champion their own brand of diversity. But the challenges in that regard are unique since those schools’ traditions are deeply rooted in their student composition. Still, that has not stopped HBCUs from shopping around to find the right fit with a conference, even if it is a league composed of predominantly white institutions. Nor has it stopped historically black conferences from offering membership to predominantly white schools.

In Division II, for example, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), which traditionally have HBCU members only, are recruiting and receiving offers from non-HBCU institutions to join their leagues.

“We have institutions that are regularly contacting us regarding interest in becoming part of our conference,” said SIAC Commissioner William Lide. “The myth is, if you are a historically black college conference that you don’t want traditionally white institutions, but that simply is not true. You want good quality institutions that will improve the quality of your programs, give you national attention both academically and athletically, and allow you to make a strong contribution to a student’s education. We just happen to want to do a better job of recruiting historically white institutions to be a part of our conference.”

CIAA Commissioner Leon Kerry believes expansion makes sense because his league has a lot to offer. His conference basketball tournament, which will be played in Charlotte, North Carolina, this season, draws $2 million from an ESPN television contract and corporate sponsorships.

Kerry believes diversifying his conference can draw even more revenue to league members and create growth for other sports in the conference such as baseball and football.

It’s a matter of finding the right fit for everyone involved, Kerry said.

“We’re trying to find people who are on the same level as far as academics and athletics,” he said. “Budgets are limited, and you’re always looking at ways you can grow. I know what the CIAA can bring to other institutions. We’re listening to see what those institutions can bring to us.”

Championing diversity is nothing new for Lide. He was the first African-American athletics director at Salisbury University from 1987 to 1990 before accepting the same position at West Chester University of Pennsylvania from 1990 to 1992.

He next spent five years as the AD at North Carolina Central University, and he held the same position at Central Arkansas University for three years before becoming SIAC commissioner.

He has also earned a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and a doctorate from Ohio State University.

“Someone brought me in the realm and recruited me,” Lide said. “This is what our institutions want to do now. I think colleges and universities and conferences are in the mode of wanting to survive and thrive. You can’t do that in today’s world if you don’t have diversity. It is an absolute impossibility because of the closeness of the world.”

Albany State University President Everrette Freeman understands that message. He said his institution, a member of the SIAC, wants to be a viable education alternative for all prospective students in southwest Georgia. Freeman said that goal not only is the right thing to do, it also makes financial sense.

“We’ve placed an emphasis on getting students who have excelled in high school in our region,” he said. “The reason that is important economically is that when those students are on the basketball court, the gridiron or participating in a volleyball championship, that attracts members of their community to Albany to watch them play. Those people may in turn decide to go to dinner while in Albany or decide to spend the night in Albany. The city benefits if we have students from southwest Georgia, regardless of color.”

Keeping traditions intact

Those in the HBCU community say diversity isn’t a new concept.

During his days as a football student-athlete at Johnson C. Smith University in the 1970s, Lide said he had white teammates.

Freeman also points to the Jackson State University men’s golf program, which has won 18 consecutive Southwest Athletic Conference championships. The Tigers are coached by Eddie Payton, whose late brother Walter was a Hall of Fame running back for the Chicago Bears.

“Eddie simply looked for the best golfers, period,” Freeman said. “He didn’t bother asking a question beyond, ‘Who are the best golfers out there, and can I attract them to Jackson State?’ That’s what we want to do.”

HBCU stakeholders emphasize that their campuses were never formed with the intention of barring anyone from learning or teaching in the classrooms or playing and coaching on the fields and courts.

“Our universities have been on the forefront of higher education and its nondiscriminatory practices” said Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Commissioner Dennis Thomas. “Since we’ve been founded, our doors have always been open. You’ve never heard of any HBCU denying anybody an opportunity. We didn’t stand in the doors. We didn’t deny admission.

“It is interesting to hear the semantics that HBCUs are going through a diversity process, when it’s been that way for more than 100 years.”

Still, some in the HBCU community believe diversity efforts could potentially compromise some of the the traditions those schools have developed over time.

One HBCU having to balance those traditions is Tennessee State University, which dropped its independent Division I-AA status to join the Ohio Valley Conference in 1988. It was a controversial decision because it meant Tennessee State wouldn’t be able to schedule contests — especially in football — against its traditional HBCU opponents.

“Lawsuits were being filed to create equity in the HBCUs,” said Howard Gentry Jr., a former athletics director at Tennessee State. “There was a stipulation of settlement stating that Tennessee State should work to provide a diverse enrollment and faculty. If you look at the financial side, playing in the Ohio Valley Conference was a smart thing for Tennessee State to do. The level of competition and the opportunity to go to the NCAA championship — and the fact we were playing those institutions in the other sports — made sense.

“The only sport that was affected by all this was football, which carried the weight.”

Clinton Gray, who chairs the Tennessee State University Foundation Board of Trustees, said the mood around the campus was mixed when it came to affiliating with the Ohio Valley Conference.

“No one knew what to expect by making the move,” Gray said. “You had curiosity on one side and resentment on the other. It probably still exists today. The positives are that we can receive automatic bids to advance into championship play in all of our sports. The negative is that all the alumni remember the glory days (of being an independent Division I-AA football power), and you can’t fault them for that.”

Current Tennessee State Athletics Director Teresa Phillips said she hears from disgruntled alumni about the fact that the Tigers are bound to play league opponents in football. And this is 17 years after the institution became a full member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Tennessee State tries to schedule most of its nonconference games against HBCUs. In 2005, the Tigers hosted Alabama A&M University in the John Merritt Classic, then traveled to play Jackson State in the Southern Heritage Classic in Memphis. The Tigers also played Florida A&M University in the Atlanta Classic and North Carolina A&T University in the Circle City Classic in Indianapolis.

There will be one fewer game against an HBCU rival in 2006 because Tennessee State will be meeting its Division I-A Nashville neighbor Vanderbilt University for the first time.

Before it joined the Ohio Valley Conference, alumni were used to the institution’s  status as a football power in HBCU circles with every game taking on a unique atmosphere. Phillips said she hears complaints from supporters of the program that the environment just isn’t the same when taking on Ohio Valley Conference opponents.

Phillips said, though, that a benefit the critics might not realize is that Ohio Valley Conference membership reduces student-athlete missed class time because of the proximity of league members.

“That is what makes it so great for the other sports we have on campus,” she said. “We’re in a great position with our conference being located in Nashville. We’re only four hours away from our farthest conference opponent, and we can take a bus everywhere. But being in the Ohio Valley Conference is a huge question mark for our major sport, which is football.”

Phillips said she has noticed Tennessee State being omitted from publications that regularly report on HBCU football. The institution is putting together a task force to study the best direction the athletics department should take. The self-evaluation should take between six and nine months.

But she believes Tennessee State has to make decisions based on the overall well-being of the institution, and diversification is a developing process. She said most of the students in Tennessee State’s nursing school, for example, are white females, and nearly half the faculty on campus are non-African-Americans.

“Remember that the initials ‘HBCU’ stand for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and all of the institutions have been transitioning over the last 15 to 20 years,” Phillips said. “I really believe athletics are moving slower in that diversification pattern on our HBCU campuses. I think other institutions are asking, ‘Will it diminish the HBCU moniker if we merge like Tennessee State has done, or if those conferences merge non-HBCU institutions into their leagues?’ I hope the answer is ‘No.’ I hope it will start opening up athletics like the rest of our campus has done.”

Those in leadership positions pushing for diversity say they aren’t trying to diminish traditions, but rather adapt to the realities of the day.

“We have a saying in our conference,” Lide said, “called ‘Blending Tradition with the Future.’ We try to recognize our past, but we understand that our future takes us way beyond where we’ve ever been.”

And that future includes an original diversity mission that many people thought was buried in the past.