ABSTRACT
Kandi is excited to achieve her dream of earning a master’s degree in communication studies. She has visited multiple graduate programs relating to her areas of interest in intercultural and organizational communication. Based on the coursework, funding for students, and opportunities to work with professors and complete internships regarding her career choice, Kandi is leaning toward attending Mitchell University (MU), a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the United States, in the upcoming fall semester. During her visit to MU, she was happy to meet current students, tour the university, sit in on a class, and talk with two of the professors in her program. As Kandi reflects upon her visit, she quickly realizes this is a very different organizational culture than what she has experienced in her past educational institutions. Although she is an African-American female, she is not sure how she will adjust to an HBCU since she attended public schools as a racial minority during her primary and secondary education, as well as when earning her undergraduate degree in communication studies. In order to prepare for this experience, she decides to have another conversation with one of her prospective advisors at Mitchell University, Dr. Susan Washington, in her office before heading back home.
