ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Black male student-athletes and their academic success in historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Over the past fi ve decades extensive research has been conducted on college athletics and Black male student-athletes; yet minimal attention has been given to exploring these topics within the context of HBCUs (e.g., Blackman, 2008; Jackson, Lyons, & Gooden, 2001; Quarterman, 1992). To date, an overwhelming majority of the scholarly literature has been inclusive regarding the study of institutions and athletic programs that compete in major athletic conferences (Martin, Harrison, Stone, & Lawrence, 2010); those with large revenue-generating athletics programs (Meggyesy, 2000; Sperber, 2000; Tucker, 1992, 2004); and at predominantly White institutions (PWIs; Harrison, Sailes, Rotich, & Bimper, 2011; Singer, 2008). Using these institutional settings as the backdrop, scholars have explored a diverse set of issues and problems with respect to these institutional settings, athletics, and student-athletes. For example, scholars have explored the positive and negative impacts of athletic participation on academic success and degree attainment (Dawkins, Braddock, & Celaya, 2008; Harrison et al., 2011); student-athletes’ academic, psychosocial, and identity development (Clopton, 2011; Howard-Hamilton & Sina, 2001; Spigner, 2003); as well as revenue-generating sports (e.g., football, basketball) and athletes that participate in them (Hawkins, 2010; Rhoden, 2006; Sellers, 1992).
