The Emergence of Women's Centers at HBCUs: Centers of Influence and the Confluence of Black Feminist Epistemology and Liberal Education

Abstract

Of the 105 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), there are 6 that have instituted a campus women's center: three women's research and resource centers including Spelman College (SC) in Georgia, Bennett College (BC) in North Carolina, and Howard University (HU) in Washington, DC; and 3 women's centers including North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham, Lincoln University (LU) in Pennsylvania, and Tennessee State University (TSU) in Nashville. Women's centers at HBCUs are a sphere of community, support, intellectual capital, and critical service for Black women in the United States. According to Ross (2003)The literature acknowledges that black women have had the heaviest burden to bear within the African American community. If we contemplate the history of African American women from the period of slavery, we can easily claim that they have endured the greatest suffering of any group of people in American history. African American women should be studied within the context of their silent suffering and courageous overcoming. (p. 2)