College Adjustment Of Black African American Student Athletes At Predominately White Institutions And Historically Black Colleges And Universities

A dearth of research studies has examined the psychosocial experiences of African American college student-athletes. By comparison, numerous studies have examined the adjustment process of African American students at predominately White institutions (PWIs). The literature shows African Americans have a difficult time adjusting at PWIs due to numerous factors, including general stressors (e.g. financial concerns) and race-related stressors (e.g. racial insensitivity by professors) (2004; Prillerman, Myers, & Smedley, 1989; Sedlacek, 1999). In regards to college athletes, research indicates that the structure of the campus environment challenges student-athletes' capacity to fit in and adhere to expectations regardless of their racial background (Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Ridinger & Pastore, 2000). Nonetheless, it is critical to understand how the campus environment at-large and within the sports context influence African American student-athletes' adjustment. In the current study latent profile analysis (LPA) was employed to better understand the adjustment of African American student-athletes based on perceived social support, perceived campus racial climate, team cohesion, and life events. Results indicated three profile groups of African American student-athletes emerged and can be used to predict college adjustment concerns and campus setting (predominately White institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities). Implications are discussed to offer athletic directors, coaches, and practitioners a means to capitalize on identifying facilitators of healthy adjustment, ensuring that the overall campus, and more specifically the sport environment, provides a safe, encouraging place for the success of African American student-athletes.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are valuable institutions that provide intellectual domains for racial uplift, racial refuge, and cultural empowerment within a continually polarized nation. Today’s current racial climate reminds us of the historical context that gave birth to HBCUs and segregated athletic experiences. While the sporting life at HBCUs is an integral part of these institutions’ mission, there is a dearth of research about HBCU athletics. In The Athletic Experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Past, Present, and Persistence, leading scholars from across the nation present a holistic examination of the integral role sports have played at HBCUs. Chapters in this volume cover a range of topics, from HBCU Football Classics to economics. It begins with a historical overview of HBCUs and the early sporting life before delving into the experiences of today’s male and female student-athletes—including the unique perspectives of athletes who transferred from historically White colleges and universities to HBCUs. Other chapters examine economic issues at HBCUs, such as the financial viability of their athletic departments in the context of the larger NCAA economic framework, and recommendations for the future of HBCU athletics to restore both academic and athletic excellence at these institutions. An important addition to the existing literature on race in contemporary society, this volume provides a narrative of the Black experience from the historical origins of educating Blacks, their early athletic experiences, and the current state of athletics at HBCUs. The Athletic Experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities is a significant contribution to the debate on college athletics and higher education, in general, and athletics at HBCUs, specifically. It is a must-read for sport studies scholars and students, sport management practitioners, and sport enthusiasts of the inter-workings of athletics and the HBCU experience.

In an era when black athletes are commonly compared to the African slaves, Dr. Pinckney attempts to draw a connection to William Rhoden’s “Forty Million Dollar Slaves” and Harry Edward’s earlier work about the black athletes’ integration and segregation issues. Furthermore, this book is an attempt to chronicle the past and current history of blacks in sports. This book reads like a hybrid book—part history, part sociology, and part current issues. Dr. Pinckney captures the rise and slow decline of segregation in college and professional athletics. Dr. Pinckney examines how social and political forces imposed policies of racism, and explains the social forces that eventually forced blacks and historical black colleges and universities to accept second class–segregated competition. By some accounts five hundred years ago, our African ancestors were running from the slave catcher and slave ships to avoid slavery; however, today the descendants of slaves are still running. In fact, they are running, jumping, shooting baskets, and catching odd-shaped balls for their masters. Sporting events such as track and field, football, and basketball are mainly dominated by blacks. On any given Saturday afternoon at majority-white institutions, the black athlete can be found entertaining not only their immediate white master, but their white masters in terms of the disproportionate number of white fans, including faculty, staff, and college administrators. This in itself has predated far too many black athletes to slavery and the conditions of modern-day slavery at the hand of athletics. Truly, sports in America today as we know it has psychologically damaged the black athlete.

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Using both hierarchical and k-means cluster analytic techniques, this study produced three distinct student-athlete groups in terms of differing athletic and racial identities. Descriptive nomenclature were then generated for these clusters, resulting in the following groups of student-athletes based on their unique combinations of psychosocial variables: Low Sense of Identity and Racial Articulation, Strongly Racially Ideological yet Athletically Prioritized, and Socially Assimilated yet Racially Aspirational.

This volume focuses on the issues African American males face not only as participants in athletic competition as student-athletes but also as coaches, administrators, and academic support staff. It will serve as a valuable resource for educational policy makers, especially athletic association personnel (i.e. NCAA), and other constituents.

The New Plantation examines the controversial relationship between predominantly White NCAA Division I Institutions (PWI s) and black athletes, utilizing an internal colonial model. It provides a much-needed in-depth analysis to fully comprehend the magnitude of the forces at work that impact black athletes experiences at PWI s. Hawkins provides a conceptual framework for understanding the structural arrangements of PWI s and how they present challenges to Black athletes academic success; yet, challenges some have overcome and gone on to successful careers, while many have succumbed to these prevailing structural arrangements and have not benefited accordingly. The work is a call for academic reform, collective accountability from the communities that bear the burden of nurturing this athletic talent and the institutions that benefit from it, and collective consciousness to the Black male athletes that make of the largest percentage of athletes who generate the most revenue for the NCAA and its member institutions. Its hope is to promote a balanced exchange in the athletic services rendered and the educational services received.

The book begins with a step-by-step guide to a successful college selection process and freshman year, offering insights invaluable to students, parents, teachers, guidance counselors,and athletic recruiters. Next, notable African-American men and women tell the stories of their own college careers--from admission to graduation--in 27 short, autobiographical essays included in Part Two of the book, How I Did It. Also featured is a directory of more than 900 colleges and universities with information and statistics of particular interest to African-American students. The directory includes evaluations and listings of the most prestigious American undergraduate institutions, with detailed information on special programs and activities for African-American students, entries on historically Black U.S. colleges and universities and African and Caribbean institutions, and information on Black Greek letter organizations. A subject index concludes the guide. This is the only complete college guide specifically designed for African-American students and their counselors. The Black Student's Guide to College Success is a step-by-step quide and reference tool for students, parents, teachers, guidance counselors, and athletic recruiters--leading the reader through a successful college selection process and freshman year. A directory of more than 900 colleges and universities is provided, with information of particular interest to African-American students. Many distinguished Black educators and prominent Americans have contributed to make this work a comprehensive reference tool which addresses the questions and problems encountered by African-American students. A foreword by Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, introduces the first part, How to Succeed in College, featuring 14 hard-hitting essays geared to the needs of the African-American student during the college selection process and the freshman year. Of special interest are: * essays on the Black student athlete; * choosing a Black or an integrated college; * financing a college education; * connecting with students from Africa and the Caribbean; * getting along with other ethnic groups on campus; * handling academic stress; * study habits and hints; and * affirmative action. The next part, How I Did It, includes inspirational autobiographical essays on the college careers--from admission to graduation--of 27 notable African-American men and women. These success stories will motivate and encourage students as they consider their college options. The last part, Directory of Colleges and Universities, includes: (1) complete up-to-date information on more than 900 American colleges and universities (2) the names of recruiters of African-American students (3) the percentage of African-American students enrolled and those who graduate (4) the percentage of student athletes who graduate, and (5) information on African-American organizations Evaluations and listings of the most prestigious U.S. undergraduate institutions, detailed information on programs and activities of special interest to African-American students, listings of historically Black colleges and universities (and evaluations of the top ten), profiles of universities in Africa and the Caribbean, and information on national Black Greek letter organizations are also included in this thorough, accessible directory. A subject index concludes the guide. This work is especially useful for high school and public libraries, high school guidance and career counselors, college admissions offices, athletic recruiters, and African-American education organizations, as well as for aspiring African-American students in search of the motivational key to achievement in college.

This book advances the debate about paying "student" athletes in big-time college sports by directly addressing the red-hot role of race in college sports. It concludes by suggesting a remedy to positively transform college sports. Top-tier college sports are extremely profitable. Despite the billions of dollars involved in the amateur sports industrial complex, none winds up in the hands of the athletes. The controversies surrounding whether colleges and universities should pay athletes to compete on these educational institutions' behalf is longstanding and coincides with the rise of the black athlete at predominately white colleges and universities. Pay to Play: Race and the Perils of the College Sports Industrial Complex takes a hard look at historical and contemporary efforts to control sports participation and compensation for black athletes in amateur sports in general, and in big-time college sports programs, in particular. The book begins with background on the history of amateur athletics in America, including the forced separation of black and white athletes. Subsequent sections examine subjects such as the integration of college sports and the use of black athletes to sell everything from fast food to shoes, and argue that college athletes must receive adequate compensation for their labor. The book concludes by discussing recent efforts by college athletes to unionize and control their likenesses, presenting a provocative remedy for transforming big-time college sport as we know it.