The need for an expansion of private funding for higher education has increased in importance in an environment dominated by budget cuts to education at the federal, state, and local levels nationwide.

A member of Howard University's board of trustees sent a letter with a dire warning that the Washington, D.C., school "will not be here in three years...

As an HBCU alumnus and the former chancellor of North Carolina Central University, America's oldest public liberal arts HBCU, I commend my colleague, Dr. Marybeth Gasman, for establishing the Center for Minority Serving Institutions in the School of Education at UPenn.

If 10 students registered for a race but nine of them didn't have access to sufficient training to run the distance within qualifying time, we would not be surprised if only one runner actually qualified. Those in higher education circles who report college completion rates don't seem to recognize this dynamic.

More Americans from every color and creed are now earning college educations so college faculty should reflect that. While students can certainly learn from people outside their own sex, ethnicity and belief system, faculty with similar backgrounds provide stronger role models.

With diversity at all American colleges and universities on the rise, and the emergence of flexible online programs, where do HBCUs fit in the contemporary higher education picture?

In this installment of "Diverse Conversations," I sat down with Dr. Marcus Chanay, Vice President of the Division of Student Life at Jackson State University and an expert in the area of student life, having spent a decade helping to shape and mold his department.

Miracles do happen. They happen when people are given a challenge, and when we use our creativity and people to stretch beyond the norm and create a new normal. Miracles can happen in under-resourced universities when faith overrides fear.

Given the amount of time and money invested in presidential searches, and the cost of failure, I'm convinced that the time is ripe for executive search professionals to reexamine how they approach their work and to make adjustments as warranted.