6月，最高法院几乎关门了种族意识在大学录取中的运用，引发高等教育的重大变革。
教育倡导者表示，他们认为这一决定虽然令人失望，但却让历史上的黑人学院和大学(HBCUs)对黑人学生的价值成为新的“焦点”。
“我们对此感到不安，但与此同时，我们明白这为哈佛商学院提供了一个机会，为那些没有机会接受教育的人提供教育，”克拉克亚特兰大大学的乔治·弗伦奇博士在7月份的ABC新闻直播节目中说。
高等教育研究分析员加布里埃尔·蒙塔古同意，并在一份声明中表示，结束历史上一直使用的平权行动可能会促使黑人学生转而寻求他们将“在多样性中感到舒适”的学校，同时仍然“权衡负担能力和职业目标的选择”
蒙塔古是“永远隔离”来自倡导团体教育信托基金的一项分析表明，黑人学生在精英学校的代表性不足
种族意识招生的结束可能意味着白人占主导地位的学校录取的非白人学生越来越少:例如，在加州大学系统的两个分校和密歇根大学禁止在招生中使用种族之后的几年里，黑人学生的入学率下降了。
倡导者和教育工作者表示，如果这种趋势在全国范围内出现，这些学生可能会重新审视哈佛商学院。
“(哈佛商学院的)未来是光明的，”瑟古德·马歇尔学院基金(TMCF)总裁Harry L. Williams告诉ABC新闻。“由于HBCUs在全国引起了关注，特别是自从最高法院最近的裁决以来，他们预计会有大量学生考虑HBCUs，这将使我们的机构受到关注。”
根据TMCF大学和美国黑人大学基金会(UNCF)合作的HBCU转型项目，未来三年，HBCU的入学人数预计将增加90，000人。
这将是一个相当大的增长:根据联邦政府的统计数据，2021年约有287，000名学生在哈佛商学院注册。
尽管如此，一些专家也担心，鉴于黑人学生的大学计划与以白人为主的同龄人机构之间持续存在的资金缺口，在HBCUs继续争取更多财政支持以实现学生目标的同时，黑人学生的大学计划可能会变得更加复杂。
全国高等教育多样性官员协会主席保莉特·格兰伯里·拉塞尔语气谨慎。
“这里有很多未知因素，”她说，并补充道，“不幸的是，我们很可能会看到学生人数下降，否则他们可能会选择HBCU体验。负担能力是他们最关心的问题。”
UNCF的总裁兼首席执行官Michael L. Lomax博士认为，如果没有办法“导航”过去，最高法院的裁决将损害历史上的黑人学校。该机构与瑟古德·马歇尔学院基金一样，为HBCU学生提供财政支持。
他说，平权法案的决定“令人深感担忧”，扭转了大约40年的先例，但并不令人意外。
“我认为这对想要进入精英(主要是白人)学校的黑人学生是有害的，”洛马克斯说。但是，他说，“我认为明智的选择是HBCUs。顺便说一句，他们继续以较低的价格为学生提供出色的教育——比同类白人学校低三分之一左右。”
据校长克里斯汀·麦克菲尔说，北卡罗莱纳州圣奥古斯丁大学，一所历史上的黑人学校，在过去的两个学年里注册人数略有增加。
尽管麦克菲尔称平权法案的裁决是一个“打击”，但她说现在判断它将如何影响未来学生的招募还为时过早。
“圣奥古斯丁大学，从一开始，就是为你们(黑人学生)而建的，”麦克菲尔说。
“我们的文化，我们的价值观，拥抱你。我不需要通过一项多元化、公平、包容的政策，”她说。“我是建立在多样性、公平和包容的基础上的，为有这些需求的学生服务，希望看到与他们长相相似、价值观相似的教师。”
阿拉巴马州立大学校长昆顿·t·罗斯博士说，一些哈佛商学院已经得到了资助，但他们还需要更多的资金来补充未来几年预计的入学人数增加。
“当我们谈论哈佛商学院时，我们总是采取平权行动，”TMCF 2023年教育领袖奖获得者罗斯说。“我们机会均等，因此我们欢迎所有寻求机会的人来到我们的机构。从哈佛商学院的角度来看，现在就想要来的人数而言，我们仍然受到基础设施问题的困扰，我们可以容纳那些可能想要继续来的人。”
克拉克亚特兰大大学的弗伦奇今年夏天在美国广播公司的现场直播节目中附和了这一观点。“当我们的少数族裔被(以白人为主的机构)拒之门外时，基于这一决定，他们将无处可去，除非我们在哈佛商学院建设能力。”
在2023-2024学年开始时，TMCF和UNCF收到了一份1 . 24亿美元的礼物，用于哈佛商学院的转型项目。40个HBCUs通过该项目获得资金，用于资源、基础设施和财政援助投资。
威廉姆斯说，学校“非常”需要投资，但这份礼物仅仅是个开始。
2023年9月23日，哈利·威廉姆斯博士在瑟古德·马歇尔大学基金(TMCF)领袖与传奇晚会上发表演讲
TMCF
像霍华德大学的泰勒·坎贝尔这样的哈佛商学院学生正在帮助下一代。坎贝尔是一名三年级学生，她说当她在华盛顿打开霍华德的录取通知书时哭了，她经营着一个名为“野牛伙伴”的导师项目。
“我甚至不是在帮助他们申请，而是帮助他们看到大学是一个选择，”坎贝尔告诉美国广播公司新闻。
她说:“他们(学生)住在霍华德街上，从来没有踏足过我们的校园。”。
坎贝尔说，她正在向学员展示她在哈佛商学院经历的好处。
“你可以建立的遗产和核心家庭...我认为这种经历是不可复制的，”她说。
虽然这一裁决迫使一些申请人考虑他们的选择，但专家们做出了一个重要的区分。
“哈佛商学院可能会吸收一部分学生，但绝不是第二选择，”蒙塔古在他的声明中说。
“哈佛商学院培养了最多的黑人医生、律师、教师和其他专业人士，”他说。"这在平权法案实施时是正确的，在它垮台后也将如此。"
SCOTUS affirmative action ruling was 'blow' to Black students, but it put 'spotlight' on HBCUs: Advocates
In June, the Supreme Court all but closed the dooron the use of race-conscious college admissions, touching off major changes in higher education.
Education advocates said they believe the decision, while dismaying, puts a new "spotlight" on the value of historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, for Black students.
"We're upset about it, but at the same time, we understand that this provides an opportunity for HBCUs to provide access to education for those who otherwise would not have it," Clark Atlanta University Dr. George French said on ABC News Live in July.
Higher education research analystGabriel Montagueagreed, saying in a statement that ending affirmative action as it has historically been used could prompt Black students to instead seek schools where they will be "comfortable in their diversity" while still "weighing options of affordability and career goals."
Montague is the author of"Segregation Forever,"an analysis from the advocacy group Education Trust of the underrepresentation of Black students at elite schools
The end of race-conscious admissions could mean fewer non-white students are admitted at predominantly white schools: For example, Black student enrollment in the past dropped at two branches of the University of California system and at the University of Michigan in the years after the use of race was banned from admissions there.
Should that trend play out nationally, those students could then take another look at HBCUs, advocates and educators said.
"The future is bright [for HBCUs]," Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) President Harry L. Williams told ABC News. "Because of the attention that HBCUs are getting around the country, especially since this recent Supreme Court decision, they're anticipating an influx of students considering HBCUs, which is going to put a spotlight on our institutions."
During the next three years, the number of students enrolled at HBCUs is expected to increase by 90,000, according to the HBCU Transformation Project, a collaboration between TMCF and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).
That would be a sizable increase: According to federal government statistics, there were about 287,000 students enrolled at HBCUs in 2021.
Still, some experts also worried there could be added complications for Black students' college plans at the same time HBCUs continue to push for more financial support in order to meet students' goals, given the persistent funding gap between those schools and their predominantly white peer institutions.
National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education President Paulette Granbury Russell struck a cautious tone.
"There's a lot of unknowns here," she said, adding, "The unfortunate part is, we may very well see a decline in students who may otherwise want to opt into an HBCU experience. Affordability is a driving concern for them."
Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of the UNCF, which like the Thurgood Marshall College Fund financially supports HBCU students, believes the Supreme Court decision will harm historically Black schools if there's no way of "navigating" through it.
The affirmative action decision, he said, was "deeply concerning" -- and reversed roughly 40 years of precedent -- but was not a surprise.
"I think it was harmful for Black students who want to attend elite [predominately white] institutions," Lomax said. But, he said, "I think the smart money is on HBCUs. They continue to provide outstanding education for the students who attend them at a lower price, by the way -- about a third less than their comparable white institutions."
Enrollment at North Carolina's Saint Augustine's University, a historically Black school, has increased slightly over the past two school years, according to President Christine McPhail.
Though McPhail described the affirmative action ruling as a "blow," she said it was too early to tell how it will impact the recruitment of future students.
"Saint Augustine's University, from the beginning, was built for you [Black students]," McPhail said.
"Our cultures, our values, embrace you. I don't have to pass a diversity, equity, inclusion policy," she said. "I was built on diversity, equity and inclusion for students who had those needs, that wanted to see faculty that look like them, that had similar values with them."
Dr. Quinton T. Ross Jr., president of Alabama State University, said some HBCUs have already received a boost but said they will also need increased funding to supplement projected enrollment hikes in the years to come.
"When we talk about an HBCU, we've always been affirmative action," Ross, TMCF’s 2023 educational leadership award recipient, said. "We're equal opportunity, and so we welcome all those who seek an opportunity to come to our institutions. Now in terms of, you know, the number of individuals that want to come -- from the HBCU standpoint -- we still suffer from infrastructure issues where we can be able to accommodate those that may want to continue to come."
French, with Clark Atlanta University, echoed that on ABC News Live this summer. "When our minorities are turned away from [predominantly white institutions], based on this decision, they will have nowhere to go unless we build the capacity at HBCUs."
At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, TMCF and UNCF received a $124 million gift for the HBCU Transformation Project. Forty HBCUs received money through the project, for resources, infrastructure and financial aid investments.
Williams said the schools needed the investment "badly," but that gift was only the beginning.
HBCU students like Howard University's Taylor Campbell are helping the next generation. Campbell, a third-year student who said she cried when opening her acceptance letter to Howard in Washington, runs a mentorship program called Bison Buddies.
"I'm helping them not even with applications but helping them even see that college is an option," Campbell told ABC News.
"They [the students] live down the street from Howard and have never even stepped foot on our campus," she said.
Campbell said she is exposing mentees to the benefits of the same HBCU experience she had.
"The legacy and the core family that you can build ... I don't think that experience can be replicated," she said.
While the ruling has forced some applicants to mull their options, experts make one critical distinction.
"HBCUs may absorb a portion of these students, but by no means are HBCUs secondary choices," Montague said in his statement.
"HBCUs produce the most Black doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals," he said. "This was true while affirmative action was in place and will remain so after its downfall."
