15 HBCUs unite in historic push for elite research status
TheGrio...
The Association of HBCU Research Institutions is chasing elite research status for 14 HBCUs, reshaping who gets to lead American research.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have always pushed the bounds of what society tried to claim was possible for Black communities. And this week, 15 institutions have continued that legacy with the launch of the Association of HBCU Research Institutions (AHRI).
A collective of HBCUs across the country has come together to form AHRI, a national coalition designed to accelerate world-class research and expand institutional capacities and funding to support universities addressing some of society’s most pressing issues.
“Today is not just an announcement, but a declaration that HBCUs are not only contributors to research and innovation, but also leaders shaping a new era of discovery, reimagining both the solutions and the systems that drive research,” said Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, interim president and president emeritus of Howard University and AHRI’s interim president, in a memo.
The coalition’s central target is the Research 1 (R1) Carnegie Classification, the highest designation for research activity in the country, which comes with more federal funding, greater prestige, and an easier path to recruiting top faculty and students. Right now, only one HBCU holds that designation: Howard University. 14 of AHRI’s member institutions carry R2 status, High Research Activity, and the goal is to move them up.
“It’s the first time in the history of American higher education that a group of HBCUs has elevated themselves to the elite ranks of research institutions,” said Dr. David K. Wilson, president of Morgan State University and AHRI’s board chair.
The coalition’s founding members include: Howard University, Clark Atlanta University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Jackson State University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University, South Carolina State University, Southern University, Tennessee State University, Texas Southern University, Virginia State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Together, these institutions account for 50% of all competitively awarded federal research funding among HBCUs focused on health, science, education, justice reform, and economic development.
Partnering with the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education, AHRI’s offices will be in the AAU’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. As Dr. Ruth Simmons—the former president of Brown University, Smith College, and Prairie View A&M, and now senior adviser to Harvard’s president on HBCU engagement—explained, HBCUs have historically been left out of the dominant research conversation.
“AHRI marks a powerful new chapter in the HBCU research landscape, bringing institutions that have too often worked in isolation into sustained collaboration with one another and with the country’s leading research universities,” Simmons said in a statement.
The coalition has also secured technical assistance from Harvard’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research and a three-year, $1.05 million grant from the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery (H&LS) Initiative, which was established in 2022 after Harvard formally acknowledged its historical ties to the slave trade. This announcement comes weeks after academics working with the initiative claim the Ivy League has fired researchers and tried to dilute or delay their research efforts.
Through the years, HBCU researchers have long prioritized questions surrounding Black communities that elite institutions often overlook, from diseases to economic inequities that mainstream academia rarely interrogates with the same rigor. Frederick himself told the Washington Post he was drawn to Howard as a student precisely because of its Center for Sickle Cell Disease.
“The whole notion that some people in this country are less important than other people has held us hostage for many, many years,” Simmons said plainly.
AHRI formally incorporated on June 14, 2023, and held its inaugural board meeting that October. This week’s public launch coincided with the coalition’s first research symposium, “Expanding the Research Mission of HBCUs,” convening higher education leaders, policymakers, and industry partners at Howard University’s campus.
While groundbreaking donations from philanthropists like McKenzie Scott have helped HBCUs expand their academic programs and support for students, AHRI’s leaders are issuing a direct call to action for government, corporate, and philanthropic partners to invest in the future of HBCU research and innovation.