By Greg Scholand

Greg Scholand is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management. He can be reached at: gs@MomentumMedia.com.

William Head is old enough to remember when things were different. The Athletic Director at Fisk University, he was around when some of the best college sports teams in the country--the ones most envied for their strength, speed, size, and talent--belonged to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

"Our schools had some of the best athletes that you could find anywhere," Head recalls. "Some of the teams back then were absolutely dominant--in football, basketball, track, you name it. HBCU athletics could compete with anyone."

Held up against that legacy, many would say today's HBCU athletic programs have fallen on hard times. In most major sports, they have failed to remain competitive against non-HBCU opponents. Last year, for instance, the two historically black NCAA Division I conferences went a combined 6-20 in non-conference football games against Division I opponents, and 25-171 in non-conference basketball.

And the bad news hasn't been limited to the scoreboard. When the NCAA released its latest round of Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores in May, an Associated Press article summed up the results under a blunt headline: "NCAA Report Hits Black Colleges Hardest."

Why are so many schools in this unique sub-set of the college athletic community struggling to succeed? In this article, people at the center of HBCU athletics discuss that question, and talk about how they're working to create a brighter future for their programs.

NEW LANDSCAPE
A few decades ago, HBCUs were regularly churning out some of the most successful athletes in the country. From Olympians like Wilma Rudolph and Althea Gibson to hall of fame pros like Walter Payton, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, top-tier performers at historically black colleges were commonplace. On draft days in the NFL, NBA, and MLB, schools like Grambling, Southern, and Jackson State heard their students' names called early and often.

But the athletic prowess of these schools was a silver lining on a very dark cloud. Top athletes were often going to HBCUs not by choice but by necessity, since segregation kept them out of the south's major institutions. As the Civil Rights Movement broke down those barriers in the 1960s, athletic programs were sometimes slow to integrate. The University of Tennessee, for instance, accepted its first black students in 1961 but had no black athletes until 1968. The University of Mississippi, which enrolled its first black student in 1962, didn't have a black athlete on scholarship until 1970. And at Louisiana State University, no black athletes suited up until 1971.

"When segregation was still a fact of life, HBCUs were getting the cream of the crop among black athletes in the south, and that meant we had some of the best athletes in the country," says Greg LaFleur, Athletic Director at Southern University and A&M College. "When integration came, the opportunities changed, and the premier athletes started moving to the more prominent schools."

The impact of that shift on HBCUs was gradual, but unmistakable. In the NFL, teams drafted more than 440 players from historically black institutions during the 10 years from 1967 to 1976. Over the next two decades combined, fewer than 300 HBCU players were selected, and from 1997 to 2006, there were just 55.

"It's been a paradigm shift," explains Chuck Bell, who recently retired as Athletic Director at Delaware State University. "Much of the success of HBCUs was due to the fact that we had access to a whole population of people who were shut out of the top schools. Now that that's no longer the case, we can't attract the same caliber of students--athletically or academically--that we could in the past."

HBCUs haven't lowered their standards, Bell says. But the same schools that used to exclude minorities now do an excellent job of reaching out to them. And since they have so much to offer in academics, athletics, and reputation, it's no surprise that historically black schools have lost some appeal among elite athletes.

"Given this new reality, I think it's essential to the future of HBCUs that we change the way we think about our whole business model," says Bell. "I believe it's what we have to do to survive."

DIVERSITY MATTERS
For many HBCUs, changing their model has meant increasing diversity on their campuses. The National Association for Equal Opportunities in Higher Education, an HBCU advocacy group, estimates that more than 10 percent of students at today's historically black schools are white--an all-time high.

At Delaware State, where two years ago Bell became the first white athletic director at a Division I HBCU, university administrators have made a strategic decision to move away from the historically black college label. The effort has been slow, and not without its critics, but DSU's leadership believes it's essential to the long-term health of the school and its athletic programs.

"Our President, Allen Sessoms, and our trustees firmly believe that we'll be much better off if we're more diverse, and that vision has affected everything we do here," says Bell, who signed on as athletic director to help the process along, with the understanding that his stay would be short. "From an athletics perspective, it means bringing in the best coaches regardless of their race, and instructing them to think the same way about recruiting. We've encouraged our coaches to go beyond their traditional avenues and reach out to the best possible athletes from all backgrounds."

As athletic director, Bell helped out by convincing DSU to add women's equestrian as its 18th varsity sport. He hopes it will have a twofold impact on diversity--first, because equestrian traditionally appeals to more white athletes and spectators, and second, by sending a broader message about the athletic department's inclusive new direction.

"In my opinion, and I know some people disagree, we have to break out of the old mold," Bell says. "HBCUs are an extremely important part of history, and no one would deny that. But for our institutions to prosper, we shouldn't do anything that limits ourselves in terms of the athletes, coaches, and faculty members that we can attract."

At Bethune-Cookman University, Head Baseball Coach Mervyl Melendez has made diversity part of his winning strategy. When he arrived eight years ago, the team was made up almost entirely of black players. This season, it was the quintessential melting pot--14 Hispanics, 10 blacks, and four whites.

"Ten years ago, if you were not African-American, you probably wouldn't even think of playing baseball at Bethune-Cookman," says Melendez. "But after I began recruiting from a more diverse group of athletes, people saw the players on the field and realized we were open to everyone, and high school players started thinking of us as another option to consider. Now, when we host high school showcases, most of the kids who show up are either Hispanic or white."

A native of Puerto Rico, Melendez acknowledges that his own background has played a role. He brought with him connections to the Hispanic baseball community, and that has helped attract some athletes who might otherwise have gone elsewhere. But he says the best recruiting tool, among all races, has been success: His teams have won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) baseball title in seven of his eight seasons at Bethune-Cookman, and that has kept his program in the front of prospects' minds.

"By opening ourselves to the best students and athletes we can get, we've been able to achieve more than we could otherwise," Melendez says. "When high school players see you winning conference titles and making the NCAA tournament, that appeals to them. And part of the reason for our success is that we're drawing from the largest possible pool of athletes."

Dr. Dennis Thomas, Commissioner of the MEAC (one of the two historically black conferences in NCAA Division I), notes that several sports in the conference are quite diverse. "If you look at the bowling, tennis, golf, and volleyball teams, you'll see a makeup that's representative of the whole country," he says. "Whoever has the talent and the desire to succeed, no matter what color they are, that's who today's HBCU coaches are looking for."

FOCUS ON FUNDING
For any athletic department looking to improve on and off the field, money is usually the main obstacle between where they are and where they'd like to be. From building new athletic facilities to hiring more staff, the bottom line affects virtually every outcome. For HBCUs, the constant struggle for funding has very deep roots.

"Historically black schools, particularly state institutions, have been discriminated against in funding since their inception, and that continues to this day," says Fisk University's Head. "For a long time, HBCUs weren't given nearly enough money, yet we somehow managed to survive. And even now, there's still a sense that we're getting just barely enough to make it."

In Delaware, Bell believes the funding disparity between the University of Delaware and Delaware State is a vestige of an earlier era. "Delaware and Delaware State both receive state funds, but there are huge disparities between the two in facilities and resources," he says. "There absolutely is some lingering memory in the state legislature, and among state residents, of when Delaware State was called the State College for Colored Students.

"The unequal treatment is something the legislature should truly be ashamed of," he continues. "If there's no leftover prejudice in the state of Delaware, then somebody please explain to me what's going on."

But state funding is only one piece of the puzzle. Head argues that the effects of socioeconomic inequality trickle down to today's HBCUs. "Even after integration and all the progress that's been made, there are still large gaps in affluence between the alumni of traditionally white institutions of the south--some of whose wealth is left over from the time of slavery--and the alumni of historically black schools," he explains. "That creates a level of giving and support at the white institutions that our schools could never hope to attain, and it shows in a lot of ways.

"If one of the major state schools loses some funding due to budget cuts, they have the means to adapt without it having a large impact on their programs. When the same cut happens to an HBCU, it can be devastating," Head continues. "For the historically black school, each cut is a cut into the flesh. For the other school, it's like cutting a fingernail."

Thomas, who has been an HBCU athlete, coach, athletic director, and tenured professor, agrees that deep-seated funding disparities are at the heart of most historically black schools' struggles. He grows especially frustrated when media reports focus on the shortfalls of HBCUs--their APR problems, low graduation rates among athletes, lack of on-field success--and fail to provide the relevant context. All these problems, he says, are symptoms: The underlying cause is the lack of resources.

"When the [most recent] APR numbers came out, none of the BCS schools were in trouble. Does that mean their athletes are working harder than HBCU athletes, or their athletic departments care more about academics?" Thomas asks. "Absolutely not. The difference is, those institutions have the resources for academic palaces with tutors, support staff, advisors, and everything else to help athletes succeed in the classroom. It's amazing what you can do when you have the money to spend.

"If any of the top athletic programs in the country--the Floridas, Notre Dames, Michigans--had been underfunded for the past 100 years, I guarantee they wouldn't be the institutions they are today. Everything about HBCUs needs to be viewed from that perspective. "

INVESTMENT & EXPOSURE
Identifying a lack of resources as the source of problems is one thing--doing something about it is another. Rather than wait for state legislatures and alumni donor bases to pick up the slack, some forward-thinking HBCU athletic programs are finding their own ways to attract more money, more attention, and better student-athletes.

"In the past, HBCUs did not have much exposure on television, and that hurt us," says Thomas. "For whatever reason, the people in charge of programming didn't see that we had value.

"But we're changing that," he continues. "In the MEAC, we recently signed our first long-term contract with ESPN to broadcast football and men's and women's basketball. We've also televised volleyball, softball, baseball, and bowling on their networks. We know how important it is to get our schools out in front of the public, so this deal is tremendous for us."

The higher profile should make HBCU athletics more appealing to recruits, resulting in future classes of better and better athletes, who in turn attract more media attention, thus completing an upward cycle. "The more we're on TV, the more it puts our schools in the mainstream, and the more athletes will say, 'I just saw that team play, and they looked great. I want to go there,'" Thomas explains.

Building new corporate relationships is another key to future growth for HBCU athletic departments, and that means making some front-end investments. At Southern, LaFleur's predecessor Floyd Kerr (now the Athletic Director at Morgan State University), spent $2.4 million to build one of the largest stadium video systems in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. It was a major expense for a cash-strapped program, but the athletic department believes it will pay off in increased sponsorship revenue and, perhaps most importantly, the attraction of new fans.

"The number-one thing an HBCU can do to increase exposure and revenue is fill up its stadium on game days," LaFleur says. "Once that happens, you draw attention from the media, you get more recruits interested, and you get more companies wanting to partner with you. When I meet prospective sponsors, the first question they ask is, 'How many tickets do you sell?' Before they invest money, they want to know how many people they'll reach when we put their sign up on the scoreboard."

LaFleur regularly talks to supporters about the long-term value of boosting attendance. "I meet with as many alumni groups and organizations as I can, and the conversations always involve how important it is for them to attend games and to help us get other people interested," he says. "The difference between schools that get lots of attention and sponsorships and schools that don't is simple: It's whether they're consistently filling their stadiums."

At Bowie State University, Athletic Director Derek Carter woos corporate sponsors by offering more than just his own program. As a member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), one of two historically black conferences in NCAA Division II, he sells the strength of the entire conference.

"In our area, we're vying for attention against the University of Maryland, Georgetown, George Mason, and American University, as well as the Redskins, the Ravens, and other pro teams. If it was just us against them, we'd have a very tough time competing," Carter says. "So we take advantage of the strength of the CIAA--our member schools work together with the conference office so we can offer ticket packages to CIAA events and promotional opportunities within the conference."

Often, Carter's biggest carrot for sponsors is the CIAA Basketball Tournament, one of the largest annual events in all of college sports. It was the first NCAA Division II tournament to be televised during Championship Week on ESPN, and in 2007 it drew more than 165,000 fans.

"At Bowie State, we've worked to identify assets that we can use to sell our programs, and our membership in the CIAA is at the top of the list," Carter says. "All the schools in our conference benefit from the strength of the group as a whole."

A TRADITION OF OPPORTUNITY
A lot has changed in college athletics over the past half-century, and some of those changes have ultimately hurt HBCUs. Yet as the broader athletic, economic, and cultural picture for these schools continues to evolve, Thomas remains sure of one thing.

"We've always adapted--to whatever has been presented to us," he says. "I think one of the greatest things about HBCUs today is that we're serving a population that needs and deserves more opportunities. Maybe we're not getting the top-quality student-athletes we used to, but that means we're giving other deserving people a chance at an education and at participating in athletics, and that's just as important a role.

"History has taught us that HBCUs have always survived and found a way to achieve, despite all our adverse circumstances," Thomas adds. "And we'll continue to do that."

Sidebar: APR HELP
The latest Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, released in May, contained bad news for many HBCUs. While historically black schools make up less than seven percent of the NCAA Division I membership, they accounted for about 13 percent of the schools facing potential scholarship losses or receiving warning letters. But there was some good news, too--the NCAA is stepping in to help.

First, rather than imposing immediate penalties, the association granted temporary waivers to more than 50 HBCU teams. "We recognize that different schools have incoming student populations with different characteristics," explains Kevin Lennon, NCAA Vice President for Membership Services. "If a low-APR team is performing better academically than the school's student body, that could be grounds for a waiver, particularly if it's at a low-resource institution. Many of the waivers for HBCU teams were based on that standard."

The Division I Board of Directors has also allocated $1.6 million to aid low-resource institutions, which the NCAA defines as schools in the bottom 10 percent of per-capita student and student-athlete spending and those with the most students receiving Pell grants. "The money will most likely be offered in matching grants for schools that can identify concrete ways they'll work to improve their APR," Lennon says. "This could include more academic support personnel, academic advising, staff development, or new technology--the schools themselves can figure out what they need."

Whether or not a waiver team receives special funds, the NCAA expects all to improve academically in the coming year, and scholarship cuts loom if their APR scores continue to fall short. "We've asked the teams with waivers to develop very specific improvement plans that focus on recruiting, advising, and academic support, and we want benchmarks and goals built in," Lennon says. "If they do that, we're basically saying, 'Okay, we won't impose the penalty now, but if you fail to meet the benchmarks you've established, there will be consequences.'"