Moving Mountains

Founded in 1867, Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) is a leading historically black university among 99 accredited Historically Black College or Universities (HBCUs) in the U.S., with more than 1,300 students enrolled across 23 degree programs on its Charlotte, N.C., campus.

Attending an HBCU was a priority for Fort Worth, Texas, native Kameron Sanders, a member of the Class of 2025 who maintains an active schedule as a marketing major while also serving in a leadership role as the university’s 14th “Mr. JCSU.”

After considering a number of undergraduate education options, Sanders says that the choice to attend an HBCU, and JCSU in particular, came down to a deeply personal consideration.

“JCSU creates a culture that feels like a family environment, (with) people trying to understand how I feel about things and hear what I want to say. We (as students) are surrounded by people who look like us, and that motivates and empowers us to push just a little bit harder,” says Sanders.

Sanders’ sense of belonging is echoed by many HBCU students nationally. Identity is one factor driving a resurgence of applications to HBCUs from Black students nationwide, even as overall enrollment in higher education declines. Since 2020, HBCUs have reported application increases as high as 30 percent.

Many students, including Sanders, used the Common Black College Application (CBCA), first introduced in 1998, to apply to 65 HBCUs concurrently, including JCSU. Rising interest paired with this application platform has resulted in the number of applications received through the CBCA increasing four-fold since 2016.

Dr. Valerie Kinloch, the 15th President of JCSU and also a Class of 1996 alumna, sees this rising tide as a reflection of cultural ties that strengthen the academic mission of the university.

“Johnson C. Smith University, like many other HBCUs, is a home away from home that brings all of us together to understand how interconnected we are, what it means for all of us to live in the same world, to learn, to listen and to liberate ourselves,” says Kinloch.

For JCSU student Purity Gumede, a member of the JCSU Class of 2025 majoring in Computer Science and a James B. Duke Scholar, arriving at this home away from home meant leaving her family, friends and home in Zimbabwe and beginning a new phase of life in the United States.

“Today I can call JCSU my second home because it’s just been such a welcoming community. Coming from Zimbabwe to the U.S. was more than just transitioning to college. I changed my entire life,” Gumede recounts. “The opportunities that the university provides have brought out different sides of me that I didn’t even know existed. I have truly been transformed,” she says.

Transformation is a recurrent theme at JCSU, both in the lives of students and as a characteristic of the institution itself. Founded in 1867 by formerly enslaved African-Americans as Freedmen’s College, it was renamed Biddle College in 1876. It was then renamed Johnson C. Smith University in 1923, in recognition of pivotal benefactors.

Today, JCSU stands as “a quintessential liberal arts institution,” says JCSU Chief Academic Officer Dr. Thierno Thiam. “We make sure that by the time [students] exit, the ways in which they think change, the ways in which they communicate change, the ways in which they look at the world fundamentally change,” he says.

Both Kinloch and Thiam point to a new strategic initiative at JCSU – the “New Era of Excellence,” which builds upon the university’s history, while moving into the future.

“We’re innovating in order to make sure that our students are critically engaged, productive members of this university and of the society of the world. We are elevating our academic enterprise, providing the academic degrees our students need and rightfully have access to, and preparing them for success in the workforce or for matriculation into professional and graduate schools,” says Kinloch.

“The new era of excellence is a state of mind that tells us that no challenge is too big to be tackled, to be addressed; that no matter what the problems are, no matter what the issues are, the solutions that we have for them are bigger,” says Thiam.

In 1924, James B. Duke included JCSU among four higher educational institutions named as permanent beneficiaries of The Duke Endowment, a decision that has been important to JCSU over its history.

Kinloch describes this support as both historically significant and substantively valuable. “It’s amazing to think that [James B. Duke] in 1924 would take that type of chance on Black people, and particularly a Black university. I have nothing but much respect for Mr. Duke, for understanding the value of the human condition, particularly involving equal rights and educational access for Black people,” she says.

Among the results of the Endowment’s 100 years of support for JCSU: student scholarships, faculty recruitment, retention, and development resources, funding for efforts to advance racial equity, diversity and inclusion, construction and renovation of student housing, as well as key teaching and learning facilities, including a new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) center in 2014.

Among HBCUs, the assurance of ongoing financial support is a rarity, and one that would be transformational for any of these institutions. Financial struggles are nearly perennial for many HBCUs, a reality stemming from the relatively smaller size of their endowments compared to those held by predominantly white peer institutions. In fiscal year 2020, the 10 largest HBCU endowments totaled $2 billion, while the nation’s top 10 predominantly white institutions drew resources earned from endowments totaling $200 billion.

“The investment from The Duke Endowment has moved mountains,” Kinloch says, but she is quick to add that a truly complete list of benefits from the long connection between JCSU and The Duke Endowment must include valuable intangibles. “We look at the relationship we have with The Duke Endowment as a partnership. When I have conversations with the Endowment, it is a conversation about how we can lead as an HBCU when it comes to innovation, how we can center our students, how we move forward in a direction of excellence,” she says.

Moving the mountains that can stand between aspirations and realities are top of mind for Gumede as she ponders her transformative JCSU experience.

“I can truly say that’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. The education that I dreamt of, which I thought was just dreams, has turned into reality,” she concludes.

As Sanders looks forward to joining the ranks of over 20,000 JCSU Golden Bull alumni alongside Gumede in May 2025, he radiates confidence in the belief that, because of JCSU, mountains will continue to be moved in people’s lives.

“Keep an eye out for JCSU and HBCU grads in the coming years, because they’re going to change some things,” he says.

Learn more about Johnson C. Smith University.