CONNECT . MOTIVATE . INSPIRE .
BLACK GIRL MAGIC BY DR. ROSLYN CLARK ARTIS
to have been the first woman President of an HBCU twice. I am proud to join Delores Spikes and Dorothy Yancey as a two- time first female President of an HBCU. Carolyn Meyers, Algeania Freeman and Trudie Reed have also led more than one HBCU. They are Black Girl Magic. More recently, we have witnessed Black women HBCU Presidents leading on multiple fronts. Glenda Glover, the first woman to lead Tennessee State, and the current longest serving female HBCU President, has also served as the International
A s the first woman and now Benedict College, I stand with nearly 100 Black women President of Florida Memorial University who have led, and are leading, our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities. As the only woman currently leading an HBCU in South Carolina, I am particularly mindful of the state’s ties to two of the most consequential and impactful women in the HBCU space: SC native, Mary McLeod Bethune, founder and first president of Bethune-Cookman University, and Elizabeth
women presidents at a single institution are Beverly Hogan (Tougaloo); Dorothy Yancey (Johnson C. Smith); Diane Suber (St. Augustine); Shirley A. R. Lewis (Paine); Mable McClean (Barber Scotia); and Gloria Randle (Bennett). They are Black Girl Magic. Other Sister Presidents have broken barriers and made history in other ways. Johnnetta Cole is the first and only woman to lead both HBCUs for women - Spelman and Bennett. Upon her appointment as President of the Southern University System, Delores Spikes became the first Black woman to serve as president of a university system in the country, after which, she served as the first woman President of University of Maryland at Eastern Shore. She was one of only three Black women
President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Following in the footsteps of Mary McLeod Bethune, who led the National Council of Negro Women, and Gloria Scott Randle, who went on to serve as the National President of the Girl Scouts of America, Cynthia Hammond took the helm of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) after retiring from the presidency of Central State. They are Black Girl Magic. Today, as I engage with the women currently leading HBCUs, I am filled with pride and hope for the sector. These women, including many highlighted in this issue, are making history and blazing new trails of their own. They are indeed the next iteration of Black Girl Magic!
Evelyn Wright, founder of Voorhees University. I stand in the shadows of these luminaries and seek always to amplify their legacies. Elizabeth Evelyn Wright and Mary McLeod Bethune were remarkable Black women who made significant contributions to both education and civil rights. They stand alongside Fannie Lewis Coppin, Nannie Helen Burroughs, and Violet T. Lewis, as female visionaries who gave birth to some of our nation’s HBCUs. Their legacies continue to inspire us today. They are Black Girl Magic.
Beyond the female founders, nearly 100 women have been called to lead HBCUs. Among the longest serving
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