The Status of Black Studies at Public Institutions After the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Academic Scandal

This study examines the progress of Black Studies at public universities toward incorporation into mainstream higher education following the academic scandal at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2011-2014). Drawing upon data from Black Studies websites at 196 flagship and other predominantly white institutions across the 50 US states, and other sources, findings reveal that (1) the formal identification most frequently found for Black Studies academic units is either "Africana" or "African American" Studies; (2) conformity with the original core curriculum model of the National Council for Black Studies across the four levels of the model is uneven; (3) reaching departmental status for Black Studies, as an indicator of incorporation into the mainstream, is highest in the East and lowest in the South; and (4) the strongest predictors of mainstream incorporation are being located in the East and the number of Blacks on an institution's faculty. The need for a national certifying body for Black Studies academic units and other implications of the UNC scandal are discussed.