Abstract
Abstract
Campus shootings have impacted campuses across the United States for almost two centuries. Between 2015 and 2016, at least three historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) experienced multiple shootings where students were killed in each incident. This qualitative comparative case study used secondary data to explore the similarities and differences of the shootings experienced at Texas Southern University, Winston-Salem State University, and Miles College within one year.
This study explored the challenges that those HBCUs faced due to the shootings and developed two major themes. The first theme focused on the egregious state funding disparity between public HBCUs and many public PWIs. The second theme was crime due to the open-campus concept since some HCBU campuses are situated in urban, high crime neighborhoods. Members of the institution are at risk of danger since anyone from the general public can enter the campus. Lives of students have been lost due to this concept, but the idea of shutting off a public university hurts the school’s purpose.
Chapter Five addressed the study’s aim by recommending a proposed solution, describing procedures for implementation, and discussing practical, research-related, and leadership-related implications. The four recommendations are disseminating safety resources, social involvement, training, and injunctive relief protections for open-campus concepts.
Keywords: campus shootings, funding, gun violence, HBCU, injunctive relief, open-campus concept, social involvement.