While each president who contributed to this volume brought their own unique perspective, skills, and experience to the crisis on their particular campus, they confronted common challenges. Racial disparities in the United States affect every aspect of life, and the pandemic magnified and exacerbated those disparities. The racial disparities that we see in our health and health care in this country are evident in the numbers of African Americans, including college students, who contracted the virus and who suffered significant health ramifications and even death. At the same time, COVID-19 forced our nation online and the racial and economic digital divide which some thought had been bridged turned out to be wider than ever. As jobs were lost, particularly in service industries and other key sectors, people of color, especially Black and Brown people, took a disproportionate economic hit.
Not only did HBCU leaders have to develop and implement plans to mitigate COVID’s deadly threat to the health and safety of their students, faculty, and staff, they also had to address the challenges associated with trying to provide remote learning for students who lacked computers and internet access at home; transporting students back home who didn’t have the resources to pay for transportation; and in some cases finding housing for students who could not return home or didn’t have a home or sufficient food, among other issues.
While each president who contributed to this volume brought their own unique perspective, skills, and experience to the crisis on their particular campus, they confronted common challenges. Racial disparities in the United States affect every aspect of life, and the pandemic magnified and exacerbated those disparities. The racial disparities that we see in our health and health care in this country are evident in the numbers of African Americans, including college students, who contracted the virus and who suffered significant health ramifications and even death. At the same time, COVID-19 forced our nation online and the racial and economic digital divide which some thought had been bridged turned out to be wider than ever. As jobs were lost, particularly in service industries and other key sectors, people of color, especially Black and Brown people, took a disproportionate economic hit.
Not only did HBCU leaders have to develop and implement plans to mitigate COVID’s deadly threat to the health and safety of their students, faculty, and staff, they also had to address the challenges associated with trying to provide remote learning for students who lacked computers and internet access at home; transporting students back home who didn’t have the resources to pay for transportation; and in some cases finding housing for students who could not return home or didn’t have a home or sufficient food, among other issues.

Modern Heroics: How HBCUs Navigated the COVID-19 Pandemic
152
Modern Heroics: How HBCUs Navigated the COVID-19 Pandemic
152Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781648029721 |
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Publisher: | Information Age Publishing, Inc. |
Publication date: | 05/01/2022 |
Series: | Higher Education Leadership & Study of Historically Black Colleges and Universities |
Pages: | 152 |
Product dimensions: | 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.33(d) |