This month, Harvard University welcomed its second cohort of presidential fellows from historically Black colleges and universities to participate in the Seminar for New Presidents. The presidential fellows represent the next generation of HBCU legacy leaders and comprise 10 of the 55 participants of the seminar. They join as participants in Clark Atlanta University’s HBCU Executive Leadership Institute (HBCU ELI), a program supported by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative.
The Seminar provides a vital skill-building opportunity for new presidents who can face challenges related to faculty tenure, free speech on campuses, economic stability, student mental health and more.
“Learning environments like the seminar are critical for new presidents,” said founder of the Seminar for New Presidents Judith Block McLaughlin, senior lecturer emerita of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “New presidents today don’t have the luxury of a long entry runway. From the very outset of their presidency, they must make major financial, governance, personnel, and policy issues, with their decisions being scrutinized and challenged as never before.”
HBCU presidents encounter these and other unique difficulties. Through the support provided by the Seminar for New Presidents, they have the opportunity to address them alongside non-HBCU presidents by participating in faculty-led sessions and discussion groups.
Collaborating for a stronger future
In 1990, Judith Block McLaughlin recognized the need for confidential spaces where new presidents could learn from and ask questions of one another and be guided by experienced leaders. As a solution, she created the Seminar for New Presidents. McLaughlin has worked with over 1,500 new presidents since the program launched. Harvard and Clark Atlanta University have been working in collaboration since 2024, offering the Seminar for New Presidents as part of the HBCU Executive Leadership Institute’s 12-month program.
“It is our privilege to welcome the HBCU presidents to campus this summer,” said Sara Bleich, the vice provost for special projects and leader of the H&LS Initiative. “These relationships will help drive lasting change and meaningful progress across the landscape of higher education.”
The HBCU ELI advances one of the H&LS Initiative’s three strategic priorities — deepening partnerships with HBCUs. This program combines academic instruction, peer-based mentorship and practical executive training.
HBCU ELI was co-founded by Louis Sullivan, the president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine and former secretary of health and human services; Jonny Parham, the retired executive director of the Thurgood Marshall Fund; and by the Council of HBCU Past Presidents to address the high turnover rate of HBCU executives by cultivating and developing a talent pipeline.
“HBCUs are facing some of the most difficult headwinds in recent history — financial constraints, leadership transitions, and increasing demands for accountability and innovation,” Sullivan said. “HBCU ELI is not just timely —i t is essential. By equipping emerging leaders with the tools, training, and mentorship they need, ELI is helping to safeguard the future of higher education in America. Its impact will be felt for generations.”
HBCUs drive impact
HBCUs continue to fulfill the promise of higher education by creating upward mobility for their graduates. In 2024, UNCF released a report demonstrating that HBCU students who enter college at the bottom 40% of the income distribution rate graduate at the top 60%. The same report highlights that HBCUs are also an economic engine for growth — collectively generating $16.5 billion per year and supporting 136,000 jobs nationwide. The work of HBCU ELI is an investment in the continued future success of HBCUs and the US at large.
The opportunity for HGSE and the H&LS Initiative to collaborate with HBCU ELI through the Seminar for New Presidents represents one component of Harvard’s commitment to developing enduring partnerships with HBCUs, as recommended in the Report of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery. The Report acknowledges that Harvard, like many other institutions of higher learning, benefits from the scholarship of HBCU alumni. HBCUs have been crucial in producing professionals, leaders, and changemakers who make significant contributions to American society.
