The Evolution of a Texas HBCU: Now Majority Hispanic, the Historically Black St. Philip's College Has Positioned Itself to Serve an Increasingly Diverse San Antonio Population

Pluviose, David, Diverse Issues in Higher Education

Though many smaller HBCUs are facing ongoing crises as funding and enrollment continue to dwindle, St. Philip's College in San Antonio has found a way to thrive. Founded in 1898 by the Episcopal Church as a sewing school for Black girls, St. Philip's has evolved into a comprehensive public community college with a for-credit enrollment exceeding 10,000. Currently, Hispanics make up the largest ethnic group on campus, and St. Philip's, part of the Alamo Community Colleges District, is now the only college to be federally designated as both a historically Black college and a Hispanic-serving institution.

"St. Philip's evolved just to exist. It had to evolve," says college archivist Mark Barnes. The college became co-ed in the early 1920s, and was classified as a Class-A junior college in 1927. At that point, Barnes says the college's administrators realized that the school …

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Publication information: Article title: The Evolution of a Texas HBCU: Now Majority Hispanic, the Historically Black St. Philip's College Has Positioned Itself to Serve an Increasingly Diverse San Antonio Population. Contributors: Pluviose, David - Author. Magazine title: Diverse Issues in Higher Education. Volume: 24. Issue: 13 Publication date: August 9, 2007. Page number: 24+. © 2008 Cox, Matthews & Associates. COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group.

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