“Building Bridges, Not Fences”: A History of Civic Engagement at Private Black Colleges and Universities, 1944–1965 Marybeth Gasman, Dorsey Spencer, and Cecilia Orphan HBCUs traditionally build bridges, not fences, for their neighbors. -Barbara S. Frankle 1 In its truest sense, higher education is aimed at fostering academic achievement and educating students for good and productive citizen- ship. 2 With this purpose in mind, over the past few decades there has been a proliferation of research on civic engagement. 3 Although sub- stantial in size and reach, the civic engagement literature is limited in Marybeth Gasman is Professor of Higher Education in the Graduate School of Educa- tion at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Educating a Diverse Nation: Lessons from Minority Serving Institutions (Harvard University Press, 2015) with Clif Conrad and Envisioning Black Colleges: A History of the United Negro College Fund (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). Dorsey Spencer is Associate Director of Student Activities at Florida State University. He earned an undergraduate degree at Temple University and a master’s degree at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Cecilia Orphan is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at University of Denver. She earned her Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania. Cecilia also served as the director of the American Democracy Project, which focuses on civic engagement. 1 Barbara S. Frankle, “LeMoyne-Owen College: Using Institutional Context for Curriculum Change,” in Public Work and the Academy: An Academic Administrator’s Guide to Civic Engagement and Service-Learning, eds. Mark Langseth, William M. Platter, and Scott Dillon (Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc, 2004), 166. 2 Aaron Einfeld and Denise Collins, “The Relationships between Service- Learning, Social Justice, Multicultural Competence, and Civic Engagement,” Journal of College Student Development 49, no. 2 (March/April 2008): 95–109; Adrianna Kezar, “As- sessing Community Service Learning: Are We Identifying the Right Outcomes?,” About Campus 7, no. 2 (2002): 14–20; Adrianna Kezar and Robert A. Rhoads, “The Dynamic Tensions of Service-Learning in Higher Education,” Journal of Higher Education 72, no. 2 (2001): 148–71; Alexander Astin and Linda Sax, “How Undergraduates Are Affected by Service Participation,” Journal of College Student Development 39, no. 3 (1998): 251–63. 3 For example, A. Colby, E. Beaumont, T. Ehrlich, and J. Corngold, Educating for Democracy: Preparing Undergraduates for Responsible Political Engagement (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003); Thomas Erhlich, ed. Civic Responsibility and Higher Education (West- port, CT: The American Council of Education and Oryx Press, 2000); Barbara Jacoby, Service-Learning in Higher Education: Concepts and Practices (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996). History of Education Quarterly Vol. 55 No. 3 August 2015 Copyright C  2015 History of Education Society