Biology Professor Graves' Nature Column Illuminates HBCU Underfunding

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 12, 2025) – MacKenzie Scott Endowed Professor of Biology at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Joseph L. Graves Jr., Ph.D., is drawing renewed attention to the systemic and pervasive lack of adequate financial support for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) with an authoritative column published in Nature.

Graves’ piece, “The financial shackling of historically Black universities in the United States,” is based on the lecture he gave to the American Institute of Science Writers in November 2024 on the underfunding of HBCUs.

“In the nearly 200 years since the first HBCUs opened their doors, Black people in the country still have not achieved economic parity with white people,” Graves wrote. “The suppression of African American achievement was intentional and systematic. It occurred because many of those who controlled white society (particularly in the former Confederate states) never wanted African Americans or their institutions to achieve social equality.”

Graves posits that African Americans face such inequities from the moment they enter the United States educational system as children, and that HBCUs – facing those same in equities – must cope with the results.

“Compared with their historically white institution (HWI) counterparts, HBCUs admit a disproportionate share of students from struggling school districts, a result of historical inequalities in primary and secondary education in the country. Yet, state appropriations to HWIs are larger than those to HBCUs in the U.S. South,” he wrote.

“This historical underfunding has produced an environment in which HCBU faculty members have to shoulder disproportionately heavy teaching loads, advise more students — many of whom are underprepared — and operate in facilities that are ill-suited for 21st century instruction and research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). HBCUs operate on shoestring budgets, so they have fewer resources for research, teaching and student and community programs. Owing to budgetary shortfalls, administrators at HBCUs often have to delay purchasing or repairing much-needed technology and infrastructure.”

Graves has written a more expansive piece on this issue that is under review for publication by Integrative and Comparative Biology.

Sometimes called “Black Darwin,” Graves is the first person of African descent to earn a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology, which he received in 1988 from Wayne State University. One of three people honored with a Liberty Science Center Genius Award in 2024, he is an extensively published evolutionary biologist with pioneering work on the evolution of aging, and in microbial evolution.

Graves’ explorations of race, biology and genetics have won international acclaim in recent years. In particular, “A Voice in the Wilderness: A Pioneering Biologist Explains How Evolution Can Help Us Solve Our Biggest Problems” (Basic Books) and “Racism, Not Race: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions” (Columbia University Press, co-written with biological anthropologist Alan H. Goodman), both published in 2022, drew rave reviews by critics in higher education and the scientific community. His latest book, “Why Black People Die Sooner: Medical Misconceptions, How They Harm, and How to Fix It,” is scheduled for publication by Columbia University Press this summer.