Students Protest Mass Firings at Predominantly Black Martin University

Because it was founded only 31 years ago, Martin University in Indianapolis is not classified as a historically black educational institution. Yet its 600-member student body is 96 percent black. The university concentrates on nontraditional college students, many of whom are 40 years old or older.

Recently students at Martin University took to the streets to protest the firing of several faculty members. According to one student, as many as one half of the faculty has been dismissed since the appointment of Algeania Freeman as president of the university last December.

Dr. Freeman replaced Boniface Hardin, a Catholic priest who founded the university and served as its only president for 30 years. Freeman had previously served as president of Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.