Iowa native Juana D. Hollingsworth had always dreamed of attending an historically Black college and university (HBCU). She saw what it could be like through movies and television and she wanted that experience.
Though she grew up in a primarily Black community, spending her life in a mostly white state left her with few options nearby to pursue that desire.
“With Iowa being a predominantly white state, I had limited options of a diverse experience growing up into my college and postsecondary education,” Hollingsworth says. “I did not have that opportunity to go to a Black college for my undergrad because the closest one is in, like, St. Louis, six hours away. It really wasn’t attainable, being an out-of-state student [and] living far away.”
Hollingsworth ended up attending and getting her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from the University of Northern Iowa, which has a relatively small Black population.
For her Ph.D., she decided it was time to take the leap. With her dream in sight, she started pursuing a doctorate in higher education administration in 2020 at Baltimore’s Morgan State University, an HBCU.
Hollingsworth – who has also taught and advised students at Johns Hopkins University – anticipates that she’ll graduate next May.
The research she’s been doing at Morgan State has to do with her time at her alma mater, where she had gone the extra mile to make the school more welcoming for her and other Black and Brown students.
