Special Rule 505 of Title V: Sustaining Separate and Unequal Funding Between Historically Black and Historically White Emerging HSIs

This instrumental phenomenological case study examines the socio-legal and organizational influences of Titles III/IV/V of the Higher Education Act on Texas Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) transitioning toward Hispanic-serving institution status. Drawing on interviews, policy texts, and institutional artifacts, the study explores the tensions between historic missions of racial uplift and contemporary demands for inclusive excellence within a politically regressive policy context. Using a critical organizational lens grounded in anti-colonial theory and isomorphism, findings reveal how educators resist and reinterpret coercive and memetic pressures shaping institutional identity. Despite exclusion from Title V funding under Special Rule 505, Hispanic-serving HBCUs demonstrate Afro-centric servingness aligned with Title III and V priorities, exposing racialized inequities while highlighting agency in advancing anti-colonial practices.