Precious Maria Hardy

"Legacies of Resilience" examines how students at Harris-Stowe State University, a Historically Black College and University, narrate their experiences of academic persistence and motivation. Using narrative inquiry and thematic analysis, the study analyzes semi-structured interviews and reflective writing to investigate how students make meaning of persistence, resilience, and self-regulation. These narratives are interpreted in conversation with Black intellectual traditions that situate education as a pathway to freedom, from Fredrick Douglass and W.E.B. Du Bois to the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. The project results in a peer-reviewed journal article and a digital narrative exhibit that amplifies HBCU student voices and highlights how students connect personal motivation, historical legacy, and educational purpose.