The Brown-Tougaloo Semester Exchange

When the historic Partnership between Brown University and Tougaloo College began in 1964, a semester exchange was not included in the original charge. As shared by Harold Pfautz, the first director of the Brown-Tougaloo Partnership, it was at the urging of students and their interest to study, learn, and experience the respective host institution that a semester exchange was added to the mission. 1 1 Brown and Tougaloo, BAM, March 1981, Brown-Tougaloo Archives, John Hay Library. By the fall of 1965, these efforts evolved into the establishment of the Semester Exchange Program, designed to allow undergraduates from both institutions the opportunity to study for one semester at the partner campus. Since its inception, nearly 350 students have participated in the exchange, gaining academic, cultural, and personal insights that have shaped their worldviews and career paths. The goals of the program are deeply rooted in intellectual exploration, cultural immersion, and community building. Whether at Brown or Tougaloo, students benefit from a change in environment that challenges assumptions, fosters new skills, and cultivates long-lasting relationships.

Participation in the Semester Exchange

Initial enrollment in the semester exchange was quite robust, with an estimated thirty plus Tougaloo students participating in the exchange on the Providence campus from 1965 to 1970, and estimated forty plus Brown students participating in the exchange at Tougaloo during the same time. By the 1970s, engagement with the Semester Exchange Program began to fade, with some observing the initial academic goals of the Brown-Tougaloo Partnership—revamping the curriculum, increasing graduate school admissions, and bolstering faculty support—had largely been realized, and that there was a shift in campus activism and evolving student priorities. 2 2 Ibid Though student participation was minimal, the broader Partnership endured in the 1970s, including the addition of the Early Identification Program (EIP), in which Tougaloo students in their sophomore year apply for early admission to Brown’s Medical School. Beginning in the late 1970s, Tougaloo students admitted to the EIP were required to spend one semester at Brown as an undergraduate through the Semester Exchange Program, a practice that continues to this day.

Participation in the Semester Exchange Program rebounded at both institutions in the 1980s and 1990s. Enrollment of Tougaloo students in the exchange has remained consistent, averaging three to four students per year. For Brown students, enrollment peaked in the mid-1990s, with twenty Brown students attending Tougaloo over a period of three years. While participation numbers have since fluctuated, Brown aims to enroll one to two students annually for the program.

While the technology may have changed, the application process for participating in the program has remained similar since its inception. Students apply the semester before their intended exchange, guided by staff at their home institution and connecting with counterparts at the host institution for support throughout the transition. Each year, up to five Tougaloo students participate in the semester exchange at Brown, with the potential of two additional students for those admitted to Brown’s Early Identification Program. Students from either institution are eligible to participate in their sophomore, junior, or senior year. Brown processes the financial aid for all participating Tougaloo students, ensuring that the cost of attending Brown for a semester aligns with the financial expectations of attending Tougaloo.

Student Reflections Through the Years

Student experiences in the program are as diverse as the individuals themselves, yet many share similar experiences. For Brown students, participating in the Semester Exchange Program has encouraged community connection and personal transformation. In December 1986, the Jackson Daily News quoted Brown student Janet Shaffer, who reflected on her time at Tougaloo: “If people knew what this exchange was like, if they could have been with me in my back pocket, a lot of them would want to come to Tougaloo. They feel like they’d be sacrificing something to come to Tougaloo, but I think I would have missed out if I’d stayed at Brown.” 3 3 Jackson Daily News, Brown-Tougaloo Archives, John Hay Library. Marc Vogl, Brown Class of 1995, echoed this sentiment after spending fall 1993 at Tougaloo: “My semester at Tougaloo was the most profound of any I have experienced at college. In one season, I made a few tremendous friends, became accustomed to patterns of daily life that were totally unlike the rhythms of my home growing up or the routine of Brown University, and explored places and ideas I’d never confronted before.” 4 4 “Information, Advice, and Other Things you Should Know about Going on Exchange to Tougaloo College,” Brown-Tougaloo Archives, John Hay Library.

For Tougaloo students on exchange in Providence, feelings of appreciation for the Tougaloo community and academic preparedness were shared by fall 1968 participants, as well as students who participated in fall 2011. Following the fall 2011 semester, where seven Tougaloo students participated in the Semester Exchange Program at Brown University, students shared that they developed a deeper appreciation for Tougaloo, particularly valuing its strong sense of community and the accessibility of faculty on a personal level. This sentiment of appreciation for their home institution was shared by Gwendolyn Hayes (Brown Exchange fall 1968) who wrote when saying farewell to Tougaloo, “I knew and yet I didn’t know I was saying goodbye for a semester to a group of people that I had learned to love, trust and respect.” 5 5 “Tougaloo Impressions 1967,” Brown-Tougaloo Archives, John Hay Library.

Academically, Tougaloo students on the fall 2011 exchange shared that while the workload at Brown perhaps required greater effort and adaptability, the courses were not more difficult. Similarly, Jimmie Ann Hampton (Brown Exchange fall 1968) shared that “just as at Tougaloo, courses varied in intensity and difficulty according to courses taken, different fields, and instructors (incorporating all attitudes—racial, etc, as well as general demands made on all students). My courses were basically no different from those I had taken at Tougaloo.” 6 6 Ibid

For both Tougaloo and Brown students, the exchange experience helped them gain a better understanding of themselves and hone skills for adapting to new environments, sentiments that were affirmed by Nia Sampson, Brown Class of 2025 (Tougaloo Exchange spring 2024) and Kristen Hobson, Tougaloo Class of 2025 (Brown Exchange spring 2024).

Nia’s Story

I learned about the Semester Exchange Program in my first year at Brown University through the Swearer Center for Public Service, which had already provided me with a Bonner Community Fellowship, a developmental program that provides students with opportunities to advance social justice through experiential learning opportunities and critical reflection. So when I learned about a fully-funded opportunity to visit Tougaloo College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), I felt a draw to go. But I never did. I didn’t want to just visit for a few days—I didn’t know what I could truly learn from that. It’s not as if I never had any desire to attend an HBCU—I’d debated applying to Howard, Spelman, Prairie View, even Texas Southern University. But I’d heard rumors about how they barely gave enough scholarship money to students, and I needed a full ride. I was an independent student who didn’t have any financial support from my family.

I’d spent all four years of high school knowing that I wanted to escape the South. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and at that time all I knew was the pain it caused me—the anti-Black teachers, the bullies, and my turbulent home life. I was sure I was going to go far away, maybe even to Oxford in the UK. But when senior year came, I finally knew I was going to a city I’d never heard of to attend Brown University. Never did I imagine that attending an Ivy League school would have me begging to return to the South. I now believe that it was a divinely timed and chosen experience to visit Tougaloo when I did.

In spring of my junior year, I resolved to go to Tougaloo. I learned that I was the first Brown student in six years to actually do the exchange. I was excited, and my program director made it a seamless process. As soon as I arrived in Mississippi, I felt a calm come over me. It was like I was returning to Houston, but it was quieter, serene, and so green. On campus, I was surrounded by Black students, and I didn’t feel hypervisible for the first time in a long time—I could just be. I stayed in Renner Hall, and the live-in dorm advisor, Ms. Davis, even took me to get dinner on my first night since the cafe had closed already.

My courses were interesting, and my teachers and classmates made an effort to get to know me. I took four classes, though at first I was trying to take seven, and worked in the archives with Tony Bounds, where I learned that Tougaloo’s history is intimately connected to Civil Rights activism. The most fun class I regret not being able to take was Jazz Ensemble. I finally got to play double bass again, an instrument I hadn’t played since my junior year of high school. But I’d say my favorite class I did take was History of the English Language with Professor Thomas Lewis. It was quite small, with there being only about five students (myself included), but it felt very communal. My favorite project in his class was a research paper where we could discuss an issue on a specific English dialect. I wrote passionately about digital blackface and the appropriation of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), and a few of my other classmates did the same. It felt good being able to talk openly about this in our presentations with Professor Lewis and the other students.

While Mississippi felt like home in some ways, in other ways it did feel like a different world to me. I learned there that there was a difference between being from the South and being from the Deep South. Some people said I “talked white,” which hurt me deeply. I tried not to come across as a transplant, but I’m sure they knew I wasn’t from around Mississippi. Even then, I made friends easily and didn’t feel like I had to explain myself when I was with them—I could just be myself. We laughed, we went out spontaneously, and I was invited out; I didn’t have to prove myself. I received the one thing I needed all throughout my college experience that I’d also needed desperately as a child—community.

While I finally found community, the Semester Exchange Program also helped me realize that I shouldn’t overidealize any institution. One of the downsides to my experience was learning that many students at Tougaloo struggled to afford tuition and other school fees, and that there isn’t a lot of support from the school itself to help students pay for college. So some students ultimately have to withdraw from school. While I know this isn’t an issue unique to Tougaloo, I think because so many of their students come from low-income backgrounds, there should be more support in place to meet their needs.

Additionally, a part of my idea of community is protesting with your friends for what matters. I was disappointed to not see any protests for Palestine, Sudan, or the Congo by students while on my exchange. Back at Brown, there were encampments happening for Palestine, including a hunger strike to protest the genocide of Palestinians, and a string of other important protests to call for Brown’s divestment from Israel. A close friend filled me in on the activism happening at Brown, which was also taking place nationwide. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough, since I couldn’t find any Pro-Palestinian protests on the Tougaloo campus. I did what I knew how to do though, which was talk with my new friends about what Israel was doing and also boycott restaurants like McDonald’s and Starbucks. Some of them told me I was too passionate, but the friends I still have to this day are just as passionate about these topics as I am.

While Tougaloo or Brown aren’t perfect (as no institution can be), I acknowledge the privileges they’ve provided me with. Brown, with the privilege of academic opportunities like the Semester Exchange Program, and Tougaloo, with the privilege of accessing an important cultural experience that I think every Black student globally should have—a place to learn and grow with your own people. What the Semester Exchange Program ultimately taught me is that the institution is not what makes community, the students and faculty inside of it do.

Kristen’s Story

In the summer of 2023 I was chosen to participate in the iProv Summer Fellowship program at the Swearer Center for Public Service, which places students at local non-profits. Through this, I had my first experience with the exciting city of Providence. My adventures of catching the bus to work and exploring such a new city and its people left me with an urge to return when I came home. When I returned to Tougaloo that fall, I applied to the Semester Exchange Program for spring 2024. The journey from finding out I was going back to Rhode Island to taking final exams and saying goodbye to my new friends was an absolute whirlwind with a multitude of new experiences, people, and places. Those short months full of preparation, Zoom meetings, and back-and-forth emails could only do so much to prepare me for what I was about to step into.

Before leaving Mississippi, I had the opportunity of meeting an exchange student making the opposite journey from Brown to Tougaloo. We both took full advantage of picking each other’s brains for a guide on making it through the semester filled with events to go to, places to explore, and a reminder to adjust our clocks for the different time zones. On arrival to campus I was met with the cold and snowy yet beautiful landscape of Brown University to begin orientation. The days leading up to the start of classes were filled with little campus tours, new friends, and lots of walking with the goal of acclimation to campus. I moved into the cozy, apartment-style, and communal atmosphere of Danoff Hall with optimism and excitement for the fast approaching semester.

The first couple weeks of classes proved to be intimidating as I navigated the shopping period, adjusting to a vastly different curriculum and new teachers, and contributing to research and clubs I was still a part of back home, in addition to getting to know roommates, keeping my friends and family updated, joining the frisbee team, and using four meal swipes a day to eat something besides Joe’s, a favorite hang-out on campus. Once I settled into a consistent schedule of classes, friends, homework, cafeteria food or cooking, and the occasional phone call home, the semester started to pick up in difficulty from almost all angles. Classes at Brown presented a greater workload than what I had grown accustomed to at Tougaloo, and my active social life of friends and extracurriculars in Providence made me feel as though I was neglecting my relationships and duties back home. Some days I felt like I was failing in my efforts to keep everyone happy and everything balanced.

At the midsemester point, I realized my current pace was not sustainable for the rest of the program. It became important to me that I make changes so that I could not only survive the semester with my sanity intact but to also be able to look back on my experience with a fond view. Scaling back and taking time to myself helped me to rediscover what I was capable of and push myself to new heights. I made a plan to eliminate the doubts and thoughts of my failures from my mind and to focus on my successes and strength with room to build. As a result, my understanding and confidence in my classes deepened and my natural eagerness for learning increased. Collaboration with my peers and communication with my professors and tutors improved along with my grades. My obligations and relationships back home took up a more intentional space in my routines, all while still having time for my new found friends, clubs, and experiences in Rhode Island. As time went on and finals drew nearer, I was able to enjoy the semester in new ways and finish the Semester Exchange Program with a bang.

It was a hard task saying goodbye to my new routine, environment, and friends I’d gotten to know everyday at Brown. Although I’d always known my time there would be short, it didn’t make it any easier when it was finally time to leave. Coming back to Mississippi, I filled my time with a lot of reminiscing and unpacking the new things I’d brought back with me. But as I have moved forward into new phases of my life it is safe to say I will never forget my time at Brown no matter what happens or how much time goes by. My future—both professionally and academically—has been shaped by my improved understanding of effort with a focus on success, and how this feeds into communication, relationships, and learning with room for improvement.

From its beginnings in the Civil Rights movement to its enduring presence today, the Brown-Tougaloo Semester Exchange Program remains a powerful example of what academic partnerships can achieve. It offers a space for students to bridge institutions, communities, and histories—expanding not only educational opportunity, but also cultural understanding and social commitment. The program continues to embody the values of both Brown and Tougaloo by connecting theory to practice, fostering lifelong relationships, and shaping students’ lived experiences in profound and lasting ways.