Diverse: Issues In Higher Education co-founders Dr. William E. Cox (left) and Frank L. Matthews.
An advocate for education, Cox’s business acumen and creative mind would prove beneficial in the creation of one of the nation’s most successful minority-owned publications, Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.
Along with his business partner Frank L. Matthews, he set out to dramatically transform the higher education landscape with the founding of Black Issues In Higher Education, later renamed Diverse: Issues In Higher Education in 2005.
At a time when so many Black-owned publications have disappeared, Diverse continues to thrive, providing deep analysis, hard-hitting commentaries, and a contemporary view of the many issues that impact diversity, equity, access, and inclusion in higher education.
Cox died in March, at the age of 79, after a lengthy illness. His lingering impact on higher education will undoubtedly be felt for many decades to come, particularly as colleges and universities continue to grapple with how best to diversify their institutions amid systemic racism and disparate inequities that have festered across the years.
“Before the founding of Black Issues In Higher Education there was a deafening silence on issues related to Blacks and other minoritized groups in the academy,” says Dr. Charlie Nelms, chancellor emeritus of North Carolina Central University and one of the nation’s most prominent higher education leaders. “With the founding of Diverse by Bill Cox and Frank Matthews, all of that changed. In recent years, many other publications have increased their coverage of the people, policies, and programs impacting higher education, but none have done it as authentically, comprehensively, and consistently as Diverse. While Bill’s physical presence leaves a huge void, his voice and vision will always be with us.”
For Cox, the standard was always excellence. He believed that education could be the great equalizer in society and that access to education was something that should be afforded to all.
