A topic of continuing interest in American higher education and society is the future of historically black colleges and universities, commonly referred to as HBCUs. The nation's public and private black institutions of higher education have proved their mettle, and yet they face persistent challenges to survive. A huge part of the challenge black colleges currently face is that, whereas they basically enjoyed a monopoly on African-American students for most of their existence, today only about 14 percent of blacks enrolled in college attend HBCUs. Federal court decisions, civil-rights legislation, and affirmative-action policies led to the demise of segregation in higher education and a subsequent erosion of African-American students' enrollment at HBCUs. Under-funding of HBCUs by state governments and tepid support from private donors has also contributed to the inability of some black colleges to maintain their leadership in the recruitment of African-American students. These factors have rendered leadership and governance among the most critical issues facing many black colleges. The authors believe that there are continuing, important roles for HBCUs. To that end, the authors offer some recommendations for governors and legislators, for state higher-education boards, and for selection committees for leadership positions. For HBCUs to continue to do their important work, the authors stress that their presidents and boards must commit to finding the best practices that distinguish excellent boards and then work diligently to implement them. They contend that continued vitality of America's historically black colleges and universities depends on outstanding presidential and board leadership.