This ethnographic study describes the engagement of black students at "Midsouth State University" (MSU) using Pace's (1978) concept of areas of effort. Further, comparisons are made between the black students at MSU and Fleming's (1984) findings concerning black student perceptions in other predominately white institutions located in the South--that academic gains and positive interpersonal relationships at these schools were viewed by black students as lacking. The study results show that MSU black students perceive the faculty as cold, unsympathetic, and unapproachable; the public school integration of the 60s affected older students' perception of self; the lack of a forum for demonstrating leadership abilities positioned the black male in a subdominant role and contributed to strife in their interpersonal relationships; and control of racially marked territories and a dearth of black faculty and administrators contributed to a view of the university as a racist institution. Contains nine references. (Author/GLR)