“The school was a culture shock for me. Even though I am African-American, I was used to seeing different people,” Ms. Moore said. She attended Concordia for one semester and withdrew.

But after an unsuccessful move to Georgia, Ms. Moore decided to return a year later to complete her degree. It was the sense of community at the school that brought her back. “It was like a family, people actually cared and coached me through things,” she said. “When I was tired, I could go to my teachers, my advisers, unlike at community college. The people wanted you to be there.”

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When Ms. Moore learned the school would close, she said she was devastated. “I was really concerned about the staff and teachers looking for other jobs — this was their livelihood. Some had to move out West, some are still out of work. That is a form of trauma,” she said.

Ms. Moore now works at the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation, a nonprofit social justice organization. She said she worries about the fate of the nation’s remaining H.B.C.U.s.

“African-American community culture has already been whitewashed, so to not have anything at all that’s not yours, I don’t want to think about it,” she said. “It’s like a part of your heritage is taken away, like during slavery.”