For five years colleges and universities have encountered the black studies movement; they will never be quite the same again. The phrase "black studies" is used to refer to those programs and departments which may have different designations but are highly similar in content to black studies: Afro-American studies, race and ethnic studies, African and Afro-American studies, and possibly other variants. Directly and deeply affected have been white sociologists whose expertise is in the field of race and ethnic relations. For them the experience with black studies has been at once puzzling and painful. Both their professional competence and their personal motives have been publicly questioned. During the past year the author has visited more than 50 campuses around the country and has conducted interviews with 150 white sociologists who, like him, have invested much time and much of themselves in the systematic exploration of race relations. In addition, more than 40 directors or associate directors of black studies programs and a smaller number of other social scientists were interviewed. The data gathered is used here as a starting point for an examination of some of the implications of black studies for higher education in the 1970's, focusing on their significance for administration, teaching, and research. (Author/JM)