This quantitative study sought to operationalize academic resilience through social engagement, family support, capacity for tolerance, and commitment to college among African American first-year males at a private, urban HBCU in the United States. This study utilized secondary data from Ruffalo Noel Levitz's College Student Inventory Survey (CSI) Form B administered to 223 African American first-year male students. Utilizing a binary logistic regression analysis, the researcher examined the relationship between social engagement, family support, capacity for tolerance, commitment to college, and retention and graduation. The results indicated that social engagement, family support, capacity for tolerance, and commitment to college were not statistically significant in predicting retention and graduation. However, the role of family support, social engagement, capacity for tolerance, and commitment to college is important for African American males. The results from this study did not show that because of the limited time and exposure the students had to the college environment. In light of data, this study is grounded in three theoretical frameworks, critical race structuralism, anti-deficit, and resiliency which bring in a deeper discussion and broader contextualization in understanding the academic resilience of African Americans and the historical roles HBCUs have played in educating African Americans. Recommendations based are provided for HBCU senior administrators, HBCU faculty, families of African American males, and future research.