Berkeley Research Team Finds That Cash Rewards May Be a Cost-Effective Means to Stem the AIDS Epidemic in Africa

A new study by researchers of the Development Research Group at the World Bank and University of California at Berkeley finds that cash rewards can have a significant impact in reducing sexually transmitted diseases in Africa. The researchers used three control groups totaling 2,399 adults in southwestern Tanzania, a region where HIV and other sexually transmitted infections are comparable to other areas of Africa. The participants were tested every four months to see if they had contracted a wide range of sexually transmitted diseases. All groups were counseled about disease prevention and those found with diseases were treated.

The first group was not compensated. Members of the second group were given $10 every four months if they did not obtain a sexually transmitted disease. The third group received $20 every four months if they remained disease free. The money was a major incentive given the fact that the average annual income in the region is $240.

The results showed that the incidence of sexually transmitted disease was 25 percent lower in the control group that received the highest compensation compared to those participants who received no money. The researchers conclude that cash rewards may be a cost-effective way to slow the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

University of California at San Diego Makes Major Commitment to Enhance Faculty Diversity

The University of California at San Diego announced that it will recruit 40 new faculty members during the 2010-11 academic year. The university will launch searches for 33 positions, with 12 specifically earmarked to contribute to the university’s “diversity, equity, and climate of inclusion.” Funding for seven additional faculty positions has also been allocated for opportunities to hire exceptional scholars who may become available during the academic year.

Due to state law, race cannot be used in considering whom to hire to faculty positions at all public universities in California. Thus the 12 new “diversity” hires can be of any race so long as they “help shape and expand campus diversity initiatives through their research, teaching, and service.”

Several racial incidents occurred on the campus of the University of California at San Diego in the 2009-10 academic year. These incidents led to calls for efforts to increase the number of black and other minority students and faculty on campus. At the present time, blacks are only 2 percent of the student body.

New Degree Program at Historically Black Voorhees College

The South Carolina State Board of Education has approved the introduction of a bachelor’s degree program in elementary education at Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina. Successful completion of the degree program will fulfill the certification requirements for teaching grades 2 through 6 in South Carolina public schools. Students will be able to enroll in the elementary education program this fall.

A Sapling from Hampton University’s Emancipation Oak Recently Was Planted at the White House

The Emancipation Oak on the campus of Hampton University, which reportedly was planted in 1610, is now more than 100 feet in diameter. It is listed as one of the 10 Great Trees of the World by the National Geographic Society. The tree got its name because slaves gathered under its limbs in 1863 to hear a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation.

This spring President Barack Obama gave the commencement address at Hampton University. He returned to Washington with a sapling from the historic tree, which has since been planted on the White House lawn. The sapling was placed next to a tree planted in the 1830s by President Andrew Jackson in memory of his wife.

Historically Black South Carolina State University Makes Several Key Administrative Appointments

South Carolina State University, the historically black educational institution in Orangeburg, has made several appointments to key administrative positions.

John D. Jones was appointed associate vice president for academic affairs. He was associate provost and accreditation liaison for Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, North Carolina. Dr. Jones is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in education from the University of Wisconsin.

Barbara Adams was named interim assistant vice president for academic support programs and graduate studies. Dr. Adams had been serving as chair of the department of accounting, agribusiness, and economics. She is a graduate of Fort Valley State University in Georgia and holds an MBA in accounting from Atlanta University and a Ph.D. in accounting from Texas A&M University.

Carl E. Jones is the new assistant vice president for academic success and retention programs. An employee of the university since 1990, most recently he was the executive director of the Office of Academic Success and Retention. Dr. Jones is a graduate of South Carolina State University. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in counseling and human development from Atlanta University.

Terrence M. Cummings was promoted to executive director of the Office of Academic Success and Retention. He was serving as assistant executive director. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from South Carolina State University.

Harriet A. Roland was appointed interim dean of the Honors College at the university. She was the director of honors, international, and national student exchange programs and an associate professor of English and modern languages. Dr. Roland is a graduate of South Carolina State University. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in mass communication theory from the University of Florida.

Frederick M.G. Evans was named interim dean of the School of Graduate Studies. He recently served as an assistant professor in the department of educational leadership.

Honors and Awards

• Shirley Biggs, senior director of human resources at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, was named Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women.

• Jendayi Frazer, Distinguished Service Professor and director of the Center for International Policy and Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, received the Distinction of Dame Grand Commander in the Humane Order of African Redemption from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia. She was honored for her efforts during the administration of George W. Bush to end Liberia’s civil war.

Professor Frazer holds a bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees, and a Ph.D. in political science, all from Stanford University.

Grants and Gifts

• Stanford University received a $10 million grant from the Pritzker Foundation of Chicago to endow a scholarship fund to allow low-income students from Chicago to attend the university.

Johnson C. Smith University Looks to Save Historic Landmark Building

City officials in Charlotte, North Carolina, want to raze a rundown house one block from the campus of historically black Johnson C. Smith University. The boarded-up structure has not been used since 1982 and has extensive water and termite damage. But Ronald Carter, the president of Johnson C. Smith University, wants to save the building from the wrecking ball. He hopes to raise $900,000 to renovate the building as the home for the university’s Center for Applied Leadership and Community Development.

The house has historical significance to the university. Built in 1891, it was owned by George E. Davis, who was the first black professor at Biddle Institute, which was the forerunner of Johnson C. Smith University. Davis also served as dean of the faculty at the educational institution. Davis retired in 1920 and spent the next several years raising money for the Rosenwald Fund, which built hundreds of schools for blacks throughout the South. In 1955 Davis sold the house to the university. It was used as a dormitory for about a quarter-century before it was closed.

University officials have asked the city to delay the destruction of the house until the end of the year while it attempts to obtain the funds necessary to renovate the building. So far $150,000 has been collected. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission will offer a $500,000 no-interest loan to aid the effort.

Online Magazine Offers Its View on the 10 Best Black Colleges and Universities

The Atlanta Post, an online magazine with content dealing with issues of concern to African Americans, has published its rankings of the 10 best historically black colleges and universities. There was no mention in the article of the criteria used to rank the HBCUs.

Here are the 10 schools in rank order:

Brazil Passes the Act of Racial Equality: Proposed Racial Quotas for University Admissions Are Deleted From the Bill

Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, president of Brazil, recently signed into law the Act of Racial Equality. The legislation prohibits racial discrimination against the African-Brazilian population, calls for Afro-Brazilian history to be taught in all public schools, and provides legal protection for quilombos, communities founded by runaway slaves. The legislation also makes it illegal for Brazilian Web sites to post racist material.

During debate on the bill in the Brazilian Senate, language was removed that established quotas for admission of black students into state-run universities.

But the legislation does call for the establishment of the Luso-African-Brazilian Integration Federal University in the city of Redencao in northeastern Brazil. The university is expected to enroll 5,000 students. Half of the students will be from Brazil and the other half will be recruited from the Portuguese-speaking nations of Africa.

Lafayette College Economics Professor Named to Key Post in Jamaican Government

Gladstone Fluney Hutchinson, associate professor of economics and founding director of the Economic Empowerment and Global Learning Project at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, was named director-general of the Planning Institute of Jamaica. Professor Hutchinson will report directly to the prime minister. He will be responsible for formulating policy on economic and social issues to lead the nation toward sustainable development.

Professor Hutchinson will take a leave from his faculty duties as he undertakes service to his native country. Dr. Hutchinson is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oneonta. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Clark University. He joined the Lafayette College faculty in 1992.

Meet the New President of Alabama Southern Community College

Reginald Sykes was named president of Alabama Southern Community College in Monroeville. The college has about 1,300 students, 38 percent of whom are black.

Dr. Sykes was assistant commissioner for community and junior college relations for the Mississippi Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Jackson State University and a doctorate from Mississippi State University.

Former Head of the Board of Trustees of Historically Black Alabama A&M University Found Murdered at His Place of Business

Herbert Gray, former head of the board of trustees of historically black Alabama A&M University, was found shot to death in his place of business. An employee found Gray lying dead on the floor of Graytronix Systems, an electronics outlet in Huntsville. Dr. Gray, who served on the board in the 1980s, was 60 years old.

In Memoriam

Paul Phillips Cooke (1917-2010)

Paul P. Cooke, former president of the District of Columbia Teachers College, died last month from kidney failure at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 93 years old.

Dr. Cooke was a native of New York City but was educated in the racially segregated public schools of Washington. He graduated from Miners Teachers College in 1937, where he later was a member of the faculty. Cooke earned master’s degrees from New York University and the Catholic University of America as well as an educational doctorate from Columbia University.

In 1966 Cooke was named president of D.C. Teachers College. He held that position for eight years until his retirement in 1974. During his tenure, enrollments at the college tripled. After leaving D.C. Teachers College, he served as director of international programs for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Katherine Ashhurst Treherne (1955-2010)

Katherine Treherne, a leading dermatologist, educator, and member of the board of visitors at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, has died after a three-year-long battle with lung cancer. She was 55 years old.

A native of Tuskegee, Alabama, Dr. Treherne was a graduate of the University of Tennessee and received her medical training at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. She then completed her residency training in dermatology at the Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Treherne was one of the first black women to open a dermatology practice in the Norfolk area. She also served as assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Eastern Virginia Medical School and as a mentor for premed students at Hampton University.

Appointments, Promotions, and Resignations

• Alton Thompson is the new provost and vice president of academic affairs at Delaware State University in Dover. He was interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

Dr. Thompson is a graduate of North Carolina Central University. He holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in rural sociology and demography from Ohio State University.

• Barron Harvey, dean of the Howard University School of Business, was named by the secretary of commerce to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Harvey holds an MBA in accounting and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior and management theory from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

• Addell Austin Anderson was appointed director of the University of Michigan’s Detroit Center. She was the director of the Americorps Partnership at the University of Michigan’s Ginsberg Center.

Dr. Anderson is a graduate of Kalamazoo College. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in theatre from Michigan State University.

• Roby George was named director of bands at Indiana State University in Terre Haute. He was associate professor of music and assistant director of bands at the University of Illinois.

Dr. George holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Florida State University and a Ph.D. in musical arts from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

• Donnie Shell, a five-time all star in the National Football League as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has been hired to develop the new Center for Spiritual Life at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. He will be responsible for developing programs to enrich the religious, spiritual, and intellectual life of university students.

• Lydia McKinley-Floyd is the new dean of the School of Business at Clark Atlanta University. She was dean of the School of Business and Industry at Florida A&M University.

Dr. McKinley-Floyd is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s business school and a doctorate from Emory University.

• Celeste Jones was appointed vice president of human resources at Stark State College in North Canton, Ohio. She was the director of human resources at a manufacturing company.

Jones is a graduate of Howard University and holds a master’s degree in business management and human development from the University of Akron.

• Garey A. Hyatt, chair of the department of visual and performing arts at Coppin State University in Baltimore, was elected president of the National Association of Dramatic and Speech Arts.

Dr. Hyatt is a graduate of Bowie State University. He holds a master’s degree in Afro-American literature from North Carolina A&T State University and a doctorate in fine arts from Texas Tech University.

• Stacy L. Danley was named director of athletics at Alabama State University in Montgomery. He was the director of athletics at Tuskegee University.

Danley holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Auburn University.