Monthly Archives: June 2013

Alice Walker Comes Under Fire for New Book

Alice Walker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, has been harshly criticized by the Anti-Defamation League for her views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Walker has been highly critical of the Israeli government and has compared the plight of the Palestinians to Blacks in the Jim Crow South.

Albert J. Raboteau Awarded Professor Emeritus Status at Princeton University

Albert J. Raboteau, one of the nation's foremost scholars on African American religion, is retiring as the Henry W. Putnam Professor of Religion at Princeton University. He will be granted the title of professor emeritus.

Higher Education Grants of Interest to African-Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Two New Provosts at HBCUs

Dr. Joyce Blackwell came to Bennett College in the summer of 2012 as senior associate provost. Previously, she was vice president for academic affairs at South Carolina State University. Joe Whitehead comes to North Carolina A&T State University from the University of Southern Mississippi.

University of South Carolina Honors the History of Booker T. Washington High School

Booker T. Washington High School in Columbia, South Carolina, one of the first public high schools for African Americans in the city, closed in 1974. The building was purchased by the University of South Carolina and has now been renovated. The renovations include displays that preserve the history of the high school.

Two African Americans Appointed to the Faculty at the Princeton Theological Seminary

Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey has announced the appointment of two African American scholars to its faculty. Lisa Bowens will be an instructor in New Testament studies and Brian Rainey was named assistant professor of Old Testament studies.

Rudy Crew Appointed President of Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn

Dr. Crew has been serving as the chief education officer for the state of Oregon since 2012. He is the former chancellor of the New York City Public Schools and the former superintendent of the public school system in Miami, Florida.

Florida A&M University Lifts the Suspension of Its Marching Band

The band was suspended following the death of drum major Robert Champion who died as a result of a hazing incident following a football game in November 2011. The new director hopes to have the band on the field for the university's first home football game on September 7.

Inaction by Policymakers Adds to the Black-White Educational Achievement Gap

The study examined efforts by state policymakers to address issues of teacher quality, which has been shown to be a critical factor in improving test scores of Black and minority students. The authors found that only when White students test scores start to decline do state legislators take notice.

The New Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Winston-Salem State University

Corey D.B. Walker has been serving as associate professor and chair of the department of Africana studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. At WSSU he will hold the title of John W. and Anna Hodgin Hames Professor of Social Sciences.

Morgan State Scholar’s Research on What May be the Oldest African American Neighborhood in the U.S.

Dale Glenwood Green, an assistant professor of architecture and chair of the Historic Preservation Program at Morgan State University in Baltimore, found a deed from 1788 which shows a purchase of land in "The Hill" district of Easton, Maryland, by a free African American couple.

Fort Valley State University Names Its Next President

Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith has been serving as provost and senior vice president at York College, a campus of the City University of New York system. He has served in that post since 2007. He also is a tenured professor of political science.

Study Finds Black Girls Tend to Be Raised in an Environment That Helps Prevent Alcohol Abuse

A new study by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine finds that African American girls are typically raised in an environment that shields them from alcohol abuse but White American girls are often raised in an environment that tends to increase the chances that they will abuse alcohol.

Southern University Executive Gets a Joint Appointment at Louisiana State University

Gina Eubanks was named the leader of the food and nutrition program at the AgCenter at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She will continue in her role as the director of the Agricultural Center at Southern University, also in Baton Rouge.

Honors for Two African American Academics

Amilcar Shabazz of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was honored by UnityFirst.com and John E. Pierce of Creighton University in Omaha won a leadership award from the Urban League of Nebraska.

University of Maryland Eastern Shore Adds Three Bachelor’s Degree Programs

One of the new programs will be a bachelor’s degree in jazz and popular music. The only other music degree offered at the university is a bachelor’s degree in music education. Business students will now be able to major in marketing or finance.

Two Women Faculty Members in New Posts

JoAnna Williamson was named chair of the department of management and marketing at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. Alondra Nelson, a professor of sociology at Columbia University, was named director of the university’s Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

Tuskegee University Receives the Archives of a Civil Rights Icon

Civil rights activist Amelia Boynton Robinson has donated her personal memorabilia collection to Tuskegee University. Robinson was among the marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on “Bloody Sunday” on March 7, 1965.

Six African Americans in New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

The new appointees are J. Renee Navarro at the University of California San Francisco, Delbert T. Foster at South Carolina State University, Eddie Washington Jr. at the University of Michigan, Danielle Wood at the University of Arkansas, Sandra Crewe at Howard University, and Joseph Youngblood II of Thomas Edison State College.

In Memoriam: Thelma Plane Payton, 1932-2013

Thelma Payton served for 28 years as the First Lady of Tuskegee University. But she also had a 30-year career as a professional in the fields of psychiatric social work, family practice, and social work education.

Online Articles That May Be of Interest to JBHE Readers

From time to time, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week's selections.

Recent Books That May Be of Interest to African American Scholars

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. Here are the latest selections.

Key Section of the Voting Rights Act Ruled Unconstitutional

The Supreme Court ruled Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. As a result, it appears that no local jurisdictions will be required to preclear changes in their election laws unless Congress passes a new updated formula to determine which jurisdictions should fall under the preclearance provisions.

Supreme Court Does Not Strike Down Affirmative Action in Higher Education Admissions

The good news for proponents of race-sensitive admissions is that after the decision affirmative action lives to see another day. The bad news for proponents of affirmative action is that universities are placed on notice that they must provide detailed justification for any affirmative action admissions program based on race.

Scholar Documenting the History of Black Businesses in Wichita

Robert Weems, the Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History at Wichita State University in Kansas, is collecting artifacts and has undertaken an extensive oral history project on Black businesses in the city.

Higher Education Grants of Interest to African-Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Oregon State University Constructing a New Black Cultural Center

The Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center at Oregon State University in Corvallis is getting a new home. The original building is being moved to a community garden in the city and a new structure will be built at the current site.

Indiana University Law School Advising Liberia on Constitutional Changes

The Center for Constitutional Democracy at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, has been selected as an adviser to the Constitutional Review Committee of the Government of Liberia.

The New Class of Scholars of the UNCF-Merck Science Initiative

The 2013 UNCF•MERCK Fellows in the biological sciences receive awards ranging from $25,000 for undergraduate scholarship recipients to $92,000 for recipients of postdoctoral fellowships.

Entering Class at Colgate University To Be the Most Diverse in School History

The college states that 28.7 percent of incoming students identify themselves as multicultural and 28.1 percent say they are non-White. Eight percent of the incoming class self-identifies as Black, an all-time record for Colgate.

The Changing Face of the United States

The U.S. Census Bureau announced that for at least the first time in more than a century, in the year ending June 30, 2012, the number of non-Hispanic White births in the United States was lower than the number of deaths among non-Hispanic Whites.

The Persistent Racial Digital Divide

Access to information is extremely important in today's society. Those that have it are better able to compete in the job market or in gaining access to higher education. But new data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that there is a persistent racial digital divide.

Bridget Terry Long Named Academic Dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

Dr. Long joined the faculty at the school in 2000 as an assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 2009. Her research deals with the transition from high school to college focusing on college access, financial aid, and academic preparation.

Socioeconomic Affirmative Action Won’t Create Racial Diversity on Campus

A new study, led by Julie J. Park, an assistant professor of education at the University of Maryland, shows that preferences based on socioeconomic status would be a poor substitute for race in efforts to create a more diverse student body at American colleges and universities.

Roslyn Clark Artis to Lead Florida Memorial University

The proposed interim president spent 10 years at the now closed Mountain State University in West Virginia, where she served as chief academic officer. She holds a law degree from West Virginia University and an educational doctorate from Vanderbilt University.

NYU Study Finds That Political Ideology Affects a Person’s Racial Classifications

Researchers at New York University have published a study which shows that people who are conservative politically are more likely to classify mixed-race individuals as Black than people who hold liberal political views.

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