Monthly Archives: February 2015

Mississippi State Hosts “African American Treasures” From the Kinsey Collection

From March 21 to June 20, items from the private collection of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey will be on display at the Mitchell Memorial Library on the campus of Mississippi State University in Starkville.

In Memoriam: Reuben V. Burrell, 1919-2015

Burrell started taking photographs at the 1949 commencement ceremonies at Hampton University. At the time of his death he was 95 years old and went to work up to the day before he died.

A Statistical Portrait of First-Year Students at Black Colleges and Universities

This nationwide survey prepared by UCLA compares current first-year students in terms of characteristics such as family income, grades in high school, future goals, study habits, political views, and social activities.

Emery Brown Is Now a Member of All Three National Academies

Emery N. Brown, the Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

New Study Says Racial Lynchings Have Been Underestimated

The report from the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, says that in the 1877-to-1950 period, at least 3,959 Black people were killed in "racial terror lynchings." This is 700 more than has been documented in previous reports.

President of Chicago State University Announces He Is Stepping Down in 2016

Wayne Watson was named the 19th president of Chicago State in 2009. Previously, he was chancellor of the Community Colleges of Chicago from 1998 to 2009.

Report Finds Wide Racial Disparity in School Discipline of Girls

According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education cited in the report, nationally Black girls were suspended six times more than White girls. Rates of expulsion were even more strikingly disproportionate.

Clemson University Decides Not to Rename Tillman Hall

Tillman Hall on the campus of Clemson University was named after a White supremacist who was a staunch opponent of providing education to African Americans. Yet, the university's board of trustees has decided not to change the name of the building.

Hampton University Joins the CNBC Summer Fellowship Program

Students from Hampton will be awarded internships that will allow them to work on television programs on the CNBC network or to work with the CNBC digital team that delivers real-time financial information online.

William Julius Wilson Named to the Kluge Chair at the Library of Congress

Over the next four months, Professor Wilson will conduct research at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. Dr. Wilson is the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University.

Ivy Tech Community College Partners With HBCUs in Faculty Diversity Initiative

Ivy Tech Community College is a statewide system in Indiana. It has announced the establishment of diversity program that will recruit master's degree level students from historically Black colleges and universities for faculty positions.

Four African American Scholars in New Faculty Roles

Taking on new assignments are Marlon James at Macalester College in Minnesota, Lakami Baker at Auburn University in Alabama, April Baptiste at Colgate University in New York, and Sean Joe at Washington University in St. Louis.

Lincoln University of Missouri Signs Partnership With a Korean University

The agreement with the Korea National University of Transportation will create faculty and student exchanges between the two universities and increase research opportunities for scholars at each institution.

Five African Americans in New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Taking on new roles are Jewel Washington at the University of Maryland, Aristide Collins Jr. at George Washington University, Mikah K. Thompson at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Taniecea Arceneaux Mallery at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and Sidney H. Evans Jr. at Morgan State University.

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.

University of Montana Scholar to Be Honored by the Caribbean Philosophical Association

Benedicte Boisseron is an associate professor of French and Francophone language and literature at the University of Montana. She studied at the University of Paris and then earned a Ph.D. in French literature at the University of Michigan.

Minority Male Community College Collaborative to Expand Nationwide

Since 2011, The Minority Male Community College Collaborative (M2C3) has partnered with over 45 community colleges in eight states. Now the organization plans to expand the effort to community colleges throughout the nation.

Rice University’s Anthony Pinn to Teach New MOOC on Religion and Hip-Hop Culture

Anthony Pinn is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and professor of religious studies at Rice University. Teaching duties will be shared with Grammy nominee Bernard "Bun B" Freeman.

Stanford University Website Documents Early Life of Comedian Richard Pryor

Richard Pryor was born in 1940 in racially segregated Peoria, Illinois. He grew up in a brothel run by his grandmother, in which his father worked as a pimp and his mother as a prostitute. Pryor dropped out of school at the age of 14.

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.

Legislative Subcommittee Votes to Close South Carolina State University for Two Years

The plan to close the university would have to be passed by both houses of the state legislature and would need Governor Nikki Haley's support.

The New Dean of Equity and Inclusion at Wesleyan University

Renee Johnson-Thornton joined the staff at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1998 and has served in a number of administrative positions. She is a native of Jamaica and was raised in Brooklyn.

Duke University Professor Wins the Bollingen Prize for American Poetry

Nathaniel Mackey is the Reynolds Price Professor of Creative Writing at Duke University. The prize, which comes with a $150,000 cash award, is given out biennially by the Yale University Beineke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

1909 Fisk Jubilee Singers Recording Inducted Into the Grammy Hall of Fame

The Recording Academy has inducted a 1909 recording of the spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” sung by the Fisk University Jubilee Singers into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In Memoriam: Dorothy James Orr, 1920-2015

Dorothy James Orr taught at Fordham University in The Bronx, New York and was vice chair of the African American Leadership Forum for Education Policy at Pace University in New York.

Two HBCUs Name New Police Chiefs

Valerie Dalton is the first woman to serve as associate vice president for public safety and police chief at Morehouse College in Atlanta and Douglas Stewart Jr. is the new chief of police at Alcorn State University in Mississippi.

Studying the Racial Gap in Infant Mortality Rates

The authors compared U.S. infant mortality rates to those in two European countries. They found that the reason infant mortality is lower in Europe is simply because these countries take better care of their low-income citizens than is the case in the United States.

John I. Williams to Lead Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania

When he takes office on July 1, John I Williams Jr. will be the first African American to serve as president of any of the 26 higher educational institutions affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Research Uncovers Racial Differences in Faculty Salaries at Berkeley

While the percentage differences in faculty pay are small, the report states that "the average salary difference between White men and minority faculty members is equivalent to about 1 to 2 years of career experience.”

Karen Weddle-West Named Provost at the University of Memphis

Dr. Weddle-West has been serving as interim provost since last May. Previously, she was vice provost for graduate programs and the director of diversity initiatives at the university.

New Faculty Appointments for Three Black Scholars

Michael Carbin will be joining the electrical engineering faculty at MIT. Constance Iloh will join the School of Education faculty at the University of California, Irvine, and Nana Amoah was promoted to associate professor of accounting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Elizabeth City State University Makes an Upgrade to Its Aviation Science Program

Elizabeth City State University, the historically Black educational institution in North Carolina, has advanced its aviation science program with the addition of the Redbird MCX Flight Simulator.

Two African Americans Honored by Science Organizations

Avery August, a professor at Cornell University, was honored by the American Association for Cell Biology and Rosie Phillips Bingham, vice president of student affairs at the University of Memphis, will be honored by the American Psychological Association.

Bill Calls for Renaming the University of the District of Columbia to Honor Marion Barry

Proposed legislation would make the community college of the University of the District of Columbia tuition-free. The bill would also rename the university after former Mayor Marion Barry, who died this past November.

Six African Americans Named to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Taking on new roles are LaDaniel Gatling II at Elon University, Jameca Falconer at Logan University, Wilmore Webley at the University of Massachusetts, Benjamin Hughes at Haverford College, Becky Petitt at the University of California, San Diego, and Ameerah McBride at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

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