Monthly Archives: September 2015
New University of Virginia Program Prepares Black Students for Leadership Roles
The Office of African American Affairs at the University of Virginia has begun a new "strategic leadership" initiative as part of its Cornerstone Plan of academic advising, career advising, coaching, and networking with alumni.
SUNY Announces a New Comprehensive Policy to Promote Campus Diversity
Under the new policy, all 64 campuses of the SUNY System will be required to hire a chief diversity officer. Also, all campuses will be required to develop a strategic plan to increase diversity among students, faculty, and staff.
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.
Smith College Student Launches Book Series for African Children
Priscilla Takondwa Semphere, a native of Malawi, is a sophomore at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She won a contest that has provided her seed money to launch the Ekari series of books which she hopes will give African children a more positive view of themselves.
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.
Emory’s Kevin Young Wins the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize
The award honors the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous calendar year and is presented by the American Academy of Poets. The prize comes with a $25,000 cash award.
University of Louisville Honors Its First Black Educator
The University of Louisville has renamed its Freedom Park to honor Dr. Charles H. Parrish Jr. In 1951, Professor Parrish, who held a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago, became the first Black educator to teach at the university.
In Memoriam: Charles Henry Wallington Jr., 1976-2015
Dr. Wallington joined the faculty at Oakwood University in July as an assistant professor of allied health. He had been a practicing physical therapist for many years before joining the faculty.
National Merit Scholarship Corporation Ends Its Program for Black Students Entering College
In 1964, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation founded the National Achievement Scholarship Program for Outstanding Negro Students entering college. After 51 years that program is ending and a new program will benefit only those students who graduate from predominantly Black colleges.
Black Enrollments in Graduate Schools Continue to Grow
Since 2004, Black enrollments in graduate programs have increased an average of 5.2 percent annually. During the same period White enrollments have increased by 1 percent annually.
Large Numbers of Black Students Experience Distress Over the Cost of Higher Education
A new study led by Micere Keels, an associate professor of comparative human development at the University of Chicago, finds that many Black and other minority college students suffer from anxiety over worrying about being able to pay their bills in order to stay enrolled in higher education.
Paul Tiyambe Zeleza to Lead United States International University-Africa
Dr. Zeleza has been serving as vice president for academic affairs at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He will become vice chancellor of U.S. International University-Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, on January 1.
American Public Schools: White Teachers, Minority Students
From 1987 to 2012, the percentage of minority teachers in the nation's public schools has increased from 12 percent to 17 percent. However, it must be noted that minority students now account for about half of all public school students.
The Large and Persisting Racial Income Gap Impacts College Affordability
In 2014, the median income level for Black households was 58.7 percent of the median income for non-Hispanic White households. With only minor fluctuations, the racial gap in median income has remained virtually unchanged for the past 45 years.
Stanford Led Study Examines Differences in the Use of African American Vernacular English
A new study led by John Rickford, the J.E. Wallace Sterling Professor in the Humanities and a professor of linguistics at Stanford University, examines the use of African American vernacular English (AAVE) by young Blacks depending on the economics characteristics of their neighborhoods.
A Change in Leadership at Fisk University in Nashville
H. James Williams has resigned as president of the university after less than three years on the job. Frank L. Sims, a member of the board of trustees who was an executive at Cargill Inc., has been named interim president.
Three Black Scholars Take on New Teaching Assignments
Llewellyn J. Cornelius was appointed to a named professorship at the University of Georgia School of Social Work. Elicia Cowins is a new assistant professor of accounting at Washington and Lee University in Virginia and Jimmie Witt has joined the faculty at Lewis and Clark Community College in Illinois.
More Good News in Enrollments at Several HBCUs
Last week a JBHE post reported some good news on enrollments at several historically Black colleges and universities. Since that time, several other HBCUs have also reported some good news on enrollments.
Chigozie Obioma Is a Finalist for the 2015 Man Booker Prize
Chigozie Obioma, an assistant professor of English at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, has been named one of six finalists for the 2015 Man Booker Prize, awarded for the best novel written in the English language.
Oral History Interviews of 1960s Graduates of Alcorn State University Are Now Available
The oral history interviews were conducted in 2015 with 13 individuals who graduated from the university between 1960 and 1969. The topics discussed are academic and residence life, athletics, and the students participation in the civil rights movement.
Five African Americans Named to Administrative Posts in Higher Education
The appointees are Andra Johnson at Alcorn State University, Kery D. Davis at Howard University, Shea Kidd Houze at the University of Southern Mississippi, C.C. Jackson at South Carolina State University, and Matthew M. Winston Jr. at Virginia Tech.
Middlebury College Houses a Vast Archive of Abolitionist Letters
The archive contains the letters of four generations of the Robinson family. Rowland Thomas Robinson and Rachel Gilpin Robinson were devout Quakers, who were among the earliest abolitionists in the state of Vermont.
Bernard Oliver Is the New Dean of Education at United Arab Emirates University
Dr. Oliver has been serving as a professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Florida. Earlier in this career, he held the Ewing Kauffman Chair at the University of Missouri-Kansas 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.
Duke Honors Its First Black Faculty Member
Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, recently held a ceremony to celebrate the naming of its new social policy center to honor Samuel DuBois Cook. In 1966, Dr. Cook became the first African American faculty member at Duke.
A New Male Student Mentoring Program at Saint Augustine’s University
The Male Mentoring Program, designed to improve the retention and graduation rates of male students, is under the direction of Paul Norman, dean of first-year experience at the university.
Georgia Tech and Intel Aim to Increase Minorities Pursuing STEM Degrees
The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta has announced a new partnership with Intel Inc. in an effort to increase the number of students from underrepresented minority groups who pursue degrees in engineering and computer science.
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.
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.
Christopher Howard Named President of Robert Morris University
Since 2009, Christopher B. Howard has been serving as president of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, one of the few all-male colleges in the United States. He is a former U.S. Air Force helicopter pilot and earned a doctorate at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
Faculty Diversity Is Key in the Perception of Fair Discipline in Public Schools
A new study, authored by researchers at the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri, finds that both Black and White students at public schools with a higher percentage of Black teachers have the impression that discipline is more fair than at schools with a low number of Black faculty.
The Inaugural Dean of the School of Public Health at Jackson State University
Dorothy C. Browne has been serving as an adjunct professor of maternal and child welfare in the School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the former director of the Public Health Institute at North Carolina A&T State University.
Stress From Discrimination Can Affect Black Teens for the Rest of Their Lives
A new study led by researchers at Northwestern University, finds that stress brought on due to continued exposure to racial animosity and discrimination negatively impacts hormonal levels in Black teenagers which can lead to a lifetime of health problems.
Arizona State’s Kimberly Scott to Lead the National Academic STEM Collaborative
Dr. Scott is an associate professor in the department of women and gender studies at Arizona State University. She is also the founding executive director of the Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology at Arizona State.
Study Finds That a Person’s Racial Biases Affect How They Perceive Multiracial Individuals
Participants were surveyed to determine their level of racial bias and then shown photographs of multiracial individuals. Those who were found to have higher degrees of racial bias were the most likely to perceive the multiracial individuals as Black.
Danielle Laraque-Arena Named President of SUNY’s Upstate Medical University
A native of Haiti, Dr. Laraque-Arena has been serving as chair of the department of pediatrics at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and as a professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
