Monthly Archives: March 2017

Online Articles That May Be of Interest to JBHE Readers

Each week, JBHE will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week’s selections.

Recent Books 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. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view.

Blacks Make Up a Disproportionate Share of Enrollments at For-Profit Postsecondary Schools

At two-year colleges and schools, Blacks are 16 percent of all students at two-year, state-operated community colleges. But Africans Americans are 22 percent of all students at two-year, for-profit colleges.

University of Cincinnati Acquires Archives of Civil Rights Leaders

Marian Spencer served as vice mayor of Cincinnati and was a major force in the effort to desegregate the city's public schools. Her late husband Donald was one of the first African American realtors in the city. Both Spencers graduated from the University of Cincinnati.

Hamilton College’s Oral Histories of Jazz Greats Made Available Online

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first jazz recording, Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, has established a YouTube channel where it will share oral history interviews from its extensive Jazz Archive.

Higher Education Grants or Gifts of Interest to African Americans

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

University of Alabama History Class Documents Lynchings That Occurred Near Campus

The class "Southern Memory: Lynchings in the South," examined the history and legal environment that led to more than 4,000 lynchings of African Americans. Then each student was assigned to research and document the particular case of one lynching victim.

New Scholarship Program at Indiana University School of Law Honors Julian Bond

Julian Bond, the noted civil rights leader, legislator, author, NAACP chair, and long-time faculty member at the University of Virginia who died in 2015, was the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Rutgers University Medical Student Is Also a Novelist

Grace Ibitamuno Obienu was married in 2014 and had a baby the next year. This past August she began studies in the M.D./Ph.D. program at Rutgers University. She recently published her first novel and is now writing a sequel.

A Major Celebration of the Life and Work of Gwendolyn Brooks

Brooks, who died in 2000, was the former poet laureate of the state of Illinois and in 1950 was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize. The University of Chicago is holding a major celebration of her life and works on the 100th anniversary of her birth.

Doctoral Awards at HBCUs Decline Slightly in 2015

In 2015, 431 doctorates were awarded by historically Black colleges and universities. A year ago, the 448 doctorates awarded by HBCUs was the highest total since JBHE began tracking this statistic. This year there was a small 3.8 percent decline in doctorates awarded by HBCUs.

Gary May Appointed the Seventh Chancellor of the University of California, Davis

Dr. May currently serves as dean of the College of Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He was appointed to this post in July 2011. He also is a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech.

The Education Trust Examines the Racial Gap in College Graduation Rates

The report identifies 18 universities where the Black graduation rate is either higher than the rate for White students or is only slight lower than the rate for White students. In contrast, the report identifies 21 universities where the graduation rate gap is very large.

The First Black Woman to Lead the Harvard Law Review

The first edition of the Harvard Law Review was published in 1887. It has the largest circulation of any law journal in the world. Now, for the first time in 131 years, a Black woman will serve as president of the law review.

The Racial Gap in Administrative Posts in Higher Education

A new report from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources finds that Blacks hold only 7 percent of all administrative posts in higher education. But Black and other minority administrators now earn at levels similar to their White counterparts.

Cornell University Chooses the Next Dean of Its School of Applied Economics and Management

Currently, Lynn Perry Wooten is senior associate dean for academic and student excellence and a clinical professor of strategy, management, and organizations at the University of Michigan. She will become dean on July 1.

Two HBCUs Included in the List of Top Producers of Peace Corps Volunteers

Howard University, the historically Black educational institution in Washington, D.C., ranked in a tie for 14th place among medium-sized institutions and Spelman College in Atlanta was ranked seventh among small colleges and universities.

Two African American Scholars Appointed to Named Professorships at Ivy League Universities

Mark Anthony Gooden was named the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Professor of Education Leadership at Teachers College of Columbia University and Risa Lavizzo-Mourey was appointed the 19th Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

HBCU Chancellors and Presidents Go to Washington

Dozens of presidents and chancellors of historically Black colleges and universities went to Washington to meet with President Trump, the White House Domestic Policy Council, and members of Congress.

Anna Deavere Smith Chosen to Receive the George Polk Career Award in Journalism

Anna Deavere Smith is a professor of art and public policy at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. An actress, playwright, and performance artist, Smith is the first winner of the Polk Award who is not a traditional journalist.

Texas Southern University Reports Higher Enrollments

Texas Southern University, the historically Black educational institution in Houston, reports that it has 8,585 students enrolled for the spring semester. This is up nearly 6 percent from the spring 2016 semester. Graduate enrollments are up 18 percent.

New Administrative Posts for Four African Americans in Higher Education

The appointees are Angela Blanton at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Vincent T. Harris at California State University, Fullerton, Sonja Feist-Price at the University of Kentucky, and Melvin Hamlett at Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas.

Online Articles That May Be of Interest to JBHE Readers

Each week, JBHE will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week’s selections.

Recent Books 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. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view.

University of Southern Mississippi’s New Online Archive on Racially Segregated Libraries

The research includes information on 12 segregated Carnegie libraries (or “Carnegie Negro Libraries” as they were called then), a group of public libraries that opened between 1900 and 1925.

A New African Art Exhibition at Oberlin College in Ohio

Oberlin College, the highly rated liberal arts educational institution in Ohio, recently dedicated a new African art installation at its Allen Memorial Art Museum. The museum has 107 African art objects in its collection.

In Memoriam: Howard Clifton Blue, 1957-2017

Dr. Howard Blue was an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale Medical School and the deputy director of mental health and counseling at Yale Health.

Higher Education Grants or Gifts of Interest to African Americans

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

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