Monthly Archives: May 2017
Aminta Breaux Will Be the Next President of Bowie State University in Maryland
For the past three years, Aminta Hawkins Breaux has served as vice president for advancement at Millersville University, a campus of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. She was vice president for student affairs at Millersville University from 2008 to 2014.
Many Qualified, Low-Income Students Are Not Attending Our Best Colleges
A new report from the Center of Education and Workforce at Georgetown University finds that nearly 90,000 students who are eligible for federal Pell Grants for low income families, are qualified to be admitted to the nation's selective colleges and universities but do not enroll in these institutions.
The Next Provost at Emory University in Atlanta
Dr. Dwight McBride is the Daniel Hale Williams Professor of African American studies, English, and Performance Studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. There, he also serves as dean of the Graduate School and associate provost for graduate education.
Employment and Unemployment Rates by Race for Young College Students
For 16- to 24-year-old Blacks enrolled in college, 7.6 percent were actively seeking work but couldn't find it. The unemployment rate for White college students in this age group was 5.7 percent.
African Americans Named President at Two Community Colleges in New York
Michael A. Baston was appointed president of Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, and Orinthia T. Montague was appointed the fourth president of Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden, New York. Both new presidents will take office in July.
University Study Links Racial Discrimination to Higher Asthma Rates Among Black Children
The study found that Black children who reported experiencing some type of racial discrimination were 78 percent more likely to have asthma than their peers who said they had not been discriminated against.
Felicia Davis to Lead Olive-Harvey College in Chicago
Davis is a former Chicago police detective and served as deputy chief of staff to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. She has been serving as director of the Public Building Commission for the City of Chicago.
Racism Rears Its Ugly Head on Several College and University Campuses
As series of racist incidents occurred on college campuses across the United States in recent days. Here are some examples.
Leadership Purge in Dean Positions at Florida A&M University
Florida A&M University announced that it has removed three deans from their posts and named interim deans to replace them. The three deans will remain on the university's faculty.
Two African American Men Appointed to Named Professorships
Kevin L. Shropshire, and expert on the business of sports, has agreed to join the faculty at Arizona State University and Thomas Wilkins will be joining the faculty at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
Central State University Making Progress in Steadying Its Financial Situation
Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, announced that it has made substantial progress in addressing the school's financial problems. The university now exceeds state-mandated financial benchmarks, and as a result as been removed from the Fiscal Watch designation by state authorities.
Orlando Patterson Honored With a Portrait at Harvard University
In 2002, Harvard University allocated money to the Portraiture Project after it was revealed that of the hundreds of official portraits hanging on the walls of campus buildings, almost none were women or members of minority groups. A new portrait of Orlando Patterson is the 17th commissioned in the series.
Jarvis Christian College to Open a Satellite Campus in Dallas
Jarvis Christian College, the historically Black educational institution in Hawkins, Texas, has announced that it will open an "instructional site" in Dallas, about 100 miles to the west of its main campus. Classes will begin at the new location this coming fall.
Five African Americans Appointed to New Posts in Higher Education
Taking on new roles are Levy Brown at Vance-Granville Community College, Shantell Hinton at Vanderbilt University, Frank Archer III at Fort Valley State University, Christopher Smith at Rice University, and Marcine Pickron-Davis at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
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 Michigan Alumni Association Expands Scholarships for Underrepresented Students
The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan recently announced a $30 million expansion of its Leadership, Excellence, Achievement and Diversity (LEAD) scholarship program. To be eligible for a LEAD scholarship, a student must have African-American, Latino or Native American heritage.
The 19th-Century Black Woman Who Now Has a Building Named After Her at Georgetown
Recently, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., held a ceremony to name a campus building to honor Anne Marie Becraft, who in 1820 founded a school for Black girls in Washington. At the time she founded the school, Becraft was 15 years old.
Emory University Graduate Provides Research Opportunities for Women in Ghana
While still at Emory, Kwadwo Sarpong established the African Research Academies for Women. Since 2014, the organization has provided research opportunities for 29 women in Ghana. Sarpong has now expanded the program to Nigeria, while he prepares himself for medical school.
Beyoncé Creates Scholarships for Women at Two HBCUs
The Formation Scholar awards at Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Parsons School of Design, and Spelman College were established "to encourage and support young women who are unafraid to think outside the box and are bold, creative, conscious, and confident."
In Memoriam: Adam S. Arnold Jr., 1922-2017
In 1957, Dr. Arnold was hired to the faculty in the department of finance at the University of Notre Dame. He was the first African American faculty member at the university and was the first to be granted tenure. Dr. Arnold taught at Notre Dame for 30 years.
Four Black Women Who Are Stepping Down From Their University Posts
The Black women who have announced their retirements are Sandra J. DeLoatch of Norfolk State University in Virginia, Iris Rosa of Indiana University, Jean Hampton of Texas Southern University, and Branwen Smith-King of Tufts University in Massachusetts.
The Higher Education of the New Acting Surgeon General of the United States
In late April, Sylvia Trent-Adams became the acting Surgeon General of the United States. Dr. Trent-Adams is a 1987 graduate of Hampton University in Virginia, where she majored in nursing. She went on to earn a master's degree in nursing and health policy and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Cynthia Warrick Named the Seventh President of Stillman College in Alabama
Dr. Warrick has been serving as interim president since the beginning of the year. In recent years, Dr. Warrick has twice filled the role of interim president at historically Black universities; South Carolina State University and Grambling State University in Louisiana.
New Report Confirms the Large Racial Gap in College Completion Rates
A new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center finds that for students entering college in 2010, more than two thirds of White students, 67.2 percent, earned their degree within six years. This was more than 21 percentage points higher than the degree completion rate for African Americans.
University of Houston Has a New Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Tillis was the dean of the School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Earlier, he served as Distinguished International Visiting Scholar at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica.
Wendell Pritchett Appointed Provost at the University of Pennsylvania
Wendell Pritchett currently serves as the Presidential Professor of Law and Education at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He served as interim dean of the law school during the 2014-15 academic year and is the former chancellor of the Camden campus of Rutgers University in New Jersey.
African Americans Have Very Little Presence in Academic Veterinary Medicine
In 2017, there were 12,768 students enrolled in veterinary medicine schools. Blacks were only 2.5 percent of all students enrolled in these schools.
The New Dean of Students at the College of the Holy Cross
Since 2006, Dr. Michele C. Murray has been vice president for the Division of Student Development at Seattle University in Washington State. Earlier, she held student affairs posts at Loyola University Maryland and the University of Vermont.
Boston College Reports Address How Race Impacts Economic Opportunity and Mobility
The reports address research related to The Opportunity Project, launched by the Obama administration in 2016. The project was designed to provide data to civic and community leaders on topics such as job creation, housing, transportation and education.
