Monthly Archives: October 2019

In Memoriam: Cain Hope Felder, 1943-2019

Cain Hope Felder was a biblical scholar who taught at the Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, D.C. for 35 years. There he served as the editor of The Journal of Religious Thought.

New Report Offers Data on Race/Ethnicity of Pell Grant Recipients

Federal Pell grants are financial awards provided to undergraduate students who demonstrate significant financial need. More than 57 percent of African American undergraduate students received a federal Pell grant in the 2015-16 academic year. For White students, 31.3 percent of all undergraduates received a Pell grant.

Gary LeRoy Is the New President of the American Academy of Family Physicians

Dr. LeRoy earned both his bachelor’s and medical degrees from Wright State University. He completed his family medicine residency at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton and a primary care faculty development fellowship at Michigan State University.

Report Finds HBCUs Do a Great Job in Aiding the Upward Economic Mobility of Their Graduates

A key finding of the report from the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University in New Jersey is that despite the fact that many students at HBCUs come from low-income families, nearly 70 percent of students at HBCUs attain at least middle-class incomes after graduation.

The New Dean of the School of Public Health at Jackson State University

Girmay Berhie is a native of Ethiopia. Before becoming dean of the only accredited School of Public Health in Mississippi, Dr. Berhie was a tenured professor and the former chair of the department of health informatics at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

Maria Arvelo Lumpkin Appointed Chief Operating Officer at Saint Augustine’s University

Dr. Lumpkin brings over 20 years of higher education experience to Saint Augustine's University. Most recently, she served as the special assistant to the president, and as the inaugural executive director of student retention and the center for scholar communities at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.

Department of Education Study Shows Racial Differences in Crime Victimization at Schools

A new report from the U.S. Department of Education finds that during the 2016-17 school year, 2.6 percent of Black students in the 12-to-18 age group with victimized by crime compared to 2.2 percent of Whites. Blacks were slightly less likely than Whites to be victims of violent crime while at school.

Fort Valley State University Signs Agreement With Wiregrass Georgia Technical College

Under the agreement, students at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College in Valdosta who earn an associate's degree can have up to 18 semester hours transferred to Fort Valley State University and count towards the completion of a bachelor’s degree. Blacks make up 35 percent of the student body at the technical college.

A Half Dozen Black Scholars Who Have Been Given New Roles or Assignments

Taking on new duties are Esther Obonyo at Pennsylvania State University, Larry Walker at the University of Central Florida, Ayodeji Ogunnaike at Bowdoin College, Riché Barnes at Mount Holyoke College, Noran L. Moffett at Fayetteville State University, and J. Camille Hall at the University of Tennessee.

Tuskegee University Establishes New Scholarship Program for Women Engineering Students

The Lily McNair Women in Engineering Leadership Scholarship Initiative, named to honor the university's first woman president who took office on July 1, 2018, will provide tuition assistance for women engineering students at the university.

Harvard University’s Danielle Allen to Receive the 2019 Governor’s Award in the Humanities

Danielle Allen is the James Bryant Conant University Professor and director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. Earlier she taught at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and the University of Chicago.

The University of the District of Columbia Teams Up With Penn State on STEM Research

Under the agreement, researchers at the University of the District of Columbia and the Applied Research Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University will work together on projects relating to advanced materials and manufacturing, as well as cybersecurity.

New Administrative Appointments for Six African Americans at Colleges and Universities

Here is this week’s roundup of African Americans who have been appointed to new administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.

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.

Penn State Seeks to Diversify the Field of Library Science

Pennsylvania State University Libraries has welcomed its third cohort for its University Libraries Diversity Residency Program. This three-year postgraduate appointment will provide library professionals with transferable work experiences and career development in preparation for future leadership roles in the field.

Florida State University Looks to Partner With Educational Institutions in Botswana

Recently Florida State faculty members traveled to Botswana to explore potential collaboration with the University of Botswana, the nation’s first institute of higher education.

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 Oklahoma Acquires the Papers of Activist and Educator George Henderson

The papers span over 40 years of Henderson’s career in higher education. The donation represents the largest gift by an African-American scholar, educator, and activist to the university’s archives.

Maryland Governor Doubles His Offer to Settle HBCU Litigation That Has Dragged on for 13 Years

In 2018, Maryland Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. said he was willing to dedicate as much as $100 million over 10 years to Maryland HBCUs. He has now raised that offer to $200 million. The four historically Black state universities have indicated they will settle the case for about $600 million.

In Memoriam: Matthew Jenkins, 1933-2019

Dr. Jenkins served as a member of the Tuskegee University board of trustees and president of the Tuskegee University Foundation. Upon the sudden resignation of then-President Gilbert Rochon in 2013, Dr. Jenkins was asked to serve as acting president of Tuskegee University.

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