Monthly Archives: December 2019
John Ambrose Appointed Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Michigan State
John Ambrose joined the staff at Michigan State in 2008 as senior associate director for inclusion, strategic planning, and student success. Earlier, he served in leadership roles at the national and state levels of the Michigan Association for College Admissions Counseling.
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Partners With a Cancer Research Firm
Historically Black Cheyney University has entered into a partnership with Navrogen Inc. Under the agreement, the research unit of the biopharmaceutical firm will relocate its operations to Cheyney's Science Center. The company is involved in cancer research.
Pamela Bracey Is Named Collegiate Teacher of the Year in Business Education
Pamela Bracey, an associate professor in the department of instructional systems and workforce development in the College of Education at Mississippi State University, was named Collegiate Teacher of the Year by the National Business Education Association.
Congress Finally Comes to the Rescue of HBCUs
The Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act provides $255 million annually for HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions.
Three African American Men Appointed to Administrative Posts in Higher Education
Alan D. Robertson was named chief financial officer at Florida A&M University. Julian Coaxum will be the next chief of police at Davidson College in North Carolina and Raymond Clarke has been named vice president for enrollment management at Savannah State University in Georgia.
In Memoriam: Shirley Walker Dixon, 1946-2019
Dr. Dixon was a pioneer in many ways at Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania. In 1990, she was the first African American to be appointed to the university's board of trustees. In 2018, she was the first person to be awarded a doctorate at the university and also became the first person to earn bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees at Cabrini.
Four Black Women Among This Year’s 32 Rhodes Scholars From the U.S.
This year, four African Americans - all women - were chosen as Rhodes Scholars. Last year, there were three African Americans among the 32 scholars chosen from the U.S.
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 Memphis Creates Two Funds to Honor Frances and Benjamin Hooks
The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis has created two endowed funds which will enable the Institute to further the work of social change championed by Benjamin L. Hooks and his wife Frances Dancy Hooks, two stalwarts of the civil rights struggle.
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.
White Student Gives Racist Rant on “Open Mic” Night at Bryant University in Rhode Island
In a stand-up comedy act, the student stated: "It’s amazing. White people, we can’t really tell Black people what to do anymore. We used to be able to do that. But we can’t anymore."
New Scholarships at the University of Pennsylvania Seek to Boost Diversity in City Planning
The department of city and regional planning in the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania has established the Moelis Scholars program that is open to African American and Latinx students who are thinking about pursuing careers in housing and community and economic development.
Penn State’s Program to Increase Black Doctoral Students in STEM Meets With Success
About half of all Millennium Scholars at Penn State have gone on to be accepted in doctoral degree programs in STEM fields. The first two are expected to receive their Ph.D.s this coming spring.
Organization Rates Major Medical Schools on Efforts to Promote Racial Equality
The organization White Coasts for Black Lives is a medical student-run organization formed to dismantle racism in medicine. It recently released a report on the efforts of 17 major medical schools to address racial inequality in academic medicine.
Roland Mitchell Named Dean of the College of Human Sciences and Education at LSU
Dr. Mitchell is the E.B “Ted” Robert Endowed Professor and has been serving as interim dean. Professor Mitchell joined the faculty at the university in 2005 and was named a full professor in 2018.
George Washington University Study Finds a Major Racial Gap in Financial Literacy
The results of the survey found that African-American adults answered 38 percent of the questions correctly, compared to 55 percent of White adults. Only 28 percent of African American adults answered over one-half of the questions correctly. For White adults, the figure was 62 percent.
University of North Carolina Gives Silent Sam to the Sons of Confederate Veterans
The statue of a Confederate soldier, that had stood at the gates of the university for more than a century, was torn down by protestors in August 2018. Now the university is donating the statue and $2.5 million to care and preserve the monument to the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Sub-Saharan African Nations Sending the Most Scholars to Teach at U.S. Colleges and Universities
In the 2015-16 academic year, there were 2,057 scholars from sub-Saharan African nations teaching at U.S. colleges and universities. This is up 3.4 percent from the 2014-15 academic year. But the long-term trend is down.
The New Provost at Holy Names University in Oakland, California
Dr. Sheila Smith McKoy has been serving as chair of the department of English at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. She earned a master's degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. at Duke University in Durham North Carolina.
