Monthly Archives: August 2020

Harvard University Gallery Creating a Living Archive of the Black Lives Matter Movement

The Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art is collecting protest posters, circulated artist zines, informational pamphlets, and any other printed media/functional artwork relating to the movement.

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.

Cornell University Students Pitching In to Help Black Small Businesses

Empower is a new student-led initiative that connects Black-owned businesses with undergraduate student volunteers who offer their time and talent to support business operations or projects.

In Memoriam: Courtney W. Stevenson 1914-2020

Courtney Stevenson, a long-time faculty member at Delaware State University died on August 5 at Bayhealth Medical Center in Dover, DE.

Synovus Financial Sets Up UNCF Scholarship Fund to Honor Calvin Smyre

Calvin Smyre, a graduate of Fort Valley State University in Georgia, was elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1974. He is the longest-serving member of that legislative body.

Stanford University Scholars Develop a New Way to Measure Racial Segregation

The researcher compiled GPS data from smartphones to analyze movement patterns and compute what they call “experienced segregation” – the amount of people’s exposure to other races as they go about their daily lives.

A Sudden Change in Leadership at Fisk University in Nashville

Kevin D.  Rome Sr., president of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, was placed on leave after a man filed a restraining order against him. The Fisk University board of trustees immediately appointed Vann Newkirk, provost at Fisk, as acting president.

Is Racial Discrimination a Significant Factor in the Rise of the Black Suicide Rate?

A new study of Black and White collge students led by Jasmin Brooks, a doctoral student at the University of Houston finds that while perceived discrimination creates emotional disturbance for White adults, it is a uniquely painful event for Black adults.

Jon Cawthorne Is the New Leader of the Association of College and Research Libraries

Dr. Cawthorne became dean of the Wayne State University Library System in 2017. Earlier in his career, he was dean of libraries at West Virginia University, associate dean for public services and assessment at Florida State University Libraries, and dean of the San Diego State University Library.

Study Suggests That Smartphones Can Be Used to Fight Racial Health Disparities

New research led by Ledric Sherman, an assistant professor of health and kinesiology at Texas A&M University shows that the accessibility of digital health technologies can begin to bridge the gap between Black male patients and health care providers.

A Vote of Confidence for the President of Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida

The board of trustees of Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida, has voted to extend the contract of the college's president A. Zachary Faison Jr. until 2025. Faison became the college's 30th president in 2018 after serving as general counsel at Tuskegee University in Alabama.

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff to Offer New Master’s Degree Program in Educational Leadership

The new master's degree program is designed for teachers who seek a career in educational administration. Prospective students may enter the master's degree program upon completion of teacher certification requirements and three years of teaching or relevant experience.

Six Black Scholars Taking on New Assignments in Higher Education

Appointed to new posts are Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr. at the University of Rochester, Hakeem Tijani at Morgan State University, LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant at Williams College, Alexis Smith Washington at Oklahoma State University, Bryan Washington at Rice University, and Tonya Perry of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Grambling State University Creates New Center to Study Race and Sports

The Doug Williams Center for the Study of Race and Politics in Sport at Grambling State University in Louisiana will serve as an academic hub for understanding how the intersection of professional sports, politics, and race can be used to progress social justice among other key objectives.

Two Prestigious Universities Bestow Honors on African American Scholars

Stanford University has named a theater on campus in honor of Harry Elam Jr., who taught at Stanford for 30 years before becoming president of Occidental College in Los Angeles. Rice University in Houston has named a grove after Rev. William A. Lawson a civil rights leader and former professor at Texas Southern University.

Hampton University Goes to Court to Try and Save Its Pharmacy Doctoral Program

The university's lawsuit claims that the decision to revoke the accreditation of the pharmacy doctoral program resulted from a process that “can only be described as a bizarrely contradictory and Kafkaesque bureaucratic process rife with bias and revenge.”

New Administrative Duties for Six African Americans at Colleges and Universities

Taking on new roles are Alexia Hudson-Ward at MIT, Mark Fitzgerald Wilson at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, Tiffany Lomax at Colby College in Maine, J. Mike Johnson at Texas A&M University, Joy Moore at Boston College, and Tiffany Reed at Indiana State University.

In Memoriam: Marie Marcelle Buteau Racine, 1934-2020

In 1969, Dr. Racine, a native of Haiti, joined the foreign languages faculty at Federal City College, which later became part of the University of the District of Columbia. She taught there until her retirement n 2013.

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 Kentucky Creates the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies

The interdisciplinary institute will promote the university's research and scholarship on topics of importance in African history and African American history, such as slavery and the quest for freedom, racial discrimination and violence, and the long struggle for civil rights.

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.

Roper Center at Cornell University Debuts Historical Archives on Polling of Blacks

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, has launched “Say Their Names, Hear Their Voices," a publicly available collection of more than 80 years of public opinion surveys of Black Americans and U.S. attitudes about Black America.

Two Public Universities in Florida Announce Efforts to Address Systemic Racism

The University of South Florida has created the Research Task Force on Understanding and Addressing Blackness and Anti-Black Racism in our Local, National and International Communities. The University of Florida has established the Racial Justice Research Fund.

Brenda Allen Is Back at the Helm of Lincoln University of Pennsylvania

On July 10, the board of trustees of historically Black Lincoln University in Pennsylvania voted not to renew the contract of the university’s president Brenda Allen. President Allen sued and the courts agreed that the vote not to renew her contract was illegal. Now the board has agreed to keep her as president.

Racial Differences in Parent Involvement in K-12 School Activities

A new study from the U.S. Department of Education finds that parents of White students on average attended 7.8 activities at their child's school. Parents of Black students attended an average of 5.3 events.

Two African American Women Named to Provost Positions at Midwestern Universities

LaTonia Collins Smith was appointed provost and vice president of academic affairs at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Missouri, and Susan M. Collins was appointed provost at the University of Michigan. Both had been serving as interim provost.

Study Finds That Neighborhoods Around North Carolina’s HBCUs Are Healthy Food Deserts

The study, led by Helene Vilme of the School of Medicine of Duke University, found that overall, 332 stores within a 15-minute drive of the campuses were classified as “favorable” for selling healthy food and drink options, compared to 1,082 stores that were classified as “unfavorable.”

Jervette R. Ward Chosen to Lead the College Language Association

Jervette R. Ward is an associate professor of English at Mississippi State University. Founded in 1937, the College Language Association is comprised of English and world language educators and publishes scholarly books of critical essays and bibliographical references.

Researchers Label North Carolina’s Eugenic Sterilization Program as Genocide

The paper found that North Carolina's eugenic sterilization was apparently tailored to asymptotically breeding-out the offspring of a presumably genetically unfit and undesirable surplus Black population. Sterilizations were aimed at reducing the future Black population - "genocide by any other name," the authors state.

Two African American Woman Appointed to University Dean Positions

Loury Ollison Floyd has been named dean of the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and Carmenita D. Higginbotham, an art historian, has been named dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts.

A Trio of African American Faculty Members Taking on New Assignments

Taking on new roles at Cynthia Oliver, a professor of dance at the University of Illinois, Bradford Grant a professor architecture at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Alexander X. Byrd, an associate professor of history at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Morgan State University Will Be Part of the African Ancestry Neuroscience Research Initiative

The African Ancestry Neuroscience Research Initiative aims to establish a road map to help close the gap in health disparities and ensure that genomic research and neuroscience studies are representative of individuals across all populations, including those with African ancestry.

Three African Americans in Higher Education Honored With Prestigious Awards

The honorees are Francis A. Pearman, an assistant professor of education at Stanford University, Janice R. Franklin, dean of library and learning resources at Alabama State University, and David Stovall, professor of Black studies and criminology, law, and justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

New Scholarship Program to Benefit Students at HBCUs Studying Finance

The American College of Financial Services has committed to awarding at least 25 scholarships to African Americans with 15 dedicated to students from historically Black colleges and universities. The goal of the program is to increase the racial diversity of the financial services workforce.

Seven Black Americans Who Have Been Appointed to Administrative Posts in Higher Education

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.

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