Monthly Archives: November 2020
In Memoriam: Drew Saunders Days III, 1941-2020
Drew S. Days III was the Alfred M. Rankin Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He led the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department during the Carter administration and was Solicitor General of the United States during the Clinton administration.
The College Graduation Rates of African American Student Athletes
For Black student athletes who entered college in 2013 at NCAA Division I institutions, 59 percent earned their diplomas within six years. This is 11 percentage points higher than the rate for Black students as a whole at these institutions.
The First African American Leader of the Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute was founded in 1839 and trained many of the officers of the Confederate Army. Today, African Americans are 6 percent of the student body, according to the latest data reported to the U.S. Department of Education. Now Retired Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins will serve as interim superintendent at VMI.
Students From Sub-Saharan African Nations at U.S. Colleges and Universities, 2019-20
In the 2019-20 academic year, there were 41,697 students from sub-Saharan Africa enrolled at colleges and universities in the United States. They made up 3.9 percent of the 1,075,496 foreign students at U.S. colleges and universities that year. The number of students from sub-Saharan Africa was up 3.5 percent from the prior year.
Marsha Gable Selected as the New Leader of Grossmont College in El Cajon, California
Dr. Gable has been serving for the past five years as vice president of student services at Grossmont College. She served for eight months in 2019 and 2020 as interim president of San Diego Miramar College. Earlier, Dr. Gable was dean of counseling services and admissions and records at Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego, California.
The Current Racial Digital Divide May Have Long-Lasting Repercussions
A new report from Deutsche Bank Securities finds that due to the current racial gap in personal computer ownership and broadband access "76 percent of Blacks and 62 percent of Hispanics could get shut out or be under-prepared for 86 percent of jobs in the United States by 2045."
Soyica Colbert Appointed to Dean Position at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Professor Colbert joined the Georgetown faculty in 2013. She is the Idol Family Professor of the College of Arts and Sciences and has been serving as vice dean of the faculty. Professor Colbert will now serve as interim dean of Georgetown College.
Howard University Is Offering a New Bachelor’s / Juris Doctorate Dual Degree Program
The new dual-degree program is open to incoming first-year students. The program will allow students to complete their bachelor's and law degrees in six years instead of the traditional seven years, providing a cost-effective path to an advanced degree.
Five African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education
Taking on new administrative roles are April R. Clark at Talladega College in Alabama, Gerald L. Hector at the University of Central Florida, Maurice A. Tyler at Bowie State University in Maryland, Qiana N. Wilson at the University of Georgia, and Donell D. Maxie at Mississippi Valley State University.
Fort Valley State University Teams Up With Robins Air Force Base in Georgia
Under the collaboration, students at the university will be introduced to more practical experiences in the high-demand fields of computer science and cybersecurity. Coursework may include electronics, avionics and aging aircraft issues as well as manufacturing, electronic combat, and environmental issues.
Berkeley’s Nikki Jones Honored by the Western Society of Criminology
Nikki Jones, a professor of African American studies at the University of California, Berkeley, has been awarded the 2020 W.E.B. DuBois Award from the Western Society of Criminology for her work in raising awareness for racial and ethic issues in criminology and criminal justice.
Grambling State University Signs Agreement With Bossier Parish Community College
Under the agreement, full-time faculty and staff at Bossier Parrish Community College in Louisiana will be allowed to enroll at Grambling State University for undergraduate or graduate courses at a reduced rate.
Six African Americans Named to Diversity Positions at Colleges and Universities
The six African Americans named to diversity posts are Tiffany Hayden at the University of Kentucky, Anthony DiNicola at the University of Arkansas, Robin R. Means Coleman at Northwestern University, Jasmine A. Lee at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Andreá Williams at Ohio State University, and Yolanda Caldwell at the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York.
In Memoriam: David Norton Dinkins, 1927-2020
David Dinkins was the 106th mayor of New York City and the first African American to lead the city. He also was a professor in the practice of public policy at the School of Public and International Affairs at Columbia University.
Association of American Medical Colleges Changes Name of Its Most Prestigious Award
In his 1910 report, Abraham Flexner wrote that Black students should be trained as “sanitarians” rather than surgeons and their primary role should be to protect White people from disease. “A well-taught negro sanitarian will be immensely useful; an essentially untrained negro wearing an M.D. degree is dangerous.”
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.
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.
The Nationwide Racial Gap in College Graduation Rates
The Black student college graduation rate of 48 percent was 22 percentage points lower than the rate for Whites and 31 percentage points below the rate for Asian Americans. The Black student graduation rate trailed the rates for Hispanics by 13 percentage points.
Thomas Hudson Appointed the Twelfth President of Jackson State University In Mississippi
Thomas Hudson has been serving in the post on an interim basis since February. Before being named acting president in February, Hudson had been serving as special assistant to the president and chief diversity officer at the university.
Study Finds That Racial Segregation in Public Schools in Virginia Is on the Rise
The report, by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and Pennsylvania State University, reveals that segregation among schools in the same division contributes to half or more of all multiracial school segregation in Virginia’s metropolitan regions.
Lena Hill Will Be the Next Provost at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia
Dr. Hill currently serves as dean of the College and professor of English and Africana studies at the university. Prior to joining Washington and Lee, Hill was associate vice president and interim chief diversity officer at the University of Iowa, where she was an associate professor of English and African American studies.
Does the FBI’s Hate Crime Data Present A True Vision of Reality?
In 2019, there were 7,314 hate crime incidents reported to the FBI. More than 86 percent of all participating law enforcement agencies reported zero hate crimes in their jurisdictions. There were 245 reported hate crimes on college and university campuses in 2019.
West Liberty University in West Virginia Names Its First Black President in Its 183-Year History
For the past four years, W. Franklin Evans has been president of Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina. He is the former provost and chief academic officer at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, where he also served as interim president.
Three Black Women Who Have Been Appointed Deans at State Universities
Doneka Scott will be the next dean of the Division of Academic and Student Affairs at North Carolina State University. Rhea Ballard-Thrower will become dean of libraries at the University of Illinois Chicago and Camellia Okpodu was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wyoming.
Danielle Phillips-Cunningham Honored by the National Women’s Studies Association
Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, an associate professor of multicultural women's and gender studies at Texas Woman's University, is the recipient of a 2020 National Women's Studies Association's Sara A. Whaley Book Prize.
Emery Brown Awarded the Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience
Emery N. Brown is the Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also serves as the Warren M. Zapol Professor at Harvard Medical School and is a practicing anesthesiologist.
Augusta National Creates Scholarships and Funds New Women’s Golf Program at Paine College
Historically Black Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, and the Augusta National Golf Club, the home of the Masters Tournament, one of professional golf's four majors, have entered into a partnership that will set up an endowed scholarship fund named for Lee Elder, the first African American to compete in the Masters Tournament in 1975.
Four African American Scholars Who Have Been Hired or Promoted to New Positions
Taking on new roles are Reuben A. Buford May at the University of Illinois, Sidney Edwards at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, Franciska Coleman at the University of Wisconsin Law School, and Therí Pickens at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Morgan State University in Baltimore to Expand Its STEM Degree Offerings
The university announced plans to offer a bachelor's degree program in mechatronics engineering, a Ph.D. program in secure embedded systems and a dual 3+2 bachelor's degree program in engineering in conjunction with Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Professor Claude Steele Honored for a Lifetime of Work in Social Psychology
The Legacy Award from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology honors figures whose career contributions have shaped the field. Dr. Steele, a professor emeritus at Stanford University, is perhaps best known for his work on the underperformance of minority students due to stereotype threat.
North Carolina A&T Enters Into a Partnership With Arch Mortgage Insurance Company
The partnership will create a scholarship program designed to provide financial support and real-world experience for high-achieving students. Arch Mortgage is headquartered in Greensboro, just about a mile away from the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.
New University Administrative Posts for Six African Americans
Appointed to new administrative posts are Azmera Hammouri-Davis at Tufts University, Edward Louis Hill Jr. at Harris-Stowe State University, Rachel James-Terry at Jackson State University, Keiko Price at Emory University, Rickey N. McCurry at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and Kimberly Reese at Xavier University of Louisiana.
Center for Women, Gender and Global Leadership Established at Howard University
The Center's academic focus will include producing innovative and theoretically grounded research and creating a data center on issues of women and gender in the United States and the global Black diaspora. J. Jarpa Dawuni, an associate professor of political science at the university, was named director of the new center.
Oklahoma State University Bestows Additional Honors on Its First Black Student
In 1949, Nancy Randolph Davis became the first African-American student to enroll at what was then Oklahoma A&M College. Initially, she was required to sit in the hallway outside a classroom because of the color of her skin.
Racist Caller Leaves Offensive Voice Mail Messages at Simmons College of Kentucky
Administrators at Historically Black Simmons College of Kentucky in Louisville received at least two racially offensive voice mails following the presidential election.
