Monthly Archives: November 2020
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 First African American Female Brigade Commander at the U.S. Naval Academy
Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber, of Lake Forest, Illinois, is a mechanical engineering major and aspires to a commission as a Marine Corps ground officer.
Can Attending an HBCU Improve Your Chances for a Healthy Life?
A study led by researchers at Ohio State University found that African Americans who attended historically Black colleges or universities were at lower risk for health problems later in adulthood compared to African Americans who attended predominantly White institutions.
Nathaniel Jones Appointed President of the College of Alameda in California
Dr. Jones has been serving as vice president for business services at Moreno Valley College of the Riverside Community College District in California. Earlier in his career, Dr. Jones held administrative and faculty positions at the University of California, Riverside; Pepperdine University; Dartmouth College; Northern Arizona University; and the University of Maryland.
University of Alabama at Birmingham Study Finds Racial Geographic Differences in COVID Mortality
The study found the ratio of deaths among those who are infected with COVID-19, was similar between Black and White individuals. But due to existing racial health disparities, African Americans, particularly in the South and Midwest, were more likely to become infected.
Liberal Arts Colleges Form an Alliance to Address Racial Justice Issues
The presidents of six liberal arts colleges are leading a new consortium called the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance. The presidents of 45 other institutions have joined the alliance. They will collaborate with the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education at the University of Southern California.
Study Finds a Racial Disparity in Homeownership in Flood-Prone Areas
A new study from scholars at the University of Arizona and the University of Kentucky finds that Black and Hispanic people and people with low incomes are more likely to live in areas at high risk of flooding from natural disasters than White and Asian people.
The New Director of African and African American Studies at the University of Arkansas
Caree A. Banton is an associate professor of African diaspora history, who is jointly appointed in the department of history and the African American studies program. She teaches classes in Afro-Caribbean history, African diaspora history, and race. She joined the faculty at the university in 2013.
A Racial Incident on the Campus of Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts
More than 100 students participated in a sit-in at the administration building after a pro-Black Lives Matter T-shirt with the phrase “Yes they do” on the front was defaced with a racist slur and placed on a table in the laundry room in a campus dormitory.
Four Black Scholars Who Have Been Assigned to New Faculty Roles
Taking on new duties are Sheara Williams Jennings at the University of Houston, Marc Williams at Florida Memorial University, Cheryl Waites Spellman at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Sharon A. Simmons at Jackson State University in Mississippi.
Morris Brown College in Atlanta Will Soon Be Evaluated for Reaccreditation
Officers of the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools intend to visit the Morris Brown campus in January 2021 for their final evaluation before candidacy consideration in April 2021. Morris Brown College, founded in 1881, lost its accreditation in 2002.
Isabel Wilkerson Is the Inaugural Winner of the $100,000 NYU/Axinn Foundation Prize
A graduate of Howard University, Professor Wilkerson has taught at Emory University, Princeton University, Boston University, and Northwestern University. She won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1994, as Chicago Bureau Chief of The New York Times. She was the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism.
Tuskegee University in Alabama Creates the Center for Rural Health and Economic Equity
Through this new center, Tuskegee University’s research faculty will be given support to provide ethical transdisciplinary approaches to numerous health disparities including cancer therapies, diabetes, and cervical cancer prevention, violence prevention, mental health, and nutrition deficiencies.
New Administrative Appointments in Higher Education for Five African Americans
Appointed to new positions are Gloria Johnson-Cusack at Florida International University, Joseph Ballard II at Iowa State University, Maria Ramirez at New York University, Cornell B. LeSane II at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Samba Dieng at Louisiana State University.
Tennessee State and Meharry Medical College Debut an Accelerated Degree Program
The new Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. Medical, Dental Accelerated Pathway Program will allow students to spend three years in the pre-med program at Tennessee State University before going on to study medicine or dentistry at Meharry. The result is total completion in seven years, instead of the customary eight years.
Yale University’s Hazel Carby Wins Book Award From the British Academy
Hazel V. Carby is the Charles C. & Dorathea S. Dilley Professor Emerita of African American Studies & American Studies at Yale University. The daughter of a White Welsh mother and a Black Jamaican father, Dr. Carby taught at Yale for 30 years before retiring from teaching at the end of the 2018-19 academic year.
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 Rhode Island School of Design Aims to Diversify Its Faculty
The Rhode Island School of Design, one of the nation's most prestigious educational institutions in the field, has announced that it is hiring 10 new faculty members as part of a cluster hire initiative focused on race and decolonization in art and design.
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.
Vanderbilt Univerity Acquires the Photographic Collection of Rev. James Lawson
Lawson enrolled at the Vanderbilt Divinity School in 1958. While a student he helped organize sit-ins at lunchcounters in downtown Nashville. In 1960, he was expelled from the university for his participation in civil rights protests.
California State University, Fullerton Establishes the Institute for Black Intellectual Innovation
A primary goal during the first five years is to support the recruitment and retention of high-quality and diverse faculty and staff. The institute aims to develop a regional journal that centers on issues related to history, arts, culture, and contemporary affairs of Black people in California.
Two African Americans Appointed to Dean Positions at State Universities
LaKeisha L. Harris has been appointed dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Hub Brown will be the next dean of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.
The Racial Disparity in Fatal Police Shootings Has Not Improved in Five Years
Researchers at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania analyzed more than 5,300 fatal police shooting from 2015 to May 2020. They found that Black people were killed at 2.6 times the rate of White people. Among unarmed victims, Black people were killed at three times the rate for Whites.
Timothy Sams Will Be the Next President of SUNY Old Westbury
Dr. Sams currently serves as vice president of student affairs at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas. Earlier in his career, Dr. Sams was senior vice president for student development at Morehouse College in Atlanta and vice president for student life at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
Why Hospital Desegregation Did Little to Close the Black-White Infant Mortality Rate Gap
In 1966, the Johnson Administration decreed that hospitals that failed to desegregate in compliance with the Civil Rights Act would not be eligible to receive federal funding for Medicare patients. Most hospitals complied with the desegregation order but racial disparities in healthcare persisted.
The Dawn of a New Day for Historically Black Paine College in Augusta, Georgia
After nearly a decade-long battle to hold on to its accreditation, the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools has advanced Paine College from candidate status to accreditation status. TRACS is recognized by the United States Department of Education as a national accrediting agency.
How Mental Health Practitioners Failed Former Enslaved African Americans
Victoria Robinson, a senior at Dillard University in New Orleans who is majoring in psychology has published a new study on the mental health of enslaved African Americans after they were emancipated following the Civil War.
Francine Conway Is the New Provost at Rutgers University in New Jersey
A native of Guyana, Dr. Conway had been serving as dean of the Graduate School of Applied Psychology. She was the first Black scholar to hold that position. Dr. Conway joined the faculty at Rutgers in 2016 after teaching for 13 years at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.
A Trio of African American Faculty Members Who Have Been Assigned New Roles
Keith McGee is taking on a new administrative role at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. Lydia Didia is a new assistant professor of accounting in the College of Business at Jackson State University in Mississippi and Charrise M. Barron is a new assistant professor of African studies and music at Brown University in Rhode Island.
Claflin Univerity to Offer a 4+1 Dual Degree Program With the University of South Carolina
The agreement will allow undergraduate students from Claflin University to earn a bachelor's degree at Claflin and a master of mass communications degree with a concentration in either strategic communications or multimedia journalism in the College of Information and Communications at the University of South Carolina.
Four Universities Appoint African Americans to New Administrative Offices
taking on new administrative duties are Delonte J. LeFlore at the University of Cincinnati, Karyn C. Nooks at Fort Valley State University in Georgia, Thomas J. Calhoun, Jr. at Mississippi Valley State University, and Aisha Oliver-Staley at New York University.
Historically Black Norfolk State University Teams Up With Netflix for Technology Boot Camps
The Netflix Virtual HBCU Boot Camp will allow 130 Norfolk State students and alumni to take part in an intensive 16-week course covering in-demand technology skills. Students who are accepted are eligible to receive a Netflix scholarship that will cover the cost of attendance.
Princeton University’s Deana Lawson Is the First Photographer to Win the Hugo Boss Prize
Sponsored by the German fashion house Hugo Boss and presented by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the prize has been awarded biannually since 1996 and was established to “embrace today’s most innovative and critically relevant cultural currents.” The prize is considered among the most prestigious awards within the contemporary art world.
