Monthly Archives: May 2021
Andrew Agwunobi Appointed to Lead the University of Connecticut
Dr. Agwunobi is a pediatrician by training and has been serving as CEO of University of Connecticut Health since 2015. He will continue in that role while serving as interim president of the university. The board of trustees stated that it is in no rush to start the search process.
Highly Educated and Economically Successful Black Men Do Not Escape Racial Discrimination
The study, by scholars at UCLA and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, found that Black men who reach a high socioeconomic status still face higher levels of discrimination compared to their White counterparts. This discrimination can also impact Black men’s physical and mental health, according to the study.
University of Virginia’s School of Architecture Names Malo A. Hutson as Its Next Dean
Dr. Hutson is currently a tenured professor and director of the Urban Planning Ph.D. Program in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University in New York City. He is also the director of the school’s Urban Community and Health Equity Lab.
A Generational Gap in Religious Participation Among African Americans
A new report from the Barna Group, a California-based research organization, finds that African Americans as a whole remain more religious than other racial/ethnic groups in the United States, but younger Blacks are turning away from organized religion.
Brenda Thames Will Be the Next President of El Camino Community College in California
Dr. Thames has spent more than two decades working for community colleges throughout the state, in instruction, student services. and administration. Most recently she has been serving as president of the Coalinga campus of West Hills College.
New Study Finds Huge Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Mortality Rates
Men are more likely to be infected by COVID-19 and have higher death rates. But that data obscures the fact that Black women are up to four times more likely to die of COVID-19 than White men and three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than Asian men.
Lisa Anderson-Levy Appointed Provost at Highly Rated Macalester College in Minnesota
Dr. Anderson-Levy joins Macalester from Beloit College in Wisconsin, where she spent the past 13 years as a professor of anthropology. At Beloit, Professor Anderson-Levy served as associate dean of academic affairs and as chair of the department of anthropology.
A Quartet of Black Scholars Taking on New Faculty Roles
Taking on new faculty assignments are Antron Mahoney at Ohio Wesleyan University, Darryl Singleton at Washington State University, Sharrelle Barber at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and Bimpe Z. Adenusi at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Tennessee State University May Be the First HBCU to Have an Ice Hockey Team
A feasibility study is underway that will answer questions about how viable is hockey at Tennessee State, and what needs to happen to put teams on the ice. The proposed program would be the first at a historically Black university and also the first college ice hockey program in the state of Tennessee.
Six African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to Administrative Posts in Higher Education
Taking on new positions are Reggie Hill at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Xeturah Woodley at Guildford Technical Community College in North Carolina, James K. Winfield at Southern New Hampshire University, Nina E. King at Duke University, Adele Brumfield at the University of Michigan, and Nicol Lewis at Columbus State University in Georgia.
HBCUs Receive a Major Commitment From Networking Giant Cisco
Starting with a $50 million anchor investment from Cisco, the Student Freedom Initiative is hoping to reach its goal of $450 million. When funded, this endowment will support 4,500 HBCU students in perpetuity. In addition, Cisco is donating $100 million in hardware and software to improve technology infrastructure at HBCUs.
Kaja Dunn Honored for Her Work Addressing Issues of Race in Theatre Education
Kaja Dunn, an assistant professor of theatre at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte received the Kennedy Center Medallion from the National Committee of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The medallion is the organization's highest honor.
Edward Waters College to Launch a New Institute on Law, Race, Social Justice and Economic Policy
Edward Waters College, the historically Black educational institution in Jacksonville, Florida, has announced that it will establish the A. Philip Randolph Institute for Law, Race, Social Justice and Economic Policy. The new institute is made possible by a grant from the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund.
Three Black Professors Appointed to Endowed Chairs at Vanderbilt University in Nashville
C. André Christie-Mizell was appointed to the Centennial Chair in Sociology. Michael Eric Dyson was named to the NEH Centennial Professorship and Major Jackson was appointed to the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities.
In Memoriam: John Benjamin Dubriel , 1938-2021
Professor Dubriel began teaching at historically Black Fort Valley State Univerity in 1970. After achieving status as a senior professor of mathematics, Dr. Dubriel was appointed director and vice president in the Office of Institutional Research, Planning Technologies, and Technological Services.
University of Illinois Chicago Strips the Name of John Marshall From Its Law School
John Marshall served as Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 to 1835. But research showed that he was a slave trader, enslaved hundreds of African Americans, was the author of pro-slavery judicial opinions, and held racist views.
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.
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.
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.
Florida State University Scholar Creates Documentary Film on Florida’s Plantations
Valerie Scoon, filmmaker in residence at Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts is the director of a new documentary film on the history of plantations and the enslaved in northern and middle Florida.
Grossmont College in California Names Denise Whisenhunt as Its Next President
Whisenhunt has been serving as vice president of student services at San Diego City College. She served as interim president of the college in 2016 and 2017. Whisenhunt has been on the staff at the college since 2001.
Study Finds Blacks in Medical Schools Face an Onslaught of Microaggressions
Sixty-one percent of all respondents to a survey in a study led by scholars at Yale University experienced at least one microaggression a week. Students identifying as Black, Asian, multiracial, and female were the most likely to have experienced microaggressions at least weekly.
The New Leader of NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising
Melinda Anderson currently serves as the interim associate vice chancellor for student success at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. NACADA, with approximately 15,000 members in 35 countries, is housed in the College of Education at Kansas State University.
The Large Gap in African American Voting Rates Between the States
In the District of Columbia and Mississippi, more than 72 percent of all eligible Black adults cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election. In Mississippi and Tennessee, Blacks were more likely to vote than non-Hispanic Whites. Massachusetts and New York had the lowest Black voter participation rates in the United States.
Mordecai Brownlee Will Be the Next President of the Community College of Aurora in Colorado
Dr. Brownlee has been serving as vice president for student success at St. Philip's College in San Antonio, Texas. Earlier, he held positions at the University of Charleston in West Virginia, Blinn College District in Texas, and Houston Baptist University. Dr, Brownlee will assume his new duties on July 15.
How Did Racial Segregation in the Armed Forces Impact Battlefield Mortality?
On July 26, 1948, President Harry S Truman issued Executive Order 9981 which abolished racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces. But as was the case with schools several years later, desegregation moved at a snail's pace. During the first half of the Korean War, most units remained racially segregated.
A Quartet of African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions
The four African Americans who have been appointed to dean positions are Phylicia Rashad at Howard University, Eve De Rosa at Cornell University, Battinto Batts Jr. at Arizona State University, and Linda Thomas at James Madison University.
Four African American Faculty Members Who Are Taking on New Roles in Higher Education
Chanita Hughes-Halbert and Colman Domingo are joining the faculty at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Paula Hammond has been appointed an Institute Professor at MIT and Stephanie Luster-Teasley, a professor of engineering at North Carolina A&T State University, was named vice provost for undergraduate education.
College of DuPage in Illinois Partners With Two Historically Black Universities
The college has entered into a partnership with historically Black Florida A&M University and historically Black Kentucky State University, that will create a pathway for the community college students who earn an associate's degree to seamlessly transfer to the HBCUs to pursue a bachelor's degree.
Virginia State University to Pay Full Tuition of Local Pell Grant-Eligible Students
To qualify, students must be Pell Grant eligible, meet the university admission requirements, and live within a 25-mile radius of campus. This initiative provides qualified students, who have limited financial resources, the option to attend a four-year university directly out of high school.
Three African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to University Administrative Positions
Yulander Wells, Jr. has been named deputy athletic director at Harvard University. Enku Gelaye was promoted to senior vice president and dean of campus life at Emory University in Atlanta and Wendell Williams will be the next associate chancellor of enrollment management at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons of Vanderbilt University Wins the 2021 Pérez Prize
Campos-Pons grew up on a sugar plantation in the Matanzas province of Cuba, and her family has Nigerian, Hispanic, and Chinese roots. She was a pioneer of the New Cuban Art Movement that opposed Communist repression in Cuba during the late 1980s.
Alabama A&M University Gets in the Beer Business
Alabama A&M University officials have announced an innovative collaboration with a Huntsville-based brewery that will allow students in the university's food science program to create a new beer. MBA students will help market the new brew.
Four African American Women Appointed to Posts as University Diversity Officers
Taking on new diversity roles are Nakeshia N. Williams at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, Kortet Mensah at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina, Luz Randolph at Louisiana State University, and Mary Wardell-Ghirarduzzi at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.
In Memoriam: Harold Leon Jeffreys III, 1943-2021
Dr. Jeffreys taught at historically Black St. Augustine's University in Raleigh, North Carolina, for more than a half century. He served as director of bands until 2006.
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.
