JBHE has conducted an annual survey on the number of Black students in the entering classes of the nation’s top-ranked research universities for nearly 30 years. On many occasions, the number of Black students in the first-year class at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena could have been counted on one hand. Not anymore.
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.
Washington University in St. Louis is welcoming the first round of faculty members identified through its race and ethnicity cluster hire initiative, a multi-year effort to build a world-class and interdisciplinary research program on race. Four new faculty members have been hired. Ultimately, 13 faculty members will be hired by fall 2022.
Marcia Chatelain, a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., won the Pulitzer Prize in history and Mitchell S. Jackson, an assistant professor of English at the University of Chicago, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing
A new report from the U.S. Department of Education finds that some 7.2 percent of Black undergraduates said they withdrew from their college or university during the first few months of the pandemic, more than double the rate for Whites. Another 5.6 percent of all Black undergraduates took a leave of absence, almost double the rate for Whites.
Dr. Byrd has been serving as vice president of academic affairs and chief academic advisor at Saybrook University in Pasadena, California. Earlier, he was a member of the psychology faculty at the University of South Carolina and then held several positions – including dean for the College of Health Professions – at South University in Savannah, Georgia.
A new study by Joni Hersch, the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Law and Economics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, shows the devasting effects that would occur, should the Supreme Court ban the consideration of race in admissions decisions at the nation’s most elite universities and professional schools.
Rodney Lyn has been appointed dean of the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. Kimberly Jacob Arriola has been appointed dean of the Laney Graduate School at Emory University in Atlanta and Robert Williams was appointed dean of the College of Education and Allied Studies at California State University, East Bay.
The study found that the gap in life expectancy between Black and White populations decreased from 4.02 years in 2010 to 3.54 years in 2014. But the gap increased to 5.81 years in 2020. In 2020, life expectancy for Black men was only 67.73 years, the lowest level since 1998.
Dr. Somerville has held leadership positions at Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine, Lorain County Community College, Iowa State University, Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, and most recently Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa, where she was executive vice president.
Taking on new faculty assignments are Mignon Jacobs at Virginia Union University, David Briscoe at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Ayoka Chenzira at Spelman College in Atlanta, Alena Allen at the University of Arkansas, and Nicole R. Fleetwood at New York University.
Historically Black Grambling State University in Louisiana has announced that it has received approval to establish a Ph.D. degree program in criminology and justice administration. It will be the first doctoral degree program offered at Grambling State University and the first program of its kind in Louisiana.
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.
Ten HBCUs will each receive a one-time unrestricted financial grant of $5 million will help support scholarships, invest in technical infrastructure for in-class and remote learning, and develop curriculum and career support programs.
The Feminist Activism Award from the organization Sociologists for Women in Society was established in 1995. The award is presented annually to an SWS member who has notably and consistently used sociology to improve conditions for women in society.
The church is allocating $3 million over the next three years to provide scholarships for students at member institutions of the United Negro College Fund. In addition, the church is earmarking $250,000 to create a fellowship for students from the United States to travel to study in Ghana.
Taking on new roles as diversity officers are Roderick Morrison at Tacoma Community College in Washington, Kia Lilly Caldwell at Washington University in St. Louis, Russell T. Griffin at Emory University in Atlanta, Vicki T. Sapp at SUNY-Fredonia, and Teresa Ramey at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia.
Dr. Humphries served as president of Florida A&M University from 1985 to 2001. Earlier, he was president of Tennessee State University in Nashville from 1974 to 1985.
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.
Each week, JBHE will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week’s selections.
University Libraries at Washington University in St. Louis has acquired the papers of Charles Johnson, the acclaimed author, cartoonist, and essayist who won the 1990 National Book Award for his novel Middle Passage.
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.
Three Virginia Community Colleges have a green light to change their names and two other colleges are being directed to consider doing likewise after the State Board for Community Colleges voted unanimously to amend its community college naming policy.
The University of Arkansas System board of trustees has voted to rename the building housing the military science program as the Lieutenant Colonel Frederick C. Turner Jr. Military Science Building.
Dr. Robinson most recently served as the provost and vice-president of academic affairs/chief academic officer at Inver Hills Community College, a campus of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.
the report looks into the impact of recruitment practices; demonstrated interest policies; early admissions deadlines; legacy admissions; use of standardized testing; use of criminal justice information; developing effective transfer policies; and need-based financial aid policies on equal access to higher education.
Gwenda Richburg Greene is the founding dean of Graduate Studies, Continuing Education, and Integrative Learning at Voorhees College. Henrietta Williams Pichon was named interim dean College of Health, Education and Social Transformation at New Mexico State University, and Versie Johnson-Mallard was named dean of the College of Nursing at Kent State University.
Kimberly Ballard-Washington has served as interim president since July 2019. Earlier, she was associate vice chancellor for legal affairs for the University System of Georgia and is the former associate director of legal affairs for the flagship campus of the University of Georgia in Athens.
Drowning rates for Black people are disproportionately higher than that of White people across all age groups. Some 44 percent of Black parents self-report to have only beginner or no swimming abilities. Studies have shown that if a parent does not know how to swim, there is only a 13 percent chance that their child will learn how to swim.
Kymberly Pinder, an internationally recognized scholar of race, representation, and murals, has been serving as acting president of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Earlier, she was dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico and a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
A new study by researchers at Student Loan Hero, a division of mortgage loan operator Lending Tree that helps students manage their debt, finds that Black students borrow 35 percent more on average in student loans than their non-Black peers, but Black millennial bachelor’s degree-holders earn 22 percent less than non-Black grads.
Taking on new administrative duties are Derrick Gragg at Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois, Virginia McMath at Parkland College in Illinois, Rudolph Ellis at Grambling State University in Louisiana, and Chris Robinson at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Thavolia Glymph, the Peabody Family Distinguished Professor of History at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, was honored with three awards for her book on the role of Black and White women during the Civil War.
Historically Black Clinton College in Rock Hill, South Carolina, will be cutting tuition by 50 percent this fall semester to ease the financial strain on families negatively impacted by the pandemic. Additionally, the college will also be giving all students a brand new tablet computer.
North Carolina University School of Law in Durham has announced the appointment of three faculty members to endowed professorships at the law school. They are Irving L. Joyner, Malik Edwards, and Reginald Mombrum
The program will provide scholarships and mentorships to students attending one of 11 HBCUs across the U.S. and help them develop the skills they need to grow a career as a financial advisor. Each year 75 students at HBCUs will receive scholarships and will be eligible for summer internship programs.
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