Tag: University of Texas

Fisk University in Nashville Announces the Selection of Its Sixteenth President

Currently, Dr. Kevin Rome is president of Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. Before taking on this role in 2013, Dr. Rome was vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at North Carolina Central University in Durham.

Black Students’ Loss of Trust in Their Teachers May Lead to Lower College Enrollment

A new study finds that middle school students of color who lose trust in their teachers due to a perception of mistreatment or unfairness are less likely to go to college, even if they achieved good grades and test scores that qualified them for college admission.

Racial Disparity in Family Member Deaths Can Add to Overall Racial Inequality

In a study of more than 42,000 individuals born in the 1980s, the authors found that Blacks were three times more likely than Whites to lose a mother, more than twice as likely to lose a father and 20 percent more likely to lose a sibling by age 10.

Selwyn Rogers Named the Founding Director of the University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center

Dr. Rogers, who has been serving as vice president and chief medical officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch since 2014, will also serve as executive vice president for community health engagement at the University of Chicago.

Two African Americans Named to Leadership Posts at Universities in Texas

Soncia Reagins-Lilly was named dean of students and vice president for student affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and James Douglas was appointed interim dean at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston.

University of Georgia Study Examines Blacks’ Reluctance to Seek Treatment for Depression

A new study led by Rosalyn Denise Campbell, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Georgia, finds that the stigma of mental illness in the African American community has a major dragging effect on the rate of Black Americans who seek treatment for depression.

Universities Take Steps to Remove Symbols That Many African Americans Found Offensive

The University of Texas removed an inscription from a wall that paid tribute to those who fought for the Confederacy and Cornell University renamed its 3,500-acre Cornell Plantations to the Cornell Botanic Gardens.

A New Database of Peer-Reviewed Articles on Black Males in Education

Louis Harrison and Anthony Brown of the University of Texas at Austin have created The Black Male Education Research Collection. The new website is a repository of research on issues relating to Black men in all levels of education, with a special emphasis on higher education.

In Memoriam: Austin Chesterfield Clarke, 1934-2016

Clarke was a native of Barbados. He came to Canada in 1955 to study at the University of Toronto. The author of 11 novels, he taught at Yale University, Duke University, and the University of Texas.

Supreme Court Upholds Race-Sensitive Admissions at the University of Texas

Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy stated that "considerable deference is owed to a university in defining those intangible characteristics, like student body diversity, that are central to its identity and educational mission."

Research Finds Ways for Black Students to Ease the Transition to College

The study found that incoming students who are exposed to challenges that are common and improvable become more likely to get involved on campus, build relationships, and ultimately succeed at a higher rate.

University of Texas System Initiates a “Rooney Rule” For Senior-Level Hiring

The University of Texas System has instituted a new policy that requires search committees to have a minority candidate among the finalists for every senior level administrative post on campus. The new policy is modeled after the Rooney Rule in the National Football League.

New Administrative Assignments for Eight African Americans 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.

In Memoriam: Toni Kay Johnson, 1956-2016

Dr. Johnson joined the faculty at the University of Kansas in 2005 and was promoted to associate professor in 2012. Before joining the University of Kansas faculty, Dr. Johnson taught in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee-Memphis.

New York University Historian to Be Awarded the Frederick Douglass Book Prize

Ada Ferrer, professor of history and professor of Latin American and Caribbean studies, will be awarded the $25,000 prize for the best book of the year on slavery or abolition that was written in the English language.

Two Flagship State Universities Report Progress on Student Diversity

Blacks are 5.3 percent of the first-year class at the University of Texas at Austin, up from 4.2 percent a year ago. At the University of Colorado at Boulder, the number of African American undergraduates students is up 8 percent from a year ago.

University of Texas to Move Statue of Jefferson Davis to an Educational Exhibit

On the Main Mall of the University of Texas at Austin are seven statues. Along with George Washington, there are statues of several Confederate officials. University of Texas President Gregory Fenves has decided to remove the Jefferson Davis statue.

Duke Professor’s Program Seeks to Close the Racial Gap in Educational Achievement Among Youth

Angel L. Harris, a professor of sociology and African and African American studies at Duke University, is launching a new effort called Research on the Education and Development of Youth (REDY). His goal is to provide teachers with the tools to teach students who have different learning styles.

In Memoriam: Ray Floyd Wilson, 1926-2015

Ray F. Wilson taught chemistry at Texas Southern University in Houston for 42 years. In 1953, he was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin.

In Memoriam: Suzan Maria Armstrong-West, 1948-2015

Professor Armstrong-West had served on the faculty at Edward Waters College since 2008. Earlier, she was assistant dean of students at the University of Texas at Austin and dean of academic programs at Rutgers University.

Higher Education Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Four African Americans in New Administrative Posts at U.S. Universities

The appointees are Celena Mondie-Milner at the University of Texas, Shana Lassiter at Columbia University, Greg Drane at Pennsylvania State University, and D. Jason DeSousa at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

University Study Finds Gender and Sexual Identity Differences in Openness to Interracial Dating

A new study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Texas finds White straight males and White lesbians are more open to interracial dating than White gay men and White straight women.

The 21st-Century Version of Black Studies

Kevin Foster, an associate professor of African and African diaspora studies at the University of Texas at Austin, has created the television production Blackademics TV.

Terri Givens Named Provost at Menlo College in California

Dr. Givens, a professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin, was the first African American women to serve as vice provost at the University of Texas.

Huston-Tillotson University Partners With the University of Texas to Provide Health Services

The two universities will participate in the operation of the Sandra Joy Anderson Community Health and Wellness Center on the Huston-Tillotson University campus.

Higher Education Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Lovell Jones Named Associate Dean for Research at Prairie View A&M University

Dr. Jones was a professor at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and a research professor in the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston.

University Study Links Racial Discrimination to Mental Health Problems

The study found that African Americans and Caribbean-born Blacks who experience discrimination in the United States are at a substantially higher risk for anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and other mental disorders.

University Innovation Alliance Aims to Help Low-Income Students Earn a College Degree

The alliance of 11 large public research universities says that it will test and disseminate proven innovations in education so college and universities across the country can be more successful in retaining and graduating all students, including those from low-income families.

A Blueprint for Advancing the Educational Success of Black Males

A consortium of seven research centers on education have issued a report that offers an assessment of the educational status of African American males at all levels of education and offers recommendations on what can be done to improve their prospects for success.

Star Quarterback Returns to the University of Texas as a Development Officer

Vince Young, who was the quarterback for the University of Texas's football team when it won the BCS Championship game in January 2006, has been hired by the university as a development officer.

University of Texas Affirmative Action Case Is Not Done Yet

Last month, a panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the affirmative action policies on the University of Texas. But the plaintiff was quick to respond and has now filed an appeal for the entire Fifth Circuit bench to hear the case.

U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds the University of Texas’ Affirmative Action Plan

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the affirmative action policies of the University of Texas in a case brought by Abigail Fisher that had previously made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

University of Texas Study Examines the State of Black Business in the Lone Star State

Black-owned businesses in Texas tended to be very small and 95 percent of them had no paid employees. In 2007, the average Black-owned business in Texas had sales of $60,000 compared to average sales of $1.2 million for all businesses in the state.

Ten African Americans in New University Administrative Positions

Taking on new administrative duties are Rosetta Clay, F.J. Talley, Kevin Cokley, James Earl Orr Jr., E. Nathan Thomas III, Mark D. Henderson, Jimmy Miller, Katrina Oliver, Stephanie Sanders, and Shawn Felton.

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