The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education

Two African American Women Who Have Been Appointed Deans

Danielle Lauria is the new dean of nursing, health, and wellness at MiraCosta College in Oceanside, California, and Sarah Price was appointed dean of the College of Education at Florida A&M University.

Tuskegee University President Charlotte Morris Announces Her Retirement

President Morris has served the university for almost 40 years in different capacities including chief of staff to the president and secretary to the board of trustees. Dr. Morris also served as the director of the university’s Title III program and has acted as interim and associate dean in the Brimmer College of Business and Information Science.

Heidi Lewis Is the New President of the National Women’s Studies Association

Heidi Lewis, an associate professor of feminist and gender studies at Colorado College, has been elected president of the National Women’s Studies Association. Established in 1977, the NWSA prioritizes promoting and supporting knowledge about women and gender through teaching, learning, research, and service in academic settings.

Sean Johnson to Lead Entrepreneurship Center at North Carolina A&T State University

Sean Johnson has been appointed director of the Center of Excellence in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at North Carolina A&T State University. He was senior project manager in the Workforce Development Center at Cincinnati State Technical & Community College.

Howard University’s New President Organizes His Top Staff

Paul Tiyambe Zeleza was named senior advisor for strategic initiatives and Allison Morgan Bryant will stay on as a member of the cabinet as the vice president of the Office of Corporate Relations. Calvin J. Hadley was named assistant provost for academic partnerships and student engagement and Latrice Byam was appointed executive director of academic planning and curriculum for the Office of the Provost.

Research & Studies

American Students Studying Abroad in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the 2021-22 academic year, there were 4,614 American students who studied at universities in sub-Saharan Africa. This is about one tenth of the number of students from sub-Saharan Africa studying at U.S. universities.

U.S. Public Schools Remain Separate and Unequal

Approximately 522,400 students, or 1 percent of overall student enrollment, attended public schools where fewer than half of the teachers met all state certification requirements. Of the students attending those schools, 66 percent were Black and Latino students.

Features

Statistic of the Week

35%
Percentage of all high schools with large enrollments of Black students that offered calculus
54%
Percentage of all high schools with low enrollments of Black students that offered calculus

Source: U.S. Department of Education (see JBHE post )

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Poll of the Week

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If Joe Biden were to drop out of the presidential race, would you want Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket?

Quote of the Week

“Black students would sometimes deliberately underachieve to drop down from a higher-level mathematics course to a lower-level course to satisfy their social needs to be with students who look like them.”

Adrian Mims,

CEO of the Calculus Project, in Education Week, 11-28-23

JBHE Archives

All Recent Posts

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.

American Students Studying Abroad in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the 2021-22 academic year, there were 4,614 American students who studied at universities in sub-Saharan Africa. This is about one tenth of the number of students from sub-Saharan Africa studying at U.S. universities.

Marcus L. Thompson Named the Thirteenth President of Jackson State University

Dr. Thompson has more than 20 years of leadership experience in early childhood, K-12 education, and higher education. He has been serving as the deputy commissioner and chief administrative officer of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, where for over a decade he has been responsible for overseeing IHL staff.

U.S. Public Schools Remain Separate and Unequal

Approximately 522,400 students, or 1 percent of overall student enrollment, attended public schools where fewer than half of the teachers met all state certification requirements. Of the students attending those schools, 66 percent were Black and Latino students.

Deborah Dyett Desir Is the New President of the American College of Rheumatology

Dr. Desir has more than three decades of experience in clinical medicine. In 1993, she started a rheumatology private practice in Hamden, Connecticut. In 2019, Dr. Desir joined the Yale School of Medicine faculty.

Hospitals That Serve Mostly Black Patients Are Less Likely to Have Core Resources to Battle Cancer

UCLA researchers looked at nearly 4,400 hospitals across the U.S., including 864 with high numbers of Black and Hispanic patients. The team looked at the availability of 34 cancer-related services at these facilities. They found that hospitals serving high numbers of Black patients were significantly less likely to offer all the core services.

Virginia State University to Be the First HBCU to Host a 2024 Presidential Debate

Virginia State University is the first historically Black college or university ever selected to host a general election U.S. Presidential Debate. The debate, scheduled for October 1, 2024, is the second of three scheduled general election presidential debates. The debate will take place in the university's Multipurpose Center.

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.

Clayborne Carson Wins the 2023 Freedom Award From the National Civil Rights Museum

In 1985, Professor Carson was asked by Coretta Scott King, Dr. King’s widow, to direct The King Papers Project with the mission of assembling and publishing the collected papers of her late husband.

Lincoln University President Brenda Allen Gets Seven-Year Contract Extension

Brenda Allen was named the fourteenth president of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 2017. The board of trustees has extended the contract of President Brenda Allen for seven years. President Allen will now lead the university until 2030.

A Trio of Black Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to New Positions

Darian Longmire is a new assistant professor of art practice at the University of California, Berkeley. Associate professor Michelle Richardson was named faculty athletics representative at Coppin State University in Baltimore and Jallicia A. Jolly is a new assistant professor of American studies and Black studies at Amherst College in Massachusetts.

Southern University to Reorganize Its Leadership Structure

For the past eight years, the president of the Southern University System and the chancellor of the flagship campus of the system in Baton Rouge has been the same person. The positions were combined due to severe financial constraints on the system's budget. Now the Southern University System board of supervisors has voted to split the positions once again.

University of Mississippi’s Viola Acoff Honored for Her Policymaking Role in Materials Engineering

Dr. Acoff became dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi on July 1. She is the first woman and first African American to hold the position. From 2014 to 2023, she was the associate dean for undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Alabama.

Meharry Medical College in Nashville Creates the School of Global Health

Meharry Medical College has begun the process to recruit faculty, engage partners, and secure accreditation for the School of Global Health, and anticipates beginning to enroll students in the fall of 2024.

Three African Americans in New Administrative Roles in Higher Education

Monique D’Almeida was appointed the Deknatel Curatorial Fellow in Japanese Works on Paper at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center on the campus of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Torin Moore was named assistant dean for student affairs for the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts and Christian Mills was named director of the Quality Enhancement Plan at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.

In Memoriam: Willard R. Johnson, 1935-2023

Dr. Johnson joined the political science faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964 as an assistant professor. He was the first Black faculty member at MIT to rise through the ranks and achieve tenure from within.

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.

Bipartisan Group of U.S. Senators Introduce the HBCU Africa Partnerships Act

The legislation would expand partnerships and student exchange programs at HBCUs to build up the capacity and expertise of students, scholars, and experts from sub-Saharan Africa in key development areas, including food systems, agriculture, nutrition and farming, democracy, and public health.

Harvard Announces a Grant Program to Address Systemic Inequities for Descendants of Slavery

The Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Initiative will offer annual funding up to $350,000 for long-term projects and $25,000 for smaller projects that address systemic inequities for descendants of slavery.

Six African Americans Among the 32 Rhodes Scholars From the United States

Recently, the Rhodes Trust announced the 32 American winners of Rhodes Scholarships for graduate study at Oxford University in England. Typically the Rhodes Trust does not reveal the race or ethnicity of scholarship winners. Of this year’s 32 Rhodes Scholars from the United States, it appears that six are African Americans.

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.

In Memoriam: Julius Chapman, 1937-2023

Julius Chapman served in dean positions at Towson University in Maryland and Coppin State University in Baltimore. He was also provoset and vice president for academic affairs at Voorhees University in Denmark, South Carolina.

Huge Increase in Students From Sub-Saharan Africa at U.S. Colleges and Universities

In the 2022-23 academic year, the number of students from Nigeria was nearly three times the number of students from any other sub-Saharan African nation. Nigerians made up more than one third of all students from sub-Saharan Africa who studied in the United States in the 2022-23 academic year.

Government Programs to Attract Physicians to Underserved Areas Have Not Worked

A federal program created to attract physicians to medically underserved areas of the United States has not achieved this intended effect or reduced mortality rates in these regions, a new Yale study finds.

All Recent Posts

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.

American Students Studying Abroad in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the 2021-22 academic year, there were 4,614 American students who studied at universities in sub-Saharan Africa. This is about one tenth of the number of students from sub-Saharan Africa studying at U.S. universities.

Marcus L. Thompson Named the Thirteenth President of Jackson State University

Dr. Thompson has more than 20 years of leadership experience in early childhood, K-12 education, and higher education. He has been serving as the deputy commissioner and chief administrative officer of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, where for over a decade he has been responsible for overseeing IHL staff.

U.S. Public Schools Remain Separate and Unequal

Approximately 522,400 students, or 1 percent of overall student enrollment, attended public schools where fewer than half of the teachers met all state certification requirements. Of the students attending those schools, 66 percent were Black and Latino students.

Deborah Dyett Desir Is the New President of the American College of Rheumatology

Dr. Desir has more than three decades of experience in clinical medicine. In 1993, she started a rheumatology private practice in Hamden, Connecticut. In 2019, Dr. Desir joined the Yale School of Medicine faculty.

Hospitals That Serve Mostly Black Patients Are Less Likely to Have Core Resources to Battle Cancer

UCLA researchers looked at nearly 4,400 hospitals across the U.S., including 864 with high numbers of Black and Hispanic patients. The team looked at the availability of 34 cancer-related services at these facilities. They found that hospitals serving high numbers of Black patients were significantly less likely to offer all the core services.

Virginia State University to Be the First HBCU to Host a 2024 Presidential Debate

Virginia State University is the first historically Black college or university ever selected to host a general election U.S. Presidential Debate. The debate, scheduled for October 1, 2024, is the second of three scheduled general election presidential debates. The debate will take place in the university's Multipurpose Center.

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.

Clayborne Carson Wins the 2023 Freedom Award From the National Civil Rights Museum

In 1985, Professor Carson was asked by Coretta Scott King, Dr. King’s widow, to direct The King Papers Project with the mission of assembling and publishing the collected papers of her late husband.

Lincoln University President Brenda Allen Gets Seven-Year Contract Extension

Brenda Allen was named the fourteenth president of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 2017. The board of trustees has extended the contract of President Brenda Allen for seven years. President Allen will now lead the university until 2030.

A Trio of Black Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to New Positions

Darian Longmire is a new assistant professor of art practice at the University of California, Berkeley. Associate professor Michelle Richardson was named faculty athletics representative at Coppin State University in Baltimore and Jallicia A. Jolly is a new assistant professor of American studies and Black studies at Amherst College in Massachusetts.

Southern University to Reorganize Its Leadership Structure

For the past eight years, the president of the Southern University System and the chancellor of the flagship campus of the system in Baton Rouge has been the same person. The positions were combined due to severe financial constraints on the system's budget. Now the Southern University System board of supervisors has voted to split the positions once again.

University of Mississippi’s Viola Acoff Honored for Her Policymaking Role in Materials Engineering

Dr. Acoff became dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi on July 1. She is the first woman and first African American to hold the position. From 2014 to 2023, she was the associate dean for undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Alabama.

Meharry Medical College in Nashville Creates the School of Global Health

Meharry Medical College has begun the process to recruit faculty, engage partners, and secure accreditation for the School of Global Health, and anticipates beginning to enroll students in the fall of 2024.

Three African Americans in New Administrative Roles in Higher Education

Monique D’Almeida was appointed the Deknatel Curatorial Fellow in Japanese Works on Paper at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center on the campus of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Torin Moore was named assistant dean for student affairs for the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts and Christian Mills was named director of the Quality Enhancement Plan at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.

In Memoriam: Willard R. Johnson, 1935-2023

Dr. Johnson joined the political science faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964 as an assistant professor. He was the first Black faculty member at MIT to rise through the ranks and achieve tenure from within.

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.

Bipartisan Group of U.S. Senators Introduce the HBCU Africa Partnerships Act

The legislation would expand partnerships and student exchange programs at HBCUs to build up the capacity and expertise of students, scholars, and experts from sub-Saharan Africa in key development areas, including food systems, agriculture, nutrition and farming, democracy, and public health.

Harvard Announces a Grant Program to Address Systemic Inequities for Descendants of Slavery

The Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Initiative will offer annual funding up to $350,000 for long-term projects and $25,000 for smaller projects that address systemic inequities for descendants of slavery.