The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
American-Born Layli Maparyan Appointed President of the University of Liberia
Dr. Maparyan, a distinguished academic and prolific scholar, had been serving as the executive director of the Wellesley Centers for Women and a professor of African Studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
Kyle Farmbry Has Resigned as President of Guilford College in North Carolina
Before being named the first African American president of Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2022, Dr. Farmbry served as a professor of public administration in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University in Newark.
LaNiece Tyree Is the New Leader of the National Association of College Auxiliary Services
LaNiece R. Tyree, assistant vice president for auxiliary enterprises at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was recently elected president of the National Association of College Auxiliary Services. She is the first woman of color and the first official from a historically Black university to hold the position.
Research & Studies
Black Matriculants Are Down at U.S. Medical Schools
In 2024, the share of Black applicants to U.S. medical schools increased by 2.8 percent from 2023. However, the share of Black medical school matriculants decreased by 11.6 percent. Notably, there has been year-over-year progress in overall Black medical school representation, which has risen to from 7.9 percent in 2017 to 10.3 percent in 2024.
Working With Black Principals and Peers Reduces Turnover for Black NYC Public School Teachers
Black and White teachers in New York City are less likely to quit or transfer to another school if their school has a principal and a higher proportion of teachers of their same race.
Black Athletes Are Significantly More Likely Than White Peers to Experience Cardiac Arrest
A team of scholars led by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta has found Black athletes are five times as likely as White athletes to experience a heart attack or die from sudden cardiac complications.
The Huge Racial Gap in College Completion Rates
According to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the percentage of students who began college in the fall of 2018 and earned a credential within six years rose to 61.1 percent. For Black students who enrolled in 2018, 43.8 percent had earned a degree or other credential within six years. This is more than 17 percentage points below the overall rate. And the racial gap has increased in recent years.
Statistic of the Week
11.3%
Percentage of all matriculants to U.S. medical schools in 2021 who were Black
8.8%
Percentage of all matriculants to U.S. medical schools in 2024 who were Black
Source: Association of American Medical Colleges (see JBHE post)
Quote of the Week
“We have to realize that not all of the civil rights horrors of days gone by took place in the South. This was one of the horrors of the North.”