George Mason Honors Civil Rights Icon Roger Wilkins

George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, recently named its North Plaza in honor of Roger Wilkins, a former long-time faculty member who died this past March. Angel Cabrera, president of George Mason University, said at the dedication ceremony, “when Roger came to George Mason, few knew much about this fledgling university in the suburbs of Washington D.C. Roger was one of those intellectual pioneers who helped put this university on the map.”

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Wilkins moved to Harlem at the age of 9 and later settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He earned a bachelor’s degree and a law degree at the University of Michigan.

Wilkins joined the Kennedy administration in 1962 as a special assistant to the director of the Agency for International Development. In 1965, he was appointed an assistant attorney general by President Johnson.

When the Democrats lost power after the 1968 election, Wilkins left government to work for the Ford Foundation. Beginning in 1972, Wilkins began a new career as a journalist, first for the Washington Post and then The New York Times. He was the author of Jefferson’s Pillow: The Founding Fathers and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism (Beacon Press, 2001).

In 1988, Wilkins joined the faculty at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, as the Clarence J. Robinson Professor in History and American Culture. He remained on the faculty for nearly 20 years until his retirement in 2007.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

HBCUs That Currently Are Designated R2 Research Universities

There are now 139 universities - including 13 HBCUs - that currently are designated with the R2 Carnegie Classification. These institutions spend at least $5 million on research and development and award at least 20 research doctorates annually.

Four Black Administrators Who Have Been Appointed to New Roles at HBCUs

The four individuals appointed to new administrative posts at HBCUs are Letherio Zeigler at Jackson State University in Mississippi, Rachel James-Terry at Florida A&M University, Kevin Nesfield at Florida Memorial University, and Shawn Thierry at Texas Southern University.

Morgan State University Announces Task Force to Address Recent Decline in Black Male Enrollment

“The ongoing decline in Black male enrollment at HBCUs is a clarion call for action, and we will not stand idly by," said David Wilson, president of Morgan State University. "This task force will engage in rigorous research... to ensure that more Black men not only enroll at Morgan but thrive and complete their degrees."

Book of Poetry by Vanderbilt University’s Major Jackson Recognized by Yale Library

Major Jackson, the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, was honored by Yale's Beinecke Library for his recent book, Razzle Dazzle: New and Selected Poems 2002-2022.

Featured Jobs