Monthly Archives: September 2020
Colleges and Universities Announces the Hiring of Seven African Americans to Administrative Posts
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: Frederick Charles Tillis, 1930-2020
Frederick C. Tillis was professor emeritus of music and former director of the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His more than 100 compositions include works for piano and voice, orchestra and chorus, solo, and chamber music.
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.
Loras College Removes a Statue of Its Slave-Owning Founder
Recently the college learned from a researcher who studied the bishop's financial ledgers that Mathias Loras, the first Catholic bishop of Dubuque, Iowa, purchased an enslaved woman named Marie Louise in Mobile, Alabama. Loras enslaved the woman from 1836 to 1852.
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.
University of Michigan-Dearborn Apologizes for What Appeared to Be Segregated Chat Rooms
The University of Michigan-Dearborn recently hosted two concurrent virtual conversations, which were called “cafes.” One was for people of color and the other for those who are not people of color. The use of the word "cafe" caused some people on campus to believe that the university was establishing racially segregated facilities.
University of Missouri-Kansas City Revamps Its Black Studies Offerings
The University of Missouri-Kansas City announced it is combining its Black studies, Latin American studies, and women's studies programs into a new academic department: The new Race, Ethnic, and Gender/Sexuality department.
Why Are African Americans So Underrepresented on Business School Faculties?
According to the study, underrepresented minority groups comprise approximately 28 percent of the student body at U.S. business schools but only 7.5 percent of the faculty. Blacks make up just 4.1 percent of the faculty. The authors suggest that the search process is a major factor.
The First African American to Be Promoted to Full Professor at Ithaca College
Dr. Cynthia Henderson joined the faculty at Ithaca College in 2000. In 2007, she was the first African-American woman to earn tenure at the college. Now she is the first African American who has been promoted to the rank of full professor in the 128-year history of Ithaca College.
NYU Analysis Finds New Deal Housing Policies Continue to Impact Racial Segregation Today
A new study by Jacob W. Faber, an associate professor of sociology and public service at New York University, finds that housing programs adopted during the New Deal increased segregation in American cities and towns, creating racial disparities that continue to characterize life in the twenty-first century.
Christen Crouch Named the Next Dean of Graduate Studies at Bard College in New York
Dr. Crouch has been an associate professor of history and director of American studies at Bard College since 2014. Her work focuses on the histories of the early modern Atlantic, comparative slavery, American material culture, and Native American and Indigenous Studies.
Texas Southern University Study Examines Large Rise in Opioid Overdoses in Black Communities
The media narrative for this opioid overdose epidemic is often portrayed as a White, non-Hispanic rural and suburban crisis. But there has been a huge increases in overdoses in Black communities.
Brandon Logan to Lead the Center for the Study of Race & Politics in Sports at Grambling State
Brandon Logan has been serving as chief executive officer of Urban Capital Partners in San Antonio, Texas. He is a graduate of Grambling State University, where he majored in business management.
In Memoriam: Woodson H. Hopewell Jr., 1954-2020
Over a 44-year career at Hampton, Woodson Hopewell served as assistant director of student activities, director of student activities, and dean of men. In 2015, Hopewell was appointed dean of judicial affairs and housing.
White Supremacist Spray Paints Racist Messages on University of Wisconsin Buildings
Among the messages spray-painted on buildings were "Aryan Brotherhood," and "White Lives Matter Most." After examining security camera footage, police arrested a 71-year-old White man and charged him with five counts of criminal damage to property.
Langston University Settles a 2003 Civil Rights Complaint
Oklahoma State University and the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences have agreed to pay historically Black Langston University $15 million over 10 years as part of a new agreement.
A Quartet of African American Scholars Taking on New Higher Education Assignments
The four Black faculty members taking on new assignments are Alex Manning at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, Renée Crichlow at the University of Minnesota, Breea Willingham of the State University of New York-Plattsburgh, and Nathan Stevens at Illinois State University.
Some Good News for Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida
E. LaBrent Chrite, president of Bethune-Cookman University, announced that the university had been removed from probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and that its accreditation remains in place.
Cato Laurencin Honored for Promotion of Social Justice in Medical Education
Cato T. Laurencin is the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, professor of chemical engineering, materials sciences, and biomedical engineering, and one of only two University Professors at the University of Connecticut.
North Carolina A&T State University Reports Its Fifth Consecutive Year of Record Enrollments
This fall there are 12,754 students enrolled at North Carolina A&T State University, continuing a growth trend that began in 2013, when it became the largest HBCU in the nation. It has held that status now for seven consecutive years.
Five African Americans Who Have Been Assigned New Administrative Posts in Higher Education
Taking on new roles are Maria Madison at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, Rick W. Smith Sr. at Pennsylvania Regional College, Antionette Marbray at Stevenson University in Maryland, Philip D. Adams at Xavier University in New Orleans, and Shenna M. Woods at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis.
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.
University of Maryland Names Women’s Studies Department After Harriet Tubman
This is the first time that an academic department at the University of Maryland will be named after someone honorifically. The women’s studies department is the only one in the country that offers a Black women’s studies minor.
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.
Emory University Acquires the Personal Papers of Kathleen Cleaver
Kathleen Cleaver served as the communications secretary of the Black Panther Party. Later in her career, she served on the faculty at the Emory University School of Law.
University of Oregon Now Offering a Minor Degree Program in Black Studies
Students minoring in Black studies will take 24 credits. The only required course in the minor is an introductory course with a focus on either African American studies or the African Diaspora.
Columbia University to Remove the Name of a Slave Owner From a Campus Building
Samuel Bard was a significant physician in the 18th century, a pioneer in obstetrics and treating diphtheria, who served as George Washington’s doctor. Dr. Bard also owned at least three slaves.
New Report Documents Low Level of Numeracy in Adult Black Population
The assessment defines numeracy as “the ability to access, use, interpret and communicate mathematical information and ideas in order to engage in and manage the mathematical demands of a range of situations in adult life."
Kendrick Brown Will Be the Next Provost at Morehouse College in Atlanta
Dr. Brown has been serving as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California. Prior to his five-year tenure at Redlands, Dr. Brown served as a senior administrator at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
How Societal Inequality and Racism Impacts Health Disparities in the United States
Lead author Quianta Moore, a fellow in child health of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas, states that "not only are we not all equally healthy, but we do not all have an equal opportunity to be healthy."
Bunmi Olatunji to Lead the Graduate School at Vanderbilt University in Nashville
Bunmi Olatunji, the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Psychology, was appointed interim dean of the Graduate School at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Olatunji had been serving as associate dean of academic affairs.
Study Finds a Racial Gap in the Timing of Diagnoses of Autism Disorders
In this study involving 584 African American children at four autism centers across the United States, the average African American child already was almost 5½ years old at the time of diagnosis. White children are diagnosed an average of six months earlier.
The New Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Assessment at Howard
Before joining the Howard University community, Dr. Morris Thomas was an associate professor and the inaugural director for the Center for the Advancement of Learning at the University of the District of Columbia.
Four African American Faculty Members Who Are Taking on New Assignments
Taking on new positions or duties are Stephanie Luster-Teasley at North Carolina A&T State University, Michael C. Mason at Berklee College in Boston, M. Denise Lovett at Valdosta State University in Georgia, and Nina Lyon Bennett at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
