Monthly Archives: March 2021
New Administrative Duties Have Been Assigned to Five African Americans in Higher Education
Taking on new roles are Barkley Barton II at the University of Georgia, Krista L. Cortes at the University of Pennsylvania, Dee Frazier at Clinton College in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Ollie Green III at the University of Pittsburgh, and Kerry Stevenson at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama.
Tuskegee University Establishes the Aerospace Education Research and Innovation Center
The Aerospace Education Research and Innovation Center will conduct two-year research projects in the areas of fatigue damage tolerance, experimental aerodynamics, and the performance of materials and components under extreme environmental conditions. The U.S. Department of Defense is supporting the center with a $2 million grant.
Kiki Petrosino of the University of Virginia Wins the 2021 Rilke Prize
Professor Petrosino was honored for her poetry collection that weaves together a variety of poetic forms – villanelles, a heroic crown and erasure – to explore her Black heritage and larger societal issues with the legacy of slavery and race relations in America.
Marriott and Howard University Team Up to Form a Center for Hospitality Leadership
The Marriott-Sorenson Center for Hospitality Leadership, which will be housed in Howard University’s School of Business, will feature a best-in-class program that expands educational and professional opportunities for Howard students and aims to develop future executives in the hospitality industry.
A Quartet of African Americans Who Are Taking on New Roles in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The four African Americans who have been appointed to diversity positions are Michelle Foster at Colorado State University, B. Sherrance Russell at the University of Missouri, Anita Dashiell-Sparks at the University of Southern California, and Kristina Marshall at Baker College in Michigan.
In Memoriam: Vernon Eulion Jordan Jr., 1935 to 2021
As a young attorney, Jordan worked on the legal battle to desegregate the University of Georgia. He later led the United Negro College Fund and the National Urban League
Stanford Moves to Establish African and African American Studies as an Academic Department
Persis Drell, provost at Stanford who favors the proposal, noted that it will not be until next year that the faculty who want to move to the department will develop a proposal that will be reviewed by the dean, advisory board, and, ultimately, the board of trustees, which must approve a new department.
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.
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.
In Memoriam Ralph Reavis Sr., 1940-2021
Dr. Reavis was the pastor of several churches and taught for more than two decades at Virginia Union University. In 2000, he was named president of his alma mater, now called Virginia University of Lynchburg. He served in that role until 2015.
The First Black Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Law Review
Brandie Burris is a second-year student at the University of Minnesota Law School. She is the first Black student to lead the Minnesota Law Review in the publication’s 104-year history. Burris is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
Census Study Shows a Small Increase in the Racial Gap in Bachelor’s Degree Attainments Since 2005
For the years 2015 to 2019, on average 21.6 percent of African Americans over the age of 25 held a bachelor's degree. For non-Hispanic Whites, the figure was 35.8 percent. This racial gap is slightly large than was the case in the period from 2005 to 2009.
Towuanna Porter Brannon is the New President of Thomas Nelson Community College in Virginia
Since 2016, Dr. Brannon has served as vice president for student services at Mitchell Community College in Statesville, North Carolina. Earlier she held administrative positions at several colleges in the New York metropolitan area.
Racial Segregation in Major Cities Is Not Just About Housing
A new study of more than 133 million tweets on Twitter from 2013 to 2015 conducted by researchers at Brown University and Harvard University finds that in most urban areas, people of different races don’t just live in different neighborhoods — they also eat, drink, shop, socialize and travel in different neighborhoods.
Julia Chinyere Oparah Will Be the Next Provost at the University of San Francisco
Dr. Oparah has served on the faculty at Mills College in Oakland, California, for more than 20 years. In 2017, she was named provost and dean of the faculty at Mills College. She will assume her new duties at the University of San Francisco on July 12.
Non-Virus Related Deaths During the Pandemic Also More Likely to Impact African Americans
As with the deaths that were directly caused by the virus, those linked to unemployment have taken a disproportionate toll on Black people, especially those with the least education. Black people make up 12 percent of the working-age population, but they comprised 19 percent of the projected excess deaths due to higher unemployment during the pandemic.
Rutgers University Names Campus Directors for the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice
The directors, who will lead the institute’s work at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Rutgers University-Newark and Rutgers University-Camden, will use humanistic theories, methods and approaches to study global issues of race and social justice.
