Monthly Archives: January 2022
How the COVID-19 Pandemic Influenced College Enrollment Rates
A new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center finds that college enrollment rates for 2020 high schools graduates have fallen significantly, especially for students from schools with a large percentage of students from low-income or underrepresented groups.
The Inaugural Dean of Texas A&M University’s Intercollegiate School of Engineering Medicine
Roderic I. Pettigrew is the Robert A. Welch Professor in the Texas A&M University College of Medicine and professor of biomedical engineering in the College of Engineering. He will lead the new school that will allow graduates to receive both a doctorate of medicine and master’s degree in engineering in four years.
The Extent of Racial and Gender Bias in Academic Research
A new study of more than 5 million articles published between 2008 and 2019 — primarily by U.S.-based researchers found that Black, Latino, and women authors are underrepresented in many STEM fields and often appear as authors only in less-cited fields.
Jennifer Brown Will Be the Next Provost at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Dr. Brown is currently the vice provost and dean for undergraduate education at the University of California, Riverside. Prior to joining the University of California, Riverside in 2018, Dr. Brown served as vice provost and dean of the Graduate School at Oregon State University. She began her faculty career at Purdue University in 2004. She will begin her new duties on April 1.
Telemedicine Could Be a Major Factor in Eliminating Racial Health Care Disparities
A new study from the Univerity of Pennsylvania medical school finds that attendance or “show” rates at follow-up appointments after hospitalization climbed among Black patients from 52 to 70 percent during the pandemic. The boost effectively eliminated the historical racial gap in show rates to follow-up appointments.
Beronda L. Montgomery Will Be the Next Dean of Grinnell College in Iowa
Dr. Montgomery currently serves as a professor in the departments of biochemistry and molecular biology and microbiology and molecular genetics, as well as assistant vice president for research and innovation at Michigan State University. She will begin her new job on July 1.
In Memoriam: Paul Carter Harrison, 1936-2021
Professor Harrison taught theater at Howard University, California State University Sacramento, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and finally Columbia College in Chicago where he taught for more than a quarter century until his retirement in 2002.
Student Expelled From a SUNY Campus After Posting a Racist Video
A student at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry of the State University of New York was expelled after he posted a racist video where he used a racial slur and threatened violence against African Americans.
Three African American Scholars With New Faculty Assignments
Seretha Williams was appointed chair of the department of English and world languages at Augusta University in Georgia. Randle Pollard will teach at the law school at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and Robert Linton, II has been selected as chief medical officer at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
New Initiative Will Help Preserve the Photographic History of HBCUs
Getty Images has made grants of $500,000 to four historically Black universities to digitally archive their photographic collections. Over 100,000 archival and contemporary photos will be converted to digital format in the coming months.
Five Black Administrators Taking on New Duties at Universities
Taking on new administrative duties are Daniel T. Okoli at the University of California, Merced, Stacy Gregg at South Carolina State University, Toni Mooney Smith at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Anthony Morgan at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and Kevin Hoult at Jackson State University in Mississippi.
Howard University Establishes the Housing, Urban and Economic Development Research Center
The center’s goal is to achieve an equitable and inclusionary society where currently underserved populations come to be properly served and inequities in housing, health, education, economic well-being, and community development are overcome through research and policy implementation.
Wright States’ Marlese Durr Honored for Her Work on Feminist Issues
Dr. Durr's research focuses on African American women in managerial positions in public institutions as well as specialized interests in labor markets, social networks, entrepreneurship, inner-city neighborhoods, and stressful life events for African American women.
The Three Finalists to Lead the Southern University System
Southern University has announced a list of three finalists for chancellor of the flagship campus in Baton Rouge and president of the Southern University System. They are Laurence Alexander chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Walter Kimbrough president of Dillard University, and Dennis Shields, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
Three African Americans Who Have Been Named to Higher Education Diversity Posts
Brianna Davis Johnson is the inaugural chief diversity officer at Central Ohio Technical College in Newark. Bobby Berry has been named an assistant dean for diversity and outreach at Wichita State University, and Patricia Harris is a new senior director in the Office for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In Memoriam: Edward Daryl Irons, 1923-2022
Dr. Irons, the second Black person to earn a doctorate at Harvard Business School, was the founding dean of the business school at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He later served as dean of the business school at Clark Atlanta University from 1990 to 1995.
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.
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.
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: Rayford Lee Harris Sr., 1924-2022
Harris taught industrial arts in the Richmond public school system, before joining the faculty at Virginia State in 1959. At Virginia State, he directed the industrial arts and technical education teacher training program. For 32 years, he prepared school teachers in woodworking, metalworking, and other industrial arts.
New Penn State Initiatives Aim to Boost Diversity in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology
Pennsylvania State University is undertaking multiple initiatives, including a collaboration with North Carolina A&T State University and the BRIDGE project, a new mentoring initiative for undergraduates who are from underrepresented minority groups or are first-generation college students.
In Memoriam: Kenya Siana Flash, 1980-2021
Kenya Siana Flash was the librarian for political science, global information, and government information at the Marx Science and Social Science Library on the campus of Yale University.
Comparing the Black Population to the Number of Black Doctors by State
Blacks are 10 percent or more of all practicing physicians in the District of Columbia, Georgia, Mississippi, and Maryland. Georgia fares far better than most southern states. Blacks make up 31 percent of the population and 16.3 percent of the doctors.
A Pair of Black Women Who Have Been Appointed to Provost Positions
Kathy Littles was named provost at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco and Donna Bradley is the new provost at Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois.
Yoshiko Harden Is the New Interim President of Seattle Central College in Washington State
Dr. Harden served as vice president for student services at Seattle Central College from 2016 to 2021. Prior to Seattle Central, she served as vice president for diversity at Bellevue College, and as director of multicultural services and student development at Highline College in Des Moines, Washington.
Indiana University Study Finds Lack of Diversity in Images in Sex Education Textbooks
Researchers in the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at the Indiana University School of Public Health analyzed skin tone and skin color diversity in 182 anatomical diagrams and images from eight contemporary, college-level human sexuality textbooks. They found that only 1.1 percent of all images showed dark skin tones.
Two African American Women Who Are Taking on New Duties as Deans
Amy Tillerson-Brown, a professor of history, is the new dean of the Mary Baldwin College for Women at Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, Virginia, and Chandrika Johnson has been appointed as the interim dean of the College of Education at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.
Two Scholars on Reparations Share an American Book Festival Prize
William A. Darity Jr. of Duke Univerity and A. Kirsten Mullen have won the 2021 American Book Festival Best Book Award in the Social Change category for their book From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century.
Morehouse College Launches the Black Men’s Research Institute
The institute, in partnership with Morehouse’s Africana studies and history department, will serve as a launchpad for the exploration of the first Black masculinities studies minor at a historically Black college or university, along with an online certificate program. The institute also plans to launch an annual symposium.
Three African American Male Scholars Who Are Taking on New Roles at Universities
Howard Rambsy II was named a Distinguished Research Professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Alfred L. Parks was named a Regents Professor at Prairie View A&M University in Texas and Selwyn Vickers, dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham medical school, has been given the added duties of CEO of the UAB Health System.
The Persisting Racial Gap in Homeownership and Mortgage Approval Rates
A new report from Zillow, the online real estate broker, finds that Black applicants are denied a mortgage at a rate 84 percent higher than White applicants, an increase of 10 percentage points since 2019. Black homeownership is at 44 percent, far below the peak of 49.7 percent set in 2004.
North Carolina Central University Launches a New Health Communications Program
The new program will focus on four key areas: improving health literacy, identifying and testing innovative approaches to improve communication, supporting research on health communications, and creating opportunities for students to share their passion for health equity and to have an impact on their communities.
Fayetteville State University Chancellor Honored for Supporting Military Veteran Students
Darrell T. Allison, chancellor of Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, was named the William Pearson Tolley Champion for Veterans in Higher education award winner by Student Veterans of America.
Prairie View A&M University Partners With Shell for a Soil Research Project
The PVAMU-Shell Nature-Based Solutions Research Program is aimed at effective carbon dioxide utilization and carbon capture by employing innovative renewable energy and environmental sustainability methods.
Six African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to University Administrative Positions
Taking on new administrative duties are Toya Corbett at the University of Virginia, Josiah J. Sampson, III at Jackson State University in Mississippi, Manica J. Finch at South Carolina State University, Pierre D. Joanis at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Akirah J. Bradley-Armstrong at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Ava Willis-Barksdale at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
In Memoriam: Gwendolyn Gordon, 1980-2021
Dr. Gordon was an assistant professor in the department of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a secondary appointment in the School of Arts and Sciences’ department of anthropology. She held degrees from three different Ivy League universities.
