Monthly Archives: May 2022
Bryn Mawr College to Require Students to Take a Course on Power, Inequity, and Justice
Bryn Mawr College, the highly rated liberal arts college for women in Pennsylvania has instituted a new 'Power, Inequity, and Justice' requirement that will be in place when the Class of 2027 arrives on campus in August 2023.
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.
Ashanti Hands Will Be the Next President of San Diego Mesa College
Since 2016, Dr. Hands has served as vice president of student services at Mesa College. She joined the college in 2008 where she has held positions as dean of student affairs, acting dean of student development and matriculation, and acting vice president of student services.
Study Finds a Large Racial Gap Among Young Adults Who Have a Good Job
A new study by researchers at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce finds that it takes Black/African American workers until their mid-30s to have roughly the same chances of having a good job as White workers have by their mid-20s.
Lovell Pugh-Bassett Will Be the First Black President of Camden County College in New Jersey
Dr. Pugh-Bassett has served as the vice president of institutional effectiveness, advancement, and strategic initiatives at Camden County College since August of 2019. Earlier, she was program coordinator for the math/science Upward Bound program at Temple University and then program director for Upward Bound at Philadelphia Community College.
How Affirmative Action Admission Bans Impacted Health Disparities During the Pandemic
In the year before the bans were implemented in eight states, underrepresented students made up an average of 14.8 percent of the total enrollment of those states’ public medical schools. By five years later, enrollment of underrepresented students at those schools had fallen by 37 percent.
Huston-Tillotson University President to Lead the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Dr. Pierce Burnette was named president of Huston-Tillotson University in 2015. She is the first woman to hold the position since the 1952 merger of Tillotson College and Samuel Huston College. She will take over leadership of the museum on August 1.
Report Finds That Remote Learning During the Pandemic May Widen Racial Gaps in Achievement
A new report finds that high-poverty schools both spent more weeks in remote instruction during the early pandemic and suffered large losses in achievement when they did so. Districts that remained largely in-person, however, lost relatively little ground.
Five Universities Announce the Appointments of African Americans to Positions as Deans
The new deans are Renée McDonald Hutchins at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore, Shawn Newton at Salem State University in Massachusetts, Buffy Smith at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, Grant Hayes at the University of Central Florida, and Christopher J. King at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Colleges and Universities Appoint Seven African Americans to Administrative Posts
Appointed to new administrative posts are Roberto E. Bryan Jr. at Fayetteville State University, Alycia Marshall at the Community College of Philadelphia, Gloria Walker at Florida A&M University, Ronald Gray at Manhattan College, Alayna Hayes at Vanderbilt University, Brian James at the University of North Carolina, and Amanda Slaughter at Bethel University in Indiana.
Fort Valley State University in Georgia to Begin a Master of Social Work Degree Program
The graduate-level program will focus on mental health, addiction, and clinical behavioral health. Internship and fieldwork placements will allow students to further their understanding of addiction and mental health through direct practice. The first classes are scheduled to begin during the Spring 2023 semester.
Emery N. Brown Selected to Share the Gruber Neuroscience Prize
Awarded annually by the Gruber Foundation, the prize honors scientists for major discoveries that have advanced the understanding of the nervous system. The prize, which includes a $500,000 award, will be presented to Dr. Brown and his co-recipients on November 13 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Benedict College Is the Inaugural Participant in the VA’s Health Care Talent Academy
The pilot program will increase awareness, knowledge, and empathy of future health conditions common in veterans among Benedict students interested in the health care field. Students will have an opportunity to do 20-40 hours of clinical shadowing and observing at the nearby Dorn VA Medical Center.
Five Black Scholars Who Have Been Assigned to New Positions or Duties
The five Black scholars who have been assigned to new roles or duties are Antwan Jones at George Washington University, Kiron Skinner at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, Marty Baylor at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, Bunmi Olatunji at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and James W. Mickens at Harvard University.
Historically Black Grambling State University Enters Partnership With the University of Belize
The agreement establishes a path where graduates of the University of Belize in Central America can work on and complete graduate degrees in the department of curriculum and instruction at Grambling State University through an online program.
New Roles as Higher Education Diversity Officers for Four African American Women
Taking on new roles n higher education relating to diversity are Tomarra Adams at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, Damira Grady at Madson College in Wisconsin, Wendy Smooth at Ohio State University, and Cheryl Nuñez at the College of Wooster in Ohio.
In Memoriam: Arthuryne J. Welch-Taylor, 1917-2022
Arthuryne Welch-Taylor taught at Texas Southern University, Prairie View A&M University in Texas, and what is now the University of the District of Columbia.
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.
Once Again, Robert Smith Takes a Major Step to Help Blacks in Higher Education
Robert F. Smith, founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, announced a gift of $15 million to the College of Engineering at Cornell University. The funds will be used to establish an endowed scholarship fund to provide financial aid for Cornell engineering students from urban high schools and graduates of HBCUs.
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.
College of William and Mary Dedicates a Memorial to the Enslaved Who Worked on Campus
The memorial resembles a fireplace hearth and is meant to symbolize both a place of community and the center of domestic enslavement. A vessel to hold fire that will burn on special occasions will be installed at the center of the Hearth at a later date.
Warren Hilton Will Be the First Black President of Onondaga Community College in New York
Dr. Hilton has been serving as vice president for enrollment management and student affairs at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. When he takes office on July 1, he will become the college's ninth president and the first African American to hold the position.
New Study From The Century Foundation Shows the Cities With the Most Racially Segregated Schools
The Century Foundation study finds that the de facto separation of students by race continues to be commonplace. As of the 2018–19 school year, one in six public school students attended schools where over 90 percent of their peers had their same racial background.
Predominantly Black Lincoln College in Illinois Has Closed
The economic burdens initiated by the pandemic and a ransomware attack in 2021 that crippled the college's recruitment, retention, and fundraising systems, were cited as the reasons that the college could not continue to operate.
How Racial Disparities in Income and Wealth Impact Educational Attainment in the United States
A new study finds that the United States is falling behind many countries in the developed world in terms of higher education attainment. Much of the decline in educational attainment is attributed to unequal income and wealth which limits the ability of Blacks and other underrepresented groups to afford a college education.
Universities Announce the Appointments of Four African Americans to Dean Positions
The four new deans are Tracey Weldon at the University of South Carolina, Jelani Cobb at Columbia Journalism School in New York City, Stacy L. Jones at the University of Alabama, and James Sattrfeld Jr. at Boise State University in Idaho.
Firearm Homicide Rates for Blacks Spiked During the Early Stages of the Pandemic
A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that from 2019 to 2020, the overall firearm homicide rate increased 34.6 percent, from 4.6 to 6.1 per 100,000 persons. For African Americans, the firearm homicide rate increased from 19.0 to 26.6 per 100,000 people.
Ty Stone Chosen to Lead Cleveland State Community College in Tennessee
Since 2017, Dr. Ty Stone has served as the sixth president of Jefferson Community College in Watertown, New York. Earlier, the Air Force veteran was vice president for strategic initiatives at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.
IBM to Establish Cybersecurity Leadership Centers at Six Historically Black Universities
IBM will develop for each HBCU a customized IBM Security Learning Academy portal. The six participating HBCUs are Clark Atlanta University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T State University, South Carolina State University, Southern University, and Xavier University of Louisiana.
Seven African Americans Appointed to New Administrative Positions in Higher Education
Taking on new duties are Stephen W. Fusi at North Carolina Central University, Christina K. Brogdon at Michigan State, Christine Lovely at the University of California, Davis, Tyron L. Clinton at South Carolina State, Pamela Baldwin at Fayetteville State, Antonion Fletcher at Fort Valley State, and Dena Freeman-Patton at Morgan State.
Savannah State University to Offer a New Degree Program in Data Analytics
The data analytics degree program is a joint effort between three of the university’s colleges: the College of Business Administration, the College of Sciences and Technology, and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and draws on critical competencies from each area of study.
A Trio of Black Scholars Who Have Been Given New Roles at Major Universities
Jonathan Bailey Holland was named to an endowed chair and as director of the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon Unversity in Pittsburgh. Deidre W. Evans, a computer scientist, will lead the Honors Program at Florida A&M University and Gwendolyn Scott-Jones was appointed to an endowed chair at Delaware State University.
Howard University Acquires a Collection of Gordon Parks Photographs
The breadth of the collection — which spans Parks’s earliest photographs in the 1940s through the 1990s — makes it one of the most comprehensive resources for the study of Parks’s life and work anywhere in the world.
Four African Americans Who Have Been Assigned Duties Relating to Diversity in Higher Education
Taking on new roles relating to diversity are Bobbie Porter at California State University, Dominguez Hills, Saint Rice at Washington University in St. Louis, Kent Guion at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and Pamela Braboy Jackson at Indiana University in Bloomington.
In Memoriam: Charles Lyman James, 1934-2022
Professor James joined the faculty at Swarthmore College in 1973 and remained on the faculty there for 32 tears. His research focused on the writings of Harlem Renaissance author Arna Bontemps.
