Three African Americans Who Are Taking on Roles Relating to Diversity at Universities

Sofiya Alhassan is the new associate dean for inclusion and engagement for the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A professor of kinesiology, she has served as the graduate program director of the kinesiology department since 2015. She joined the faculty at the university in 2007.

Dr. Alhassan holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and psychology from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. She earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in exercise physiology from Auburn University in Alabama.

Jacquez Gray is the assistant director of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety. He was serving as a community director and strategic integration manager at the university. Earlier, Gray was community director for housing and residence life at the University of Arizona.

Gray was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement and justice administration from Western Illinois University. He earned a master’s degree in leadership and student affairs from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Keona Lewis has been named assistant provost for academic diversity and inclusion at the University of Notre Dame, effective February 1. She has been serving as the associate director of research and evaluation for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Dr. Lewis taught in the anthropology and criminology departments at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

Dr. Lewis earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminology and her doctorate in applied anthropology from the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

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.

North Carolina A&T State University Mounts Effort to Educate Heirs Property Owners

Heirs property is land passed down through a family, often over multiple generations and to numerous descendants, without the use of wills or probate courts. In North Carolina, the value of land owned as heirs property is estimated at nearly $1.9 billion. Heirs property is disproportionately held by Black landowners.

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.

New Legislation Aims to Boost Entrepreneurial Efforts of HBCU Students

Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) has introduced the Minority Entrepreneurship Grant Program Act, bipartisan legislation that creates a grant program with the Small Business Administration for entrepreneurs at minority-serving institutions like historically Black colleges and universities.

Featured Jobs