Diversity

Taking on new roles as diversity officers are Anthony Jones at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, Shavonne Shorter at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Bruce King at Elmhurst University in Illinois, and Thomas Witherspoon at the University of Tampa in Florida.

Carl Hampton is the chief diversity officer at Governor State University in Illinois. Kristie A. Ford was named associate provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and Michael States was named associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

In 2014, the group Students for Fair Admissions filed a lawsuit alleging that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill unfairly uses race to give significant preference to underrepresented minority applicants to the detriment of White and Asian-American applicants, while ignoring race-neutral alternatives for achieving a diverse student body.

The five African Americans taking on new diversity roles are G. Christopher Hunt at Moravian University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Randi Congleton at the University of Pittsburgh, Herman Gray at Wayne State University in Detroit, Natara Gray at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and Jordan Brandt at the University of Kansas.

Of the more than 4.6 million students enrolled in private schools in the United States in 2019, 9.4 percent were Black or African American. Blacks made up a greater percentage of students in smaller private schools and in private schools in urban areas.

Tekita R. Bankhead has been named executive director for support programs in the Division of Access, Diversity, and Inclusion at Mississippi State University and Sonia Rucke was appointed the associate vice president of the department of inclusion and belonging at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Taking on new roles as diversity officers are Tacquice Wiggan Davis at the College of New Jersey, Phillip Cockrell at Cleveland Stae University in Ohio, Felysha Jenkins at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Nickey Woods at the University of Southern California School of Law, and Shawnboda Mead at the University of Mississippi.

Most colleges and universities were test-optional this past year due to the pandemic but some students still reported their scores. Only 31 percent of students from underrepresented minority groups reported test scores this past year, compared to 43 percent of all students who used the Common App.

The five African Americans who have been named to diversity positions are Sherrae Mack at Xavier University in Cincinnati, James Huguley at the University of Pittsburgh, Margie Gill at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia, Renee Madison at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, and Katrina Rugless at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky.

In an effort to encourage more African Americans to become teachers in the state, the Sachs Foundation in conjunction with Colorado College is offering African Americans who graduate from the college $10,000 for each of their first three years in the classroom if they become teachers in Colorado.

Nearly half of surveyed students believe that their school should require all students, faculty, and staff to participate in DEI training. An additional 46 percent of respondents believe that their schools should require all students to participate in a semester-long course on the history and root causes of the unequal distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges in society.

Taking on new roles as diversity administrators are Cerri A. Banks at Syracuse University in New York, Levon T. Esters at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, Wanda B. Knight at Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg, and Katrice A. Albert at the University of Kentucky.

There has been no progress in geoscience Ph.D. degrees in racial and ethnic diversity in 40 years. There has been an increase of racial and ethnic diversity at the bachelor's degree level but most of this is the result of a larger number of Hispanic graduates. Blacks make up just 3 percent of bachelor's degree awards.

Taking on new duties relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion are Brooke Berry at Virginia Commonwealth University, Daniel Hastings at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Barbara J. Lawrence at Rider University in Lawrence Township, New Jersey.

The African Americans assigned to new diversity posts are James McShay at the University of Maryland College Park, Dominique A. Quarles at Mississippi State University, Sharnnia Artis at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and Mel Williams Jr. at the Catholic University of American in Washington, D.C.

The five African Americans in new diversity posts are Adrian Smith at the Univerity of Arkansas, Tashiana Bryant-Myrick at the California Institute of Technology, Brian Barker at Florida International Universitiy, Ifeoma Kiddoe Nwankwo at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, and raven Baxter at the University of California, Irvine.

This year - when standardized test scores were not required -  4,608 Black students from California were admitted to an undergraduate campus of the University of California. This was up from 3,987 Black students a year ago.

Among public school teachers, 74 percent of those who had begun teaching in the 2016-18 period took courses on serving students from diverse backgrounds. Only 40 percent of public school teachers who started in classrooms before 1981 had the same training.

Taking on new roles as diversity officers are Larry P. Thomas at Pennsylvania State University, Sibby Anderson-Thompkins at Sewanee: The University of the South, Kauline Cipriani at Colorado State University, Lemuel W. Watson at Indiana University in Bloomington, and Norm Jones at Haverford College in Pennsylvania.

The new assistant deans for diversity at MIT are Alana Anderson in the Schwarzman College of Computing, Nandi Bynoe in the School of Engineering, Tracie Jones in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and Bryan Thomas Jr. in the Sloan School of Management.