The Sad Saga of South Carolina State University
The president of the university, who has been placed on administrative leave, has filed a lawsuit and the state legislature is considering proposals to replace the board of trustees.
Paul Drayton Jr. Named President of Burlington County College
Since 2010, Drayton has served as Burlington County Administrator. Previously, he served as director of special projects at Temple University in Philadelphia and taught at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Next President of the University of Richmond
Dr. Crutcher currently is the co-chair of Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP). From 2004 to 2014, Dr. Crutcher was president of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts.
Association for Black Culture Centers Moving to Northern Illinois University
The Association for Black Culture Centers is directed by Fred L. Hord, who is a professor and chair of Africana studies at Knox College. Under the agreement, Dr. Hord will join the faculty at Northern Illinois University.
Terri Givens Named Provost at Menlo College in California
Dr. Givens, a professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin, was the first African American women to serve as vice provost at the University of Texas.
Valerie Smith Named the 15th President of Swarthmore College
Valerie Smith, dean of the college and the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature at Princeton University, was named president of Swarthmore College. She will take office on July 1.
Norman Francis Receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Council on Education
Norman C. Francis has been president of Xavier University of Louisiana since 1968. He is the longest-tenured university president in the United States. For his service he will be honored in March by the American Council on Education.
Good News and Bad News for South Carolina State University
It appears that an earlier proposal to close the university for two years is now dead in the water. But after hearing the university's deficit grew by $4 million, a key legislative committee has proposed to oust the president and board of trustees.
Emery Brown Is Now a Member of All Three National Academies
Emery N. Brown, the Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
President of Chicago State University Announces He Is Stepping Down in 2016
Wayne Watson was named the 19th president of Chicago State in 2009. Previously, he was chancellor of the Community Colleges of Chicago from 1998 to 2009.
Clemson University Decides Not to Rename Tillman Hall
Tillman Hall on the campus of Clemson University was named after a White supremacist who was a staunch opponent of providing education to African Americans. Yet, the university's board of trustees has decided not to change the name of the building.
John I. Williams to Lead Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania
When he takes office on July 1, John I Williams Jr. will be the first African American to serve as president of any of the 26 higher educational institutions affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Karen Weddle-West Named Provost at the University of Memphis
Dr. Weddle-West has been serving as interim provost since last May. Previously, she was vice provost for graduate programs and the director of diversity initiatives at the university.
Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry Named President of the World Maritime University
Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry holds dual citizenship in Switzerland and the Commonwealth of Dominica in the Caribbean. She is a former lecturer in law at the University of the West Indies in Barbados.
University of Southern California Creates a Diversity Report Card on the Entertainment Industry
The Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California announced that it will conduct an annual survey and grade Hollywood entertainment companies on their diversity efforts.
A New Dean at Jackson State University in Mississippi
Dr. Robert Blaine was appointed dean of undergraduate studies and cyber learning. He has been serving as special assistant to the provost for cyber learning and is an associate professor of music at the university.
Pomona College’s Claudia Rankine Makes Literary History
Professor Claudia Rankine of Pomona College in Claremont, California, is the first author to have a work nominated as a finalist in two categories in the 39-year history the National Book Critics Circle Awards.
Eugene Washington Named Chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke University
Dr. Washington has been serving as dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine, vice chancellor for health sciences, and CEO of the University of California, Los Angeles Health System. He will begin his duties at Duke on April 1.
USC Professor Raphael Bostic Named to the Board of Freddie Mac
Raphael Bostic, professor at the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, has been elected to the board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.
Moses V. Goldmon Named Second in Command at Lane College
Dr. Goldmon was serving as an assistant professor of religious education at the Shaw University Divinity School in Raleigh and as pastor of Prince Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in New Hill, North Carolina.
Students, Faculty Call for Renaming Tillman Hall on the Campus of Clemson University
"When you educate a Negro," Benjamin Tillman said, "you educate a candidate for the penitentiary or spoil a good field hand." The main building on the Clemson University campus bears his name.
New $25 Million Program Will Promote Cybersecurity Education Programs at HBCUs
The White House has announced a new five-year, $25 million grant program of the U.S. Department of Energy to foster cybersecurity education at minority serving institutions. Norfolk State University in Virginia is the lead institution in the grant program.
President Obama Proposes Free Community College for All
President Obama has proposed that community college should be free to all students who are willing to work toward a degree. Some leaders in the Black community are concerned that the proposal may result in declining enrollments at four-year HBCUs.
Washington and Lee University Decides to Stop Holding Classes on MLK Day
The issue of the holiday honoring Dr. King is of particular significance to Washington and Lee University. General Robert E. Lee's tomb is located in a chapel on campus. Before the Civil War, the university had owned between 70 and 80 Black slaves.
Loren Blanchard Named Executive Vice Chancellor for the California State University System
Dr. Blanchard has been serving as provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Xavier University in New Orleans. He is the first person to serve as provost at Xavier. Dr Blanchard will take on his new role in July.
Danielle Allen Will Join the Faculty at Harvard University
In 2007, Dr. Allen was named the UPS Foundation Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. She was the first African American named to the permanent faculty at the Institute.
Helen Giles-Gee Leaves Presidency of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Dr. Giles-Gee became the 22nd president of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in July 2012. She was the first woman and the first African American president in the nearly 200-year history of the university.
University of Maryland Eastern Shore Names a New Provost
Patrick R. Liverpool was appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs. He has served as interim provost since July. He is the former dean of the School of Management at Delaware State University.
University of Pennsylvania Student From Zimbabwe Wins Rhodes Scholarship
Rutendo Chigora, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in international relations and political science, has been selected as one of the two Rhodes Scholars from the African nation of Zimbabwe.
Howard College of Dentistry Dean Leo Rouse Announces His Retirement
Dr. Rouse will continue as dean of the Howard University College of Dentistry for the remainder of the current academic year and then take a one semester sabbatical before retiring next December.
The New Provost at Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, North Carolina
Yvonne Moore Coston was promoted to provost and vice president of academic affairs at Saint Augustine's University. She was serving as vice president for research and innovation at the university.
The Racial Gap in Doctoral Degree Awards
In 2013, African Americans earned 6.4 percent of all doctoral degrees awarded to U.S. students. Therefore, African Americans earned about one half the number of doctorates that would be the case if racial parity with the Black population prevailed.
Two African Americans Win Marshall Scholarships
Ashton Richardson is a graduate of Auburn University and is currently enrolled in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University. Tayler Ulmer is a senior at Spelman College in Atlanta.
Duke Scholar Wins Grawemeyer Award in Religion
Willie James Jennings is an associate professor of theology and Black church studies at Duke University Divinity School. The Grawemeyer Award includes a $100,000 prize.
Spelman College “Suspends” the Cosby Endowed Professorship
On the heels of accusations of rape by nearly 20 women against Bill Cosby, Spelman College, a highly rated liberal arts educational institution for African American women in Atlanta, has removed the Cosby name from an endowed professorship.
The New Dean of the College of Sciences and Technology at Savannah State
Jonathan P. Lambright has been a professor and chair of the engineering department at the university for more than a decade. He has served as interim dean of the College of Sciences and Technology since July 2012.
