Tag: University of Texas
In Memoriam: Alton Hornsby Jr.
After teaching briefly at Tuskegee University in Alabama, Dr. Hornsby joined the faculty at Morehouse College and served as chair of the history department for 30 years. After nearly 40 years on the Morehouse College faculty, Dr. Hornsby retired in 2010.
Alvia Wardlaw Honored by the Association of African American Museums
Alvia Wardlaw is a professor of art history and director and curator of the University Museum at Texas Southern University in Houston. In 1996, she became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in history at the University of Texas at Austin.
Howard University President Gets a Major Vote of Confidence
In 2015, Wayne A.I. Frederick became the 17th president of Howard University in Washington, D.C. Now the board of trustees of Howard University has extended his contract for five additional years after his first term is over in 2019.
Racism Rears Its Ugly Head on Several College and University Campuses
As series of racist incidents occurred on college campuses across the United States in recent days. Here are some examples.
Alumnus Gregory Vincent Named President of Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Currently, Dr. Vincent is the W.K. Kellogg Professor of Community College Leadership, professor of law, and vice president for diversity and community engagement at the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the faculty at the University of Texas in 2005.
Mark Smith Appointed Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Smith was a member of the 1980 and 1984 U.S. Olympic team in the sport of fencing. He currently serves as dean of the Graduate School at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He has held that post since 2009.
Fisk University in Nashville Announces the Selection of Its Sixteenth President
Currently, Dr. Kevin Rome is president of Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. Before taking on this role in 2013, Dr. Rome was vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at North Carolina Central University in Durham.
Black Students’ Loss of Trust in Their Teachers May Lead to Lower College Enrollment
A new study finds that middle school students of color who lose trust in their teachers due to a perception of mistreatment or unfairness are less likely to go to college, even if they achieved good grades and test scores that qualified them for college admission.
Racial Disparity in Family Member Deaths Can Add to Overall Racial Inequality
In a study of more than 42,000 individuals born in the 1980s, the authors found that Blacks were three times more likely than Whites to lose a mother, more than twice as likely to lose a father and 20 percent more likely to lose a sibling by age 10.
Selwyn Rogers Named the Founding Director of the University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center
Dr. Rogers, who has been serving as vice president and chief medical officer at the University of Texas Medical Branch since 2014, will also serve as executive vice president for community health engagement at the University of Chicago.
Two African Americans Named to Leadership Posts at Universities in Texas
Soncia Reagins-Lilly was named dean of students and vice president for student affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and James Douglas was appointed interim dean at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston.
University of Georgia Study Examines Blacks’ Reluctance to Seek Treatment for Depression
A new study led by Rosalyn Denise Campbell, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Georgia, finds that the stigma of mental illness in the African American community has a major dragging effect on the rate of Black Americans who seek treatment for depression.
Universities Take Steps to Remove Symbols That Many African Americans Found Offensive
The University of Texas removed an inscription from a wall that paid tribute to those who fought for the Confederacy and Cornell University renamed its 3,500-acre Cornell Plantations to the Cornell Botanic Gardens.
A New Database of Peer-Reviewed Articles on Black Males in Education
Louis Harrison and Anthony Brown of the University of Texas at Austin have created The Black Male Education Research Collection. The new website is a repository of research on issues relating to Black men in all levels of education, with a special emphasis on higher education.
In Memoriam: Austin Chesterfield Clarke, 1934-2016
Clarke was a native of Barbados. He came to Canada in 1955 to study at the University of Toronto. The author of 11 novels, he taught at Yale University, Duke University, and the University of Texas.
Supreme Court Upholds Race-Sensitive Admissions at the University of Texas
Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy stated that "considerable deference is owed to a university in defining those intangible characteristics, like student body diversity, that are central to its identity and educational mission."
Research Finds Ways for Black Students to Ease the Transition to College
The study found that incoming students who are exposed to challenges that are common and improvable become more likely to get involved on campus, build relationships, and ultimately succeed at a higher rate.
University of Texas System Initiates a “Rooney Rule” For Senior-Level Hiring
The University of Texas System has instituted a new policy that requires search committees to have a minority candidate among the finalists for every senior level administrative post on campus. The new policy is modeled after the Rooney Rule in the National Football League.
New Administrative Assignments for Eight African Americans in Higher Education
Here is this week’s roundup of African Americans who have been appointed to new administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
In Memoriam: Toni Kay Johnson, 1956-2016
Dr. Johnson joined the faculty at the University of Kansas in 2005 and was promoted to associate professor in 2012. Before joining the University of Kansas faculty, Dr. Johnson taught in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee-Memphis.
New York University Historian to Be Awarded the Frederick Douglass Book Prize
Ada Ferrer, professor of history and professor of Latin American and Caribbean studies, will be awarded the $25,000 prize for the best book of the year on slavery or abolition that was written in the English language.
Two Flagship State Universities Report Progress on Student Diversity
Blacks are 5.3 percent of the first-year class at the University of Texas at Austin, up from 4.2 percent a year ago. At the University of Colorado at Boulder, the number of African American undergraduates students is up 8 percent from a year ago.
University of Texas to Move Statue of Jefferson Davis to an Educational Exhibit
On the Main Mall of the University of Texas at Austin are seven statues. Along with George Washington, there are statues of several Confederate officials. University of Texas President Gregory Fenves has decided to remove the Jefferson Davis statue.
Duke Professor’s Program Seeks to Close the Racial Gap in Educational Achievement Among Youth
Angel L. Harris, a professor of sociology and African and African American studies at Duke University, is launching a new effort called Research on the Education and Development of Youth (REDY). His goal is to provide teachers with the tools to teach students who have different learning styles.
In Memoriam: Ray Floyd Wilson, 1926-2015
Ray F. Wilson taught chemistry at Texas Southern University in Houston for 42 years. In 1953, he was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin.
In Memoriam: Suzan Maria Armstrong-West, 1948-2015
Professor Armstrong-West had served on the faculty at Edward Waters College since 2008. Earlier, she was assistant dean of students at the University of Texas at Austin and dean of academic programs at Rutgers University.
Higher Education Grants of Interest to African Americans
Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Four African Americans in New Administrative Posts at U.S. Universities
The appointees are Celena Mondie-Milner at the University of Texas, Shana Lassiter at Columbia University, Greg Drane at Pennsylvania State University, and D. Jason DeSousa at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
University Study Finds Gender and Sexual Identity Differences in Openness to Interracial Dating
A new study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Texas finds White straight males and White lesbians are more open to interracial dating than White gay men and White straight women.
The 21st-Century Version of Black Studies
Kevin Foster, an associate professor of African and African diaspora studies at the University of Texas at Austin, has created the television production Blackademics TV.
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.
Huston-Tillotson University Partners With the University of Texas to Provide Health Services
The two universities will participate in the operation of the Sandra Joy Anderson Community Health and Wellness Center on the Huston-Tillotson University campus.
Higher Education Grants of Interest to African Americans
Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Lovell Jones Named Associate Dean for Research at Prairie View A&M University
Dr. Jones was a professor at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and a research professor in the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston.
University Study Links Racial Discrimination to Mental Health Problems
The study found that African Americans and Caribbean-born Blacks who experience discrimination in the United States are at a substantially higher risk for anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and other mental disorders.
University Innovation Alliance Aims to Help Low-Income Students Earn a College Degree
The alliance of 11 large public research universities says that it will test and disseminate proven innovations in education so college and universities across the country can be more successful in retaining and graduating all students, including those from low-income families.
