In Memoriam: Julia A. Miller, 1928-2021
In 1970 Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, established the Black Studies Center. Dr. Miller was the founding associate director. Within two years she became the director. She served in that role until 1984.
University of Delaware to Undertake an Effort to Examine Its History Regarding Race
In addition to examining its history regarding slavery and desegregation, the university will examine why African Americans aren’t choosing to come to the University of Delaware, and then what can be done to make it a more inclusive and accepting space. Blacks are 33 percent of public high school graduates in Delaware but only 5.6 percent of the student body at the university.
Accrediting Agency Places Florida Memorial University on Probation for Good Cause
In a statement, Jaffus Hardrick, president of Florida Memorial University, explained that "the issues that led to this action occurred over numerous years of dealing with financial challenges, declining enrollment, and aging infrastructure."
University of Mississippi Joins With Rust College in a Dual-Degree Program in Engineering
Under the agreement, students will spend their first three years at Rust College and then spend two years at the University of Mississippi School of Engineering. Successful students will be awarded a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Rust College and a master's degree in engineering from the University of Mississippi.
Florida State University Scholar Creates Documentary Film on Florida’s Plantations
Valerie Scoon, filmmaker in residence at Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts is the director of a new documentary film on the history of plantations and the enslaved in northern and middle Florida.
The Racial Gap in Traditional Four-Year High School Graduation Rates
New data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that nationwide 85.8 percent of students graduate from high school within the traditional four-year period. For Black students, the nationwide high school graduation rate was 79.6 percent. This was 10 percentage points below the rate for Whites. In some states, the gap is very narrow. In others, the graduation rate gap is more than 15 percentage points.
In Memoriam: Lee Vernon Stiff, 1949-2021
In 1983, Dr. Stiff joined the faculty of mathematics and science education at North Carolina State University. He rose through the ranks to become a full professor of mathematics education. At the time of his retirement in 2020, Dr. Stiff was the associate dean for faculty and academic affairs in the College of Education at the university.
Gilda Barabino Selected to Lead the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Gilda Barabino is the president of the Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts. She was the first African American woman admitted to the graduate program in chemical engineering at Rice University. In 1986, she was the fifth African American woman in the nation to obtain a doctorate in chemical engineering.
The High Toll of Gun Violence in Majority-Black Neighborhoods
Utilizing data from the Gun Violence Archive and American Community Survey, the researchers found that, among middle-class neighborhoods, the rate of gun homicides is more than four times higher in neighborhoods with mostly Black residents than neighborhoods with mostly White residents.
In Memoriam: Wynetta Devore, 1929-2020
Dr. Devore began her academic career at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. She then taught at Rutgers University before joining the faculty at Syracuse University's School of Social Work in 1980. She retired in 1999.
Racial Disparities in the Effect of the Pandemic on American Education
About 30 percent of Whites who had planned to take at least one college class this coming fall report they have abandoned their plans for higher education this year. For Blacks who planned to attend college, more than 37 percent have abandoned their plans to enroll.
Howard University’s Tamara Owens Named Outstanding Educator in Health Simulation
Tamara L. Owens, founding director of the Howard University Simulation & Clinical Skills Center, has received the Outstanding Educator of the Year award from the Association of Standardized Patient Educators.
In Memoriam: Samuel L. Myers Sr., 1919-2021
Dr. Myers served on the faculty at Morgan State University in Baltimore from 1950 to 1963 before going to work for the U.S. State Department. He was appointed the fourth president of Bowie State University in Maryland in 1968 and served in the post until 1977.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Is the First U.S. Host for PASET Ph.D. Scholars From Africa
Founded seven years ago with support from the World Bank, PASET offers African doctoral students the opportunity to study in the United States or South Korea with the goal of building a critical mass of researchers and university professors to tackle the continent's most pressing problems.
In Memoriam: Leith Patricia Mullings, 1945-2020
After teaching for six years at Columbia University, Dr. Mullings joined the faculty at the City University of New York in 1983. There she eventually became a distinguished professor of anthropology at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center.
Isabel Wilkerson Is the Inaugural Winner of the $100,000 NYU/Axinn Foundation Prize
A graduate of Howard University, Professor Wilkerson has taught at Emory University, Princeton University, Boston University, and Northwestern University. She won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1994, as Chicago Bureau Chief of The New York Times. She was the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism.
Vanderbilt Univerity Acquires the Photographic Collection of Rev. James Lawson
Lawson enrolled at the Vanderbilt Divinity School in 1958. While a student he helped organize sit-ins at lunchcounters in downtown Nashville. In 1960, he was expelled from the university for his participation in civil rights protests.
The Racial Disparity in Fatal Police Shootings Has Not Improved in Five Years
Researchers at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania analyzed more than 5,300 fatal police shooting from 2015 to May 2020. They found that Black people were killed at 2.6 times the rate of White people. Among unarmed victims, Black people were killed at three times the rate for Whites.
How Mental Health Practitioners Failed Former Enslaved African Americans
Victoria Robinson, a senior at Dillard University in New Orleans who is majoring in psychology has published a new study on the mental health of enslaved African Americans after they were emancipated following the Civil War.
Northwestern University Scholar Finds That Whites Underestimate the Extent of Racial Inequality
A new study by Ivuoma Ngozi Onyeador, an assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, finds that White Americans have a far more optimistic view of the racial progress that has been made since the 1960s than is actually the case.
Racial Disparities in Food Insecurity and Depression Among College Students During the Pandemic
New data from The Student Experience in the Research University Consortium, an academic and policy research collaboration based at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley, shows racial differences in how college students coped with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
College Students Exhibit Symptoms of PTSD After Watching Videos of Police Killings of Blacks
A new study by scholars at the Yale University School of Medicine and Rutgers University School of Public Health in Newark, New Jersey, finds that a majority of college students of color show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after watching social media videos of unarmed Black men being killed by police.
Cornell University Students Pitching In to Help Black Small Businesses
Empower is a new student-led initiative that connects Black-owned businesses with undergraduate student volunteers who offer their time and talent to support business operations or projects.
The Center for Studies on Africa and its Diaspora Founded at Georgia State University
The center will support research and academic initiatives, artistic efforts, and public programming, including exhibits, lectures and conferences, and advance policy proposals that target issues of concern to the African diaspora across the university and the broader community.
Slavery, Race and Memory Project at Wake Forest University Issues New Report
In 1836, the estate of John Blount, which included land and enslaved Black people was donated to Wake Forest. In 1860, 14 enslaved humans were auctioned for a total of $10,718 that added to the university’s endowment.
The Experiences of Women of Color at Law Schools in the United States
Recent research found that nearly one-half of law firm offices do not have a single partner who is a woman of color. The current study examines how the experiences of women of color at the nation's law schools lead to their underrepresentation in the legal profession.
In Memoriam: Lenwood G. Davis, 1939-2020
In 1978, Dr. Davis joined the history department faculty at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. He retired from teaching in 2015.
In Memoriam: Thomas E.H. Conway, 1949-2020
Dr. Conway had a 45-year career with the University of North Carolina System. He was named interim chancellor of Elizabeth City State University in 2016 and the position was made permanent in 2017. Dr. Conway retired at the end of the 2017-18 academic year.
Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore Named Provost at California Polytechnic State University
Dr. Jackson-Elmoore is currently dean of the Honors College at Michigan State University and a professor with affiliations in the School of Social Work and the Global Urban Studies Program. She also currently co-chairs a university-level Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Steering Committee.
HBCUs Securing Laptop Computers for All New Students
Online education has become an essential tool for colleges and universities to continue instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some HBCUs are taking steps to ensure that the students will have the technology they need if and when another emergency occurs.
Morgan State University Planning Options for the Fall 2020 Semester
David K. Wilson, president of Morgan State University in Baltimore, has taken actions to protect the university’s financial health throughout the coronavirus crisis and has unveiled three potential planning models to guide operations in the fall.
In Memoriam: Lila Althea Fenwick, 1932-2020
Lila Fenwick was the first Black woman to graduate from Harvard Law School. She died from complications of the coronavirus on April 4 at her home in New York City.
Benedict College in South Carolina Offers a New Group of Online Certificate Programs
Accessible through the Benedict College Virtual Learning website, students will have the opportunity to receive professional development certifications in programs such as cybersecurity, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, supply chain management and more.
In Memorial: Don Alden Crewell, 1952-2020
Crewell joined the California Institute of Technology as director of financial aid in 2007, a position he maintained until November 2019. Earlier, he served on the staff at the California College of the Arts, the California School of Professional Psychology, and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Did North Carolina A&T State University Police Use Excessive Force Against Black Student?
Verdant Julius, the sophomore class president at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, was arrested by campus police while attempting to enter his residence hall to clear out his belongings as the university transitioned to all online instruction.
University of Notre Dame Debuts Online Archive of Students’ Stories Relating to Race
The Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana has launched a new initiative to collect stories relating to race and encourage constructive dialogue at the university.
