Underserved Youth

School Segregation is Widening Racial Achievement Gaps in U.S. Public Schools

A new study from scholars at Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Alabama, has found racial achievement gaps grow more quickly in districts where Black and Hispanic students attend higher-poverty schools than their White peers.

Black Women Are the Most Likely Group to Be Single-Parents

According to the United States Census Bureau, Back households were the most likely group to be a family household maintained by a women without a spouse, with about 25 percent of all Black households falling into this category.

CDC Finds Over One Third of Black American Adults Do Not Know How to Swim

The study found that 36.8 percent of Black adults reported not knowing how to swim, compared to just 15 percent of all adults. Researchers from the CDC suggest this difference is due to differences in access to swimming lessons in underserved communities.

UMass’ World Librarians Project Brings Educational Resources to African Countries

The University of Massachusetts at Amherst World Librarians Project works with 20 schools and libraries in Malawi, providing them with portable servers and WiFi hotspot devices loaded with open-access educational resources that can be used by students and teachers in solar-powered computer labs.

University of Kentucky to Remove a Mural That Is Offensive to Many Black Students

During the Great Depression, Ann Rice O’Hanlon painted a 38 feet wide, 11 feet tall mural on Kentucky history in Memorial Hall. The mural depicts enslaved African Americas hunched in a field, Black musicians playing for White dancers, and a Native American threatening a White settler with a tomahawk.

Columbia University’s Program to Introduce Young Women of Color to the Music Industry

The program brings young women of color from public high schools in Manhattan and the Bronx to the Columbia University campus for workshops on recording and producing their own music.

Illinois Schools Collaborate to Launch STEM Tech Camp for Teens From Underrepresented Groups

Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the Illinois Institute of Technology have partnered with the Oakland-based Kapor Center to launch the Illinois SMASH Academy, a 5-week, all-expenses paid STEM summer camp for high school students from underrepresented groups.

The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Exhibits Artwork of Black Youth

The "See Me Because" project offer youths from underrepresented groups the opportunity to portray the complex narratives about their identities, asking the world to see them for how they choose to be seen.

Virginia Tech Launches New Initiative to Bring a More Diverse Group of Students to Campus

Virginia Tech has launched a new initiative, the Calhoun Discovery Program, that works with Virginia communities that typically graduate a lower number of college-bound high school students.

Haverford College Students Serve as Mentors to Young Boys of Color in the Local Community

The educational initiative SURGE (Sons Uniting, Realizing Goals of Excellence) pairs up young African American boys in the surrounding community with men of color at Haverford College.

Survey Examines the Educational Aspirations of Black Students From Low-Income Families

The United Negro College Fund survey found that 89 percent of respondents strongly agreed with the statement that education beyond high school was important for African American youth from low-income families.

Clemson University Students Encouraging Reading at Black Barbershops

The Call Me MISTER (Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models) program at Clemson University in South Carolina is now sending students to local barbershops each week to inform children — and their parents — on the importance of reading early and often.

A Video Game Intervention Can Improve Sexual Health Knowledge Among Black Youth

A video game developed by researchers at Yale University has proven to be an effective tool to improve health knowledge and reduce risky sexual behavior among Blacks and teenagers from other racial and ethnic groups.

University of Houston Launches New Institute to Combat Racial Health Disparities

The University of Houston has announced the establishment of a new research institute entitled Helping Everyone Achieve a Life-Time of Health (HEALTH). The mission of the new institute is to lessen health disparities for marginalized or underserved populations.

Nonprofit Starting Text-Message Counseling Service for College Students of Color

Stephen C. Rose, a graduate of Harvard University, committed suicide at the age of 29. Now his family and friends have established a nonprofit organization for programs to provide mental health services for college students of color. The latest effort is a new text-messaging counseling service, scheduled to debut this coming winter.

Smith College Student Launches Book Series for African Children

Priscilla Takondwa Semphere, a native of Malawi, is a sophomore at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She won a contest that has provided her seed money to launch the Ekari series of books which she hopes will give African children a more positive view of themselves.

RISE (Research, Integration, Strategy and Evaluation) for Boys and Men of Color

A new organization has been established aimed at increasing the life chances of boys and men of color in four key areas: education, health, criminal justice, and economic opportunity.

Minority Male Community College Collaborative to Expand Nationwide

Since 2011, The Minority Male Community College Collaborative (M2C3) has partnered with over 45 community colleges in eight states. Now the organization plans to expand the effort to community colleges throughout the nation.

Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade Funds Literacy Program at Marquette University

Dwayne Wade, who played his college basketball at Marquette, has pledged to donate $195,000 over three years through his Wade's World Foundation to support a program to reduce the racial literacy gap among inner-city children.

Princeton University Aims to Make the Campus More Welcoming to Low-Income Students

A working group on undergraduate socioeconomic diversity has issued a broad set of recommendations designed to improve academic achievement and create a more inclusive and supportive campus climate for the benefit of all undergraduates.
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