Black Issues in Higher Education articles from December 2004

Black Issues in Higher Education archives from December 2004

African American art front and center.(Editor's Note)(Editorial)
December 2, 2004... Three years ago we featured Paul R. Jones, following his decision to donate his extensive collection of African American art to the University of Delaware (see Black Issues, March 29, 2001). And three years later, the University of Delaware has...

Lending a helping hand.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 2, 2004... Thank you for calling attention to President William Harvey's excellent mentoring of chief administrators who later become college presidents (see Oct. 21, 2004). His grooming such leaders for a presidency bodes well for his commitment to...

Hazing and pledging--not synonymous terms.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 2, 2004... This is a response to the question asked by Dr. (Ricky) Jones in the Oct. 21,2004, edition of Black Issues (see "BI Forum") "Is it time to disband Black fraternities and sororities?" This question reminds me of the often-heard refrain, "Is it...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 2, 2004... In the Nov. 4 "On the Move," the wrong photo accompanied Dr. Walter R. Allen's appointment. Black Issues regrets the error.

GOP strengthens control of Capitol Hill: Congressional Black Caucus gains three new members; Senate gets first Black member since 1999.(Washington Update)
December 2, 2004... The 2004 congressional elections will bring major changes in the House and Senate next year, with larger Republican majorities but also more African Americans on Capitol Hill. The GOP stands to gain four seats in the Senate and another four...

Ohio African Americans cast important votes in presidential election.(Washington Update)
December 2, 2004... Did African American voters help tip Ohio to President Bush's column in the 2004 election? A respected analyst thinks so. Bush captured 16 percent of the African American vote in that swing state this year, up from just 9 percent in 2000,...

Rice expected to face smooth Senate confirmation as Secretary of State.(Washington Update)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... President Bush turned to his most trusted foreign policy advisor, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, to lead U.S. diplomacy during his second term, replacing Secretary of State Colin Powell. Rice, who is considered more of a foreign policy hardliner...

Deciding his own fate: handing in his resignation, FAMU president Fred Gainous chooses to forgo trustee vote.(Noteworthy News)
December 2, 2004... TALLAHASSEE, FLA. Florida A&M University President Fred Gainous dealt the final blow to his career at the 117-year-old university, choosing to forego a vote by the school s governing board and hand in his resignation. The resignation...

American University assists Nigeria in establishing U.S.--style University.(Washington)
December 2, 2004... Next September Nigerian students will be able to get an American-style college education right in their own country. With the help of management and academic advice from American University (AU) in Washington, D.C., the new university will also...

International student enrollments decline by 2.4 percent in 2003/2004.(Noteworthy News)
December 2, 2004... WASHINGTON The number of international students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions decreased by 2.4 percent in 2003/2004 to a total of 572,509, according to "Open Doors 2004," the annual report on international academic...

N.C. Central restores funding for student literary magazine.(Noteworthy News)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... DURHAM, N.C. The chancellor of North Carolina Central University restored the budget of the school's literary magazine--and gave it a little boost. Chancellor James H. Ammons said he didn't realize that the 39-year-old Ex Umbra...

Former FAMU band member wins $1.8 million verdict in hazing suit.(Noteworthy News)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... A former Florida A&M University marching band member who was badly beaten during a 2001 hazing incident won a $1.8 million verdict in a civil battery case. Marcus Parker, now 21, was beaten so badly with a paddling board during a Marching 100...

Education groups push for greater diversity in teaching force.(Noteworthy News)
December 2, 2004... WASHINGTON A glaring lack of racial and cultural diversity among teachers is hurting the chances of success for minority students, a coalition of school groups contends. A small but growing body of research shows minorities tend to do...

Heart drug for blacks Sparks Controversy Over Target Marketing.(Noteworthy News)
December 2, 2004... NEW ORLEANS The largest study ever done solely on Blacks with heart failure raises the controversial prospect of the first drug that might be marketed to a specific racial group. The experimental drug, BiDil, dramatically improved...

Southern University regains teacher training accreditation.(Noteworthy News)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... BATON ROUGE, LA. Southern University's teacher training program has regained full national accreditation. About 90 percent of would-be teachers at the Baton Rouge campus now pass the Praxis exam, a test that assesses their prowess in their...

Black journalists association concerned about impact of downsizing on newsroom diversity.(Noteworthy News)
December 2, 2004... WASHINGTON The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is troubled over the impact on newsroom diversity as the news media industry continues its steady pace of layoffs, buyouts and downsizing. At least five Black journalists...

Iowa's Black athletes Lag behind in graduation rates.(Noteworthy News)
December 2, 2004... DES MOINES, IOWA Black athletes at three of Iowa's largest colleges graduated at rates far below the national average for Division I schools, The Des Moines Register reported. Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa...

i poll.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Following are the results from the Nov. 4, 2004, edition's poll question posted on the Black Issues Web site. Q: How important is fluency in languages other than English for you? Responses Very important: 48.78% I need it...

U.S. Supreme Court debates use of racial segregation in prisons.(Noteworthy News)
December 2, 2004... WASHINGTON The Supreme Court took up a racial segregation case last month that asks if Black California inmates are being unconstitutionally bunked together for months at a time, in the name of keeping prisons safe. The Bush...

North Carolina HBCU working to produce textbooks for Benin.(Noteworthy News)
December 2, 2004... RALEIGH, N.C. With a little help from a boy named Bio, educators and students at historically Black St. Augustine's College are trying to improve education in the West African nation of Benin. They are part of a U.S. Agency for...

Rome university introduces Mafia studies.(Noteworthy News)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... ROME The Mafia has been the subject of countless films, books and even museums in Italy. Now it is also the subject of a university course. The class, which opened last month at the Faculty of Law of the Roma Tre University, looks at...

Journalism school to review statistics course requirement.(what's new)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... EVANSTON, ILL. Many aspiring journalists enter the field for several reasons, often to avoid dealing with numbers. Not so at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, which is assessing options this year to restructure...

Black Star project, Toyota to launch Parent University initiative.(what's new)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... CHICAGO Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc. is partnering with the Chicago-based Black Star Project to send parents back to school. Toyota has committed $240,000 to launch the new three-year program, the Toyota Black Star Parent University, to...

RIT offers high-tech master's degree-for free.(Rochester, N.Y.)(Rochester Institute of Technology)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Deaf or hard-of-hearing college graduates with a bachelor's degree are invited to apply to the Professional Fellowship Program at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), a college of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). This...

Erasing an absence: the Paul R. Jones collection's inaugural exhibition of African American art treasures debuts at University of Delaware.
December 2, 2004... With the opening of "A Century of African American Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection" at the University of Delaware this fall, the inclusion of African American art in the annals of American visual art is believed to have taken a significant...

Something all his own: the NBA's Grant Hill hopes his collection of African American art will inspire, excite a younger generation.
December 2, 2004... NBA star Grant Hill is known for his skills on the basketball court, his marriage to Grammy award-winning singer, Tamia, and, most recently, for his courageous comeback after several surgeries that jeopardized his professional basketball...

Preserving native traditions: the National Museum of the American Indian gives Native peoples, scholars permission to claim their voices, share their stories.
December 2, 2004... There's a monumental new presence rising above the elm trees on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.,--and it's not like anything else you'll see there. It's as if a vision from an ancient cliff city of the desert Southwest--five stories worth...

Report forecasts job growth in online security field.(tech briefs)
December 2, 2004... WASHINGTON The number of professionals in the cyber-security field is predicted to grow at an annual rate of nearly 14 percent from now until 2008, according to a study released last month at the Computer Security Institute (CSI) trade...

Online education critical to higher education, survey says.(tech briefs)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... ORLANDO, FLA. The 2004 Sloan Survey of "Online Learning, Entering the Mainstream: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States, 2003 and 2004," shows that online enrollments continue to grow at rates faster than for the...

Cybercitizen awareness program targets college students.(tech briefs)(www.definetheline.com)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... WASHINGTON The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has launched Define the Line" , an awareness program designed to educate students about the importance of being good cybercitizens and respecting the intellectual property of copyrighted...

Don't get "phished" out of cyberspace.(Personal Computing)
December 2, 2004... Don't do it. Don't click on links in any e-mail messages you receive that ask or demand you to update your credit card, bank, Social Security or other financial information, or verify your password at eBay, PayPal or other e-commerce Web sites....

University of Alabama-Birmingham.(On The Move)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... THOMAS ALEXANDER has been named to the newly created position of special assistant to the vice president for student affairs for diversity issues at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Previously he was director of student programs and...

Southern University.(On The Move)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... DR. BARBARA WEST CARPENTER has been named dean of international education at Southern University in Louisiana. Previously she was director of the division of continuing education and Mexico Study Abroad Program at Southern. Carpenter earned a...

Pomona College.(On The Move)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... DR. CECILIA A. CONRAD has been named an associate dean of Pomona College in California. She has been part of the Pomona College faculty since 1995 and is the Stedman-Sumner Professor of Economics. Conrad received a bachelor's from Wellesley...

Winston-Salem State University.(On The Move)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... DR. RANDY W. MILLS has been named assistant provost for planning and administration at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. He received a bachelor's from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master's from the...

Western Carolina University.(On The Move)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... THOMAS PETERS has been named assistant intramural director at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. Previously, he was a recreational services intern at Cornell University. Peters earned a bachelor's from the University of Louisiana at...

North Carolina Central University.(On The Move)(appointment)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... NORMA D. PETWAY has been named the new director of alumni affairs at North Carolina Central University in Durham. Prior to her appointment, she worked as a customer relations manager for Wachovia Corp. Petway received a bachelor's from North...

Baruch College.(Grants & awards)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Baruch College (N.Y.) received a $12 million gift from Lawrence N. and Eris Field to support the renovation and modernization of Baruch's historic classroom building, which will be renamed after the couple, and to fund the Larry and Eris Field...

Cleveland State University.(Grants & awards)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Cleveland State University received $6.25 million, its largest philanthropic gift in its 40-year history, from Iris S. Wolstein, in memory of her husband, Bert L. Wolstein, to create the Bert L. Wolstein Building Fund and the Bert L. and Iris...

Empire State College, State University of New York.(Grants & awards)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Empire State College, State University of New York, has been awarded a $2.4 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education as part of the No Child Left Behind initiative. The funds will be used to enhance efforts to recruit and train...

Huston-Tillotson College.(Grants & awards)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Huston-Tillotson College (Texas) has been awarded $1.9 million for its Title III Project for 20042005 to develop/revise academic areas, improve instructional strategies, provide incentives for professional development, promote faculty research,...

Kentucky State University.(Grants & awards)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... Kentucky State University received $330,000 from the Federal Highway Administration and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to provide a supportive-services program to recruit and train men and women for entry-level jobs in construction.

North Carolina A&T State University.(Grants & awards)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2004... North Carolina A&T State University is the recipient of a $10 million planned gift from Janice Bryant Howroyd, founder and CEO of Act I Group in Torrance, Calif., reportedly one of the largest alumni gifts given to an HBCU.

Events.(Calendar)
December 2, 2004... DECEMBER Dec. 27-30 Modern Language Association (MLA) 120th Annual Convention Philadelphia Phone: (646) 576-5000 Fax: (646) 458-0030 Web: www.mla.org JANUARY Jan. 14-15 African American Student Leadership 11th Annual...

Letting time tell the story.(Last Word)(Editorial)
December 2, 2004... African American enslavement ended in 1865, which makes current college populations (ages 18-25) only 139 years removed from enslavement. Furthermore, most students are only two generations removed from the Jim Crow era, making it very likely...

Musical chairs and other character indicators.(Editor's Note)(Editorial)
December 16, 2004... Isn't it a great thing that no individual, group or entity has a monopoly on music? Sure, there still exist many obstacles to prevent exposure to the full range of musical forms and performers. But even when one is isolated by geographical,...

After delays, congress wraps up budget bill: minority-serving colleges gain small increases.(Washington Update)
December 16, 2004... College access programs and minority-serving colleges would gain small increases while Pell Grants may face more uncertainty under a long-awaited 2005 education budget bill that will become law soon. Part of a $388-billion omnibus spending...

New head of Education Department expected to focus on K-12.(Washington Update)
December 16, 2004... Though a new leader will soon take the helm at the Department of Education, some educators say the Bush administration's gaze will stay fixed on K-12 issues instead of higher education. Secretary of Education Roderick Paige, who announced his...

Making the grade? Black coaches issue report card on minority hiring.(Noteworthy News)(Interview)
December 16, 2004... Nearly two-thirds of 28 colleges got an A or B in the first Black Coaches Association "report card that evaluated the proc used to hire a new head football coach. The report looked at the schools in Divisions I-A and I-AA that had an opening...

In the line of fire.(Noteworthy News)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... In a surprise announcement. Notre Dame head football coach Tyrone Willingham was fired Nov. 30, three years into a five-year contract. Reactions t the recent firing were significant (see story, pg. 14): Tyrone Willingham * Former...

College Board approves Ayers funding.(Noteworthy News)
December 16, 2004... JACKSON, Miss. The state College Board in November approved $59 million in funding for historically Black colleges, money that had been stalled pending an appeal of Mississippi's college desegregation case. Board spokeswoman Sarah...

Association criticizes Meharry for treatment of faculty.(Noteworthy News)
December 16, 2004... NASHVILLE, TENN. A national higher education advocacy group is defending several former Meharry Medical College faculty members who say they were wrongfully let go. Dr. Joel Trupin, 70, and three other professors sued Meharry in...

Critics question Ward Connerly's pay package.(noteworthy news)
December 16, 2004... LANSING, MICH. Critics of a planned 2006 ballot initiative that would ban affirmative action in government hiring and college admissions in Michigan are questioning whether the petition drive's leader violated tax regulations. ...

California regents vote against adding 'Multiracial' box to application forms.(noteworthy news)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... LOS ANGELES University of California regents last month rejected a proposal to add a "multiracial" box to application forms. Critics complained the plan would make it harder to collect data on minorities. The regents' educational...

Notre Dame football coach Tyrone Willingham Fired.(noteworthy news)
December 16, 2004... SOUTH BEND, IND. Tyrone Willingham was fired Nov. 30 as coach at Notre Dame for failing to turn the nation's most storied football program back into a national championship contender. He was fired three days after the Irish lost 41-10...

A first, more than half of University of New Mexico freshmen are minorities.(noteworthy news)
December 16, 2004... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Minority students make up just over half of new freshmen at the University of New Mexico (UNM) for the first time in the school's history. UNM enrolled a record 3,086 freshmen this fall. That includes 1,550 Hispanics,...

NAACP to search for new leadership.(noteworthy news)
December 16, 2004... BALTIMORE National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) President Kweisi Mfume said Nov. 30 that he's stepping down as the head of the nation's oldest and largest civil fights group to spend more time with his family....

Study: few minority football coaches reflects leadership.(noteworthy news)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... ORLANDO, FLA. The dearth of minorities who are college football head coaches reflects the lack of diversity among campus and conference leaders, a University of Central Florida study released in November concludes. UCF's Institute for...

Tavis smiley to leave NPR after three years.(noteworthy news)(National Public Radio)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... WASHINGTON Talk-show host Tavis Smiley announced Nov. 29 that he will be leaving National Public Radio, which he said has tried hard but fallen short of reaching "a broad spectrum of Americans who would benefit from public radio." ...

Report: community colleges challenged to serve diverse, multi-tasking students.(noteworthy news)
December 16, 2004... AUSTIN, TEXAS A national report released last month offers new findings on students' experiences in community colleges, where almost half of the undergraduate students in American public colleges and universities are now enrolled. ...

Benchmarks & Barriers: for people of color in higher education.(Second Annual BIHE National Conference)
December 16, 2004... May 19-21, 2005 Marriott Crystal Gateway Arlington, Virginia (Washington, D.C., metropolitan area) The second annual Black Issues In Higher Education Benchmarks & Barriers conference will bring participants poignant and...

New England tribal college would be the first to serve eastern tribes.(noteworthy news)
December 16, 2004... HARTFORD, CONN. The modern-day reawakening of American Indian groups across New England could spawn something never seen on the East Coast: a college dedicated to the region's estimated 40,000 people with native roots. A tribal...

Howard, other HBCUs launch initiative in teaching and learning.(what's new)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... WASHINGTON The Howard University Graduate School has joined Jackson State University, Talladega College and Xavier University of Louisiana in a major initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of...

Tom Joyner Foundation kicks off 2005 fund-raising campaign.(what's new)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... ATLANTA A driving force in raising much-needed funds for students attending historically Black colleges and universities, the Tom Joyner Foundation recently announced the 11 schools that will receive funding in 2005. Recipients...

UGA Graduate School to fund research on completion rates of doctoral students.(what's new)(University of Georgia)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... ATHENS, GA. The University of Georgia Graduate School has been awarded a $200,000, three-year grant from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) to fund research on completion rates of doctoral students, particularly those among minorities...

With all strings attached: composer William C. Banfield notes the clash of artistry and commerce while weaving together a world of music.(Cover Story)
December 16, 2004... He's "a modern magician" of music who has only to raise his baton to "(fetch) forth a spirit and image that touches new meanings and interpretations. Nobody interprets with a clearer voice and higher tone," says Dr. Ray Browne, founder of...

Leading the way: celebrating 25 years in 2005, Philadelphia-based program seeks innovative ways to expand outreach effort for talented minority students in business and other disciplines.
December 16, 2004... As a teen-ager from a working-class family in South Side Chicago, Charles Crockett had dreams of attending law school and becoming a corporate lawyer. In the summer of 1982 prior to his senior year in high school, Crockett attended a four-week...

Alternatives to Greek-letter organizations warrant a second look.(BI Forum)
December 16, 2004... Because of the discriminatory practices and lack of appeal of many predominantly White Greek-letter organizations, students of color sought the development of their own. Alpha Phi Alpha, Rho Psi, MALIK Sigma Psi, Lambda Theta Phi, and Alpha Pi...

New SAT or no SAT?(Speaking Of Education)
December 16, 2004... "The SAT is changing in March 2005," screams College Board's Web site, complete with a photo of diverse students in what, presumably, is a preparatory context. "Students shouldn't worry," the site goes on to say. "The College Board will help...

How to respond to flames without getting singed.(Personal Computing)
December 16, 2004... If you've spent any amount of time in online discussion groups, you probably know that their single most defining characteristic is the prevalence of angry, epithet-strewn arguments, called "flamewars." The level of online hostility, with...

Fisk University among 10 schools chosen to receive wireless Internet technology.(tech briefs)
December 16, 2004... VIENNA, VA. The Higher Education Wireless Access Consortium (HEWAC), and WiSE Technologies--a Maryland-based wireless Internet service provider--last month announced the 10 schools selected as winners of the recently concluded competition...

University of California Institute to fund IT collaboration between faculty.(tech briefs)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... IRVINE, CALIF. The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal(IT)2), a collaborative venture of the University of California at Irvine and the University of California at San Diego, will administer a new...

UC Berkeley researchers claim electronic voting irregularities in Florida.(tech briefs)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... BERKELEY, CALIF. A research team at the University of California at Berkeley released a statistical study last month reporting that irregularities with electronic voting machines may have awarded more than 130,000 excess votes to President...

Black Notes: Essays of a Musician Writing in a Post-Album Age.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 16, 2004... Black Notes: Essays of a Musician Writing in a Post-Album Age By Dr. William C. Banfield Scarecrow Press Inc., 2004 360 pp., $30.00 paper 0-8108-5278-X Following in the footsteps of renowned authors like Alain Locke, Harold Cruse and Amiri...

The Two Reconstructions: the Struggle for Black Enfranchisement.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 16, 2004... The Two Reconstructions: The Struggle for Black Enfranchisement By Dr. Richard M. Valelly The University of Chicago Press, 2004 330 pp., $58.00 cloth ISBN 0-226-84528-1; $22.50 paperback ISBN 0-22684530-3 The Reconstruction era marked a...

The "Tragic Mulatta" Revisited: Race and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Antislavery Fiction.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 16, 2004... The "Tragic Mulatta" Revisited: Race and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Antislavery Fiction By Dr. Eve Allegra Raimon Rutgers University Press, 2004 208 pp., $21.95 paper ISBN 0-8135-3482-8; cloth ISBN 0-8135-3481-X In The "Tragic...

American Educational Research Association.(On The Move)(appointed Brown M. Christopher II)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... DR. M. CHRISTOPHER BROWN II has been named director of social justice and professional development at the American Educational Research Association. Brown is currently executive director and chief research scientist at the Frederick D....

New Mexico State University.(On The Move)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... DR. TROY FRANKLIN has been named director of Black Programs at New Mexico State University. Prior to his appointment he was director of the Black Community Service Center at Stanford University. Franklin earned a bachelor's from Central State...

Clark University in Worcester.(On The Move)(appointed Gadson Wesaline)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... WESALINE GADSON has been named director of academic advancement at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. Previously Gadson was TRIO coordinator at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, Mass. She received a bachelor's from the...

James Madison University.(On The Move)(appointed Harrelson Cheryl D.)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... CHERYL D. HARRELSON was named associate vice president for advancement information services at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. Previously she was director of the office of advancement services at North Carolina A&T State...

Johnson C. Smith University.(On The Move)(appointed Westary Kenneth)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... KENNETH WESTARY is the new vice president of institutional advancement at Johnson C. Smith University. Westary comes to JCSU from Tuskegee University where he served as associate vice president for university advancement and director of...

North Carolina A&T State University.(On The Move)(named Wickham Dewayne distinguished Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... DEWAYNE WICKHAM has been named Distinguished Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications at North Carolina A&T State University effective January 2005. He is a columnist for USA TODAY and the Gannett News Service. Wickham holds a bachelor's...

College of the Canyons.(Grants & awards)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... The College of the Canyons (Calif.) EPIC Center for the Performing Arts received $2 million from Vital Express, a local and national transportation service provider, and will be renamed the Vital Express Center for the Performing Arts.

Hampton University.(Grants & awards)(received a $107,459 grant from the Virginia State Council for Higher Education's No Child Left Behind Program)(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... Hampton University (Va.) was recently awarded a $107,459 grant from the Virginia State Council for Higher Education's No Child Left Behind Program, Title II, Part A. Ten Virginia institutions were awarded the grant, and Hampton is the only HBCU...