Tsosie Devoting Her Life’s Work to Teaching About Indian Law - Higher Education

Tsosie Devoting Her Life’s Work to Teaching About Indian Law - Higher Education: s a youngster coming of age in Los Angeles in the 1970s, Rebecca Tsosie became radicalized to the plight of the American Indian community when she learned of an international incident that transpired on February 27, 1973 in Wounded Knee, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Nearly 200 followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) had attracted national attention when they seized control of the town of Wounded Knee for 71 days in an effort to impeach tribal president Richard Wilson, whom they had accused of widespread corruption. The organization had also called on the U.S. government to reopen treaty negotiations, and they sharply criticized U.S. leaders for failing to fulfill its treaties with the Native people.

In the midst of the protests, armed FBI and U.S. Marshals were summoned to the scene, and a shootout transpired. Several people were killed.

When Tsosie, who is of Yaqui descent, learned of the incident years later from members of the AIM, she was not only intrigued, but she was inspired.

Civil rights leader Rev. T.J. Jemison dies at 95 | Home | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

Civil rights leader Rev. T.J. Jemison dies at 95 | Home | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA: The Rev. T.J. Jemison, a civil rights icon known as the architect of the 1953 Baton Rouge bus boycott, which later served as a nonviolent protest model for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Ala., died Friday.

He was 95.

Theodore Judson Jemison, commonly known as “T.J.,” died at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 15 at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, said Todd Sterling, a trustee at Mount Zion First Baptist Church on East Boulevard where Jemison preached for more than 50 years.

“There’s nobody that can replace him,” said East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden. “He was very unique and will go down as one of the most unique people that ever walked the streets of Baton Rouge.”

On the cusp of the African-American civil rights movement in 1953, Jemison helped organize a boycott of Baton Rouge buses by black riders who at the time were forbidden by a city ordinance from sitting in front of white people. The eight-day protest did not end segregation aboard public buses in Baton Rouge, but did force the city to make concessions in regard to what bus seats black people could occupy.

$1.8 million gift will let Museum of African Art explore Omani-East African links - The Washington Post

$1.8 million gift will let Museum of African Art explore Omani-East African links - The Washington Post: The National Museum of African Art announced a $1.8 million gift Tuesday, the largest in the museum’s history, from the sultanate of Oman to explore linkages between Omani and East African arts and culture.

The multi-year program, “Connecting the Gems of the Indian Ocean: From Oman to East Africa,” will begin in 2014 and include visual and performing arts, exhibitions, workshops and lectures.

The gift recognizes “the borderless character of the arts,” said Hunaina Sultan Al-Mughairy, Oman’s ambassador to the United States. “It is layered to showcase the historical links between the cultures and people of the Indian Ocean rim.” She said the program will be “fun, educational and profound.”

“The funding will make it possible to tell an amazing story” of trade and diasporic influence, said museum director Johnnetta Betsch Cole. It will include traditional and newly commissioned dance and music performances by Howard University, along with a commissioned opera with mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, who was on hand for the announcement.

Shideezhi Program Emerging as Pipeline Program for American Indian Girls - Higher Education

Shideezhi Program Emerging as Pipeline Program for American Indian Girls - Higher Education: When Philana Kiely would visit her family during holiday breaks in college, she noticed something was different about the younger cousins and kids in her former American Indian community, the Navajo Nation, which sits on the borders of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

“They were so full of energy, life, promise, potential, but then somewhere along the way, they lost that spark,” says Kiely, a half-Navajo, half-White MBA graduate who serves as the interim executive director of the National Association of Women MBAs. Alcoholism, violence and poverty took a toll on the young girls’ drive and optimism by the time they had reached their teens. “I wouldn’t hear about anyone going to school.”

Though Kiely had earned a master’s from the University of Houston’s C.T. Bauer College of Business and started a job in energy consulting, she was not satisfied. She felt she could do more. Seeing her extended family struggle to further their education inspired her to provide a support network for young American Indian girls, so Kiely reached out to the National Association of Women MBAs to pitch a mentoring idea.

Appiah Leaves Princeton, Headed to New York University - Higher Education

Appiah Leaves Princeton, Headed to New York University - Higher Education: Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah—arguably the nation’s most prominent black philosopher—has decided to give up his endowed professorship at Princeton University and will join the faculty at New York University in January.

Appiah, 59, will hold a joint teaching appointment in the philosophy department and the law school, and has been tasked with teaching at the Manhattan campus, as well as offering occasional seminars and courses to students enrolled at many of the university’s international campuses, like the ones in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai.

After 11 years as the Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton, Appiah said that the offer to join NYU was appealing.

“I’ve been challenged to think about the global side of NYU,” he said in an interview with Diverse a day after receiving his official offer letter from NYU. “This seemed exciting to me, especially as I think more about global ethics questions.”

Gap Ad Featuring an Indian Model Goes Viral After Racist Vandalism

Gap Ad Featuring an Indian Model Goes Viral After Racist Vandalism: You would expect New York City—one of the nation’s most diverse cities, in which more than a third of its 8 million residents are born in a foreign country—to be a haven for tolerance. But, a recent incident of subway graffiti would indicate otherwise.

On Sunday, as I was monitoring my social media feeds, I noticed a striking photograph of a Gap Inc. subway clothing advertisement taken by a friend and NYC photographer, Robert Gerhardt, which he took on the “downtown platform on the 6 train at the Buhre Avenue stop in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx” in New York City just a few days prior.

The Gap subway clothing advertisement in question depicted a turbaned Indian Sikh-American, Waris Ahluwahlia, an actor and fashion designer, next to a female model with the caption “Make Love.” followed by the Gap logo.

Some racist idiots decided to scratch out “Make Love” and replace it with “Make Bombs.” Another genius decided to use a black Sharpie to write “Please stop driving taxis” under the advertisement’s caption, as well.

After-school programs that change Latino students’ lives receive national award

After-school programs that change Latino students’ lives receive national award: On Friday, First Lady Michelle Obama gave 12 after-school programs from across the country the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. The award is the highest honor in the country for programs using the arts and humanities to help youth do better in school, keep them from dropping out, and raise their cultural awareness.

WriteGirl is a creative writing and mentoring organization in Los Angeles that helps teen girls discover and express their creative voices. It enrolls more than 350 teen girls, approximately 49 percent Latina, and many are from immigrant families where English is not the primary language.

Janel Piñeda, 17, of Salvadoran descent, has been a member of WriteGirl for the past three years. She told NBC Latino that the organization changed her life.

“Being involved with this program has turned me into such a confident person,” says Piñeda. “WriteGirl often has public readings. I never thought I’d be able to do something like that, but now it’s become so routine and easy.”

When she graduates high school, she says her goal is to get an MFA in creative writing.

Hispanic Scholarship Fund Makes Paying for College Possible for DACA Students

Hispanic Scholarship Fund Makes Paying for College Possible for DACA Students: The Hispanic Scholarship Fund announced today that effective immediately, students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status are eligible to apply for an HSF General Scholarship at http://www.HSF.net. The application deadline is December 15th, 2013.

According to a memorandum prepared by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that a DACA recipient – as is the case for any other deferred action grantee – is “authorized by the United States Department of Homeland Security to be present in the United States, and is therefore considered by DHS to be lawfully present during the period deferred action is in effect.”

According to USCIS, the purpose of DACA is to allow youth to come out of the shadows, to alleviate them of the fear of deportation, and to allow them to become open contributors to America’s workforce, military, and educational system. It is a national imperative to provide access to higher education for Hispanic students who will comprise 30% of the work force by 2050.

Latino students in Arlington explore careers - The Washington Post

Latino students in Arlington explore careers - The Washington Post: atino students from across Arlington County got to glimpse potential future careers at a leadership conference Friday at George Mason University.

About 200 students spent the day on the college campus and met with Latino professionals to hear how they pursued their educations and jobs.

“Bienvenidos a todos,” said George Mason president Angel Carbrera, a native of Spain, in a keynote address.
He encouraged the Arlington students to think without limits about their futures and to improve their chances of getting a good job by pursuing higher education.

He also told them what an advantage they have in an increasingly diverse country to be bicultural and bilingual.
The 21st annual leadership conference was coordinated by the Latin American Student Congress, representing students from all three Arlington high schools.

The event was conducted in Spanish (though some speakers opted for “Spanglish”), offering students a rare chance to communicate in their native tongue at school, said Francesca Reilly-McDonnell, a co-founder of the conference who oversees programs for English language learners.

She said the goal is to “honor their culture and language” and to help students feel comfortable.

Christian school to bullied African-American girl: Straighten your natural hair or get out | The Raw Story

Christian school to bullied African-American girl: Straighten your natural hair or get out | The Raw Story: A Christian school in Orlando, Florida told a 12-year-old African-American girl and her family that she must change her naturally curly, voluminous hair to a more conventional style or face expulsion from school.

According to Eyewitness 10 News, when 7th grader Vanessa VanDyke reported to school officials that she was being bullied and harassed by other students, they issued her an ultimatum.

Administrators told the girl that she had one week to choose between cutting and straightening her hair or leaving the school that she has attended since 3rd grade.

The pre-teen told Channel 6 that she’s proud of her hair.
“It says that I’m unique,” VanDyke said. “First of all, it’s puffy and I like it that way. I know people will tease me about it because it’s not straight. I don’t fit in.”

School officials have apparently decided that the little girl’s hair poses a danger to the learning process.

“Hair must be a natural color and must not be a distraction,” reads the school’s student handbook. Hairstyles like mohawks, “rat tails” and shaved designs are forbidden. The handbook itself, however, says nothing about natural or African-American hair.

School administrators took it upon themselves to tell Vanessa VanDyke “change your hair or get out” rather than deal with the children who harassed her.

“There have been bullies in the school,” said the girl’s mother Sabrina Kent. “There have been people teasing her about her hair, and it seems to me that they’re blaming her.”

A Crisis in Black Studies at Temple University - Higher Education

A Crisis in Black Studies at Temple University - Higher Education: In the last few days, the graduate students in the Department of African American Studies (AAS) at Temple University have dispatched a carefully written letter to thousands of faculty across the nation in an effort to publicize what they call “a crisis.”

Indeed, there is a crisis in this department, at this university. And now, sadly, both of my alma maters—Florida A&M University (hazing) and now Temple University—are embroiled in crisis. These emergencies have emerged in the midst of joyous anniversaries: 125 years of existence this year at FAMU and 25 years of the doctoral program in AAS at Temple in 2013.

As Temple is about to celebrate the 25-year anniversary of the nation’s first African-American Studies doctoral program, its AAS department is reeling without a permanent chair, without plans to hire a permanent chair. This state of affairs has left the “department in a state of uncertainty,” to use the students’ words.

Professors work to increase the number of American Indians in business. - Higher Education

Professors work to increase the number of American Indians in business. - Higher Education: As a student at Whittier College, Robert Jacobo relished learning more about Native American culture through courses in history and anthropology. But it was a business management course that helped him make up his mind about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

“The professor was also doing some consulting for an Indian tribe,” says Jacobo, a member of the Fort Mojave Indian tribe. “He took me on one of his consulting trips.” That trip, he says, showed him for the first time how business practices helped the tribe and its businesses.

Today, Jacobo, who graduated in May 2011 with a bachelor’s in business administration, works as catering manager for the Avi Casino and Resort in Nevada.

In many respects, Jacobo’s story is the exception among American Indians. But his experience in college may also be a key tool to making it less so and steering more college-bound American Indian youth onto business management education.

Redskins name condemned by black and Latino groups outside FedEx Field - The Washington Post

Redskins name condemned by black and Latino groups outside FedEx Field - The Washington Post: Hours before the Washington Redskins stepped onto FedEx Field on Monday night to play the San Francisco 49ers, a group of African American, Latino and Native American leaders stood with their backs to the stadium and said the time had come for the team to change its name.

The news conference, attended by representatives of CASA of Maryland, Blacks in Government, the Prince George’s County chapter of the NAACP and other groups, marked a rare showing of solidarity on a divisive issue that has sparked a national discussion about race and language.

 “This is an American issue,” Hakim Muhammad, of the Coalition of Prince George’s County Leaders and Organizations, said Monday. “When you have a name that is disparaging to any nation of people, it affects all of us. Period.

Zorayda Moreira-Smith, of CASA of Maryland, said it was “unacceptable” and “disgusting” that this was still an issue in 2013. She questioned how people would react if the team’s name reflected a slur against any other race.

Ohio State student organizations host Thanksgiving dinner with Latino, Hispanic food - The Lantern

Ohio State student organizations host Thanksgiving dinner with Latino, Hispanic food - The Lantern: At most Thanksgiving dinners, there are going to be a few meal staples, like turkey, pumpkin pie and stuffing, but Ohio State students might not expect to see food from Cazuela’s Grill and Plaza Mexican Grill on the table.

While the last entry might not be conventional, it wasn’t out of place Thursday when the Hispanic Business Student Association and Latino Student Association hosted a Thanksgiving dinner at the Ohio Union.

All those expecting to eat were asked to bring in a canned good and the donations went to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

HBSA has been hosting this event for more than a decade, but some members said this year’s edition was bigger than ever.

“We have more passion for the organization. We wanted to do things on a bigger scale,” said Gonzalo Adriazola, a third-year in international business and marketing and member of HBSA. “That’s why we went to sponsors, made T-shirts and tried to make the event different.”

Even though it was a Thanksgiving dinner in name, three local restaurants with ties to the Latino and Hispanic communities supplied the food: Plaza Mexican Grill, Cazuela’s Grill and Jack & Benny’s. Guests could try many different favorites from Latino and Hispanic culture, like picadillo, which is dish made with beef and tomatoes, or papa a la Huancaína, a Peruvian salad which includes boiled potatoes.

Cop Admits He Ordered Mentally Ill Black Man To Sing, Make Animal Noises | ThinkProgress

Cop Admits He Ordered Mentally Ill Black Man To Sing, Make Animal Noises | ThinkProgress: A suburban Detroit police officer admitted he asked a mentally ill black man to sing and dance and video recorded the incident.

Videos and and photos with degrading portrayals of black men were submitted earlier this month to the blog, Motor City Muckraker, purportedly from officers who disseminated them to friends and colleagues in the upper class, majority-white Michigan suburb of Grosse Pointe Park. One video portrayed a voice alleged to be an officer asking black men to do humiliating tasks, including “dance like a chimp.” In another incident, an officer allegedly texted a photo of a black man in the back of his trailer with the text, “Gotta love the coloreds.” The journalist, Steve Neavling, told the Huffington Post that he has more than a dozen videos shot by officers, but has not shared most of them because of their “humiliating nature.”

The unnamed officer has been taken off duty and is expected to face discipline, according to Neavling. But it is not clear whether that officer was the only one responsible for the photos and videos.

Police officer who made mentally ill black man ‘dance like a chimp’ removed from duty | The Raw Story

Police officer who made mentally ill black man ‘dance like a chimp’ removed from duty | The Raw Story: The Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan police officer who allegedly filmed himself humiliating a mentally challenged black man has been removed from active duty and is expected to face disciplinary charges next week.

The video, which the unnamed officer posted on various social media sites, allegedly shows the officer demanding a mentally challenged black man to “dance like a chimp.”

It is unclear whether the unnamed officer is solely responsible for the video, or if other officers were involved. The Grosse Pointe Park Police Department did inform its officers that they are prohibited from posting videos from personal cell phones on social media while on duty.

City officials declined to comment on the investigation until it concluded, but a public relations expert hired by the police department apologized on its behalf late last week.

“My friends, my neighbors and residents are all appalled by what has occurred,” Greg Bowens said. “This is not a true representation of who we are in Grosse Pointe Park. We are working very hard at getting to the bottom of it.”

Native American travels across U.S. photographing citizens of tribal nations - U.S. News

Native American travels across U.S. photographing citizens of tribal nations - U.S. News: She sleeps on couches, dines with strangers and lives out of her car. Still, Matika Wilbur does it for the art and for the people.

Wilbur is Native American. Invariably strapped to her arm is a camera, and other than a few provisions and clothing, she owns little else. Last year she sold everything in her Seattle apartment, packed a few essentials into her car and then hit the road.

Since then, she's been embarking on her most recent project, "Project 562."

The plan is to photograph citizens of each federally recognized tribe, Wilbur said. Sometimes she'll journey to an isolated reservation, other times she'll meet some of the 70 percent of Native Americans living in urban settings. Yet she hopes that when her project is complete it will serve to educate the nation and "shift the collective conscious" toward recognizing its indigenous communities.

Giving thanks: Native Americans kids share heritage at Thanksgiving

Giving thanks: Native Americans kids share heritage at Thanksgiving: SIOUX CITY | Megan Thomas may like turkey on Thanksgiving but she's more excited about dunking a piece of her mom's frybread into a bowl of homemade wojapi.

Frybread -- flat dough deep fried in oil -- and wojapi -- a thick syrup made from chokecherries or blueberries -- are both traditional special occasion foods made in many Native American households.

"My mom makes the best frybread," Megan Thomas, 13, says with a smile. "That's always been my favorite Thanksgiving food."

While Megan and her sister Sierra Thomas, 12, plan to celebrate Thanksgiving in Sioux City with their family consisting of eight other brothers and sisters, Holly LaRush, 12, will be meeting up with family members at the Winnebago Reservation in Winnebago, Neb.

A Liberty Elementary School fifth-grader, Holly said her favorite Thanksgiving food is Indian tacos -- a mix of meats, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes served inside frybread.

American Indian Heritage Month - Higher Education

American Indian Heritage Month - Higher Education: In this edition, Diverse features Rebecca Tsosie, a leading expert on American Indian law; we also look at efforts to get American Indian students on the MBA track, recruitment and retention strategies that work; and programs nurturing the next generation of American Indian farmers.

Campus Conversations About Race Now Heating Up the Twitterverse - Higher Education

Campus Conversations About Race Now Heating Up the Twitterverse - Higher Education: A recent trending topic on Twitter started by The Black Student Union at the University of Michigan with the hash tag #BBUM (Being Black at the University of Michigan) revealed a candid discussion about race on college campuses. The social media conversation about race, identity and sense of belonging at Michigan, has turned into a national debate where many students, faculty and administrators at other higher education institutions have weighed in.

Many believe a Facebook event scheduled for Nov. 7 at UM by the fraternity Theta Xi called “Hood Ratchet Thursday,” featuring stereotypical, misogynistic and negative depictions of African Americans, sparked the social media conversation.UM cancelled the event that was to include a “twerking” contest and a Kindle was to be awarded to the winner. Robert Greenfield IV, treasurer for The Black Student Union at UM, explained that there is “more to it than that,” in an interview with Diverse.

Of a total population of over 43,000 students, only 4.7% are African American as of this fall, down from 7% in 2006. The recruitment of underrepresented groups at UM is of concern but retention is equally important according to Greenfield, “although 4.7% is not a lot, what’s the point if the Black students that are here aren’t nurtured?”

Report: Job Growth Under Health Care Reform to Benefit Minorities - Higher Education

Report: Job Growth Under Health Care Reform to Benefit Minorities - Higher Education: A new analysis of health care job growth, stimulated in large part by the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, estimates that over the next 10 years the health care sector will see 4.6 million new positions, or a 31 percent increase from current employment levels, open up in the U.S. economy.

In the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies report, “Affordable Care Act of 2010: Creating Job Opportunities for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Populations,” people of color are expected to make up at least one-third of the U.S. health care workforce within a decade. With racial minorities already comprising one-third of the health care workforce, the report says it’s likely that people of color will hold and possibly exceed this current share given that much of the job growth will be in low –and mid-skill positions where minorities are now well-represented.

Miami-Area Police Force Accused Of Rampant Racial Profiling : The Two-Way : NPR

Miami-Area Police Force Accused Of Rampant Racial Profiling : The Two-Way : NPR: Based on witness interviews, public records and surveillance video, : It alleges that for years, the Miami Gardens Police Department has racially profiled the clients and employees of a convenience store in the Miami-area city.

Yes, you've heard that before. But the case of Earl Sampson is especially outrageous: Sampson, the paper found, has been stopped and questioned 258 times in the past four years. The paper continues:

"He's been searched more than 100 times. And arrested and jailed 56 times.

"Despite his long rap sheet, Sampson, 28, has never been convicted of anything more serious than possession of marijuana.

"Miami Gardens police have arrested Sampson 62 times for one offense: trespassing.

"Almost every citation was issued at the same place: the 207 Quickstop, a convenience store on 207th Street in Miami Gardens.

"But Sampson isn't loitering. He works as a clerk at the Quickstop."

The essence of the rest of the story is that police seem to think the Quickstop is at the nexus of the high crime that has plagued the city, but along the way the store's owner, who at first wanted to cooperate with police, noticed a pattern of abuse.

Interview: Mirta Ojito, Author Of 'Hunting Season' : NPR

Interview: Mirta Ojito, Author Of 'Hunting Season' : NPR: On a chilly night in November 2008, an Ecuadorean immigrant named Marcelo Lucero was attacked and murdered in the Long Island town of Patchogue, N.Y., where he lived and worked. His attackers, a group of local teenagers, were out "hunting for beaners" — an activity that had become part of their weekly routine.

Lucero, then 37, and his childhood friend, Angel Loja, were out for a late-night stroll when they saw a group of seven young people approaching them.

"They had heard stories. They knew that immigrants were routinely attacked in this town, and they were afraid," says Mirta Ojito, journalist and author of Hunting Season: Immigration and Murder in an All-American Town.

Ojito's book paints a complex portrait of Patchogue in the aftermath of Lucero's murder, and examines the town's struggle with hatred and racism despite its idyllic appearance.

NPR's Arun Rath speaks with Ojito about the fateful attack, and the impacts it had on the town of Patchogue and its residents.

Racial Abuse Is Alleged at San Jose State University - NYTimes.com

Racial Abuse Is Alleged at San Jose State University - NYTimes.com: SAN JOSE, Calif. — Students at San Jose State University were grappling on Friday with accusations that three white students repeatedly abused a black freshman verbally and physically, calling him names referring to slavery and putting a bicycle lock around his neck.

Students and staff members expressed shock at allegations that, to many, seemed out of another time and place, and that have led to criminal charges and suspensions. At the same time, people here struggled to make sense of accounts that several other students knew what was happening for weeks, but made no effort to stop it or report it to the authorities.

The news prompted a protest on Thursday, in the shadow of a statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the Olympic medal winners and San Jose State alumni who bowed their heads and raised their fists in protest while “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played at the Mexico City Games in 1968. 

 

In a suite on the same dormitory hallway where the incidents are alleged to have occurred, students said on Friday that they had heard rumors as long ago as August, when the school year began, about abuse of a black student and Nazi imagery hanging on dorm walls. But they had not taken the stories seriously, they said, and felt chastened by this week’s news, adding that they wished they had intervened.

Racist 'monkey' taunt prompts soul-searching in France - World News

Racist 'monkey' taunt prompts soul-searching in France - World News: PARIS - A 12-year-old girl waves a banana at a black government minister and shouts: “Who’s this banana for? It’s for the monkey!”

Such slurs – and a generally muted official response to them – have caused a bout of soul-searching in France. The question at the heart of the debate: is racism rampant in a country with revolutionary roots and a motto boasting of "equality" and "liberty"?

The issue has dominated discussion since the same politician, Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, was likened to a monkey by a candidate for the right-wing National Front. The candidate was forced to withdraw, but the tensions lingered.

Last week, extreme-right weekly magazine Minute ran a photo of Taubira and the headline “Clever as a Monkey. Taubira reclaims the banana” on its cover.

Some critics allege the government has been slow to respond. When it did condemn the acts of racism against Taubira in the National Assembly on Nov. 12, only half the lawmakers left their seats for a standing ovation as she entered the chamber.

All this adds up to one thing, according to Harry Roselmack, the first black journalist to host nightly news on French television.

Mexican-American Vets Ignited Kennedy's Latino Support : Code Switch : NPR

Mexican-American Vets Ignited Kennedy's Latino Support : Code Switch : NPR: On the evening of Nov. 21, 1963, President John F. Kennedy, his wife Jacqueline, Vice President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, walked through a wall of applause to take their place as honored guests in a Houston ballroom. They were making a brief stop at a formal dinner held by LULAC — the League of United Latin American Citizens — to show their appreciation for the Mexican-American votes that had helped the young president carry Texas in the 1960 election.

The crowd eventually settled down to hear the President tell them that Latin America was not just a friend, but a partner in the peace and prosperity he hoped the entire hemisphere would come to enjoy. And to make sure they understood him completely, he grinned at the crowd: "I'm going to ask my wife to say a few words."

Jacqueline Kennedy, dressed elegantly in a black Persian lamb suit and draped in pearls, stepped to the podium. Smiling, she told the audience how happy she was to be in Texas that evening — and how especially happy she was to be with them. "Estoy muy contenta..." she began, in her trademark whispery voice.

Rev. T.J. Jemison Remembered As Civil Rights Movement Pioneer : Code Switch : NPR

Rev. T.J. Jemison Remembered As Civil Rights Movement Pioneer : Code Switch : NPR: The state of Louisiana is paying tribute Friday to the Rev. T.J. Jemison, a strong and steady voice against unequal treatment for blacks in the Jim Crow South.

Jemison's body lay in repose at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, where Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said he will be remembered as one of the greats of the civil rights movement.

"He had such a heart and courage for justice," Landrieu said. "There are very few people in our state that will rise to that level of influence, and it is very appropriate that our Capitol was opened up for him today."

Jemison, a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was its first elected secretary in 1957. In 1953, Jemison helped organize a boycott of Baton Rouge buses over a city ordinance that reserved the front seats for white passengers only.

Hate crimes charges after students fasten bike lock around black roommate’s neck and call him ‘Three-fifths’ | The Raw Story

Hate crimes charges after students fasten bike lock around black roommate’s neck and call him ‘Three-fifths’ | The Raw Story: Three students at San Jose State University have been charged with misdemeanor hate crimes and battery after being accused of tormenting a black roommate.

University police announced on Wednesday that arrest warrants were being issued for 18-year-old freshmen students Colin Warren, Joseph Bomgardner and Logan Beaschler. According to police, the three students hazed a fellow student while they were all living in an eight-person suite between Aug. 20 and Oct. 13.

The San Jose Mercury News reported that the victim’s parents first suspected that something was wrong with the living situation in mid-October when they noticed a Confederate flag covering a cardboard cutout of Elvis in the dorm room. They also reported to campus police that they had seen the N-word scrawled on a dry-erase board.

Fossil study: Native American’s ancestry looked more Eurasian than East Asian - The Washington Post

Fossil study: Native American’s ancestry looked more Eurasian than East Asian - The Washington Post: The genetic analysis of a 24,000-year-old arm bone from an ancient Siberian boy suggests that Native Americans have a more complicated ancestry than scientists realized, with some of their distant kin looking more Eurasian than East Asian.

The new study, published online Wednesday in the journal Nature, represents the oldest genome of a modern human ever fully sequenced.

Modern-day Native Americans share from 14 to 38 percent of their DNA with the Siberian hunter-gatherers — who are not closely related to East Asians — with the remainder coming from East Asian ancestors. Most scientists have thought that the first Americans came only from the East Asian populations.

“If you read about the origins of Native Americans, it will say East Asians somehow crossed the Bering Sea,” said study author and evolutionary biologist Eske Willerslev at Copenhagen University. “This is definitely not the case — it’s more complex than that.”

It isn’t known where or when the meeting of the two peoples happened, but a likely location could be Beringia, the region surrounding the current gap between Alaska and Siberia. Although presently occupied by the Bering Strait and its surrounding waters, the glaciers of roughly 20,000 years ago locked up much of the earth’s water, exposing a land bridge between the two continents.

Congress to honor Native American ‘code talkers’ who helped beat WWII Germany | The Raw Story

Congress to honor Native American ‘code talkers’ who helped beat WWII Germany | The Raw Story: Native American “code talkers” who used their indigenous languages to keep critical military secrets from World War II enemies are finally getting their due in Congress, decades after their heroism.

Twenty-four years ago France bestowed its highest civilian honor on American Indians who used their ancestral words as shields, forging an unbreakable code to communicate troops movements and enemy positions that the German and Japanese failed to crack.

On Wednesday, top US lawmakers will do the same, presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to some 250 Native American code talkers and their relatives.

“This is long overdue,” Wallace Coffey, chairman of the Comanche Nation, told AFP this week.

With dozens of his compatriots, Coffey traveled to Washington from the central state of Oklahoma to receive the medal on behalf of World War II’s 17 Comanche code talkers, known in their native tongue as “Numurekwa’etuu.”

American Indians from 33 tribes will be honored, most of them posthumously. Edmond Harjo of the Seminole tribe is still alive and will participate in the ceremony.

Journalist, Diversity Advocate Ramirez Dies - Higher Education

Journalist, Diversity Advocate Ramirez Dies - Higher Education: A veteran news chief, newspaper journalist and diversity advocate who taught for 30 years at San Francisco State University has died.

At 67, Raul Ramirez died Friday after battling esophageal cancer. He died days before he was scheduled to receive a Distinguished Service to Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northern California chapter. Most recently, he was executive director of news and public affairs at KQED Public Radio, the most listened-to station of its kind nationally, where he held other roles since 1991.

An SFSU lecturer since 1983, Ramirez taught courses ranging from basic newswriting to investigative reporting and in the process became one of the most popular and admired instructors in the journalism department. Currently, the SFSU student body is more than 60 percent racial minorities.

Texas Students Cancel ‘Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game’; Fear Retaliation - Higher Education

Texas Students Cancel ‘Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game’; Fear Retaliation - Higher Education: Texas—A conservative student group at the University of Texas canceled their “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Game” on Tuesday, saying they feared retaliation by campus officials and counter-protests that could endanger their volunteers.

In the event that had been planned for Wednesday, members of the Young Conservatives of Texas would have worn signs that said “illegal immigrant” and offered $25 gift cards to students who caught them and turned them in to the club.

Group chairman Lorenzo Garcia acknowledged the idea was “over the top” but said students should “not be silenced when they attempt to make their voices heard about an issue that is so important to our futures.”

“I believed that our event would spark this discussion on campus,” he said in a statement. “I hope that the publicity surrounding the event will create debate among students.”

Racist graffiti on 13-year-old football player’s home being investigated as hate crime | The Raw Story

Racist graffiti on 13-year-old football player’s home being investigated as hate crime | The Raw Story: School officials in Lunenburg, Massachusetts have postponed football games until the people responsible for hateful words — “Knights don’t need n*****r” — spray-painted on the home of a biracial football player are discovered.

The message — which is now being investigated by local police and the FBI as a hate crime — was found on the home of 13-year-old Isaac Phillips early on Friday morning. Phillips, whose mother is white and father is African-American, now wants to transfer to another school.

“I’m frustrated that someone would use that word in 2013. I thought we moved on from this,” Isaac’s father told CBS Boston of the words spray-painted on the house.

The New England regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, Robert Trestan, issued a statement in which he said:

This brazen attack on the home of a high school football player warrants everyone’s condemnation. All of us should be disturbed by this case. Our children retreat to their homes every day because of the safety it offers. Too often, hate crimes shatter our communities’ sense of safety.
This case is indicative of how school bullying can quickly escalate to a hate crime and civil rights violations, making it a community wide concern. All of us have a role to play in providing comfort and being clear that these actions are completely unacceptable. We applaud the Lunenburg police for making this case a top priority, and are confident that the offenders will be quickly apprehended.

America’s angriest white men: Up close with racism, rage and Southern supremacy

America’s angriest white men: Up close with racism, rage and Southern supremacy: Who are the white supremacists? There has been no formal survey, for obvious reasons, but there are several noticeable patterns. Geographically, they come from America’s heartland—small towns, rural cities, swelling suburban sprawl outside larger Sunbelt cities. These aren’t the prosperous towns, but the single-story working-class exurbs that stretch for what feels like forever in the corridor between Long Beach and San Diego (not the San Fernando Valley), or along the southern tier of Pennsylvania, or spread all through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, across the vast high plains of eastern Washington and Oregon, through Idaho and Montana. There are plenty in the declining cities of the Rust Belt, in Dearborn and Flint, Buffalo and Milwaukee, in the bars that remain in the shadows of the hulking deserted factories that once were America’s manufacturing centers. And that doesn’t even touch the former states of the Confederacy, where flying the Confederate flag is a culturally approved symbol of “southern pride”—in the same way that wearing a swastika would be a symbol of German “heritage” (except it’s illegal in Germany to wear a swastika).

Parent Plus Loan Tightening Yields Negative Consequences - Higher Education

Parent Plus Loan Tightening Yields Negative Consequences - Higher Education: Paying for college has always been a struggle for Christian Fair, a first-generation computer engineering student at Johnson C. Smith University. But the battle has become much more challenging since his parents were denied a federal Parent PLUS Loan (PPL) this fall. Facing a $600 shortfall in funds needed to cover the rest of his tuition and books, the sophomore worried that he might have to pack up and go home. Fortunately, a group of generous alumni stepped in and paid the balance for Christian.

Most students, however, won’t be so lucky. The effect of tightened lending standards has been both far-reaching and devastating across the U.S., particularly in minority communities. Some 144,000 African-American students across the country, 28,000 of them attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), have felt the brunt of the Parent Plus changes. The ramifications for their future—and for our collective future as a nation—should sound an alarm.

Poll: Minorities More Likely to Say College Degree is Key to Success - Higher Education

Poll: Minorities More Likely to Say College Degree is Key to Success - Higher Education: U.S. minorities believe more strongly than Whites that young people need a four-year college degree toattain success, a new poll

shows. In addition, minorities expressed substantially more belief than Whites in the idea that the U.S. economy will benefit if President Obama’s goal of increasing the proportion of Americans with postsecondary degrees by 2020 is met.

Seventy-percent of Latinos, 61 percent of Asian Americans and 55 percent of African-Americans agreed with the statement that “young people today need a four-year college degree in order to be successful,” compared with 47 percent of Whites, according to a new College Board/National Journal Next America Poll.

Compared to 48 percent of Whites, the poll showed that 76 percent of African-Americans, 68 percent of Latinos and 63 percent of Asian-Americans believe the economy will benefit from meeting Obama’s goal of increasing the proportion of young workers with postsecondary degrees from 40 to 60 percent by 2020.

UT Discrimination Lawsuit Stirs Up Important Questions - Higher Education

UT Discrimination Lawsuit Stirs Up Important Questions - Higher Education: UT discrimination lawsuit asks important questions

AUSTIN Texas—Sixty-seven years after the first lawsuit over who gets to attend the University of Texas, a federal appeals court is again judging the school’s fairness and drafting a ruling that could change college affirmative action programs nationwide.

On one side, officials at the flagship campus in Austin insist they’ve developed a system that subtly includes race as one of seven factors for considering students who don’t earn automatic admission by graduating in the top 10 percent of their high school class. UT President Bill Powers insists that factoring in race is necessary to create a diverse learning environment.

Opposing the policy is Abigail Fisher, a White woman denied admission to UT, who says race shouldn’t be considered at all. Her attorney, Bert Rein, told the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that the university could achieve sufficient diversity without considering race.

Still ill, Nelson Mandela unable to speak - CNN.com

Still ill, Nelson Mandela unable to speak - CNN.com: Tubes used to clear his lungs prevent Nelson Mandela from speaking, and he uses facial expressions to communicate with doctors and family, according to his former wife.

"He remains very sensitive to any germs, so he has to be kept literally sterile," Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told South Africa's Sunday Independent newspaper in an article published Sunday. "The bedroom there [at his home] is like an ICU ward."

Mandela, 95, "remains quite ill," she said, but doctors are tending to his needs at his residence in Houghton, a suburb of Johannesburg.

The tubes are used to prevent infection in Mandela, who is said to be stable.

"He communicates with the face, you see," Madikizela-Mandela told the newspaper. "But the doctors have told us they hope to recover his voice."

Neshaminy High School Students Ban 'Redskins' From Newspaper, Get Sent To Principal

Neshaminy High School Students Ban 'Redskins' From Newspaper, Get Sent To Principal: PHILADELPHIA (AP) — When a high school newspaper at a suburban Philadelphia football powerhouse decided the word "Redskins" had no place in its pages, the paper's student editors found themselves called to the principal's office.

The dispute between Neshaminy High School's paper, the Playwickian, and school administrators is a strange twist on the fight over what students can and can't say: this time it's the students urging restraint.

The Playwickian editors started getting heat from school officials after an Oct. 27 editorial that barred the use of the word "Redskins" — the nickname of the teams at Neshaminy, a school named for the creek where the Lenape Indians once lived.

"Detractors will argue that the word is used with all due respect. But the offensiveness of a word cannot be judged by its intended meaning, but by how it is received," read the editorial backed by 14 of 21 staff members. (An equally well-written op-ed voiced the dissenting group's opinion.)

The ban comes as Native American activists and a few media outlets, along with President Barack Obama, challenge the moniker of Washington's NFL team, which visits Philadelphia on Sunday.

Doris Lessing, Nobel-Winning Writer on Race, Gender, Dies - Bloomberg

Doris Lessing, Nobel-Winning Writer on Race, Gender, Dies - Bloomberg: Doris Lessing, the British author awarded a Nobel Prize in literature for a lifetime of writing about gender and race, drawing on her own upbringing in Africa, died today. She was 94.

Lessing “passed away peacefully at her London home in the early hours of this morning,” her publisher HarperCollins said in an e-mailed release. Lessing lived in North London for the past two decades.

Born to English parents in present-day Iran, and raised in what is now Zimbabwe, Lessing witnessed the demise of the British Empire, race-based governments in Africa and the communist movement she briefly joined after World War II. Her novels and short stories challenged the notion of fixed truths and permanent institutions.

Her best-known work, the largely autobiographical 1962 novel “The Golden Notebook,” tells the story of an independent, modern woman in Africa who records her varied life experiences in four notebooks and tries, in a fifth, to weave them into a coherent picture of a complex life.

The Swedish Academy, in awarding Lessing the Nobel Prize, called her “that epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny.”

Chad Palmer, Georgia Deputy Sheriff, Suspended After Dressing In Blackface With Inmate Stripes

Chad Palmer, Georgia Deputy Sheriff, Suspended After Dressing In Blackface With Inmate Stripes: A South Georgia deputy sheriff who was photographed dressed in blackface and inmate stripes at a Halloween party has been suspended without pay.

Chad Palmer, a 15-year veteran of the Camden County Sheriff's Office, allegedly told people at the private party that he was dressed as a Camden County inmate, and he was "picking cotton" in the photo, First Coast News reported.

Palmer's face and arms are painted in the photo, and he is wearing "jailbird" stripes.

The racist photo was shared thousands of times on social media, where it sparked outrage and led to a disciplinary hearing. Finally, on Wednesday, Palmer was suspended without pay.

Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor told the Florida Times-Union that he was "shocked" when he saw the photo of Palmer, but said that the officer did not fully understand the costume would be interpreted as racist.

“He thought it was funny. It was a costume party,’’ Proctor told the newspaper. "... [But] it showed a lack of judgment and sensitivity."

In France, Some Ask If Racism Is On The Rise : Parallels : NPR

In France, Some Ask If Racism Is On The Rise : Parallels : NPR: For the last week or so, France has been deep in debate, wondering if there's a resurgence of an old, colonial racism, or if people have just become more tolerant of bigots.

The questions stem from a series of race-based taunts against Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, who is black. Many of the statements seem to stem from Taubira's championing of the country's gay marriage legalization, which was signed into law in May.

But things took a nasty turn about a month ago: A politician from the far right National Front party posted a photo of Taubira next to a monkey on a Facebook page.

Then a group gathered to protest the gay marriage law was caught yelling, "Monkey, go eat your banana!" The video circulated widely on YouTube.

Latino Students Show Modest Gains On Nation's Latest Report Card | Fronteras Desk

Latino Students Show Modest Gains On Nation's Latest Report Card | Fronteras Desk: The Nation got a new report card today evaluating reading and math proficiency among fourth and eighth graders. Modest gains by Latino students contributed to improvement in some Southwestern states.

Every two years, the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests student aptitude in reading and math. Latinos advanced slightly at certain grade levels in both subjects. English Language Learners also achieved some growth at the eight grade level.

However, despite these gains, Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education said, “It’s troubling that achievement gaps between white and black students, and white and Hispanics students, failed to narrow from 2011 to 2013.”

Nevada was one of only five states where the gap did narrow between whites and Latinos in eighth grade math. Both California and Nevada improved by 7 and 4 points respectively in eight grade reading, but several states in the Southwest ranked lower than the national average in both subjects.

23ABC News - Study: More Latino students applying for college, few gradutating - Bakersfield News, Bakersfield, California News & Bakersfield News Local Headlines - KERO TurnTo23

23ABC News - Study: More Latino students applying for college, few gradutating - Bakersfield News, Bakersfield, California News & Bakersfield News Local Headlines - KERO TurnTo23: A new study released by the Campaign for College Opportunity states that although more Latinos are applying for college in California, a very low number of them are actually graduating.

The study explains that only about 11 percent of Latino students are obtaining their bachelor degrees. That is compared to 39 percent of white students and 23 percent of African American students.

The author of the study explains that one major roadblock to Latino students' success begins from preparation. Throughout the state, the study explains students are not receiving the education to help them succeed at the college level.

“Eighty-five percent of incoming students are assessed to be unprepared for college-level math and 70 percent unprepared for college-level English,” the study read.

Amber Chiang, with Bakersfield College said the school does see many of its students come into college unprepared.
"Their testing in one or two degrees below collegiate level preparedness in math and english and that really slows down their ability to get the degree," said Chiang.

The study explains that if the rate at which Latino students are applying were to equal graduation rates, the state could profit economically.

One child at a time: how Latino student retention rates are rising

One child at a time: how Latino student retention rates are rising: Although 23-year-old Javier Alamirra is now a senior at the University of Houston, he was once at risk for dropping out, caught up in truancy and negative peer influences. Alexis Arteaga is the first in her family to go to college – a matter of pride for a girl who had moved nearly 20 times before ever reaching the 5th grade. Irvin Navarro, 18, was once involved in gangs – but is now planning to go to college and ultimately become a school teacher.

These three students have several things in common. They are Latino, were once at risk of dropping out of school, and have turned their lives around with the help and support of Communities in Schools, a national non-profit that works with public schools to provide academic and personal support to at-risk students ranging from elementary to high school age, all with the intention of reducing student dropout rates. Over one million students currently receive resources – ranging from academic assistance, school supplies, a meal or a pair of glasses – to help them stay in school.

UI sees a surge in Latino student population - The Daily Iowan

UI sees a surge in Latino student population - The Daily Iowan: As the Latino population is expanding throughout the nation, the University of Iowa is mirroring that growth.

In 2008, slightly more than 850 Latino students were enrolled at the UI — that number has grown to approximately 1,600 over the last five years. Latino students are also the leading domestic minority group enrolled at the UI.

Emil Rinderspacher, associate director of UI Admissions, said the growth of minority students is reflective of Iowa’s growing Latino population. According to the State Data Center of Iowa, the estimated Latino population as of July 2012 was 162,894, 5.3 percent of the population.

“A lot of the growth is driven by demographics,” Riderspacher said. “Hispanic families tend to be younger and larger, the influx of new people has certainly hit the school districts, and I think that’s the reason to continue to grow minority recruitment.”

John Moder, senior vice president and chief operating officer for Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, said the Latino population is one of the fastest growing in the nation and the trend of more Latino students at universities and colleges is becoming more common in many states.

ACLU report finds disparities in discipline for minority, disabled students - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

ACLU report finds disparities in discipline for minority, disabled students - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania released a report today which highlighted disciplinary practices that remove students from school across Pennsylvania.

The ACLU report, called "Beyond Zero Tolerance: Discipline and Policing in Pennsylvania's Public Schools," points to high rates of suspensions and disparities in how black and Latino students and students with disabilities were treated.

"Part of the problem is that under zero tolerance, a wide range of behaviors, from dress code violations to talking back, are now being punished as disorderly conduct, disruption and defiant behavior," the report's author, Harold Jordan, said.

The report found that, in 2011-12, school districts issued more than 166,000 out-of-school suspensions, or 10 suspensions per 100 students. In addition, 1,808 students were expelled from school, and police arrested 5,261.

While black students account for 13.6 percent of Pennsylvania's students, they made up nearly half of the out-of-school suspensions. One of 10 Latino students was suspended at least once, which the ACLU said is one of the highest Latino suspension rates in the nation.

Pa. black, Latino students disproportionately suspended from school, ACLU report finds — NewsWorks

Pa. black, Latino students disproportionately suspended from school, ACLU report finds — NewsWorks: Black and Latino students are being disproportionately suspended from Pennsylvania's schools under the auspices of "zero tolerance" provisions.

This from a new report by the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which analyzed aggregate data from each of the state's 500 school districts.

Key findings of the report include:

• Black students make up 13.6 percent of Pennsylvania's student population, but they received almost half of the out-of-school suspensions, at 48.25 percent.
• Seventeen percent of black students were suspended at least once, a rate five times that of white students.
• One out of every 10 Latino students were suspended at least once, one of the highest Latino suspension rates in the country.
• Students with disabilities were almost twice as likely as other students to receive out-of-school suspensions – 11.1 percent versus 5.7 percent.
• Black students with disabilities received OSSs at the highest rate of any group – 22 out of every 100 were suspended at least once.

Ex-Track Coach Sues University of Texas Alleging Discrimination - Higher Education

Ex-Track Coach Sues University of Texas Alleging Discrimination - Higher Education: AUSTIN, Texas ― Former Texas women’s track coach Bev Kearney, who won six national championships for the Longhorns before abruptly leaving 10 months ago, filed a $1 million lawsuit against the school Thursday, alleging race and gender discrimination and retaliation.

Kearney attorney Derek Howard said his client sued in Travis County District Court. Kearney, who is Black, resigned Jan. 5 as Texas was preparing to fire her for an inappropriate relationship with one of her athletes in 2002.

Texas later revealed that assistant football coach Major Applewhite, who is White, was allowed to keep his job after having an inappropriate relationship with a student trainer on a bowl trip in 2008.

Kearney’s suit seeks $1 million in damages for lost and future wages, mental anguish, court costs and loss of enjoyment of life. She was Texas’ first and only Black head coach in any sport.

When It Comes to Inclusion, Ohio State’s Lee All In - Higher Education

When It Comes to Inclusion, Ohio State’s Lee All In - Higher Education: Dr. Valerie Lee is determined to make diversity a verb, not just a noun.

As chief diversity officer, vice provost for diversity and inclusion and vice president for outreach and engagement at Ohio State University, Lee manages one of the largest — if not the largest — diversity departments in all of higher education with more than 88 full-time staff members. As part of her commitment to total inclusion, Lee has a comprehensive strategy to move to a “one university model,” moving students, staff and faculty “from silos to solidarity.”

She recently championed to have her department, along with the university’s Black cultural center, moved into a historical building on campus, signaling that university officials are increasingly recognizing the importance of her work. Her goal is to develop the center into the world’s best cultural center, something she says “is really within our grasp.”

Before Lee became an advocate for equal opportunity at Ohio State, she was hit with her own share of adversity. Despite graduating at the top of her high school class, Lee was told that she could not serve as valedictorian because she was Black.

University of Pennsylvania-led Team Concludes National MSI Study, Launches New Research Center - Higher Education

University of Pennsylvania-led Team Concludes National MSI Study, Launches New Research Center - Higher Education: While the Center for Minority-Serving Institutions does not open officially in a physical location until January 2014, the new University of Pennsylvania-based research entity has put its brand behind a series of research reports aimed at bringing national attention to minority-serving colleges and universities in the U.S. Reports produced from the national “Models of Success” study highlight institutional culture, best practices, and college success programs at 12 minority-serving institutions.

“One of the things we try to do is point out the common strengths and common challenges” of the 12 institutions that participated in the Models of Success project, says Dr. Marybeth Gasman, a professor of higher education in the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and a lead researcher in the Models of Success project.

With the aim of documenting how minority-serving institutions (MSIs) successfully educate their students as well as promoting strategies MSIs can use to enhance themselves, the reports present the findings from research conducted at three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), three Tribal Colleges and Universities, three Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and three Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs).
The $2 million, three-year study was sponsored by the Lumina Foundation, The Kresge Foundation and USA Funds.

New Study Shows Brain Benefits Of Bilingualism : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR

New Study Shows Brain Benefits Of Bilingualism : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR: The largest study so far to ask whether speaking two languages might delay the onset of dementia symptoms in bilingual patients as compared to monolingual patients has reported a robust result. Bilingual patients suffer dementia onset an average of 4.5 years later than those who speak only a single language.

While knowledge of a protective effect of bilingualism , the present study significantly advances scientists' knowledge. emphasize the size of its cohort: 648 patients from a university hospital's memory clinic, including 391 who were bilingual. It's also touted as the first study to reveal that bilingual people who are illiterate derive the same benefit from speaking two languages as do people who read and write. It also claims to show that the benefit applies not only to Alzheimer's sufferers but also people with frontotemporal and vascular dementia.

Only when I read , though, published in the journal Neurology and written by Suvarna Alladi and 7 co-authors, did I realize fully the brilliance of conducting this study in .

Texas University’s Race Admissions Policy Is Debated Before a Federal Court - NYTimes.com

Texas University’s Race Admissions Policy Is Debated Before a Federal Court - NYTimes.com: AUSTIN, Tex. — An affirmative-action program at the University of Texas at Austin that takes applicants’ race into account was unnecessary because the campus had achieved a “critical mass” of minority students, lawyers for the white applicant who sued the university told a federal appeals court here on Wednesday in a case with high stakes for the future of race-conscious admissions policies at public colleges and universities.

University lawyers denied a critical mass of underrepresented students had been reached. They said the institution was entitled to supplement its race-neutral admissions policies with ones that take race into account to achieve diversity. But the reaction of the appeals judges, who expressed skepticism at times about the manner in which the university applied race-conscious decisions and the university’s abstract definition of “critical mass,” illustrated the complex path for the Texas flagship university, as it tries to show that its admissions program was necessary. 

HSN Joins With Univision to Reach the Hispanic Market - NYTimes.com

HSN Joins With Univision to Reach the Hispanic Market - NYTimes.com: HSN, the home shopping network, is turning its sights toward Hispanic consumers with the announcement of a new e-commerce partnership with Univision Communications that will begin on Thursday.

The three-year partnership will take the form of a shopping portal on Univision.com called Boutique Univision that will feature a variety of products from HSN targeted at Hispanics.

“This is the fastest-growing consumer group and they will be driving the U.S. economy over the next few decades,” said Bill Brand, the chief marketing and business development officer at HSN Inc. “We are able to reach this Hispanic consumer through the most trusted brand in their community, and that’s Univision. That’s an unprecedented opportunity for us.”

The effort is not the first time HSN has tried to reach a Spanish-speaking audience. In 1998, the company created a Spanish language television show called “Home Shopping en Español” that ran through 2002 and aired in Mexico and Puerto Rico, as well as on Galavision, a Univision-owned network.

In entire court term, justices see 1 black lawyer

In entire court term, justices see 1 black lawyer: In roughly 75 hours of arguments at the Supreme Court since October, only one African-American lawyer appeared before the justices, and for just over 11 minutes.

The numbers were marginally better for Hispanic lawyers. Four of them argued for a total of 1 hour, 45 minutes.

Women were better represented, accounting for just over 17 percent of the arguments before the justices.

In an era when three women, a Hispanic and an African-American sit on the court and white men constitute a bare majority of the nine justices, the court is more diverse than the lawyers who argue before it.

The arguments that took place from October to April were presented overwhelmingly by white men. Women and minority lawyers whose clients' cases were heard by the court were far more likely to represent governments or be part of public-interest law firms than in private practice, where paychecks are much larger.

HACU Conference Addresses Federal, Education Issues for Hispanics - Higher Education

HACU Conference Addresses Federal, Education Issues for Hispanics - Higher Education: Dr. Antonio R. Flores, president and CEO of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, did not have to dig deeply to find compelling evidence that plenty of work remains for his organization to do to ensure that his constituents are well represented in higher education and the world at large.

Two screens in the ballroom Saturday displayed the cover of the latest edition of Time magazine that featured a headline of “The United States of Texas” and a map to promote an article inside about the state’s impact and influence on national issues.

Flores said that despite the fact that 40 percent of the state’s population is Latino, the six-page “article basically does not mention once — not even one word — about the tremendous contributions and the presence of the Latino community.”

Group Recommends Expanding Reach of Best Teachers to Close Achievement Gap - Higher Education

Group Recommends Expanding Reach of Best Teachers to Close Achievement Gap - Higher Education: Since there aren’t enough highly effective teachers to go around, schools should begin to use “remote teaching” and higher salaries so that an elite cadre of the nation’s best teachers can reach greater numbers of students.

That is one of the more radical recommendations contained in a new report released Wednesday by Public Impact, which calls for making access to excellent teachers a new “civil right.”

The report is titled “Giving Every Student Access to Excellent Teachers: A Vision for Focusing Federal Investments in Education.”

The report notes that students taught by the most effective teachers ― or those in the top 20 or 25 percent of their profession in terms of student growth ― make an average of three times as much progress as students taught by teachers in the bottom 20 or 25 percent.

Meharry’s Epps Continues to Break Barriers, Defy the Odds - Higher Education

Meharry’s Epps Continues to Break Barriers, Defy the Odds - Higher Education: When veteran academician Dr. Anna Cherrie Epps took on a challenging new role this fall, she shattered the proverbial “glass ceiling” on several fronts. As the new president and chief executive officer of Meharry Medical College, Epps not only became the first woman to lead one of the nation’s major independent medical colleges, but she is also believed to be the first person of her age to take on such a position, at the age of 83.

Epps has been part of Meharry’s administration in one capacity or another since 1994. She was vice president and dean of the School of Medicine from 1997 to 2002, according to Meharry. Epps is the only African-American woman with a Ph.D. to become dean of a U.S. medical school. She had also served as vice president for academic affairs and professor of internal medicine at the college.

Ute Tribe Wants More in Exchange for Use of Name - Higher Education

Ute Tribe Wants More in Exchange for Use of Name - Higher Education: SALT LAKE CITY ― The Ute Indian Tribe wants more in exchange from the University of Utah to continue allowing them to use the tribe’s name and logo for sports teams.

The Tribe’s business committee has requested a meeting later this month to renegotiate the terms of an agreement last revised in 2005, when the NCAA reviewed the agreements between schools and the tribes that served as namesakes. In a letter to University of Utah President David Pershing, the tribe says the current model doesn’t go far enough to promote tribal human resources.

They are asking for tuition waivers instead of scholarships for Ute students and the appointment of a Ute tribal member as a special adviser to the university’s president on American Indian Affairs. The business committee is the governing body for the 3,200-member tribe based in eastern Utah.

In the letter, dated Oct. 23 and first reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, the tribe said it supports the use of the name with the goal to “ensure the continued representation of the Ute Tribe is carried out in a fair and accurate manner.”

Ute Indian Tribe leaders did not immediately return calls by The Associated Press requesting comment.

Diverse Conversations: Is a Free College Education a Basic American Right? - Higher Education

Diverse Conversations: Is a Free College Education a Basic American Right? - Higher Education: Earning a college education is something that is a double-edged sword for the nation’s youngest adults and for some of their parents too. Society dictates that some form of secondary education is an absolute must for lifetime success, but the cost associated with earning those credentials is debilitating. The Washington Post reports that the average college student will graduate with $25,000 in debt. With more than $1 trillion in outstanding loans, student debt outweighs credit card debt and is exempt from bankruptcy protection.

Some may say this is just the cost of doing business and that a few years (or decades) of repaying student loans is worth the cost in the long run. If a person truly values his future, repaying loans and interest rates are just part of proving his dedication.

Neuroscientist Took Unlikely Path to Top - Higher Education

Neuroscientist Took Unlikely Path to Top - Higher Education: Dr. Carl Hart was supposed to be an athlete. Basketball was going to be his ticket and the NBA his reward.

In high school, the football team and hoops were his saving grace. Sports kept him in school. He did just enough to keep the 2.0 grade point average he needed to stay on the basketball team. Off the court, Hart pored over “kiddy biographies” about athletes. They told him “that drugs were bad, that smoking anything could hurt performance.” He also took to heart what those books had to say about success and survival: “They showed me that the way to win was to outwork your competitors and use everything you had to maximize your skills,” writes Hart in his new memoir.

Comcast Deal Puts New Minority-Run Channels In Play : NPR

Comcast Deal Puts New Minority-Run Channels In Play : NPR: Rapper and producer Sean "Diddy" Combs, director Robert Rodriguez, and basketball legend Magic Johnson each now has his own new cable TV networks. Their channels were part of a merger deal Comcast made with the FCC to give a shot to new networks owned by African Americans, Latinos and others.

Last month, Combs threw on his classic Puff Daddy alias to welcome millennial viewers to his new music network, Revolt.

"This is really happening, people," the rapper said at the launch. "A boy from Harlem is really standing on a stoop in Brooklyn launching a network worldwide. The revolution is now being televised."

Next month, Rodriguez will introduce young English-speaking Latinos to El Rey, on which he's partnered with Spanish-language network Univision to produce an action-packed lineup, including a new Latino James Bond-style series.