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.

U.S. International Education Enrollment Reaches All-time High - Higher Education

U.S. International Education Enrollment Reaches All-time High - Higher Education: With the international population at American institutions growing ever more diverse, a record annual 819,644 students from abroad studied at U.S. colleges and universities in the 2012-13 academic year. The new high represents a 7-percent jump over the previous year, according to the Institute of International Education’s 2013 “Open Doors Report on International Exchange.”

In addition, a record annual high of 283,322 Americans, representing a 3-percent increase over the previous year, studied abroad during the 2012-13 academic year, according to the Open Doors Report, which was released Monday.

“In absolute numbers, this is the largest number of international students that the U.S. has ever hosted,” said Dr. Rajika Bhandari, deputy vice president of research and evaluation at the Institute of International Education (IIE), noting that much of the new international student growth has come from China and Saudi Arabia.

Photos Reveal Harsh Detail Of Brazil's History With Slavery : Parallels : NPR

Photos Reveal Harsh Detail Of Brazil's History With Slavery : Parallels : NPR: Brazil was the last place in the Americas to abolish slavery — it didn't happen until 1888 — and that meant that the final years of the practice were photographed.

This has given Brazil what may be the world's largest archive of photography of slavery, and a new exhibition in Sao Paulo is offering some new insights into the country's brutal past.

One image at the exhibition, for example, has been blown up to the size of a wall. "Things that you could never see, suddenly you see," says anthropologist Lilia Schwarcz, one of the curators of the new exhibition called Emancipation Inclusion and Exclusion.

In its original size and composition, the image from photographer Marc Ferrez, one of the most impressive photographers from 19th century Brazil, shows a wide shot of a group of slaves drying coffee in a field. Their faces are indistinct but the overall impression is one of order and calm. But once the picture is blown up, the expressions become distinct and details emerge. A female slave is breastfeeding a child in the field; clothes that look neat are seen to be tattered.

Oldest World War II vet Richard Overton, 107, honored by Obama - CNN.com

Oldest World War II vet Richard Overton, 107, honored by Obama - CNN.com: At 107 years old, World War II veteran Richard Overton credits God for his longevity.

"If man had it, I'd have been dead, but God's got it, and he's keeping me well," said Overton, believed to be the oldest known American veteran of the war.

And in his more than century of life, he's seen both the good and bad.

"He was there at Pearl Harbor when the battle ships were still smoldering. He was there at Okinawa. He was there at Iwo Jima, where he said. 'I only got out of there by the grace of God,' " President Obama said Monday during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony honoring Overton.

Overton volunteered for service in 1942, becoming a member of the Army's 188th Aviation Engineer Battalion, an all-black unit that served on various islands in the Pacific.

He doesn't enjoy thinking or talking about it, telling CNN he "forgot all that stuff."

Siemens, HBCU Partnership Pays Off for Chicago Public School Students - Higher Education

Siemens, HBCU Partnership Pays Off for Chicago Public School Students - Higher Education: The cheers and applause that went up inside a darkened hotel ballroom in Chicago Friday night meant some 300 public high school seniors were closer to their dream of getting a college education. For 10 years running, the global electronics and engineering conglomerate Siemens has hosted the HBCU Scholarship Reception, during which Chicago Public School (CPS) students are promised generous scholarships to historically Black colleges and universities from across the country.

At the reception, students sat anxiously in the audience as representatives from 30 HBCUs, who were seated at two long tables on a stage, stepped up to the microphone to announce their list of scholarship packages. When each student’s name was called along with the academic award they were getting, fellow students roared as though a game-winning play had just occurred.

In some ways it had because the students had just secured scholarships ranging from $2,500 to upward of $80,000. This was a big deal for them and their families.

Johns Hopkins’ Pioneering Cardiac Surgeon Reflects on Lifetime of Service - Higher Education

Johns Hopkins’ Pioneering Cardiac Surgeon Reflects on Lifetime of Service - Higher Education: It’s been three decades since Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. made medical history when he stopped the heart of a California woman just long enough to perform the first human implantation of the automatic defibrillator. Watkins, who is African-American, finds it “ironic,” even today, that “women and African-Americans are 30 to 40 percent less likely to get a defibrillator even when they meet the criteria and have the insurance.”

When the idea came to him three decades ago, Watkins told Johns Hopkins Hospital officials that the institution “needed a King program” to mark the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. each January. Watkins, who orchestrates the popular event and hand picks each star-studded guest speaker, says it’s probably one of the few times at the hospital when janitors, medical students, cafeteria cooks, executives and nurses can “sit down together in one auditorium in the name of humanity.”

UCLA Has More NCAA Championships Than Black Male Freshmen

UCLA Has More NCAA Championships Than Black Male Freshmen: The black students at University of California, Los Angeles, sent a strong message about diversity at their school. Namely, the fact that there isn't much when it comes to African-American males, a troubling fact for one of the state's most elite institutions.

A group of students, led by Sy Stokes, posted a video voicing their concerns about the number of black students on campus, and their message is hard to ignore. Stokes, a third-year Afro-American studies student who identifies as black, Cherokee and Chinese, recites a spoken word poem in the video, citing blaring statistics about the university's diversity issue.

According to the school's enrollment statistics, African-Americans make up 3.8 percent of the student population. In the video, Stokes points out that black males make up 3.3 percent of the male student population, and that 65 percent of those black males are undergraduate athletes. Of the incoming men in the freshmen class, only 1.9 percent of them were black.

Pine Bush, N.Y., School District Faces Accusations of Anti-Semitism - NYTimes.com

Pine Bush, N.Y., School District Faces Accusations of Anti-Semitism - NYTimes.com: The swastikas, the students recalled, seemed to be everywhere: on walls, desks, lockers, textbooks, computer screens, a playground slide — even on a student’s face.

A picture of President Obama, with a swastika drawn on his forehead, remained on the wall of an eighth-grade social studies classroom for about a month after a student informed her teacher, the student said. 

For some Jewish students in the Pine Bush Central School District in New York State, attending public school has been nothing short of a nightmare. They tell of hearing anti-Semitic epithets and nicknames, and horrific jokes about the Holocaust. 

They have reported being pelted with coins, told to retrieve money thrown into garbage receptacles, shoved and even beaten. They say that on school buses in this rural part of the state, located about 90 minutes north of New York City and once home to a local Ku Klux Klan chapter president, students have chanted “white power” and made Nazi salutes with their arms. 

The proliferation and cumulative effect of the slurs, drawings and bullying led three Jewish families last year to sue the district and its administrators in federal court; they seek damages and an end to what they call pervasive anti-Semitism and indifference by school officials.

Human Rights Campaign HBCU LGBT Summit Fosters New Leaders - Higher Education

Human Rights Campaign HBCU LGBT Summit Fosters New Leaders - Higher Education: Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students face unique challenges on college and university campuses today, including race, identity, religion and social acceptance. To promote more understanding about these issues, particularly at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 30 LGBT student leaders from 14 states and 22 institutions traveled to Washington, D.C., last weekend to participate in the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s HBCU Leadership and Career Summit.

The annual summit, now in its 10th year, was created to educate and organize students, faculty and administrators at HBCU campuses on LGBT issues specific to each institution’s needs. It also ignites campus-wide on LGBT issues and is part of a yearlong effort to train LGBT students to become effective leaders and to spark advocacy on campus.

“HRCF’s HBCU Summit is an effort to help LGBT youth of color overcome the unique obstacles they face on their campuses in the fight for equality,” said Sultan Shakir, director of the HRC Youth and Campus Engagement Program, prior to the summit.

Napolitano Pledges Monetary Assistance to Undocumented Students - Higher Education

Napolitano Pledges Monetary Assistance to Undocumented Students - Higher Education: In response to the growing number of undocumented college students in her state, University of California President Janet Napolitano recently announced that she will spend $5 million to help provide financial assistance and counseling services to assist the students. .

“Let me be clear: UC welcomes all students who qualify academically, whether they are documented or undocumented,” says Napolitano, the former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary. “Consider this a down payment—one more piece of evidence of our commitment to all Californians.”

When Napolitano assumed the presidency of the 10-campus university system a month ago, some proponents of immigrant rights assumed that she would take a hard line stance on undocumented students.

But her public actions have been in line with other big university systems like City College of New York, which is viewed by many as a model for how to attract and provide support services to its undocumented students.

Study: Internet-based Job Hunting Effective for African-Americans - Higher Education

Study: Internet-based Job Hunting Effective for African-Americans - Higher Education: A new study has found that, with the Internet emerging as a credible resource for searching and applying for jobs, African-Americans have come to rely on online job search information sources more than any U.S. racial or ethnic group. In addition, African-Americans are more likely than average “to say the Internet was very important to landing a job,” even while their measures of digital skills and literacy are reported to be “modestly lower than the average.”

In the study, “Broadband and Jobs: African-Americans Rely Heavily on Mobile Access and Social Networking in Job Search,” these results and others lead the study’s publisher, the Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies think tank, to conclude that “efforts to improve people’s digital literacy and skills are likely to improve their capacity to use the Internet effectively for job search.”

The study goes on to say that improving digital literacy and skills would generally benefit low-income individuals, those with lower levels of educational attainment, and those in social groups that have significantly lower than average digital skills and literacy scores.

Meet The Man Who Wants To Diversify Silicon Valley By 2040 : Code Switch : NPR

Meet The Man Who Wants To Diversify Silicon Valley By 2040 : Code Switch : NPR: Tristan Walker stands out in Silicon Valley.

Walker is black. Silicon Valley, for the most part, isn't: Research shows that only about 1 percent of tech entrepreneurs in that section of Northern California are African-American.

"There just aren't as many folks who look like me in the industry," the 29-year-old told All Things Considered host Audie Cornish.

Until last year, Walker ran business development for Foursquare, the social networking app that now has some 40 million users. He was then handpicked by a team of heavy-hitting venture capitalists to work on his own big idea. Walker wants to create the next Twitter, the next Spotify. In short, the next big idea.

Now established in Silicon Valley, Walker is also working to tackle the tech industry's dearth of diversity. He's set up an internship program called Code2040 to bring black and Latino engineering undergrads to the Valley.

California’s Low Latino College Completion Rate Imperils State’s Future - Higher Education

California’s Low Latino College Completion Rate Imperils State’s Future - Higher Education: n a report documenting the comparatively low rates of Latino college completion in California, a Los Angeles-based college access and completion advocacy group recommends adopting state policies aimed at increasing college degree attainment among California Latinos.

Released Tuesday by the Campaign for College Opportunity organization, “The State of Latinos in Higher Education in California” report contends that such policies are needed “if the California economy is to have the college-educated workforce it needs.”

Currently, Latinos make up 38 percent of California’s population and are estimated to reach 50 percent just after 2050. However, only 11 percent of Latino adults have earned at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 39 percent of Whites, according to the report.

Speaking a second language delays dementias, even in the illiterate, study finds - NBC News.com

Speaking a second language delays dementias, even in the illiterate, study finds - NBC News.com: There’s more evidence that speaking a second language can delay the onset of dementia later in life — this time in a population where even illiterate people reaped the benefits of being bilingual.

Conducted in Hyderabad, India, the largest study of its kind so far found that speaking two languages slowed the start of three types of dementia — including Alzheimer’s disease — by an average of 4.5 years.

“Being bilingual is a particularly efficient and effective type of mental training,” said Dr. Thomas H. Bak, a researcher at The University of Edinburgh and a co-author of the study published Wednesday in the journal Neurology. “In a way, I have to selectively activate one language and deactivate the other language. This switching really requires attention.”

The New Whites? Asian Americans Sure Aren’t Earning Like Whites - Higher Education

The New Whites? Asian Americans Sure Aren’t Earning Like Whites - Higher Education: For Asian Americans, that old “Model Minority” idea continues to weigh us down and delete us from the diversity conversation.

Last year, when the Pew Research Center called Asian Americans the “highest income, best-educated … racial group in the United States,” it became even harder to elicit sympathy.

But now comes new information from a report released last month: “Asian American Education and Income Attainment in the Era of Post- Racial America” published recently by the Teachers College Record of Columbia University.

The study by Alejandro Covarrubias and Daniel Liou draws from the latest U.S. Census data to show how, when data about Asian Americans is disaggregated, you’ll see the truth about the so-called “Model Minority.”

Are Asians really the “Nouveau Whites”?

Not when you actually compare earning power and educational attainment.

It’s just one of the many findings in the report but the one I find most to the point.

Want to know the cost of racism? Check out these income gaps.

Agreement Reached to Reduce Student Arrests in Florida - Higher Education

Agreement Reached to Reduce Student Arrests in Florida - Higher Education: MIAMI—One of the nation’s largest school districts, law enforcement and the NAACP have reached a deal aimed at arresting fewer students for minor offenses and cutting down the so-called school-to-prison pipeline, which the civil rights group and others say disproportionately affects minority students.

The agreement with Broward County Public Schools in Florida announced Tuesday is one of the first comprehensive plans bringing together district officials, police and the state attorney’s office to create an alternative to the zero-tolerance policies prevalent in many schools. It charges principals rather than school resource officers with being the primary decision makers in responding to student misbehavior.

The move is designed to cut down on what has become known as the “school-to-prison pipeline,” where students accused of offenses like disrupting class or loitering are suspended, arrested and charged with crimes.

Urban League Develops Future Leaders Through Saturday Program - Higher Education

Urban League Develops Future Leaders Through Saturday Program - Higher Education: With a goal of developing minority youngsters into successful community leaders and college graduates, The Greater Baltimore Urban League (GBUL) held the second session of its Saturday Leadership Program (SLP) this past weekend.

Through SLP, the Urban League expects to establish a citywide program that brings together underrepresented students every month from all over Baltimore to learn essential skills necessary to thrive in higher education and in their communities. The program addresses an urgent need to bring struggling children from low-income families the literacy training, academic support and self-esteem cultivation necessary to succeed academically.

Launched in September, SLP offers an evidence-based curriculum that covers a range of subjects, such as social awareness, civic engagement, anger management, health literacy and college preparedness.

NewSchools CEO Ted Mitchell Advocates for Nontraditional Forms of Education - Higher Education

NewSchools CEO Ted Mitchell Advocates for Nontraditional Forms of Education - Higher Education: When NewSchools Venture Fund CEO Ted Mitchell spoke about what he would do if he had a magic wand to transform public education, he said he would change the way students are assessed and the way teachers teach.

“My wand would wave over the current structuring of the progress that kids make through school, and I would make it all based on the mastery of concepts and courses, not on seat time or quarters or semesters,” Mitchell said at a 2010 Google forum titled “Innovation in Education: The Next Generation of Education Entrepreneurship.”

He also spoke about the need to “reconceptualize what we think of as the role of the teacher” and create a pipeline of “the most talented people” into education, find ways to assess them and help them “grow as professionals” but “exit them” if it “isn’t working out.”

These are the views of a venture capitalist who is set to become the next undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education, pending confirmation in the U.S. Senate.

What About HBCUs? Lessons From Ohio State - Higher Education

What About HBCUs? Lessons From Ohio State - Higher Education: The viral video explosion of The Ohio State University marching band executing Michael Jackson formations and moonwalking across the football field has garnered nearly 8 million views on YouTube in less than two weeks. The video and the media stories that accompanied it have generated a buzz across the country that few probably expected.

The comment sections of the articles are filled with amazement and admiration from people who describe it as stunning and creative, and claim to have “never seen anything like this.” Although I did find the performance to be entertaining and well executed, my initial reaction was much different from that of the observers who offered the aforementioned comments.

As I watched the video, I immediately thought to myself, “Historically Black colleges and universities have been doing that for years.” As a matter of fact, I can recall my friend from Florida A&M University’s Marching 100 showing me a YouTube video years ago of them forming the shape of a giant needle, emptying the contents out of the syringe, and spelling the word “Toxic” while performing Britney Spears’ song by that name (and that is only one example). Therefore, I’m quite certain that my reaction to The Ohio State marching band video was not uncommon, particularly for those of us within the HBCU community.

Hefty Debt Dissuades Blacks from Attending Med School - Higher Education

Hefty Debt Dissuades Blacks from Attending Med School - Higher Education: From the time he was a child, Dennis Brown always had dreams of someday becoming a surgeon. Back then, he would insist on being the neighborhood doctor, pretending to operate on his classmates during playtime at school.

“A lot of people say they want to be a doctor because it’s almost the expected thing to say,” he says. “But I really saw myself in the emergency room, wanting to help people. It’s something that I used to think about all of the time.”

But three years after graduating from college, Brown, 25, has made a decision that has even baffled his parents: he’s opted to remain in the working world and not attend medical school, putting his plans of becoming a physician on hold—perhaps indefinitely.

“I have so many loans from my undergraduate years, and the cost of medical school is simply too much,” Brown says matter-of-factly. “I’m not trying to be in debt for the rest of my life. I want to get married someday and not saddle my family with that kind of pressure.”

Acclaimed Kinsey Collection opens this weekend at Reginald Lewis Museum - baltimoresun.com

Acclaimed Kinsey Collection opens this weekend at Reginald Lewis Museum - baltimoresun.com: Over the past 181 years, the bill of sale has turned a pale tan. The ink has faded from black to brown and includes elaborate flourishes that seem ill-suited to such a grim and ugly business.

On Feb. 25, 1832, the bill reads, a slave named William Johnson "about eighteen years of age" was sold to the owner of an Alabama plantation for $550 — or roughly $14,000 in today's currency.

"This document changed my life," the Los Angeles-based philanthropist and collector Bernard Kinsey says about the piece of paper he received as a gift in the 1970s from a friend.

"When I opened that FedEx up, I felt like I was holding this young brother in my hands. I wanted to know everything about him. This was a human being, and anyone with a heart would feel for him."

That bill of sale sparked Bernard and Shirley Kinsey's lifelong mission to shine a spotlight on the courage of the hundreds of thousands of slaves who were brought to North America, and the resilience and creativity of their descendants. Over the past four decades, the Kinseys have amassed a collection of more than 400 artifacts and original artworks that span the 1600s to the present.

Backlash emerges at parents who allowed child to dress as Klansman for Halloween | The Raw Story

Backlash emerges at parents who allowed child to dress as Klansman for Halloween | The Raw Story: A Craigsville, Va., woman’s nonchalant reaction has sparked additional outrage after she allowed her 7-year-old son to dress for Halloween in the robes of a Ku Klux Klan member.

Jessica Black of Craigsville told WHSV in Virginia that there’s nothing wrong with the costume or the Ku Klux Klan. “It’s suppose to be white with white. Black with black. Man with woman and all of that.”

A photo of her son was posted to the television station’s Facebook page by a viewer, leading to public concern. Black says she’s received threats via Facebook as a result.

Five Minutes With First Black Man To Play For The NBA : Code Switch : NPR

Five Minutes With First Black Man To Play For The NBA : Code Switch : NPR: Earl Lloyd became the first black man to play in the NBA 63 years ago this week. Lloyd was a forward for the Washington Capitols who grew up in Virginia. He didn't break the league's color barrier (the New York Knicks' Wat Masaka, a Japanese-American point guard, ), but it was a seminal moment for the league, which is now about 80-percent black.

We wanted to know what he was up to these days, and to our pleasant surprise and delight, the 85-year-old Lloyd happened to be at his home in Tennessee and up to talking for a few minutes.

Baltimore's Josephite Catholic order, founded to serve black community, celebrates heritage - baltimoresun.com

Baltimore's Josephite Catholic order, founded to serve black community, celebrates heritage - baltimoresun.com: Revered as a "gentleman in the finest sense of the word, remarkable convert-maker and a friend of the benighted," the Rev. Vincent Warren drove into rural Virginia one September night to share the word of God. He had no idea of what awaited.

A caravan of cars overtook his own. Hooded men in white robes forced him into one of their cars and drove off. They interrogated the cleric at gunpoint — "What are you doing in the area? Are you going to start a church?" — before releasing him hours later.

Warren was a priest of the Josephites, an order of the Roman Catholic Church founded in post-Civil War Baltimore to serve African-Americans. His captors were members of the Ku Klux Klan. The kidnapping was reported in a 1926 issue of The Harvest, the magazine that has chronicled the work of the Josephites for 125 years.

Study links racism, gun ownership and resistance to gun laws | The Raw Story

Study links racism, gun ownership and resistance to gun laws | The Raw Story: A study published in the scientific journal forum PLOS ONE found that the presence of firearms in white homes in the U.S. is associated with higher incidences of racism and stiffer resistance to gun control policies. According to a press release from the University of Manchester, the study was led by University of Manchester and Monash University professor of Behavioral Studies Dr. Kerry O’Brien.

The study analyzed data from a large swath of white U.S. voters and was spurred by the vehemence of the gun control debate in this country in the wake of the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in New Town, Connecticut. O’Brien and his team mainly hail from the U.K., New Zealand and Australia and were curious about U.S. attitudes toward gun ownership.

“Coming from countries with strong gun control policies, and a 30-fold lower rate of gun-related homicides, we found the arguments for opposing gun control counterintuitive and somewhat illogical. For example, US whites oppose gun control to a far greater extent than do blacks, but whites are actually more likely to kill themselves with their guns, than be killed by someone else. Why would you keep them? So we decided to examine what social and psychological factors predict gun ownership and opposition to gun control.”

Poor, mostly black areas face supermarket 'double jeopardy' - chicagotribune.com

Poor, mostly black areas face supermarket 'double jeopardy' - chicagotribune.com: Poor, mostly black neighborhoods face double jeopardy when it comes to supermarket access, according to a study recently published by the journal Preventive Medicine.

That may not sound like news at all: Scholars and activists have long fretted that poor, minority neighborhoods have worse access to supermarkets, which is tied to less healthy diets.

But researchers from Johns Hopkins University wanted to see how different neighborhood traits -- poverty and racial makeup -- were related to the problem. For instance, what did it mean to be in a poorer white neighborhood, versus a wealthier black neighborhood?

Researchers compared access to supermarkets, smaller grocery stores, and convenience stores in largely black, Latino, white and racially integrated neighborhoods in a national sample of more than 65,000 census tracts. Earlier research showed that convenience stores and groceries, which are smaller than supermarkets, stock foods higher in fat, sugar and salt.
The study found that living in a poor, mostly black neighborhood presented "a double disadvantage" in supermarket access. Unsurprisingly, poor black neighborhoods had fewer supermarkets than wealthier black neighborhoods.

Black trick-or-treaters urged to stay out of white Virginia neighborhood by racist Craigslist post | The Raw Story

Black trick-or-treaters urged to stay out of white Virginia neighborhood by racist Craigslist post | The Raw Story: An anonymous poster has stirred up controversy in a Norfolk, Virginia, neighborhood by asking black trick-or-treaters to stay away.

The post was added to the “Rants and Raves” section of the city’s Craigslist site, reminding “overage trick or treaters” that’s it’s illegal for children older than 12 to dress up and solicit Halloween candy.

But the original post, which has since been deleted, used a specific racial slur aimed at black children to encourage kids from other neighborhoods to stay away from Larchmont/Edgewater.

“We’re a white neighborhood and we don’t want you baboons here!! You little turds better think twice going into my neighborhood or you will be legally punished,” the post said.
Police said they would respond to calls reporting overage trick-or-treaters, which is a Class 4 misdemeanor that carries a possible $250 fine for guardians, but officers said any child 12 and under who goes out before 8 p.m. can enjoy Halloween anywhere in the city they choose.

“You can`t discriminate against someone being in a particular neighborhood, the law doesn’t address that,” said Norfolk police spokesman Chris Amos.

HBCU Presidents at a New Crossroads - Higher Education

HBCU Presidents at a New Crossroads - Higher Education: Only three months into the academic year and headlines have been littered with announcements about HBCU leadership turnover. There have been a plethora of reasons, including university presidents being fired, being encouraged to leave their posts by their boards of trustees or opting for retirement. Gone are the days of decades of top-down leadership, now replaced by a need for charismatic personalities who are well-skilled at fundraising while navigating internal needs and external stakeholders, as well as politics and long-standing traditions.

The burning question that remains is about the fate of HBCUs and how to stop the trend that’s making it difficult for presidents to lead.

“If you look at the landscape now for all of us, it’s a tough landscape,” said Hampton University president, Dr. William R. Harvey. “There are a number of factors impacting all HBCUs, including the federal government debacle on the Parent Plus Loan situation, [and] support is down for Title III, which strengthens HBCUs. All of the support for HBCUs across the board is down. In addition, there are some institutions that don’t have enough students there.

The Story Of This Black Teen Who Protected A White Man From An Angry Mob Continues To Inspire

...The Story Of This Black Teen Who Protected A White Man From An Angry Mob Continues To Inspire: In a series on kindness, the BBC recounted the incredible moment in 1996 when Keshia Thomas, an 18-year-old at the time, protected a man believed to be a white supremacist affiliated with the KKK from an angry mob.

In June of that year, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally at the city hall building in Ann Arbor, Mich. The town, whose population is known to be home to mostly liberals, came out in large numbers to protest the presence of the notoriously racist group. According to reports 300 anti-clan protestors showed up, while just 17 Klansmen were present.

Thomas was in the crowd of anti-clan protesters, when someone spotted a man in the crowd amongst them with an SS tattoo and a confederate flag shirt. The group, including Thomas, immediately chased the man.

Thomas' act of true altruism was captured by photographer Mark Brunner in a series of photos, and it still inspires people to this day.

"She put herself at physical risk to protect someone who, in my opinion, would not have done the same for her," he said. "Who does that in this world?"

Even the police assigned to protect the Klan members felt conflicted. A retired police officer, shared his story with Ann Arbor news last year.

“Behind the faceshield, what bugged me was when the crowd chanted, "The cops and the Klan go hand in hand!" Inside you want to scream, "No! No! Don't you understand that is completely false? I'm here because it is my duty to protect all of you." Outwardly you stand, you say nothing and get ready to duck if necessary.”

Today, Thomas continues to work to make a difference, by doing simple things each and every day.

"The biggest thing you can do is just be kind to another human being. It can come down to eye contact, or a smile. It doesn't have to be a huge monumental act."

White supremacist behind right-wing plot to kill Nelson Mandela jailed for 35 years | The Raw Story

White supremacist behind right-wing plot to kill Nelson Mandela jailed for 35 years | The Raw Story: The mastermind behind a right-wing extremist plot to kill former South African president Nelson Mandela and drive blacks out of the country was sentenced on Tuesday to 35 years in jail.

The ringleader of a white supremacist militia called Boeremag, Mike du Toit, was given the highest sentence of 35 years along with four other defendants over a botched 2002 plot to overthrow the post-apartheid government, the prosecution said.

The judge at the High Court in Pretoria sentenced the rest of the 20 militia members on trial to between 10 and 30 years depending on their degree of involvement in the plot, National Prosecution Authority spokesman Medupe Simasiku told AFP.

Initiative Aims to Raise the Bar for Teacher Prep Programs - Higher Education

Initiative Aims to Raise the Bar for Teacher Prep Programs - Higher Education: In an effort to get more effective teachers into America’s classrooms, seven states have joined a new initiative to “strengthen” teacher licensure standards and “raise the bar” on the approval process for teacher prep programs.

The initiative — led by the Council of Chief State School Officers, or CCSSO, and formally called the Network for Transforming Educator Preparation, or NTEP — grew out of a “call to action” that CCSSO issued late last year and adds to the growing momentum to make university-based teacher preparation programs more accountable for student achievement.

While it is questionable if becoming a teacher will become tougher in the seven states that have joined the new network, Mary-Dean Barringer, program director for Education Workforce at CCSSO, says she is not sure, but notes that “it’s going to be different, and I think that’s a good thing, and the states would agree.”

Barringer said the way that teachers are recruited and prepared must “change in pretty dramatic ways” in order to help K-12 students meet new standards and expectations, such as the those espoused by a set of education standards known as the “Common Core.”

Talk heats over profiling claims by black NYC shoppers

Talk heats over profiling claims by black NYC shoppers: The issue over whether high-end department stores in New York City have wrongly targeted black shoppers – including movie actor Rob Brown – as potential thieves is escalating.

A New York State senator on Monday called on the city's Commission on Human Rights to investigate the allegations as a fourth black shopper stepped forward to claim he had been wrongly stopped by police after shopping.

Meantime, Mark Lee, CEO of Barneys New York , and senior executives from the pricey retailer are scheduled to meet Tuesday morning with the Rev. Al Sharpton and Hazel Dukes, president of the New York chapter of the NAACP, at the Harlem headquarters of Sharpton's National Action Network, Sharpton's office announced.

That news comes as the fourth black shopper in recent days stepped forward to allege he was profiled. Two of the cases involve Barneys New York and two involve the Macy's flagship store at Herald Square.

Ohio teacher suspended after using racial slurs to complain about trick-or-treaters in Facebook post | The Raw Story

Ohio teacher suspended after using racial slurs to complain about trick-or-treaters in Facebook post | The Raw Story: A northeast Ohio music teacher has been suspended after posting a Facebook rant over the weekend to complain about trick-or-treaters.

Akron Firestone High School teacher David Spondike described some trick-or-treaters he said came from the “ghetto” by using the N-word twice and said they’d urinated on a telephone pole in front of his home.

“I don’t mind if you come from the ghetto to trick or treat,” Spondike posted. “But when you whip out your teeny ***** and **** on the telephone pole in front of my front yard and some preschoolers and toddlers, you can take your ******-*** back where it came from. I don’t have anything against anyone of any color, but *******, stay out!”

Society of Women Engineers Conference Offers Women Connections and Support - Higher Education

Society of Women Engineers Conference Offers Women Connections and Support - Higher Education: Nearly 6,000 women engineers converged on Baltimore last week for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) annual conference to sharpen their skills, network and meet recruiters at the three-day event.

This year’s theme, “Make Connections, Make History,” was evident as women of all ages poured into the Baltimore Convention Center on a mission to improve themselves, connect with others who can identify with their challenges, meet with recruiters and enjoy themselves.

The Chicago-based organization has served women engineers since 1950. Its long history of breaking new ground is what SWE President Stacey DelVecchio said is an area of great pride.

“One of the early presidents still comes to the conference, and it’s wonderful for her to see the progress,” said SWE President Stacey DelVecchio, who has been a member of SWE for 20 years. “Those women had a vision. I think about how far we have come, and I thank our founders.”

In recognition of its legacy, a large historical timeline was on display, along with some of the society’s accomplishments, such as outreach to K-12 girls to encourage them to go into science, as well as work with corporate partners supporting women in the field.

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

HACU Conference Addresses Federal, Education Issues for Hispanics - Higher Education: CHICAGO — 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.”

He said that the failure to acknowledge “the huge Latino elephant in the Texas living room is totally unacceptable for us, and we will correct it.” For the record, the national headquarters for Flores’ organization is deep in the heart of Texas in San Antonio.

VI Congressional Leader Fights for Black Boys in Education - Higher Education

VI Congressional Leader Fights for Black Boys in Education - Higher Education: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands — As the lone Democratic congressional leader from the Virgin Islands, Dr. Donna Christensen has had her share of public frustrations.

“Many people think that being Black and being a woman is the biggest obstacle that I face in Congress,” said Christensen, who is a trained medical doctor and has represented the Virgin Islands territory on Capitol Hill since 1996. “But representing the territory has been the biggest problem because many of my colleagues in Congress don’t see the territory as being entitled to the same rights the states are entitled to.”

Christensen is working around the clock to push through an energy bill that would help provide relief to the Islands where energy costs are 500 percent higher than the national average, a financial impediment that is “unsustainable and crippling to the economy and the health and safety of the community.”

Slave descendant's genetic quest leads to African apology - NBC News.com

Slave descendant's genetic quest leads to African apology - NBC News.com: African-American businessman William Holland's ancestors were subjected to slavery in Virginia — but they were handed over into slavery by Africans. Now a descendant of those tribespeople has issued a formal apology to Holland for his ancestors' role in the 18th-century slave trade.

The head chieftain for the Cameroonian town of Bakou, Ngako Ngalatchui, told NBC News that he signed the statement on Saturday.

"We are sorry and issue an official apology for our involvement and the involvement of our ancestors in the horrible institution of transatlantic slavery," the statement read. "The United States of America, France, and the United Kingdom should issue similar formal apologies for this evil institution that broke up families and caused generational hardships that continue to the present day."

This isn't the first time Africans have acknowledged the historical role their forefathers played in slavery. It's long been known that, in centuries past, warring tribes took captives and traded them to white slave merchants. That marked the first step in the long road to the plantations of the American South.

Macy's Says No Employees Were Involved In Alleged Race Stop

Macy's Says No Employees Were Involved In Alleged Race Stop: NEW YORK (AP) — No Macy's employees were involved in the detention or questioning of a black actor who claims he was stopped because of his race while shopping at the flagship Manhattan department store, Macy's officials said Sunday.

Rob Brown, a black actor who works on the HBO series "Treme," has said he was detained nearly an hour by police on June 8 after employees contacted authorities about possible credit card fraud. The actor has filed a lawsuit.

In a statement, Macy's said there was no record of any employee contacting authorities about Brown's purchase. The store said police officers requested use of a room in the building and that request was granted.

The store said it was reaching out to Brown, and continuing to investigate the situation.

Brown's account comes after claims from two black shoppers said they were racially profiled at Barneys New York.

Fewer Latinos will speak Spanish, more non-Latinos will, report says - CNN.com

Fewer Latinos will speak Spanish, more non-Latinos will, report says - CNN.com: It's no secret that more and more people are speaking español in the United States, but what you probably didn't know is that in the future more of those Spanish speakers will not be Hispanic.

That's right -- as immigrant families become more established here, future generations will follow the pattern of previous immigrants from Europe and Asia and stop using their native language.

But at the same time, non-Latinos will be learning Spanish and helping their kids to grow up bilingual because they want to pass on what they learned in school, take advantage of business opportunities or even because they have a Spanish-speaking spouse.

Fusion Sets Its Sights on a Multicultural Generation - NYTimes.com

Fusion Sets Its Sights on a Multicultural Generation - NYTimes.com: MIAMI — Since 1986, Jorge Ramos has anchored the Univision network’s 6:30 p.m. news broadcast, a vital source of information for the nation’s 50 million-plus Spanish speakers. But this week, his routine will change in a way that could have profound consequences not just for him but also for the American media landscape.

At 5 p.m., Mr. Ramos will host a new hourlong English-language public-affairs program called “America With Jorge Ramos,” the highest-profile offering of a new cable network called Fusion, a venture of Univision and ABC. He will then walk a few steps into an adjacent studio, put on a tie and prepare to deliver the day’s news in Spanish, just as he always has.

“Everything is new,” Mr. Ramos, 55, said after a run-through this month for “America” at the vast newsroom and studio complex that Univision, flush with money from ratings in some categories that now surpass those of the four big English-language networks, has just finished near the airport here. “New language, new format, new studio, new lighting.” 

In essence, Fusion can be seen as Univision’s response to the same demographic changes that are upending American politics and advertising. Latinos are the biggest ethnic minority in the United States, expected to reach 25 percent of the population by 2035. But with immigration down since the economic crisis of 2008, American-born Hispanics, who are English dominant, now represent the biggest chunk of that growth.

Photographing Puerto Rican New York, With A 'Sympathetic Eye' : Code Switch : NPR

Photographing Puerto Rican New York, With A 'Sympathetic Eye' : Code Switch : NPR: In the raging 1970s, New York City was dangerous, broke and at times .

Latinos in the city were taking to the streets, running for office and carving out artistic spaces. "Latino" at the time in New York meant "."

Photojournalist Bolivar Arellano immigrated to the city in '71, and remembers a vivid introduction to the , a militant organization that advocated for Puerto Rican independence.

"Viva Puerto Rico libre!" Arellano heard a man shout next to a police officer. "Long live free Puerto Rico," was not a sentiment the officer shared. The man was hit with a baton after each declaration — six times, Arellano says.

"Blood was coming to his face, and that's when I said, Puerto Rico has to be beautiful for this guy to resist that beating," Arellano says. "So that was my encounter with the Puerto Rican community. Since then, I'm still with them."

Wallace becomes first African-American to win NASCAR race in 50 years - CNN.com

Wallace becomes first African-American to win NASCAR race in 50 years - CNN.com: It's one win for Darrell Wallace Jr., but what will it mean for other African-American race car drivers -- present and future?

The answer to that question might not come for years. Nonetheless, NASCAR wasted no time Saturday in hailing Wallace's on-track success at Martinsville Speedway in southern Virginia.

"We congratulate Darrell Wallace Jr. on his first national series victory, one that will be remembered as a remarkable moment in our sport's history," said NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France.

Wallace took the Kroger 200 on the racing circuit's Camping World Truck Series, which is on NASCAR's third tier.

Property tax avalanche threatens homeowners on historic coastal island - CNN.com

Property tax avalanche threatens homeowners on historic coastal island - CNN.com: Sapelo Island, Georgia (CNN) -- It's a culture struggling to survive. Fewer than 50 people -- all descendants of slaves -- fear they may soon be taxed out of the property their families have owned since the days of slavery.

They are the Gullah-Geechee people of Sapelo Island off Georgia's coast, near Savannah. This small, simple community is finding itself embroiled in a feud with local officials over a sudden, huge increase in property assessments that are raising property taxes as much as 600% for some.

Many say the increase could force them to sell their ancestral properties.

"That's part of the American history. That's part of what built this country," said Charles Hall, 79, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who was born under a midwife's care in the same home he lives in today.

"Sapelo being the only intact Gullah-Geechee community in the country that's left, that is a part of history. It will be a shame not to preserve" it, he told CNN.

Macy's Also Gets Slapped With Racial Discrimination Lawsuit By Black Shopper

Macy's Also Gets Slapped With Racial Discrimination Lawsuit By Black Shopper: Barneys isn't the only store being accused of racial discrimination. Now, Macy's has been slapped with a lawsuit implicating the luxury store of racial profiling.

The New York Post reports that actor Robert Brown, who's most known for his starring role opposite Sean Connery in the film “Finding Forrester," has filled a civil suit for an unspecified sum against the luxury retail store and the New York Police Department, citing that he was unlawfully searched by undercover police officers on June 8, 2013.

The 29 year old, who is black, was stopped after making a purchase at the Sunglass Hut store located inside Macy's flagship location in New York's Herald Square.

According to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit, Brown presented his ID to the cops but “was told that his identification was false and that he could not afford to make such an expensive purchase." The Brooklyn resident says he was then arrested and detained by cops for over an hour before finally being released without any charges.

This isn't the first time Macy's has dealt with a racial discrimination lawsuit. In 2005, the company paid New York state $600,000 to settle a complaint that its New York department stores were racially profiling shoppers and unlawful handcuffing them while they were being detained on suspicion of shoplifting.

Another Black Shopper Accuses Barneys And NYPD Of Racism (UPDATE)

Another Black Shopper Accuses Barneys And NYPD Of Racism (UPDATE): Less than 24 hours after the news that Barneys and the New York Police Department are being slapped with a discrimination suit by 19-year-old college student Trayon Christian, the luxury store and the police department are being accused of racial profiling yet again.

Kayla Phillips, a 21-year-old nursing student from Brooklyn, told the Daily News that she was stopped by police after purchasing a $2,500 Céline bag at the store on February 28. After buying the luxury item with the money from a tax return, the woman left the Madison Avenue store. Three blocks away, she says she was surrounded by four undercover police officers -- two white, one African American and one Asian -- at a nearby subway station.

“There were three men and a woman. Two of them attacked me and pushed me against a wall, and the other two appeared in front of me, blocking the turnstile," Phillips told Daily News.

Phillips says the white officers, a male and female, questioned her for 20 minutes, inquiring where she lives, why she was in Manhattan and how she was able to purchase such an expensive bag.

Black College Student Arrested For Buying A Designer Belt, Barneys & NYPD Slapped With Lawsuit (UPDATE)

Black College Student Arrested For Buying A Designer Belt, Barneys & NYPD Slapped With Lawsuit (UPDATE): Barneys New York and the New York Police Department have been slapped with a lawsuit by Trayon Christian, a college student from Queens, who was arrested at the luxury department store in April.

"His only crime was being a young black man,” Michael Palillo, Christian's attorney, told The New York Post.

The Post reports that the 19-year-old was at the store buying a $350 Salvatore Ferragamo belt, but following the purchase, he was stopped by undercover officers that were allegedly called on by a Barneys sales clerk who believed the transaction was fraudulent.

The lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, states that the NYC College of Technology freshman was asked by the cops: “how a young black man such as himself could afford to purchase such an expensive belt?” He was then handcuffed and taken to a local precinct.

Alabama man admits to hiring ‘Klansman’ to hang black neighbor ‘like an animal’ | The Raw Story

Alabama man admits to hiring ‘Klansman’ to hang black neighbor ‘like an animal’ | The Raw Story: An Alabama man admitted Thursday to trying to hire a man he believed was a Ku Klux Klansman to kill his neighbor, who is black and a registered sex offender.

According to court documents, 29-year-old Allen Wayne Densen Morgan told an undercover FBI agent that he wanted to see the neighbor “hung from a tree like he is an animal” and have his genitals cut off.

Morgan, of Munford, Ala., said he believed the neighbor had raped his wife sometime in August.

FBI agents said Morgan knew his neighbor had been arrested in 2008 and charged with sexually abusing a 13-year-old victim.

Authorities said Morgan told agents that he’d tried to “force a confrontation” with his neighbor Aug. 22 by firing “multiple rounds of ammunition” at him on the street outside their homes.

Agents said the man ran away, and Morgan assumed he must be guilty of raping his wife because the neighbor did not try to stand his ground or reason with him.

University of Maryland Health Equity Center Launches Trust Campaign Targeting Minorities, Health Researchers - Higher Education

University of Maryland Health Equity Center Launches Trust Campaign Targeting Minorities, Health Researchers - Higher Education: The Maryland Center for Health Equity has launched an educational campaign aimed at bridging a longtime gap between health researchers and minority communities. The campaign, known as the “Building Trust Between Minorities and Researchers” program, represents the latest of many efforts the U.S. health care establishment has undertaken in recent years to reduce and eliminate disparities that saddle minorities with disproportionate health burdens and poor outcomes.

The rationale of “Building Trust Between Minorities and Researchers” largely seeks to overcome the history of neglect and abuse members of ethnic and racial minorities endured when few regulations governed medical research practices. Currently, few ethnic and racial minorities participate in clinical trials designed to investigate and discover treatments for diseases and other negative health conditions, according to center officials.

Clinical trials function as a fundamental step in research undertaken to bring about medical advances. The participation of individuals in clinical trials enables researchers to investigate new ways to prevent, detect or treat disease. Building Trust will encourage racial and ethnic minorities to participate in clinical trials, as well as encourage researchers to include minorities in research.