Facing Identity Conflicts, Black Students Fall Behind : NPR

Facing Identity Conflicts, Black Students Fall Behind : NPR: Second in a series about the minority achievement gap in schools

The identity issues facing middle-class black and Latino teenagers might be a clue as to why they don't do as well academically as their white and Asian counterparts, some researchers and educators say. The teens often live in dual worlds: the suburban one they live in, and the rougher street life they see glorified in the media.

Known as the 'minority achievement gap,' the lower average test scores, grades and college attendance by black and Latino students have long perplexed researchers. Many have focused on the values and attitudes of students and whether black students think doing well in school is 'acting white.'

Stereotypes And Students' Self-Image
Columbia High School sociology teacher Melissa Cooper begins class by projecting a collage of faces onto a screen and asking students what they would think if they saw these people walking down the street. The students say the Latino-looking guy is a drug lord. The white guy in a tweed suit is smart.

'How does he look like he's smart?' Cooper asks.

Tough Times: African-American Realities Beneath the Breakthroughs

Tough Times: African-American Realities Beneath the Breakthroughs: When the Congressional Black Caucus held its annual legislative conference in Washington last month, there was much to crow about.

Since its gathering in the fall a year ago, the Black lawmakers and their nationwide network of supporters had played a key role in helping turn out the vote that helped elect Illinois Sen. Barack Obama as the nation’s first Black president.

With the new Congress, several caucus members had risen to the chairmanships of key committees in the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, more Black people with clout have been appointed to key positions in the new administration, from chief of the Environmental Protection Agency to U.S. Attorney General. The new attorney general, Eric Holder, has since promised more renewed focus on enforcing civil rights laws and reviewing mandatory minimum prison sentences.

Beneath the exciting veneer, however, at various meetings during the conference and as participants went back to their hometowns across the country, the mounting troubles besetting Black America – from HIV/AIDS to the soaring unemployment triggered by the economy’s collapse last year— sobered up even the most euphoric. The test of America’s mettle to survive is fast becoming an acute stress test for Black America on many fronts.

New Minority Engineering Leader Stresses K-12 Exposure to Careers

New Minority Engineering Leader Stresses K-12 Exposure to Careers: Describing the past decade's growth of African-Americans, Latinos and Native Americans in the engineering profession as 'marginal at best,' diversity efforts have to increasingly target under-represented K-12 students, according to the president and CEO of the National Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME).

'Each of those groups has shown marginal increases in the baccalaureate degree production in engineering and in the engineering work force, but the reality is, there is a huge problem with proportionality,' Dr. Irving Pressley McPhail said.

The percentage of engineers from each minority group is still far below each group's percentage in the overall population, he said, and it's important to 'create an engineering work force that looks like America.'

College Enrollment Set Record in 2008, Study Says - NYTimes.com

College Enrollment Set Record in 2008, Study Says - NYTimes.com: ...Enrollment has been rising at two- and four-year colleges alike for decades. And most young adults still prefer four-year colleges, even though they are more expensive.

But the increase in the rate of students going to college reflected in the Pew report was attributable almost entirely to increased community-college enrollment. About 3.4 million, or 11.8 percent, of young adults were enrolled at community colleges, up from 3.1 million, or 10.9 percent, in 2007.

Enrollment at four-year colleges was essentially flat, at about eight million, or 27.8 percent of young adults, the Pew report said.

College enrollment varies by race and ethnicity. Nearly 41 percent of white 18- to 24-year-olds were enrolled in college in 2008, compared with about 32 percent of black young adults and 26 percent of Hispanics in that age group.

Obama signs bill expanding hate protection to gays - washingtonpost.com

Obama signs bill expanding hate protection to gays - washingtonpost.com: When a gay Wyoming college student was slain in 1998, congressional Democrats pledged to broaden the definition of federal hate crimes by the end of that year to include attacks based on sexual orientation.

The effort instead turned into a decade-long proxy war between liberal groups that want to expand gay rights and conservative groups that do not. But Wednesday, President Obama signed the bill and then hosted a White House reception for gay activists and the parents of the slain student, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard.

"After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are," Obama said after the signing.

Former senator Edward Brooke receives Congressional Gold Medal - washingtonpost.com

Former senator Edward Brooke receives Congressional Gold Medal - washingtonpost.com: The crisp cadence of a fife-and-drum corps reverberated through the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday morning, the august room packed with nearly 500 people craning their necks to see the remarkable tableau arranged on a stage before them.

There sat Edward William Brooke III, who grew up in a segregated neighborhood not far from the Capitol, fought in a segregated Army in World War II and returned to Washington in 1967, the first African American elected to the Senate by popular vote -- and on this day, the recipient of the highest honor Congress can bestow, the Congressional Gold Medal.

And there sat President Obama, whose stunning electoral journey to the White House seemed no more improbable than the one made four decades earlier by the 90-year-old man who sat beside him, a black Protestant Republican who won in the overwhelmingly white, Catholic, Democratic state of Massachusetts. After Obama heralded Brooke for a life spent "breaking barriers and bridging divides," the two men embraced tightly. It was a reminder of how much this country has changed in their lifetimes.

Temple University's Commitment to Diversity Questioned

Temple University's Commitment to Diversity Questioned: When budgetary cuts become necessary at a college, the programs and departments most vulnerable are often the least fundamental to a school’s central mission. But when an institution has been ranked as the most diverse student body in higher education, it can be difficult to explain why an office that caters to multicultural students was downsized dramatically.

Rhonda Brown, the first associate vice president of multicultural affairs and director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMCA) at Temple University, said sweeping cuts to her department have crippled her operation, reducing her staff of 10 to five and relocating the program to a smaller, inaccessible office. Worst of all, Brown said, she wasn’t consulted about the deep cuts.

“There are budget crises going on everywhere and we were required to take a budget cut that was supposedly across the board — and we did,” said Brown, who lost clerical staff when she did initial cost-trimming. “Our budget was cut a second time by people above and beyond me. I found out just a few days before they were made and I was not consulted or made aware until later.”

Obama Restores Asian American Initiative, Gives Ed. Dept. a Lead Role

Obama Restores Asian American Initiative, Gives Ed. Dept. a Lead Role: Two years after the Bush administration let its authority lapse, President Barack Obama has reinstated the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with the U.S. Education Department in a major leadership role.

Obama this month signed an executive order re-establishing the White House Initiative, to be co-chaired by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The Education Department also will house the initiative. The department already is home to the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.

The chief goal of the latest initiative is to improve the quality of life for underserved Asian communities through greater participation in federal programs. In announcing the initiative, President Obama also noted that some Asian communities have high school dropout rates, low college enrollment rates, health disparities and high poverty rates.

Minority Graduate Students Urged to Address Pipeline Issues

Minority Graduate Students Urged to Address Pipeline Issues: ARLINGTON, Va. — A panel of senior professors and researchers told attendees at the largest annual gathering of U.S. minority graduate school students that earning their Ph.D.s and becoming faculty will help make them effective advocates for expanding the educational pipeline of students of color seeking higher education.

During the session, “The Need to Examine and Address the Current Status of Minority Males in Higher Education,” at the Compact for Faculty Diversity's 16th Annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring on Friday, panelists urged students to channel their eventual Ph.D. success into becoming role models and advocates for programs that could boost the numbers of young minority males completing college and graduate school. The Compact for Faculty Diversity, a national partnership of regional, federal and foundation programs that focus on minority graduate education and faculty diversity, held the annual institute in Arlington, Va., this past weekend.

Perfectionism: Just Stop It!

Access Granted with Dr. Marybeth Gasman

University of Pennsylvania professor Marybeth Gasman explores issues of access and retention for students and faculty of color and Historically Black Colleges and Universities, among other things.

Perfectionism: Just Stop It!: The best piece of advice received in my academic career thus far was given to me by Dr. Wayne Urban, an historian and professor at the University of Alabama. During my first year as a faculty member, I walked into his office and asked, “Wayne, how do you write so much excellent scholarship, how did you become a full professor?” His response was, “I am not a perfectionist.”

These words have stuck with me and I learned immensely from them. Wayne also noted that doctoral students and young assistant professors often succumb to perfectionism and become immobilized in terms of sending out their work for review. He told me reviewers and editors are our friends and they help us to take good work and make it better. I have lived by Wayne’s words through my time as a faculty member and I think I have benefited.

Haskell Indian Nation U. President Faces Backlash on Tuition

Haskell Indian Nation U. President Faces Backlash on Tuition: LAWRENCE, Kan.— Dr. Linda Sue Warner had big ambitions when she arrived in 2007 as president of Haskell Indian Nation University, the only four-year college operated by the federal government for American Indians. Now she wonders whether those ambitions could cost her the job.

She envisioned major campus improvements and an expansion of the college's programs. But she also proposed to increase the extremely small fees paid by Haskell's roughly 1,050 students —$215 per semester, including room and board — to $1,000.

And that was where she ran headlong into the belief among many Haskell students and alumni that the government owes them a free or nearly free education, both by treaty and as compensation for generations of cultural oppression.

Students protested and members of the Board of Regents called for Warner's ouster.

“I feel strongly that these kids shouldn't have to pay to go to school here,'' said Haskell alumnus and Kickapoo tribal chairman Russell Bradley.

In September, amid the furor, Warner was sent to New Mexico on what the government said was a temporary assignment.

Ayers Settlement Falls Short of Funding

Ayers Settlement Falls Short of Funding: A legislative watchdog panel this month gave a generally rosy report about how Mississippi is meeting its obligations in a decades-old college desegregation case, but a closer examination reveals flaws with a private endowment that has failed to reach its goals.

The settlement of the case in 2002 put an end to litigation that began in 1975 when Jake Ayers Jr. filed suit with a group of other students, accusing Mississippi of operating an unequal system of higher education— one for Black students, and another for White students.

Lawmakers put the settlement package together in 2002 but no money was allocated until the last appeal was exhausted in 2004.

In the settlement, there was a $70 million publicly funded endowment and a separate, privately funded $35 million endowment. The private endowment has only $1 million.

Seven years after a federal judge signed off on the settlement, state officials agree there is no organized campaign to raise private money.

Resolution may be near between students and bar accused of racism - CNN.com

Resolution may be near between students and bar accused of racism - CNN.com: CNN) -- An agreement could be reached before week's end between Washington University students and an Illinois nightclub that allegedly barred six African-American students while admitting nearly 200 of their white classmates.

Fernando Cutz, senior class president at the university in Missouri, said the aggrieved students have been in contact with lawyers representing Original Mother's, a bar in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood.

The two sides expect a resolution to their dispute as early as Wednesday, Cutz said. He did not, however, say what the students were demanding or why he was optimistic that a deal could be struck.

The students complained to state and federal agencies after six African-American members from their senior class trip celebration were denied admission to the club on October 17.

Federal programs give disadvantaged extra help in college - washingtonpost.com

Federal programs give disadvantaged extra help in college - washingtonpost.com: ... The federal Student Support Services program, launched during the Nixon administration, is part of a larger effort to help disadvantaged students overcome academic and cultural barriers to success in higher education. The program is part of TRIO, a group of national initiatives that have proven their ability to raise the odds that a disadvantaged student will stay in college, get good grades and graduate.

Yet supporters say the programs have languished through years of fiscal neglect. Total funding to the TRIO programs -- $848 million in the fiscal year that began this month -- has risen about 1 percent in the past five years. TRIO serves 838,591 students, fewer than it did in 2003.

The support programs are closely linked to the federal Pell grant, a $25 billion fund that helps students from low-income families pay for college. Unlike TRIO, funding for Pell has increased by more than one-third over the past three years. A student aid bill that cleared the House last month would add $40 billion to Pell over the next decade but does not address TRIO.

The House Rules

The House Rules: The House Rules
by Dr. Pamela D. Reed, October 21, 2009

Morehouse College has laid down the law. And not a moment too soon..."

As you might imagine, the institutional decree has caused quite a stir — and it has been met with mixed reviews. Some argue that the policy is draconian and designed to stifle self-expression. Others — present company included — view the stance of the Morehouse administration as courageous and long overdue. (The only thing missing is a restriction on conspicuous tattoos!)

Of course, as long as they don’t infringe on the rights of others, everyone has the right to live as they will. And certainly young adults have the right to dress according to their personal tastes; however, Morehouse is a private college. As such, it should have the right to impose whatever standards deemed appropriate for its student body (as long as bodily harm is not involved). Mind you, anyone unable to abide by the said rules also has the absolute right to matriculate elsewhere.

Community Colleges May Soon Start Turning Students Away

Community Colleges May Soon Start Turning Students Away: Nicole Rodriguez has been waiting a year to get into Pima Community College’s nursing program. But she’s running out of patience.

The Tucson-based Hispanic-serving institution has nearly 340 people on the waiting list to get into the program. The next available semester is spring 2011, according to the college, but Rodriguez, 24, says she was told she would have to wait three years to get admitted. She told Diverse she lost her original place on the list because she did not immediately respond to an email from the school asking her if she wanted to stay on it.

“So I’m probably starting all over again, which makes me really upset,” Rodriguez adds. “If all else fails, I’ll probably end up going to another school in another state that doesn’t have three-year waiting lists.”

Reforms Across Multiple Policy Areas Key to Eliminating Health Disparities, Experts Say

Reforms Across Multiple Policy Areas Key to Eliminating Health Disparities, Experts Say: WASHINGTON — A panel of health policy experts Tuesday told congressional staff members and policy professionals that, while health care reform could play a powerful role in reducing health disparities between minorities and Whites, major policy reform in areas such as housing, transportation, agriculture and labor will also prove necessary to close the health care gap.

“We need multiple strategies across a variety of sectors. These are not just problems for public health; these are problems for the housing sector, the transportation sector and others,” said Dr. Brian Smedley, vice president and director of the Health Policy Institute of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

UW Bothell Chancellor Champions For Diversity Among College Leadership

UW Bothell Chancellor Champions For Diversity Among College Leadership: The under-representation of minorities, particularly Asian-Americans, in U.S. college presidencies can be due to the fact that many potential minority leaders in the faculty ranks are “ignored” and “overlooked,” said University of Washington Bothell Chancellor Dr. Kenyon S. Chan, who encourages chancellors to think hard about how they develop leadership on their campuses.

“There’s a lack of real mentorship” for minority faculty who want to move up in the ranks, Chan said during a meeting Tuesday with the editorial board of Diverse. “People of color are overlooked.”

For Asian-Americans, particularly, “I think a lot of it has to do with being ignored and being invisible as a potential leader for an institution,” he said. “Many institutions have never had a person of color as a leader. … Asian-Americans are still quite rare, and quite unique.”

Jack Nelson dies at 80 - Michael Calderone - POLITICO.com

Jack Nelson dies at 80 - Michael Calderone - POLITICO.com: Jack Nelson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter best known for his coverage of the civil rights movement, has died. He was 80.

The Associated Press reports that Nelson died Wednesday at his home in Bethesda, Md. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.

Born in Talladega, Ala., Nelson worked in the late '40s and '50s at the Biloxi Daily Herald and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. At the Journal-Constitution,Nelson won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on malpractice at a state mental hospital.

In 1965, he joined the Los Angeles Times, where he spent more than 35 years, before retiring as chief Washington correspondent in 2001. LA Times columnist described Nelson to the AP as a "reporter's reporter."

Nelson wrote about his experience on the civil rights beat in recent years for Nieman Reports:

It was a story where the issue seemed so cut and dry and the injustices so stark that reporters struggled to remain objective, though many found it difficult not to become emotionally involved. Seeing hard-eyed state troopers (always described as hard-eyed—and they were) in Selma slamming their clubs against the skulls of blacks who were demonstrating for the right to vote left reporters feeling there weren’t two sides to this story. And there seemed to be only one side to Jim Crow justice when the only black you could find at a county courthouse would be a defendant or one pushing a broom.

Latinos may be 'future' of U.S. Catholic Church - CNN.com

Latinos may be 'future' of U.S. Catholic Church - CNN.com: ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) -- 'I'll take two chili, uh...' a hungry customer stammers at the front of a two-hour-long line. 'Chile rellenos,' the money-handler trills back in perfect Spanish. This is not a trendy Tex-Mex restaurant; and it's more than 1,000 miles from the Mexican border.

The stuffed pepper causing the stutter is the hottest menu item at St. Cecilia's Lenten fish fry in St. Louis, Missouri. Chile rellenos, a traditional Mexican dish, have replaced fish as the main draw for Catholics giving up meat on Fridays. This century-old parish founded by German immigrants has turned 85 percent Hispanic.

"It's the browning of the Catholic Church in the United States," says Pedro Moreno Garcia, who until last month led the Hispanic ministry for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Moreno Garcia points to St. Cecilia's Spanish-dominant Mass schedule as a sign of the times.

"Hispanics are the present and Hispanics are the future of the Catholic Church in the United States," says Moreno Garcia.

One-third of all Catholics in the United States are now Latinos thanks to immigration and higher fertility rates, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. While St. Cecilia's parish has relished the growth, elsewhere, the Latino population boom has rocked the pews.