30th Anniversary Edition - Higher Education

30th Anniversary Edition - Higher Education: In one of Diverse’s largest issues this year, we cover the issues and people that have impacted the past 30 years of diversity in higher education, including standardized testing, legal battles, the growth of women presidents at HBCUs and gender imbalance on college campuses. The issue also profiles the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program, an initiative created 30 years ago to encourage more minority professors.

Another feature highlights Dr. James M. Rosser, recipient of the 2014 John Hope Franklin Award. In addition, Diverse takes a closer look at the rise and changing nature of the community college in the U.S.

South Puget Sound CC: Barring Whites from Diversity ‘Happy Hour’ a Mistake - Higher Education

South Puget Sound CC: Barring Whites from Diversity ‘Happy Hour’ a Mistake - Higher Education: OLYMPIA, Wash. ― South Puget Sound Community College says it was a mistake for an employee group to invite only people of color to a diversity “happy hour.”

The group that sent out the email last week apologized the next day and canceled the event, said Kellie Purce Braseth, dean of college relations.

The college believes the best way to celebrate and discuss diversity is to include everyone, Braseth told TV station KING.

“If you want to come you should be able to come; that just makes a richer conversation,” she said.

The invitation to all 300 staffers said the “Staff, Faculty and Administrators of Color” encouraged employees to reply to the invitation to find out the confidential date and time of what was being called a “happy hour” to “build support and community” for people of color.

The invite made it clear White people were not welcome.

“If you want to create space for white folks to meet and work on racism, white supremacy, and white privilege to better our campus community and yourselves, please feel free to do just that,” the email read.

Women’s Rights Advocates: African Feminists Don’t Need American Validation - Higher Education

Women’s Rights Advocates: African Feminists Don’t Need American Validation - Higher Education: Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist Leymah Gbowee, scholars and international social justice advocates discussed women’s rights movements in Africa during a symposium this week at Barnard College in New York.

Planned to coincide with the meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Barnard College hosted African Women’s Rights and Resilience, which covered key issues facing feminists and activists in Africa. Over the course of three panels, issues were raised about respect, understanding and collaboration.

In the first panel, Women’s Rights and Transnational Feminisms, all the panelists spoke about how Western feminists frequently make erroneous assumptions about African feminists.

Blacks, Latinos Projected to Lead Growth in U.S. Higher Education Enrollments - Higher Education

Blacks, Latinos Projected to Lead Growth in U.S. Higher Education Enrollments - Higher Education: By 2022, the proportion of Blacks and Latinos enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions will reach 33.8 percent of all enrolled students, up from 30.1 percent in 2011, according to the U.S. Education Department. Underlying this projected 12.3 percent jump in Black and Latino presence in American colleges and universities will be high school graduation rate increases as well as a higher education enrollment surge by Black and Latino students expected to outpace by more than three times the rate of enrollment increases by Whites and Asian Americans between 2011 and 2022.

In the “Projections of Education Statistics to 2022” report released last month, the U.S. Education Department projects that, between 2011 and 2022, Black and Latino enrollment growth will surge by 26 and 27 percent, respectively. During the same period, Whites and Asian Americans will each experience a 7-percent jump in higher education enrollment; enrollment by American Indians and Alaskan Natives are projected to remain at the same level over the 2011-2022 time period.

Why For-Profit Prisons House More Inmates Of Color : Code Switch : NPR

Why For-Profit Prisons House More Inmates Of Color : Code Switch : NPR: A by a UC-Berkeley graduate student has surprised a number of experts in the criminology field. Its main finding: Private prisons are packed with young people of color.

The concept of racial disparities behind bars is not exactly a new one. Study after report after working group has found a version of the same conclusion. The Sentencing Project estimates , compared with 1 in 6 Latino men and 1 in 17 white men. are four times as high for black Americans as for white. Black in federal prisons than their white peers for the same crimes.

These reports and thousands of others have the cumulative effect of portraying a criminal justice system that disproportionately incarcerates black Americans and people of color in general.

Status Quo at Elite New York Schools: Few Blacks and Hispanics - NYTimes.com

Status Quo at Elite New York Schools: Few Blacks and Hispanics - NYTimes.com: Seven black students have been offered a chance to start classes at Stuyvesant High School in September, two fewer than received offers last year. For Hispanics, the number has dropped to 21 from 24.

According to data released on Tuesday, the racial demographics for incoming students at eight of the city’s nine specialized schools, where black and Hispanic students have long been underrepresented, has remained stagnant, prompting Mayor Bill de Blasio to call again for increasing diversity at the schools.

The eight schools have a single-test admittance policy that critics have called racially discriminatory.

“These schools are the jewels in the crown for our public school system,” Mr. de Blasio said at a news conference addressing criminal justice issues.

Peers Providing Support to Vulnerable First-generation Students - Higher Education

Peers Providing Support to Vulnerable First-generation Students - Higher Education: First-generation college students are getting help to succeed on campus from an unlikely source: one another.

A growing number of colleges and universities are accelerating efforts to identify, recruit, retain, graduate and track the professional success of students who are the first in their families to attend college. The Institute for Higher Education Policy noted research that shows that greater involvement from the faculty and continuous one-on-one faculty mentoring relationships with first-generation students are critical to their college success.

While no one tracks nationally how many first-generation students enter college each year, there’s evidence their ranks are surging, said University of Pennsylvania higher education professor Marybeth Gasman, who heads the Center for Minority Serving Institutions at Penn.

Maryland School Discipline Analysis Shows Racial Disparities - Rules for Engagement - Education Week

Maryland School Discipline Analysis Shows Racial Disparities - Rules for Engagement - Education Week: An analysis of three years of Maryland school discipline data released today paints a clearer picture of the discipline disparities that motivated some to push for a recent policy change in the state.

Researchers from the Institute of Education Sciences' Mid-Atlantic Regional Education Laboratory, working in partnership with the state's department of education to analyze data from the 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12 school years, found that "in all 24 Maryland school systems, black students received out-of-school suspension or expulsion at more than twice the rate of white students."

The report also showed higher rates of classroom removal for special education students, and researchers found that black students had higher rates of out-of-school suspension or expulsion than did Hispanic or white students. Says the report:

Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club continues to break the mold as rare minority youth hockey program - The Washington Post

Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club continues to break the mold as rare minority youth hockey program - The Washington Post: It was never specifically intended to be a minority youth ice hockey program. But given the makeup of the District at the time, those were the kids who showed up to play.

Neal Henderson, a former hockey player who had recently moved to the area, was eager to teach his son the game, and pretty soon he had a group of kids coming to play at the Fort Dupont Ice Arena in Southeast Washington.

Today, nearly four decades later, the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club remains almost entirely African American, a rarity in a sport historically dominated by white players. It’s the oldest of 36 clubs in a National Hockey League program aimed at promoting the sport in urban neighborhoods.

 It’s “our little-known secret down in Southeast D.C.,” said alumnus Clyde Thomas, who coaches the Fort Dupont-based Maryland Student Hockey League D.C. Stars high school team. “When you talk about programs for minorities to play sports, ice hockey really isn’t the first thing you think of.

Q&A: Neil deGrasse Tyson Unveils the Cosmos

Q&A: Neil deGrasse Tyson Unveils the Cosmos: In its first airing, Cosmos created a new star, Cornell astronomer Carl Sagan. The seminal series opened the eyes of millions to the universe and made a science celebrity out of Sagan.

Now astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson is stepping up to star in a 13-part remake of the series on the National Geographic Channel and Fox. The first show airs on Sunday, March 9 (at 9 p.m. ET/PT), and will be broadcast in more than 70 nations—the biggest launch ever for a global TV series.

National Geographic spoke to Tyson, the director of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium, about life, the universe, and the "cosmic perspective" Cosmos will offer viewers.

New Student Union at San Diego State Celebrates Cross-cultural Relations - Higher Education

New Student Union at San Diego State Celebrates Cross-cultural Relations - Higher Education: San Diego –- Last Friday, San Diego State University unveiled its new state-of-the-art Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union. The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the conclusion of a project that has been in the works since 2010. Designed as a LEED Platinum building, the new student union provides a “safe zone where students can come to just be,” according to Dr. Tanis King Starck, program director of the Center for Intercultural Relations.

“Students felt that SDSU needed a place where their cultural identities could be acknowledged,” said Starck. She noted that the mantra of the new center needed to include the integration of many cultures and do more than just offer ethnically-themed celebrations once a month. “All of us need to experience the richness of cultures that make up this campus and get to know more about our own cultures,” she said.

White House ‘HBCU All-Stars’ Program Recognizes High-achieving Students - Higher Education

White House ‘HBCU All-Stars’ Program Recognizes High-achieving Students - Higher Education: At a time when higher education leaders worry that the general public knows far too little about the contributions historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) and their graduates are making to U.S. society, the federal government office charged with HBCU advocacy has launched a program aimed at recognizing high-achieving HBCU students.

Early last month, the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (WHIHBCU) announced the inaugural class of the HBCU All-Stars. The All-Star class includes 75 undergraduate, graduate and professional students who are being lauded for their accomplishments in scholarship, leadership and civic engagement. Enrolled at 62 historically Black schools, the All-Stars were selected from a field of 445 students who each submitted an application that included a transcript, resume, essay and recommendation, according to the White House Initiative.

Glenn Ford, Black Man Wrongfully Convicted By White Jury, Freed After Nearly 3 Decades On Death Row

Glenn Ford, Black Man Wrongfully Convicted By White Jury, Freed After Nearly 3 Decades On Death Row: NEW ORLEANS, March 11 (Reuters) - A Louisiana man who has spent nearly three decades on death row was slated to walk free on Tuesday, after prosecutors asked a judge to set aside his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence, citing new evidence in the case.

Glenn Ford, a black man, was convicted by an all-white jury in the 1983 robbery and murder of a 56-year-old Shreveport watchmaker, who was found shot to death behind the counter of his jewelry shop.

Acting on new information that exonerated Ford, a judge in Shreveport ordered him released from Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, where he has been held on death row since March 1985.

Study: College Bound Scholarship Program Sending Low-Income Kids to College - Higher Education

Study: College Bound Scholarship Program Sending Low-Income Kids to College - Higher Education: SEATTLE—Low-income kids who participate in Washington’s College Bound scholarship program are going to college at nearly the same rate as their richer classmates and well ahead of other poor children who did not sign up, according to a new report released Monday.

The scholarship program seems to encourage higher than expected college enrollment and continued college attendance, according to a report by The BERC Group, which was hired by College Spark Washington and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to assess the effectiveness of the program. The program only requires low-income students to sign a pledge to stay in school, keep their high school grade point average at 2.0 or above, and stay out of trouble. Students get the scholarship if they meet those requirements and the low-income threshold when they graduate.

Helping Young Black, Latino Men Succeed Through Support and Challenging Stereotypes - Higher Education

Helping Young Black, Latino Men Succeed Through Support and Challenging Stereotypes - Higher Education: When President Obama announced his $200 million My Brother’s Keeper initiative for Black boys, I wondered why Black and Latino men are still an enigma to the higher education community. Ten years ago I met Kenny, a chatty and bright student from metropolitan New York. He played lacrosse and was active in several student organizations. His charisma, guided by an infectious, boyish smile and endless conversation starters, made him hard to miss on campus.

During his sophomore year at Vassar, the college hosted the Consortium on High Achievement (CHAS) annual Black and Latino Males conference, where more than 20 selective liberal arts colleges sent teams of students, faculty and administrators to participate. I watched as he networked and built relationships, tapping into the strengths responsible for his success.

Decades After London Racial Killing, Inquiry Shows Police Spied on Victim’s Parents - NYTimes.com

Decades After London Racial Killing, Inquiry Shows Police Spied on Victim’s Parents - NYTimes.com: LONDON — More than 20 years after the murder of a young black man became a symbol of Britain’s troubled race relations, an inquiry published Thursday disclosed that undercover officers spied on the victim’s parents as they campaigned for a thorough investigation into their son’s killing.

Among a series of findings described by Home Secretary Theresa May as “deeply troubling,” the report also concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that a detective on the team investigating the murder of the young man, Stephen Lawrence, had a corrupt relationship with the father of a suspect.

The report said evidence of possible police corruption was concealed and documents were shredded, leaving much unclear about a deeply flawed investigation into one of the country’s most notorious racially motivated crimes.

Stokely Carmichael, A Philosopher Behind The Black Power Movement : Code Switch : NPR

Stokely Carmichael, A Philosopher Behind The Black Power Movement : Code Switch : NPR: Before he became famous — and infamous — for calling on black power for black people, Stokely Carmichael was better known as a rising young community organizer in the civil rights movement. The tall, handsome philosophy major from Howard University spent summers in the South, working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC, to get African-Americans in Alabama and Mississippi registered to vote in the face of tremendous, often violent resistance from segregationists.

Historian Peniel Joseph's new biography of Carmichael, titled Stokely: A Life, shows that for a time, the Trinidad-born New Yorker was everywhere that counted in the South, a real-life Zelig: "He is an organizer who had his hand in every major demonstration and event that occurs between 1960-1965."

Prince George’s County schools hope to recruit more male teachers - The Washington Post

Prince George’s County schools hope to recruit more male teachers - The Washington Post: When Albert Lewis attended middle school in Prince George’s County in the late 1990s, he was shocked to walk into his eighth-grade history class and find a black man sitting behind the teacher’s desk.

Nathaniel Laney’s presence was a first for Lewis, who is now a teacher himself. Until then, he had never seen a male teacher outside of gym class.

Seventeen years later, not much has changed for students in Prince George’s County and in other classrooms across the country.

“It has actually gotten worse,” said Robert Gaskin, the school system’s director of human resources.

Hoping to devise ways for the school system to recruit and retain men, Lewis, Gaskin and more than 100 male educators filled the auditorium at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale on Saturday for the county’s first male educator summit.

A Former Police Diver Claims Other Officers Racially Taunted Him - NYTimes.com

A Former Police Diver Claims Other Officers Racially Taunted Him - NYTimes.com: As a member of the Police Department’s elite scuba-diving unit, Oscar Smith probed the waterways of New York, his tasks both dramatic and painstaking. He has dived into the water in search of helicopter crash victims, and has sifted through the foot-deep muck at the bottom of the East River, looking for murder weapons thrown from bridges.

But as the only black man among the unit’s divers, Mr. Smith said, such access and adventure came at a price: racial taunts and prejudice, from the moment he applied to the unit to the last moments in his seven years on the team.

Mr. Smith, 48, who retired last year, has filed a discrimination complaint against the Police Department with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. His race, he said, cast him as an outsider, in a place where he was not necessarily welcome.

A Native American Tribe Hopes Digital Currency Boosts Its Sovereignty : Code Switch : NPR

A Native American Tribe Hopes Digital Currency Boosts Its Sovereignty : Code Switch : NPR: There's a lot of talk about virtual currencies lately — how they work, economic implications and whether they're safe. But now a Native American tribe is using a bitcoin-like currency to help strengthen its sovereignty.

In South Dakota, the Oglala Lakota Nation has become the first Native American tribe to launch its own form of virtual currency. Payu Harris, its creator, calls it mazacoin.

Mazacoin does work a lot like the already famous bitcoin: You can either buy it with dollars or (virtually) mine it . And then you can use it to trade for goods at places that accept it. (If you've been ignoring bitcoin, this is for you.)