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Posts tagged as “Howard University”

Morgan State University in Baltimore Designated a National Treasure

Morgan State University in Baltimore Designated a National Treasure

By goodblacknews on May 4, 2016

Morgan State University (photo via wikiwand.com)
Morgan State University (photo via wikiwand.com)

article by Carrie Wells via baltimoresun.com

Morgan State University was named a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation on Tuesday, a designation given to only one other historically black college in the country.

The designation will mean Morgan and the National Trust will partner to develop a road map for preserving the university’s historic buildings, which mostly are a mix of Collegiate Revival and Brutalist architectural styles.
That road map will later be used as a template for preserving historic buildings on historically black college campuses across the country, said Dale Green, a professor of architecture and historic preservation at Morgan who is working with the National Trust.
“They have significant rich legacies that most people are unaware of,” Green said. “They’re more than black schools. … They are the only institutions that never barred other races. They very much reflect the American story.”

National Society of Black Engineers Receives $2 Million Grant from Northrop Grumman Foundation

By goodblacknews on March 28, 2016

(photo via nsbe.org)
(photo via nsbe.org)

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinutcherson)
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Northrop Grumman Foundation and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) have launched a three-year, $2-million program designed to expand the nation’s engineering workforce through a partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The Northrop Grumman Corporation/NSBE Integrated Pipeline Program will provide 72 engineering students with $8,000 scholarship grants, internships with Northrop Grumman and year-round academic and professional development support.
The program’s three HBCU partners — Florida A&M University, Howard University and North Carolina A&T State University — will receive grants, technical assistance and a package of programs researched and managed by NSBE, to increase their already high capacity to recruit, retain and graduate engineers. NSBE is one of the largest student-governed professional societies based in the United States.
“Northrop Grumman and the Northrop Grumman Foundation are committed to helping improve science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to ensure a future workforce that can protect our nation and maintain our global leadership,” said Sandra Evers-Manly, Northrop Grumman vice president, global corporate responsibility and president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation.  “Our partnership with NSBE will help us achieve that goal and develop the pipeline of diverse talent that is so important to our company and our society’s future.”
“We are delighted to receive this endorsement of our work from one of America’s most innovative companies,” said NSBE Executive Director Karl W. Reid, Ed.D. “For years, we have spoken about the vital role that engineering diversity plays in our national economy and national security. Northrop Grumman’s investment in this program illustrates that they understand the need exists and are willing to do something about it. This fact is reflected not only in their longtime support of NSBE but also in the high ratings the company receives from our membership.”
The first cohort of 24 Northrop Grumman Corporation/NSBE scholars will be selected in December, and their participation in the Pipeline Program will be kicked off with a summit meeting in March 2017, during NSBE’s 43rd Annual Convention in Kansas City, Mo. Summer internships for the first cohort will begin in May 2017.

Luke Lawal and Brittany Ireland Build HBCU Buzz, a Platform for Students and Alumni to Stay Connected

By goodblacknews on March 8, 2016

HBCU Buzz
HBCU Buzz founder Luke Lawal and HBCU Buzz president Brittany Ireland (photo via black enterprise.com)

article by Courtney Connley via blackenterprise.com
While college helps to build your network and contacts for current and future opportunities, the strength of the HBCU community is one that provides a unique connection for its students and graduates.
Just ask millennials Luke Lawal and Brittany Ireland, who are proud HBCU alums and the leaders behind the popular site, HBCU Buzz.
“I realized that after going to college no matter where you go you can pinpoint an HBCU graduate,” says HBCU Buzz founder Lawal.
Graduating from Bowie State University in 2012 with a degree in bio-chemistry, Lawal works at a lobbyist firm on Capitol Hill and admits that it was the unique HBCU connection that helped him to grow connections at his current job.
“My general counsel is a Howard grad and we connected before I even got the job via LinkedIn,” says Lawal. “Whether I went to Bowie or he went to Howard, you generally just gravitate towards wanting to help and that’s one of the biggest benefits of graduating from an HBCU.”
His idea to launch HBCU Buzz came in 2009 during his undergraduate years, where he held a marketing position in the Student Government Association (SGA). With this position, the Maryland native traveled to different black colleges across the nation and got an inside view of how things were run on different campuses.
“When I was at Florida A&M I just remember visiting some of the SGA offices and talking to their students and I realized they have a lot of different techniques that us in the north just aren’t aware of,” he says. “So I was trying to figure out why we hadn’t connected with them and why we weren’t publicizing what other HBCUs were doing.”
It was then that his idea for a blog site came about. After spending much time at Howard University and eventually being contacted by BET to help with their Rip the Runway show, Lawal linked arms with Ireland, who was serving as Howard University’s homecoming fashion show coordinator.
“I asked him about HBCU Buzz and I was so excited and loved the idea,” says Ireland, who graduated from Howard in 2013 with a degree in public relations and a minor in sports management. “Immediately we were a team.”
The two locked arms and officially launched the site in March 2011, with Ireland working her way up from event coordinator, to director of PR and now president of the site.
Since it’s launch in 2011, HBCU Buzz has grown from a blog site that covers campus events, news, sports and fashion, to a brand that partners with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, HBCUs for Obama, and political activists to host on-campus events across the nation.
With a growing readership that consists of more than 81,000 followers on Twitter, 55,000 on Instagram and 20,000 on Facebook, Lawal and Ireland make it clear that the secret to growing the HBCU Buzz brand is its strong connection to the community.
To read more, go to: http://www.blackenterprise.com/education/young-professionals-built-plaform-hbcu/

Walden University Names Its School of Social Work in Honor of Dr. Barbara Solomon

By goodblacknews on March 1, 2016

Dr. Barbara Solomon (photo via news.usc.edu)
Dr. Barbara Solomon (photo via news.usc.edu)

article via jbhe.com
Walden University, headquartered in Minneapolis, enrolls more than 52,000 students in over 80 online degree programs. The university has renamed its School of Social Work and Human Services in honor of Barbara Solomon. The university has also named a scholarship program for Dr. Solomon. These scholarships are earmarked for students who have shown a commitment to helping underserved populations.
Dr. Solomon played a major role in the development of the social work program at Walden University. Earlier in her career, she was professor, vice provost, and dean of the Graduate School at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She served on the faculty at the University of Southern California from 1966 to 2004. Dr. Solomon was the first African American to serve as dean at USC. Professor Solomon is the author of Black Empowerment: Social Work in Oppressed Communities (Columbia University Press, 1977).
Professor Solomon is a magna cum laude graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C. She holds a master of social work degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in social work from the University of Southern California.
To read more, go to: https://www.jbhe.com/2016/02/walden-university-names-its-school-of-social-work-in-honor-of-barbara-solomon/

African-American Finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards

By goodblacknews on February 7, 2016

National Critics Circle Book Nominees
On top (l to r): National Book Critics Circle Finalists Elizabeth Alexander, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ross Gay; On bottom: Terrance Hayes and Margo Jefferson (photos via jbhe.com)

Finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards have been announced. Awards are given out in six categories: autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Five finalists are chosen in each category. The winners will be announced on March 17 at a ceremony at the New School in New York City.
Several of the finalists are African Americans who have ties to the academic world:
elizabeth-alexanderElizabeth Alexander is the Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University. Professor Alexander has been a member of the faculty at Yale since 2000. She previously taught at the University of Chicago. Professor Alexander is the author of six collections of poetry. She is being honored in the autobiography category for her book The Light of the World (Grand Central Publishing, 2015). Professor Alexander is a graduate of Yale University. She earned a master’s degree at Boston University and a Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania.
coatesTa-Nehisi Coates is a finalist in the criticism category for his book Between the World and Me (Spiegel & Grau, 2015). The book is a memoir of his life as a Black man in America. The book earlier won the National Book Award. Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine. Coates has served as a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Management. Coates attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 2015, he was named a MacArthur Fellow.
RossRoss Gay teaches in the creative writing program at Indiana University and for the low-residency master of fine arts degree program in poetry at Drew University in New Jersey. He is a finalist in the poetry category for his collection Catalogue of Unabashed Gratitude (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015). Dr. Gay is a native of Youngstown, Ohio. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Dr. Gay earned a master of fine arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, and a Ph.D. in American literature from Temple University in Philadelphia.
HayesTerrance Hayes was nominated in the poetry category for his collection How to Be Drawn (Penguin Books, 2015). Professor Hayes joined the English department faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in 2013. He previously taught at Xavier University of Louisiana and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. A graduate of Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina, Professor Hayes earned a master of fine arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2014, he was named a MacArthur Fellow.
Margo Jefferson is a professor of writing in the School of HS_Jefferson_Margothe Arts at Columbia University and a professor at the Eugene Lang College of The New School for Liberal Arts in New York. She is nominated in the autobiography category for Negroland (Pantheon, 2015). She won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism while writing for The New York Times. Professor Jefferson is a graduate of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and holds a master’s degree from Columbia University.
article via jbhe.com

Diversifying Google: Meet Black Google Engineers Clennita Justice, Aggrey Jacobs and Travis McPhail

By goodblacknews on December 22, 2015

As tech companies continue to share diversity statistics with the public, it’s clear there is still a lot of work to do to boost inclusion in tech. Yet, people of color are working at some of the largest companies in technology even though their numbers are few.
Google’s latest diversity stats from January 2015  show that 2% of its workforce is black. Meet three successful Google engineers:

Clennita Justice
Clennita Justice, Senior Engineering Program Manager, Google (Image: Google)

Clennita Justice is a Social Engineering program manager. She’s been at Google more than half a decade.
She was hired to launch Google e-books, which became Google Play Books. Now, she does user research and Product Excellence—a focus on making the right product for the right user—part of Google’s shift in culture from launching to adopting. Justice’s particular area of focus is infrastructure.
Originally from Los Angeles, Justice has a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Howard University. She pursued a degree in Computer Science before the Internet was ubiquitous and before the big push to get women and girls interested in STEM, and despite the insistence of her uncle (who worked for IBM) that she study business.
She actually studied business for a year at Denver University as a business major. When she took a course in DOS programming and received an “A”, she was hooked and switched her major to Computer Science. She eventually taught herself HTML and JavaScript as the Internet took off.
A pivotal moment in her life was when someone in the Computer Science department at her university said he didn’t think she would stay in Computer Science. Not only did she stay and complete her degree, but she received the best job offer of anyone in her class.
Justice is a strong believer in self-educating. She also advises, “Anyone who gets into tech has to be a constant learner. That’s how you stay relevant.”
Aggrey Jacobs
Aggress Jacobs, Software Engineer on Google Play, Google; (Image: Google)

Aggrey Jacobs is a software engineer for Google Play; specifically, he works on Google Play Books for iPhone and iPad applications. His typical day is spent mostly coding, although he also engages in general problem solving for iOS at Google and also helps bring more users on board.
Prior to Google, Jacobs worked as an iOS developer at Western Digital. How the 28-year-old ended up working for two of the most prestigious technology companies is interesting. Jacobs says he never really knew what he wanted to do, and that his father was the one who suggested he study computer engineering. Jacobs’ father’s own computer experience is limited to playing Solitaire on the computer, according to Jacobs, who says, “Who knows?” how his father had the knowledge to direct him to that career.
During his first semester in school, Jacobs learned Java programming. He ended up double-majoring in both computer and electrical engineering.
The Brooklyn native says a pivotal point in his life was when he was contemplating graduate school. He went, but dropped out, because he was “trying to figure out what to do.”
Jacobs relocated to California to search for a job. It was there that Google reached out to him and he was hired, although he didn’t see himself getting through the interview process.
He now encourages other people of color to apply at Google. He says lack of exposure and intimidation can prevent some from applying at the company. By the way, he still speaks often with his father.
Travis McPhail
Travis McPhail, Software Engineer, Tech Lead within Geo (Image: Google)

Travis McPhail is a software engineer and tech lead who works with Google Maps.
He is currently leading an effort to create one library that performs all of Google’s renderings across Maps, Google Earth, and Google Street View data.
McPhail believes the future of Google is through geospatial rendering applications that will allow people to be informed of the world around them.
He credits his career in software engineering to being “a bad kid” who “used to break a lot of things at home.” Fortunately, instead of “strangling him,” his father bought him a Commodore 64 computer when he was just five years old.
He had a natural affinity for technology from the start. His father challenged him to learn to use the computer, and McPhail says he started to “bang away on it.”
article by Samara Lynn via blackenterprise.com

Four African-American Students Win Marshall Scholarships

By goodblacknews on December 20, 2015

2016-marshall-scholars-post
(L to R) Quenton Bubb, Robert Clinton, Ophelia Johnson, and Joel Rhone (photo via jbhe.com)

In 1953, the Marshall Scholarships program was established by an act of the British Parliament. Funded by the British government, the program is a national gesture of thanks to the American people for aid received under the Marshall Plan, the U.S.-financed program that led to the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. The scholarships provide funds for up to two years of study at a British university, and include money for travel, living expenses, and books. Applicants must earn a degree at an American college or university with a minimum of a 3.7 grade point average.
The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission is authorized to award up to 40 scholarships each year. This year 32 scholarships were awarded. It appears from JBHE research, that four of the 32 winners are African Americans.
Quenton Bubb is a senior at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who is majoring in biophysics. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Bubb hopes to go to medical school and to earn a Ph.D. in molecular biophysics. In England, he will pursue graduate studies in chemistry at the University of Cambridge.
Robert Clinton is a senior at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University. His independent study degree is focusing on the sociology and politics of urban agriculture. In England, Clinton will pursue a master of science degree in sustainable urbanism and a master of research degree in interdisciplinary urban design.
Ophelia Johnson is a graduate of the University of Alabama Birmingham with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the university in engineering. Johnson is a former UNCF Merck Undergraduate Research Fellow and won a Goldwater Scholarship. Johnson will spend a year studying medical device design and entrepreneurship at Imperial College London.
Joel Rhone is a senior at Howard University in Washington, D.C., majoring in English. A native of California, Rhone served as president of the Sterling Allen Brown English Society at Howard. Rhone will conduct research at the University of Manchester on African-American literature, particularly its impact on, and depiction of, the African-American church.
article via jbhe.com

HBCU Young Alumni Seek to Break Stereotypes as 'Young, Gifted and Black' Photo Goes Viral

By goodblacknews on December 9, 2015
Courtesy: Magdeldin Hamid
Photo Courtesy of MAGDELDIN HAMID
Nyerere Davidson never imagined that a gathering with friends from around the country would produce an iconic photo representing the future of historically black colleges and universities, but the 2008 Florida A&M University graduate couldn’t be happier about it.
“I just thought it would be a nice illustration to counteract the stereotypes about young black people,” says Davidson, a Milwaukee native and recent transplant to Washington D.C. who organized the shoot as a commemorative moment for his birthday celebration last month in the District.
“This is a range of different people from different parts of the country, different shades, different looks and different styles representing what black excellence looks like. And all of us are from HBCUs.”
Davidson is a marketing executive with the YMCA’s national headquarters, and promotes the organization’s Healthy Living/Healthy Communities initiative. A former volunteer with the YMCA’s community-based Black Achievers program in Milwaukee, he says that imagery is a powerful part of connecting with black youth and showing real possibilities in education and professional life.
“With everything going on at Mizzou, and in cities throughout the country, I think this shows young black people in a totally different way,” he said. “We’re all professionals – doctors, fashion designers, corporate executives – but we’re young and we embrace our responsibility to our communities and what our image means to the outside world.”
“Today we live in a world where there is so much attention devoted to the distorted portrayals of African Americans specifically black males,” says Jacob Waites, a 2010 Cheyney University graduate who was among the attendees featured in the photo. “A society where one image can have a huge impact on perception. This is why it’s imperative that images such as the one from Nye’s 30th birthday brunch is so essential. It’s time to dispel the exaggerated views of African Americans and give the world a real-world experience.”
Friends with alumni ties to FAMU, Claflin, Howard, Morgan State, Alcorn State, Tennessee State, Morehouse and Cheyney are represented in the image.  Many say they are proud of their HBCU experience and aware of the role that scenes like this play in promoting similar experiences for future HBCU students.
“Being a part of this photo was iconic for me– when we came together, W.E.B. Dubois ‘Talented Tenth’ essay came to mind,” says Kimberly Guy, a 2002 Tennessee State alumna.  “He asserted, ‘The Talented Tenth of African Americans must be made leaders of thought and missionaries of culture among their people….Negro Colleges must train men [and women] for it.'”
“In an era of social media with its sometimes derogatory and stereotypical portrayals of African Americans, I feel this photo captures the essence of the Talented Tenth. As a proud HBCU alum, this pic represents collectively all professional black in society that are proudly commited to carrying on the legacy established by our forebears while exceeding society expectations for our race. We are leaders, we are pillars of the community, and we are ‘regular folk’. But most importantly we are young, gifted, and Black.”
article via hbcudigest.com

 

Ta-Nehisi Coates Receives National Book Award For Nonfiction; Robin Coste Lewis for Poetry

By goodblacknews on November 19, 2015
Ta-Nehisi Coates marked another professional triumph Wednesday night by winning the National Book Award for nonfiction for “Between the World and Me,” his timely, bestselling meditation on race in America.
In an acceptance speech that prompted a standing ovation from the black tie-clad crowd at Cipriani Wall Street in New York, Coates dedicated the award to Prince Jones, a Howard University classmate who was killed while unarmed by a police officer and who figures prominently in the memoir, written as a letter to Coates’ teenage son.
As Coates explained, the officer responsible for Jones’ death was never disciplined for the killing.
“I’m a black man in America. I can’t punish that officer. ‘Between the World and Me’ comes out of that place,” said Coates, a national correspondent for the Atlantic who was awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in September.
National Book Award Poetry Winner Robin Coste Lewis (photo via poetry project.org)
National Book Award Poetry Winner Robin Coste Lewis (photo via poetryproject.org)

“We are in this moment where folks are recording everything on their phones. Every day you turn on the TV and you see some sort of violence being directed at black people,” Coates said, alluding to controversial incidents caught on tape, including the death of Eric Garner, the arrest of Sandra Bland and the killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed man shot and killed in South Carolina this year.
“I have waited 15 years for this moment, because when Prince Jones died, there were no cameras, there was nobody looking.”
Robin Coste Lewis was also named a winner last night – she took the poetry prize for her debut collection, “Voyage of the Sable Venus,” a reflection on the black female form throughout history.
article by Meredith Blake via latimes.com

Perry E. Wallace, 1st African-American to Play Varsity in Southeastern Conference, Honored by Vanderbilt University

By goodblacknews on November 15, 2015

Perry E. Wallace (photo via news.vanderbilt.edu)
Perry E. Wallace (photo via news.vanderbilt.edu)

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, is establishing the Perry E. Wallace Scholarship to honor the first African American to play a varsity sport in the Southeastern Conference. The scholarship will be awarded to a student in the School of Engineering, where Wallace earned his bachelor’s degree in 1970. Wallace is now a professor in the College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C.
StrongInsideAfter graduating from Vanderbilt, Wallace went on to earn a law degree at Columbia University. He then worked for the U.S. Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. Before joining the faculty at American University in 1993, Professor Wallace taught at Howard University and the University of Baltimore.
The saga of Wallace’s integration of varsity athletics in the Southeastern Conference is told in the biography Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South (Vanderbilt University Press, 2014)
article via jbhe.com