Campus News - Page 470

Smith College controversy highlights struggles schools face in making racially equitable campuses

By Taylor Romine, CNN In the summer of 2018, Oumou Kanoute read a book and ate her lunch in a common room area of a Smith College residence hall that required keycard access. Since she was in a program teaching high school students over the summer, she was able to access it. That simple moment became a national story when campus police arrived a short while later, and the officer told her that an employee reported a Black person “demonstrating suspicious behavior.” She posted the incident on Facebook, then the school, in the face of significant backlash during a year

Researchers to restore what might be the oldest building in the US dedicated to the education of free and enslaved Black children

By Scottie Andrew, CNN After years of examining centuries-old writings and digging up artifacts, researchers recently confirmed that an 18th-century building on the College of William & Mary campus was once a school for free and enslaved Black children. The building in Williamsburg, Virginia, that formerly housed the Bray School is thought to be the oldest building in the US dedicated to the education of Black children — but the lessons students learned there were designed to reinforce slavery, historians said. Now, William & Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation are relocating and restoring the building together, an effort historians

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, renames 2 dorms for Black civil rights leaders

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By Amir Vera and Jamiel Lynch, CNN Two dorms at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will now bear the names of two Black civil rights leaders in the state “whose fight for equity and social justice transformed the state’s higher education system and the university,” according to a news release from the school. The dorms will be named after Rita Sanders Geier, a Memphis native, and Theotis Robinson of Knoxville. Robinson is known as the first Black undergraduate student admitted to the university and one of the three Black students to fully desegregate the university in 1961. Geier is known

He had to drop out of Morgan State for financial reasons. Now, he’s giving $20 million to the university

By Leah Asmelash, CNN Two years after Calvin Tyler first enrolled at Morgan State College, he had to drop out because he couldn’t afford it. He took a job as a UPS driver, one of the first 10 in Baltimore. Now — almost 40 years later — Tyler has made the largest-ever private donation from an alumnus to the historically Black school, now Morgan State University, it announced Tuesday. Tyler and his wife, Tina, committed $20 million, with the money going to an already-established endowed scholarship fund in their name. The Calvin and Tina Tyler Endowed Scholarship Fund, established in

Big student loan debt is not a ‘Harvard, Yale and Penn’ problem

Opinion by Persis Yu On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden promised to cancel at least $10,000 of federal student loans for all borrowers in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Over 60 lawmakers and 17 state attorneys general have called on him to go further and cancel up to $50,000 administratively. When Biden was asked if he would cancel $50,000 of student debt for struggling borrowers at a CNN Town Hall last Tuesday, his answer unfortunately reflected some commonly held misconceptions about student loan borrowers. Public disinvestment from higher education, skyrocketing costs, combined with long standing economic inequality, have resulted

SSU National Freedom Day observance kicks off Black History Month in covid conscious way

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by:Destin Howard, February 1st marks the start of Black History Month but is it also recognized as National Freedom Day, which Savannah State University’s founding president Major Richard R. Wright, Sr. had a significant role in establishing. February 1st marks the start of Black History Month but is it also recognized as National Freedom Day, which Savannah State University’s founding president Major Richard R. Wright, Sr. had a significant role in establishing.February 1st marks the start of Black History Month but is it also recognized as National Freedom Day, which Savannah State University’s founding president Major Richard R. Wright, Sr.

HBCUs See a Spike in Enrollment

While enrollment at traditional universities is seeing a decline, enrollment has spiked at historically black colleges and universities across the country. Anthony Jones, Howard University’s assistant vice president of enrollment, said this HBCU movement is proving to be successful. “The world is becoming woke to what we’ve already known for a very long time, and that is that HBCU’s have results,” Jones said. Traditional universities experienced a 2.5% decline in enrollment during the fall 2020 semester, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. But Bowie State University, Maryland’s first HBCU, has its second-highest enrollment in history. Bowie State Enrollment Manager

“National Battle of the Bands: Salute to HBCU Marching Bands” Film during Black History Month

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Webber Marketing creators of the National Battle of the Bands, announces the “National Battle of the Bands (NBOTB): Salute to HBCU Marching Bands” film presented by Pepsi. The hour-long, syndicated film will premiere throughout February in more than 50 markets across the country in honor of Black History Month to shine an intimate light into the history of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) marching bands; and the behind-the-scenes work, dedication, and passion that goes into creating the precision, sound and show-shopping performances fans have grown to love and anticipate during football halftimes, homecoming parades and the coveted battle of the bands’ showdowns.

Five ways you can celebrate Black History Month virtually

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By Ashley Vaughan, CNN Honoring Black History Month may look and feel a lot different this year amid the coronavirus pandemic. But there are still plenty of ways to celebrate. Across the country, organizations are providing safe ways for people to commemorate the month virtually. Here’s a look at five ways you can partake in honoring the month without leaving your home.   Participate in online events Throughout the month of February, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is launching virtual events and conversations that affirm and preserve the accomplishments of African Americans throughout history.

NBA Star Chris Paul Executive Producing ESPN+ Docuseries on HBCU Basketball Team

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‘Why Not Us,’ which follows North Carolina Central, premieres Feb. 12 as the first project under the new The Undefeated on ESPN+ partnership. NBA star Chris Paul has long championed historically Black colleges and universities, partnering with Harvard Business School last year to develop an entertainment, media and sports curriculum at North Carolina A&T and most recently repping a different school on his sneakers during every game in the league’s Orlando bubble last fall. Now the Phoenix Suns guard is taking his support another step further as executive producer of a new ESPN+ docuseries about one men’s basketball team at