Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, is the winner of the 2024 Honda Campus All-Star Challenge. The event is an annual academic competition for students from historically Black colleges and universities hosted on the American Honda corporate campus in Torrance, California. More than 200 students and their coaches from 32 HBCUs attended the event, which also provides networking opportunities with HBCU presidents and representatives. In the competition’s final round, the Oakwood University team defeated runner-up Howard University by accurately answering questions about history, science, l ..read more

Osamudia James has been named the Henry P. Brandis Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Before joining the University of North Carolina faculty in 2021, she spent over a decade teaching law at the University of Miami. Her academic expertise includes administrative law, civil rights and discrimination, education law, and race and the law. Professor James earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a master of laws degree from the University of Wisconsin and a juris doctorate from Georgetown University. Berkita Bradford&nbs ..read more

The American Economic Association has recently honored William Darity, Jr. and Margaret Simms with the title of Distinguished Fellow. The title is bestowed annually to no more than four prominent economists of high distinction in the United States and Canada. William Darity, Jr. is the Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy, African and African American Studies, and Economics at Duke University. He also serves as director of the Center on Social Equity. During his tenure with Duke University, he has served in other leadership roles including chair of the department of African and Africa ..read more

William Hamilton Harris, two-time president of historically Black Alabama State University, passed away on April 19. He was 79 years old. Dr. Harris had a long career in higher education leadership, serving as president, or interim president, of multiple historically Black institutions including Paine College in Georgia and Texas Southern University. From 1994 until his retirement in 2000, he served as president of Alabama State University. During this time, the university experienced significant growth and started its first doctoral program. Under Dr. Harris’ leadership the university establi ..read more

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view. The opinions expressed in these books do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board of JBHE. Click on any of the titles for more information or to purchase through Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, JBHE will earn a fraction of revenue from qualifying purchases. Here are the latest selections: Ancestral Genomics: African American Health in the Age of Precision Med ..read more

Each week, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. The links presented direct the reader to articles from many different points of view that deal with issues of African Americans in higher education. The articles selected do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board of JBHE. We invite subscribers to e-mail us with suggestions of articles for inclusion in this feature. Helping Black Families to Grow and Thrive Penn Today Course on Afrofuturism Brings Together UChicago Students and Community Members UC ..read more

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education. The University of Arkansas Pine Bluff has received $15 million in federal funding to construct a new nursing school facility with improved educational resources and state-of-the-art equipment. The historically Black university currently offers two nursing programs: a bachelor of science in nursing and a registered nurse to bachelor’s degree program for already-licensed nurses. A team of researchers led by the Universit ..read more

Marsha McGriff has been appointed vice chancellor of equity and inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She most recently served as chief diversity officer and senior advisor to the president at the University of Florida. She previously served as associate vice president of inclusive excellence at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Dr. McGriff is a two-time graduate of historically Black Tuskegee University in Alabama where she received her bachelor’s degree in political science and master’s degree in education. She earned a doctorate in education from Creighton Unive ..read more

by Jewel Clark and Rachel Wilson Patterson Caitlin Clark is an undeniably talented basketball player. She is a prolific shooter, reminiscent of Steph Curry as they both like to shoot from various logos. Her ability to suddenly change the trajectory of a game is fascinating. And her passion and love for the game are contagious. It is irrefutable that Clark’s success has attracted many people who otherwise may not have been tuned in to college basketball, thus increasing the ratings and viewership exponentially. As former college basketball players, we are grateful that more eyes are watching, r ..read more

Joanne Berger-Sweeny, president of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, has announced her plans to retire in June 2025 at the conclusion of the next academic year. Dr. Berger-Sweeney became the twenty-second president of Trinity College in 2014, making her the college’s first Black and first woman president since its founding in 1823. She also serves as a professor of neuroscience. Over the past decade, Dr. Berger-Sweeney’s leadership has led to improved enrollment, retention, and graduation rates. The college has also hired more diverse faculty, expanded its undergraduate financial aid p ..read more