The Black Excel Newsletter

                                          August, 2000
 

      In this issue:

                  1) LIFT EVERY VOICE and SING
                  2) HAMPTON'S NEW SUMMER PROGRAM
                  3) OLE MISS ELECTS FIRST BLACK STUDENT
                         BODY PRESIDENT
                  4) EMORY TOPS COLLEGES FOR
                      BLACK FACULTY AND TENURE
                  5) JUDGE TELLS BLACK COLLEGES TO
                        RECRUIT WHITES
                  6) WHITE GOLFERS DOMINATE BLACK
                       COLLEGES TOURNAMENT
                  7) RECENT SAMPLING OF SYLLABI FROM
                       BEGINNER BLACK STUDIES COURSES
 
 

                LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING

Located in northwest Miami-Dade County, historically Black Florida Memorial College, is the birthplace of the Negro National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
 

         HAMPTON'S NEW SUMMER PROGRAM

Hampton University has received a three-year, $294,894 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for its summer program to improve the math skills of high school students. Twenty students are participating in each program, living on campus and taking courses in algebra or pre-calculus and Introduction to Research Topics in Mathematics.
 

               OLE MISS ELECTS FIRST BLACK
                  STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT

Nearly 38 years after James Meredith struggled against racism to
enter the University of Mississippi, the students there have elected the school's first Black student-body president. Nic Lott, a political science major and self-described conservative, beat his White opponent by more than 100 votes in a campus election earlier this year. Of more that 10,000 students, about 20% voted. The Black student population is about 12%. Aside: a Black female was recently chosen editor-in-chief of the Daily Mississippian over two other candidates.
 

                     EMORY TOPS COLLEGES
           FOR BLACK FACULTY AND TENURE

In a study of Black faculty and Black tenured faculty at the nation's top 37 universities, Emory was ranked second in both categories. Compared to an average Black faculty of 3.4% at the nation's top 37 universities, 7.1% of Emory's faculty is Black, a ratio twice the top-tier average. Emory was surpassed only by Columbia University (N.Y.), where Black professors constitute 7.2% of the faculty.

The national collegiate average of Black professors at colleges is 4.9 %. In terms of tenured Black faculty, Emory's 3.9 % ratio is
only second to that of Georgetown University in D.C., which led the nation at 4.8%.

(Reported in the Journal of Blacks In Higher Education.)
 

            JUDGE TELLS BLACK COLLEGES
                     TO RECRUIT WHITES

A Mississippi federal judge has recently ruled that the state's three historically Black universities must use at least 65% of a $15-million trust fund to provide scholarships to attract white students. The targeted schools are Alcorn State University, Jackson State University, and Mississippi Valley State University.

Judge Biggers made his ruling after he criticized officials at the three colleges for poorly managing its endowment fund. Supposedly, the schools had awarded more scholarships to non-Black students than were actually enrolled at the institutions. Whites from Mississippi will be given preference for the awards, which must be at least $500 annually. The fund was created by the state legislature in 1997. In 2000, about $900,000 will be available for use.
 

                 WHITE GOLFERS DOMINATE
             BLACK COLLEGES TOURNAMENT

Once again, the Minority Golf Championship for historically Black colleges has been dominated by white players, many from other countries. Bethune-Cookman College placed second in the top division of the men's tournament after winning last year. And the sister Wildcats won the women's tournament this year, beating a runner-up squad from Hampton University by 124 strokes. Both squads had white players, most from Britain and Australia. And Kentucky State University, led by two white Canadians, won the men's second-division tournament, which includes teams from smaller colleges.

This year, Florida A&M University broke a three-year streak of
predominantly white teams winning the top men's division. With
a roster of three Black and two white players, the Rattlers upset
Bethune-Cookman by 23 strokes.

(Info from a May news story in the Chronicle of Higher Education.)
 

      A RECENT SAMPLING OF SYLLABI FROM
        BEGINNER BLACK STUDIES COURSES

At Duke University, students had to read a portion of The Souls
of Black Folk, chapters from Invisible Man, and (one choice) a Malcolm X excerpt from Last Answers and Interviews.

At Harvard, students read Toni Morrison's Beloved, Zora Neal Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, and excerpts from C. Vann Woodard's The Strange Career of Jim Crow.

At Temple, students read Lerone Bennet's Before the Mayflower. Karanga's Introduction to Black Studies, and When and Where I Enter, by Paula Giddings.

These are only samples of a wide range of books and topics such programs cover.

(Information provided by Isaac Black/Black Excel.)
 

[Isaac Black is the CEO of Black Excel: The College Help Network (www.BlackExcel.org).

The Black Excel African American Student's College Guide, authored by Black Excel's founder, Isaac Black, will be available starting August 25th at major bookstores and over the Internet.
SPONSORED LINKS

 

HOME / THE HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE EXPERIENCE / THE ADMISSIONS GAME / HELP WITH PREPARATION / SCHOLARSHIP GATEWAY / BLACK EXCEL ORIGINALS / FASTWEB SCHOLARSHIP GATEWAY