Your Black Education

10 Tips to Get You Through College...Successfully!

2008-02-21T07:52:00.011-05:00

Back in school at 30? Don’t just get your degree. Build a life!

Education expert Brenda Major discusses her top 10 things to consider before and during the college experience.
As told to Andrea D. Johnson

Not everyone goes to college directly after high school. Of those who do, some don't graduate or take advantage of the vast resources available. For some, life happens and we're swept off our feet with sudden responsiblity. We get married, we have kids, relatives need taking care of. And of course there are those who hate heir jobs. No matter the situation, something (or someone) is always nudging... "Go get your degree.” Bachelor Degree or Masters-in any case, all of us have been advised that that piece of paper will solve all of our problems. Here's the reality check: College is more than receiving a piece of paper at the end of two or four years. It’s a paradigm shift, it’s an attitude adjustment, it’s a time to reposition yourself, and as Admissions Director at Eastern Illinois University, Brenda Major says, “It’s a time to build a life! And it’s not just about making A’s.What you do while you’re getting that degree is what really matters. A degree doesn’t guarantee you a job.” In an exclusive interview, Major outlines important ideas continuing students should consider.

Ask yourself, “Why do I want to go to school?” College is not the answer to everything. All students should really consider what they want their degree for. Some think it will instantly give them a better job. But what’s the real purpose for getting it? People are told that they should "go get their degree" but they need to check out a career service and ask what’s available in the market. There are so many careers that people just haven’t thought about. Just an example; people are living longer now, so there will be a need for people in the geriatric field. A career counselor will help you consider those jobs which don’t readily come to mind.

Do a self assessment. Ask “Do I know how to study? What hours of the day am I most alert?” Be the best judge of yourself. I know adults who seek out high school teachers to help with study tips. Maybe you have to go back to grade school and ask that person to mentor you. You need to be around positive people. You should be around people willing to take you from where you are, to where you need to be.

Scholarships are not just for YOUNG people! You can get a scholarship too. Look for the money! “A lot of times adults feel that scholarships are not for them, but financial aid is out there. Google “financial aid for adult students.” Several websites including FAFSA have scholarship information. It takes some research but if you really want it, it’s out there.”
Generally, people become scared from simply hearing the words “private” and “out-of-state.” This shouldn't mean that they can’t become an option. Many experts support the idea that college is an investment and cost shouldn’t be a reason not to go to college. Major agrees and she doesn’t believe loans are the only answer. “Most private schools will discount their tuition charges for students with a demonstrated financial need. At state schools like Eastern Illinois University, there is a growing population of adult learners, and many receive aid.

Cost is never the reason to attend a particular college. Create a budget so you'll know the exact cost of your education each year.“In addition to scholarships, you should create an exact budget-- to the penny. What do you absolutely have to have? Be realistic, college is a sacrifice. Create a budget so that you are able to take advantage of the really great things that are bound to come your way. Things like traveling abroad, internships, or fellowships. Learn to budget once so that later cutting things out become easy. Besides some things that you sacrifice, you’ll realize you don't need. We have to remember colleges are selling a product-a product somebody has to pay for. Financial aid is designed to help, not give education away so there is no such thing as a full ride. You can't go to anybody’s college for free. It’s their job to help, not pay for you to learn.”

Search for colleges with programs to assist you to complete your degree in four years. “GET IN, GET OUT. Look for incentive programs that help you to graduate in four years. Focus on this idea: You don't want just a job, you want to build a life. Therefore, you have to do more than make good grades. Internships, volunteer opportunities, studying overseas…a resume that makes you look fascinating will attract employers. Spend some time volunteering at a company you would like to be employed by, or similar to your desired company. You are building a life! If you are willing to give of your time in exchange for experience, not money, and you do a superior job, someone will notice your strong work ethic. In turn, they may write recommendation letters, know of scholarships, and may even pay you to go to school so you can come back and work for them.”

Complete every section of the application and proof read it before sending.“Proof it. People easily skip questions because they are going too quickly. If they ask an optional essay question, answer it! What you put on the application- that piece of paper- is all we know about you. Be sure to include your personality and passion.”

Ask for an application fee waiver if you think you may qualify. Even if you doubt the school waives the application fee, ask. If they say no, some community educational service agencies can assist and will submit a waiver request for you.”

Expect to stretch beyond your comfort zone academically and personally. Major says that people wanting to return to school are usually determined and goal oriented, but even those people may underestimate what they may have to sacrifice. Really consider your goals and what may conflict with your plans.

Get the full experience by approaching school with a positive mindset. It’s not just going to class, you’re building a life! With traditional college students, it makes sense to conduct a college search that spans the country. But older students with full-time jobs, maybe kids or a relative to care for don’t have that option. This can sometimes be a downside. But according to our expert the “full experience” doesn’t have to mean having roommates and barely enough room to turnover at night. Major says, “Even if you are landlocked, you can’t treat college like you treat work. Then you definitely won’t get the most out of your experience. After working all day you should look forward to school, look forward to being with people who think big! It’s a chance to advance your mind. Join organizations. We want older students to run student government. They have common sense! They can motivate other students by their presence, and can advise some of the younger students. If you don’t network while you’re getting the degree, your life doesn’t change after you get the degree. Allow college to advance your thinking. Even if you have to uproot the family and head for New York just to have a better opportunity in life, the full experience can help you. Then what an incredible role model you've become for your children, your family, even your parents. Then you are teaching by example.”

Form a support group. “Hang with other people who are raising a family, holding down a full time job, or taking care of parents--that’s what more unique to adult learners, they have a group mentality. You don’t need to feel alone. Develop a network of adult students, with similar goals and even similar ages. It can make a difference!”

Currently the Director of Admissions at Eastern Illinois University, Brenda Major has been working in college admissions over 20 years. She has assisted nearly 5,000 students from high school to college graduation and beyond.

Barack Obama's Role in Black Power - A Scholar's Perspective

2008-02-11T20:32:00.001-05:00

by Dr Peniel E. Joseph

Barack Obama’s meteoric rise from charismatic senator to national phenomenon to presidential contender reveals the complex evolution of black politics since the civil rights and Black Power era. Obama’s candidacy is particularly noteworthy during this primary season and election year, which comes on the fortieth anniversary of 1968, a year when effort to transform American democracy ran headlong into a violent defense of white supremacy. Born in 1961, the same year Freedom Riders faced prison to desegregate interstate travel across the nation, Obama remains aloof to the culture wars—whether based in racial, gender or ethnic solidarity—that remain a cornerstone of the legacy of the 1960s. “I think America is still caught in a little bit of a time warp,” Obama confessed to Newsweek last summer. “The narrative of black politics is still shaped by the ’60s and black power.” Indeed.

Obama at rally in Nashua copyright 2008 Jeff GlagowskiBlack Power era radicalism loomed over 1968, a year most often remembered for the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in the spring, followed by the election of Richard Nixon as president in the fall. Urban rebellions—what the media and law enforcement officials referred to as riots—gripped dozens of cities that year, in the sixth straight summer of civil disorders. Radicalized college and high school students staged raucous demonstrations, walkouts and campus takeovers that sent shockwaves through much of the nation.

Black radicals stood at the center of these demonstrations. Advocates of Black Power would ultimately transform American democratic institutions through gritty, often provocative, street demonstrations, campus takeovers and community organizing that challenged entrenched black leadership as much as government officials.

Four decades have passed since King was cut down by an assassin’s bullet on Thursday, April 4, 1968. It’s worth remembering how King’s post-’65 push for economic justice, critique against the Vietnam War, and efforts to galvanize the nation’s poor stood, in part, as a response to criticism from black militants.

The years between the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown decision calling for desegregation and the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act are popularly recalled as the heroic period of civil rights struggle. In scholarly and popular histories this era is most often evoked by a collage of images that begins with a black woman holding a newspaper sign announcing the Brown decision; moves to Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King being arrested for participating in the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama; stops briefly to show federal troops protecting black students in Little Rock, Arkansas; before jumping ahead to dramatic pictures of racial terror in Birmingham that include stark footage of black civil rights demonstrators being attacked by German shepherds and fire hoses. King’s August 1963 March on Washington speech becomes the centerpiece of this newsreel style version of history.

But there is another side to this story that is often left untold, but crucial to understanding contemporary black politics. During the same decade that cast King in the spotlight, black radicals, led by Malcolm X, confronted American democracy’s jagged edges of poverty, police brutality, poor schools, unemployment, and an emerging urban crisis through bruising protests in places such as Harlem, Detroit, and Los Angeles. While critical of the civil rights movement’s focus on desegregating public accommodations and what many considered its overemphasis on the power of the vote, many of these Northern militants drew inspiration from these struggles and simultaneously participated in both movements. Early Black Power radicals, most notably Malcolm X, drew strength and power from the international arena, paying particularly close attention to the 1955 Bandung Conference in Indonesia, Ghanaian independence in 1957 and the Cuban Revolution of 1959. When Fidel Castro came to Harlem in 1960, the first leader he met with was Malcolm X. In February of 1961 what several years later would become known as Black Power made its national debut via an organized demonstration at the United Nations in protest against the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In 1966 Stokely Carmichael, a young civil rights organizer who had done impressive work in some of the most dangerous parts of the South, gave name to a pre-existing movement by calling for “Black Power” in the heat of the Mississippi Delta. Black Power would galvanize black radicals, but quickly came under fire—then and now—for advocating what critics argued was a racially separatist philosophy that promoted anti-white feeling, fomented violence, and reeked of sexism. In truth, while certain Black Power activists were guilty as charged, the major strains of the movement represented a far more nuanced and radical critique of American society. Black Power activists harbored a deep cynicism regarding the ability of American democracy to be extended to African Americans. Carmichael’s pursuit of political, economic and cultural power came only after suffering years of physical violence and abuse at the hands or ordinary white citizens while trying to promote voting rights among sharecroppers.

1968 was also the year of the Black Panthers, perhaps the most enduring symbol of Black Power era radicalism. Contemporary mythology surrounding the Panthers focuses on the group’s bravado, flashy clothes, guns, and fiery polemics that advocated an armed confrontation against the state. Less well remembered is the fact that co-founder and minister of defense Huey P. Newton was a college student and an ex-con, a young organizer who cared deeply about the survival of the black community. On this score, the Black Panthers launched a host of “survival programs” during their relatively brief (1966-1982) existence that focused on bread and butter issues, including health care, decent housing, food, clothes and the treatment of prisoners.

The Panthers were, in fact, simply the most spectacular manifestation of the Black Power era’s call for radical democracy. Black college and high school students from New York City to Greensboro, North Carolina out to San Francisco successfully transformed university curriculums and founded Black Studies programs and departments around the nation. Trade unionists in Detroit and other cities attempted to organize workers caucuses to challenge the entrenched racism of white-controlled unions. Led by Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez and many others, the Black Arts Movement re-imagined the very contours of blackness through poetry, prose, theater, dance, music and style. Black feminists challenged sexism both in the society and in the Black Power movement itself, arguing for a more inclusive vision of Black Power that promoted a human rights agenda. Welfare mothers from New York City to Las Vegas dreamed of a guaranteed income and, when Dr. King met with them to encourage their participation in the Poor People’s Campaign, they lectured him on the intricacies of public policy. Finally, hundreds of thousands of ordinary local people backed a new generation of black politicians and successfully elected them as mayors of a range of urban cities in the 1960s through the early 1980s, including Cleveland, Gary (Indiana), Newark, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Barack Obama is a direct beneficiary of this rich and varied legacy. As late as Harold Washington’s historic 1983 mayoral victory in Chicago and Jesse Jackson’s robust 1984 presidential campaign, the Black Power legacy infused black political protest, organizing and even electoral politics. Black Power’s impact was of course often blunted by the media’s refusal to acknowledge its continued existence after the mid-1970s. But something happened to black politics in the post-Black Power era, perhaps best exemplified by Jesse Jackson’s own meteoric rise from insurgent outsider to the most recognizable black power broker within Democratic Party circles. Jackson’s route followed a trajectory taken by venerable activists such as Andrew Young, John Lewis and other civil rights veterans who came to define King’s increasingly radical dream as accommodation with powerful white neo-liberals.

Jackson’s endorsement of Obama notwithstanding, the aging civil rights cadre has repudiated Obama because he threatens to cut them out of their cozy deals as intermediaries between the Democratic Party establishment and the black community. But from Black Power’s legacy we have been given Barack Obama, an intelligent, handsome and inspiring politician whose blackness has become a source of his racially transcendent appeal. Yet, when we take a closer look, Obama has all the trappings of a strong, if closeted, race man, complete with a lovely black wife, two beautiful black daughters and membership in a black church that is unabashedly Afrocentric. Until recently, Obama appeared to be more of the leader of a movement than a bona fide presidential candidate. A victory in the Iowa caucuses changed that and the Clinton campaign launched a series of racially coded, but still patently obvious, lines of attack through various proxies that brought up Obama’s substance abuse as a young man, slurred his anti-war record as a “fairy-tale,” and impugned Dr. King’s legacy by asserting that it took Lyndon Johnson to actually pass civil rights legislation. These attacks have successfully served the Clintons’ Machiavellian purposes: to out Barack Obama as a black candidate. They are also reminiscent, in their own way, of the worst kind of racial pandering engaged in by the Democratic Party’s southern wing during the post-Reconstruction era. While certainly not as blatant as Alabama governor George Wallace’s infamous “segregation then, segregation now and segregation forever” statement, the impact of the Clinton campaign’s racial politicking is similar: it casts racial difference as un-American, subversive, and a threat to the very foundations of the nation’s democracy. But, even as it successfully positions Hillary Clinton to win the party’s nomination, this strategy may have crippling long-term repercussions. As black Americans become increasingly aware of the Clinton campaign’s ugly efforts to racially swift boat Obama’s candidacy, there could be a backlash among African American voters come November.

By playing the race card, the Clintons have successfully pivoted the Democratic primary away from substantive political issues (e.g., the war in Iraq) and turned it into a debate over which oppressed group (blacks or women) deserves the nomination. Gloria Steinem’s New York Times op-ed piece, published in the aftermath of Clinton’s loss in Iowa, set the tone for this storyline, arguing that black men had received the right to vote fifty years before white women while conveniently ignoring that most blacks could not exercise that right until 1965 because of racial apartheid in the South. Predictably, as attacks by prominent white politicians and ex-president Bill Clinton on Obama mount, the black community has rallied with the latent sense of nationalism that is always bubbling beneath the surface. For all intents and purposes, Obama has now been outed as a black candidate, the very moniker his entire campaign had successfully avoided. By promoting a robust version of the American Dream, albeit in Technicolor, Obama’s campaign had heretofore avoided that perception.

This need not be the political Achilles heel that many might imagine. After all, contrary to popular opinion, the Black Power Movement fought for bread and butter issues that made an impact on the lives of all Americans, including good public schools, decent housing, healthcare and gainful employment. While activists looked for racially specific solutions to problems rooted in slavery, a variety of multi-ethnic and racial groups looked to the movement as a broad template for social and political justice goals. In this sense, contemporary discussion of multiculturalism and diversity are rooted in the radically democratic ethos of the Black Power era. Obama has recently come under attack for comments suggesting that Ronald Reagan’s presidency reflected a deeper more substantive change in America than Nixon or Clinton. I absolutely concur, even as I vehemently object to the Reagan era’s acceleration of black poverty, incarceration and misery. Reagan’s presidency in many ways represented a counter-revolution to the search for “land, peace, bread, and justice” advocated by the Black Panthers. Obama’s legacy is still unfolding before our eyes. Ironically, the key to achieving the broad, racially transcendent impact that his soaring rhetoric aspires towards may lie in lessons taught by a Black Power Movement whose legacy Obama is unlikely to ever publicly claim.

Print About the Author

Peniel E. Joseph is associate professor of African and Afro-American Studies at Brandeis University. He is the author of the award-winning Waiting Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America (Holt, 2006) and editor of The Black Power Movement: Rethinking the Civil Rights-Black Power Era (Routledge, 2006). A native New Yorker (and former Brooklyn resident), he is writing a biography of activist Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael).

Saggin Pants? Does it justify racism and exclusion?

2008-02-09T14:05:00.000-05:00

Is the saggin pants issue bad for black men or just a form of self-expression? Give us your thoughts.

Scholarships for Black Students

2008-01-31T08:54:00.000-05:00

200 Free Scholarships For Minorities

Someone forwarded this list of scholarships for black students over to us via email. So we are sharing this with you.

1) Ron Brown Scholarships
http://www.RonBrown.org
2) FastWEB Scholarship Search
http://www.fastweb.com/
3) United Negro College Fund Scholarships
http://www.uncf.org/scholarships/uncfscholarship.asp
4) Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarships
http://www.jackierobinson.org/
5) Intel Science Talent Search
http://www.sciserv.org/sts
6) Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund
http://www.thurgoodmarshallfund.org/
7) FinAid: The Smart Students Guide to
Financial Aid (scholarships)
http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/
8) United Negro College Fund
http://www.un cf.org/
9) Gates Millennium Scholarships (Annual)
http://www.gmsp.org/(hmrfvje1fdxdi0nwbrpmbd45)/default.aspx
10) McDonald's Scholarships (Annual)
http://www.mcdonaldsnymetro.com/
11) Broke Scholars Scholarships
http://scholarships.brokescholar.com/
12) National Society of Black Engineers Scholarships
http://www.nsbe.org/programs/
13) National Merit Scholarships
http://www.nationalmerit.org/
14) College Board Scholarship Search
http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
15) Black Excel Scholarship Gateways
http://www.BlackExcel.org

16) FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov
17) LULAC - National Scholastic Achievement Awards
http://mach25.collegenet.com/cgi-bin/M25/GetScholar?page=10177
18) Scholarship & Financial Aid Help
http://www.blackexcel.org/fin-sch.htm
19) NAACP Scholarships
http://www.naacp.org/departments/education/scholarship_index.html
20) Paralegal Scholaships
http://www.paralegals.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=13
21) ScienceNet Scholarship Listing
http://www.sciencenet.emory.edu/undergrad/scholarships.html
22) Black Alliance for Educational Options Scholarships
http://www.baeo.org/options/privatelyfinanced.jsp
23) Siemens Foundation Competition
http://www.siemens-foundation.org/
24) College Board Scholarship Search
http://cbweb10p.collegeboard.org/fundfinder/html/fundfind01.html
25) International Students Scholarships & Aid Help
http://www.iefa.org/
26) Historically Black College & University Scholarships
http://www.iesabroad.org/info/hbcu.htm
27) Guaranteed Scholarships
http://www.guaranteed-scholarships.com/
28) Hope Scholarships and Lifetime Learning Credits
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/HOPE/index.html
29) Presidential Freedom Scholarships
http://www.nationalservice.org/scholarships
30) Sports Scholarships and Internships
http://www.ncaa.org/abo ut/scholarships.html
31) Student Video Scholarships
http://www.christophers.org/vidcon2k.html
32) Student Inventors Scholarships
http://www.invent.org/collegiate/
33) Decca Scholarships
http://www.deca.org/scholarships/
34) Black Student Fund
http://www.blackstudentfund.org/programs/FinAid/financial_aid.htm
35) Scholarships Pathways
http://scholarshipssite.blogspot.com/
36) Private Scholarships For Seniors
http://www.phs.d211.org/stsvc/college/scholarships.asp
37) ScienceNet Scholarship Listing
http://www.sciencenet.emory.edu/undergrad/scholarships.html
38) Chela Education Financing 揋ateway to Success Scholarship?/SPAN>
http://www.loans4students.org
39) Princeton Review Scholaahips & Aid
http://www.princetonrev iew.com/college/finance
40) American Legion Scholarships
http://www.legion.org
41) Free Scholaaship Search
http://www.srnexpress.com
42) 2005 Holocaust Remembrance Essay Contest
http://www.holocaust.hklaw.com
43) Horace Mann Scholarship Program
http://www.horacemann.com/scholarship
44) Ayn Rand Institute
http://www.aynrand.org/contests
45) The David and Dovetta Wilson Scholarship Fund?/SPAN>
http://www.wilsonfund.org
46) Congressional Hispanic Scholarships
http://www.chciyouth.org
47) Nursing Scholarships
http://www.blackexcel.org/nursing-scholarships.html
48) College-Bound High School Seniors - Scholarships http://scholarships.fatomei.com/scholar13.html
49) AFROTC High School Scholarships
http://www.afrotc.com/
50) Minority Scholarships
http://www.free-4u.com/minority.htm
51) Scholarships for Minority Accounting Students
http://www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/mini/smas.htm
52) The Elks National Foundation Scholarships
http://www.elks.org/enf/scholars/ourscholarships.cfm
53) Art Deadlines and Scholarships
http://www.xensei.com/users/adl/
54) Journalism Grants
http://www.mccormicktribune.org/journalism/grantslist.htm
55) African American Scholarships
http://www.littleafrica.com/scholarship/
< B>56) Marine Corps Scholarships
http://www.marine-scholars.org/
57) Research for Women & Minorities Underrepresented in the Sciences
http://www.research.att.com/academic/urp.html
58) Tylenol Scholarships
http://scholarship.tylenol.com/
59) Undergraduate Scholarships (Health)
http://ugsp.info.nih.gov/InfoUGSP.htm
60) STATE FARM INSURANCE Hispanic Scholarships
& nbsp; http://www.statefarm.com/foundati/hispanic.htm
61) National Scholarships at All Levels
http://scholarships.fatomei.com/
62) Burger King Scholars (Annual Awards)
http://www.bk.com/CompanyInfo/community/BKscholars/index.aspx
63) Ambassadorial Scholarships
http://www.rotary.org/foundation/educational/amb_scho/
64) Baptist Scholarships
http://www.free-4u.com/baptist_scholarships.htm
65) Methodist Scholarships
http://www.free-4u.com/methodist_scholarships.htm
66) Project Excellence Scholarships
http://www.project-excellence.com
67) Discover Card Tribute Award Scholarships
http://www.aasa.org/Discover.htm
68) United States National Peace Essay Contest
http://www.usip.org/ed/npec/index.shtml
69) Gateway to 10 Free Scholarship Searches
http://www.college-scholarships.com/free_scholarship_searches.htm
70) Accounting Scholarships
http://www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/edu/jlcs.htm
71) Americorps
http://www.cns.gov/
72) Sports Scholarships and Internships
http://www.ncaa.org/about/scholarships.html
73) 100 Minority Scholarship Gateways
http://www.blackexcel.org/100minority.htm
74) Awards and Scholarships
http://www-hl.syr.edu/cas-pages/ScholarshipsAvailable.htm
75) American Chemical Society Scholarships
http://www.cnetweb.org/american_chemical_society_scholarships.htm
76) Sallie Mae Grants and Scholarships
http://www.salliemae.com/parent_answer/decide/explore_alternatives/grants.html
77) Scholarships List and Search
http://www.adventuresineducation.org/sbase/
78) New York State Scholarships for Academic Excellence
http://www.hesc.com/bulletin.nsf/0/7E4A6245D908330685256DB0006B3A30
79) Hispanic Scholarship Fund
http://www.hsf. net/
80) Scholarship Research Center: US NEWS
http://12.47.197.196/usnews/
81) Pacific Northwest Scholarship Guide Online
http://fp2.adhost.com/collegeplan/scholarship/default.asp
82) College Net Scholarship Search
http://mach25.collegenet.com/cgi-bin/M25/index
83) Scholarships For Hispanics
http://www.scholarshipsforhispanics.org/
84) NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND SCHOLARSHIPS
http://www.nfb.org/services/schlprg02.htm

85) Actuary Scholarships for Minority Students
http://www.beanactuary.org/minority/
86) Astronaut Scholarship Foundation
http://www.astronautscholarship.org/
87) ELA Foundation Scholarships (disabled)
http://www.ela.org/scholarships/scholarships.html
88) Indian Health Service Scholarships
http://www.ihs.gov/JobsCareerDevelop/DHPS/SP/spTOC.asp
89) Minority Undergraduate Fellows Program
http://www.naspa.org/resources/mufp/
90) Third Wave Foundation Scholarships
http://www.thirdwavefoundation.org/programs/scholarships.html
91) College Connection Scholarships
http://www.collegescholarships.com/
92) Super College Scholarships
http://www.supercollege.com
93) Indian Students
http://www.gurgaonscoop.com/story/2005/3/14/195141/137
94) Comprehensive Recourse List (All cultures)
http://www.globalvision.org/educate/connected/sect4e.html
95) Scholarship Data base (Alphabetical Listing)
http://www.campuscareercenter.com/scholarships/scholarships.asp
96) Music Scholarships
http://www.newenglandconservatory.edu/financeYourEducation/musicscholarships.html
97) Navy Scholarship Lists
http://www.odu.edu/ao/hrnrotc/scholarship/scholarships.htm
98) National Assoc. of Black Journalists Scholarships (NABJ) http://www.nabj.org/programs/scholarships/index.html
99) Science and Engineering Student Scholarships
http://www.bell-labs.com/fellowships/
100) The Roothbert Fund Scholarships
http://www.roothbertfund.org/scholarships.php
101) Gateway to 10 Free Scholarship Searches
< A href="http://www.college-scholarships.com/free_scholarship_searches.htm" target=_blank>http://www.college-scholarships.com/free_scholarship_searches.htm
102) Federal Scholarships and Aid
http://www.fedmoney.org/
103) International Students Help and Scholarships
http://www.iefa.org/
104) NACME Scholarship Program
http://www.nacme.org/scholarships/
105) Black Excel Scholarship Gateway
http://www.blackexcel.org/link4.htm
106) Peterson's Aid and Scholarships Help
http://www.petersons.com/finaid/
107) Alpha Kappa Alpha Scholarships
http://www.akaeaf.org/scholarships.htm
108) Coveted National Scholarships
http://scholarships.fatomei.com/
109) 25 Scholarship Gateways from Black Excel
http://www.blackexcel.org/25scholarships.htm
110) Martin Luther King Scholarships
; http://www.sanantonio.gov/mlk/?res=1024&ver=true
111) Financial Aid Research Center
http://www.theoldschool.org/
112) Art and Writing Awards
http://www.artandwriting.org
113) Wells Fargo Scholarships
http://www.wellsfargo.com/collegesteps
114) Princeton Review Internships
http://www.princetonreview.com/c te/search/internshipAdvSearch.asp
115) Chicana/Latina Foundation
http://www.chicanalatina.org/scholarship.html
116) NCAA Scholarships and Internships
http://www.ncaa.org/about/scholarships.html
117) Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute
http://www.chci.org/
118) Morris K. Udall Foundation Scholarships
http://www.udall.gov/p_scholarship.asp
119) A Better Chance Scholarships
http://www.abetterchance.org/ReferralOrgs&Resources/res-coll_native_schol1.htm
120) Asian American Journalist Association
http://www.aaja.org/
121) American Assoc. of University Women
http://www.aauw.org/fga/fellowships_grants/index.cfm

122) Scholarships by State
http://www.schoolsintheusa.com/scholarships.cfm
123) State Agencies of Higher Education
&nb sp; http://collegeapps.about.com/od/stateagencies/
124) Engineering School Scholarships
http://www.engineeringedu.com/scholars.html
125) Scholarship News
< FONT face=Arial>http://www.free-4u.com/
126) Scholarships and Fellowships List (Graduate Level)
http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/3gradinf.htm
127) Orphan Foundation of America
http://www.orphan.o rg/
128) September 11th Scholarship Funds
http://www.nasfaa.org/publications/2001/ARScholarshipFundsDetailed110701.html
129) Discover Card Tribute Award Scholarships
http://www.aasa.org/a wards_and_scholarships/Discover/index.htm
130) American Fire Sprinkler Scholarship Contest
http://www.afsascholarship.org/
131) Mensa Scholarship Essay Scholarship
http://merf.us.mensa.org/scholarships/zipfinder.php
132) Chess Scholarships
http://www.successchess.com/WeibelChess/Scholarships.html
133) Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund (Activist)
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~alliance/academic/scholarships.html
134) Federal Student Aid Portal
http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp
135) Daughters of the American Revolution Scholarships
http://www.dar.org/natsociety/edout_scholar.cfm#general
136) Fridell Memorial Scholarship (Dale E.)
http://www.straightforwardmedia.com/fridell/
137) Alger Association Scholarships (Horatio)
http://www.horatioalger.org/scholarships
138) Collegiate Inventors Competition
http://www.invent.org/collegiate/
139) Alphabetical Index to Scholarships and Aid
http://www.window.state.tx.us/scholars/aid/faidalpha.html
140) National Security Scholarships Programs
http://www.iie.org/programs/nsep/nsephome.htm
141) Institutes of Health Scholarship Programs
http://www.iie.org/programs/nsep/nsephome.htm
142) Adventures in Education
http://adventuresineducation.org/

143) Union Plus Scholarship Database
http://www.aflcio.org/familyfunresources/collegecosts/scholar.cfm
144) Verizon Scholarship Program
http://foundation.verizon.com/06011.shtml
145) Michigan Community Scholarships (over 100)
http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/privcomm.htm
146) College View's Scholarship Search
http://www.collegeview.com/financial_aid/schol_directory/
147) College Xpress Scholarship Search
http://apps.absolutelyscholarships.com/exec/scholarship
148) Scholarships on the Net (1500 Links)
http://whatsonthe.net/scholarmks.htm
149) Scholarships, Prizes, and Honors (Cal based)
http://students.berkeley.edu/fao/Scholarships/default.htm
150) Cola-Coca Art & Film Scholarships
http://www.youthdevelopment.coca-cola.com/art_refreshing.html
151) Art School Scholarships
http://www.straightforwardmedia.com/art/scholarship-guidephp
152) Bowling Scholarships
http://www.bowlingmembership.com/PDF/smart_colleges.pdf
153) Red Cross Presidential Intern Program
http://www.redcross.org/images/pdfs/PIP_Fact_Sheet.pdf
154) Congressional Black Caucus Scholarships
http://www.cbcfinc.org/Leadership%20Education/Scholarships/index.html
155) Microsoft Scholarships
http://www.microsoft.com/college/ss_overview.mspx
156) Scholarship of The Month
http://www.collegescholarships.com/sc holarships.html
157) Fellowship Database (Graduate)
http://cuinfo.cornell.edu/Student/GRFN/
158) Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf
http://www.agbell.org
1 59) APS Minorities Scholarship Program (Physics)
http://www.aps.org/educ/com/index.html
160) The Minority/Disadvantaged Scholarship Program (architecture)
http://www.archfoundation.org
161) Music For The Blind
http://www.NFMC-music.org
162) War Memorial Fund
http://www.usjaycees.org
163) Engineering Awards and Scholarships
&nbs p; http://www.iee.org/EduCareers/Awards/UG/index.cfm
164) Undergraduate Awards for Women
http://www.biochem.northwestern.edu/resfunds/undergrad.women.pdf
165) Civil Air Patrol Scholarships
http://level2.cap.gov/index.cfm?nodeID=5589
166) Various College scholarships List
http://www.parktudor.pvt.k12.in.us/scholarships2.htm
167) Typical Scholarship Opportunities
http://www.esu3.org/districts/bellevue/curriculum/east/jsheridan/counseling/ScholarshipFiles/main_list.htm#st
168) AXA ACHIEVEMENT SCHOLARSHIP
http://www.axa-achievement.com
169) FEDERAL EMPLOYEE EDUCATION FUND
http://www.feea.org/scholarships.shtml
170) PRUDENTIAL SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY AWARD
http://www.prudential.com/spirit for more information.
171) Undesignated Scholarships (Engineering)
http://students.sae.org/awdscholar/scholarships/undesignated/
172) WAL*MART COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP
http://www.walmartfoundation.org
173) Scholarships for Minori ty accounting Students
http://www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/mini/smas.htm
174) Actuarial Scholarships for Minority Students
http://www.beanactuary.org/minority/scholarship.cfm
175) Minority Scholarships (All levels)
http://scholarships.fatomei.com/scholar3.html
176) Findaid: Minority Scholarships
http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/minority.phtml
177) Library Scholarships
http://www.ala.org/ala/lita/litaresources/litascholarships/litascholarships.htm
178) Study Abroad Scholarships
http://www.iesabroad.org/minorityFinancialAid.do
179) Native American & Other Scholarships
http://www.abetterchance.org/ReferralOrgs&Resources/res-coll_native_schol1.htm
180) Sports Figures Scholarships
http://sportsfigures.espn.com/sportsfigures/stu_sportsfigurechal_1.jsp
181) Scholarship Scams
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/scholarship/
182) Students of Color Scholarships
http://www.financialaid4you.com/index.php/scholarships
183) USA Access Education Scholarships
http://www.usafunds.org/planning/access_to_education_scholarship/index.html
184) Fellowships and Scholarships
http://www.sacnas.org/fellow.html
185) Dow Jones Scholarship and Program Listings
& nbsp; http://djnewspaperfund.dowjones.com/fund/cg_js_min_scholarships.asp
186) Ernest Hemingway Awards Scholarships
http://djnewspaperfund.dowjones.com/fund/cg_gen_scholarships.asp
187) Minority Journalism Internships http://djnewspaperfund.dowjones.com/fund/cg_min_internships.asp
188) Hispanic/Latino Scholarships
http://www.elmhurst.edu/~bio/arriola/Hablamos/scholarships.html
189) General Scholarships
&nb sp; http://www.hccfl.edu/scholarship/general.html
190) Jewish Scholarships
http://www.free-4u.com/jewish.htm
191) Scholarship Opportunities (graduate)
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/finaid/external-finaid.shtml
192) Ford Foundation Fellowships for Minorities
http://national-academies.org/fellowships
193) Scholarships in Many Areas
http://www.meredith.edu/finaid/outsideaid.htm
194) League Foundation: Alternative Lifestyles Scholarships
http://www.league-att.org/foundation/
195) Datatel Scholarships
http://www.datatel.com/global/schola rships/applicants.cfm
196) Alpha Kappa Alpha Awards
http://www.akaeaf.org/
197) National Black Police Assoc. Scholarships
http://www.blackpolice.org/
198) Elks Most Valuable Stude nt Scholarship
http://www.elks.org
199) National Back Nurses' Assoc. Scholarships
http://www.nbna.org
200) Scholarships Based on Ethnicity
http://www.college.ucla.edu/UP/SRC/ethnic.htm

Teachers Unite Holds a Forum Against School Privatization

2008-01-06T11:24:00.000-05:00

Teachers Unite presents:

THE BIG BUSINESS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION:
How will we reclaim public schools from  privatization?

  Thursday, January 10th, 5-7p.m.
 CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave. (between 34th and 35th St.), Room C201
Photo I.D. is required to enter the building
Space is limited. RSVP to sally@teachersunite.net  .

  Millions of dollars are exchanged between New York City’s Department of  Education and private companies. How do these relationships impact our  classrooms? What can be done about the seemingly inescapable trend of schools  privatization?  

Speakers:  
Michael Fiorillo, Chapter Leader, Newcomers High School  
Leonie Hamison, Executive Director, Class Size Matters   
Discussion to follow

This forum is the third in a series of events where educators can relate their  experiences in schools to larger political trends. The 2007-2008 forums focus  on the impact of privatization and the corporate model on classroom life in NYC  public schools.

  Teachers Unite provides leadership opportunities that build ties between  educators and community organizers, and political education forums that build  an informed teacher constituency. Teachers Unite is an organization for  educators who act in solidarity with the communities they serve. www.teachersunite.net

Reclaiming Public Education: Teachers Unite

2008-01-03T15:07:00.001-05:00

Teachers Unite presents:

THE BIG BUSINESS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION: How will we
reclaim public schools from privatization?

Thursday, January 10th, 5-7p.m.

CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave. (between 34th and
35th St.), Room C201 Photo I.D. is required to enter
the building

Space is limited. RSVP to sally@teachersunite.net

Millions of dollars are exchanged between New York
Cityï¿½s Department of Education and private
companies. How do these relationships impact our
classrooms? What can be done about the seemingly
inescapable trend of schools privatization?

Speakers:
Michael Fiorillo, Chapter Leader, Newcomers High
School
Leonie Hamison, Executive Director, Class Size Matters
Discussion to follow

This forum is the third in a series of events where
educators can relate their experiences in schools to
larger political trends. The 2007-2008 forums focus on
the impact of privatization and the corporate model on
classroom life in NYC public schools.

Teachers Unite provides leadership opportunities that
build ties between educators and community organizers,
and political education forums that build an informed
teacher constituency. Teachers Unite is an
organization for educators who act in solidarity with
the communities they serve.
http://www.teachersunite.net

Boyce Watkins on NPR - Black Family Wealth

2007-12-29T06:35:00.001-05:00

As a finance professor, I see regular misconceptions in media about black people, black families and black wealth. America somehow has chosen to believe that the reason for wealth disparities in America is that African-Americans have simply chosen to be lazy and engage in the practice of bad money management. They also cite the fact that black families are not married as regularly and that this is a reason for poverty in the black community.

I could not disagree more.

The reason for the wealth disparity between blacks and whites is very simple: For 400 years (a very long time), America had a clear tradition of not allowing black people to pass wealth onto their children. As a result, all the big buildings in Manhattan, all the major media companies, and all the large corporations in America are owned, run and controlled by the white community. Period. Most wealth is inherited wealth and we were not allowed to inherit.

Black people choosing not to get married is no worse nor better than the fact that many families in America choose to get divorced. Honestly, I think divorce is far more devastating to the life of a child than not getting married. If one throws in the fact that non-custodial parents are obligated to pay child support, then the income gap, in a perfect world, should disappear. One can argue that two parents are better than one, but at the same time, 3 parents would be better than 2, and 4 parents would be better than 3. You could make this argument forever, and to use the one vs. two parent disparity as the fundamental basis to explain America's commitment to racial inequality is ridiculous.

Bottom line: Love is what matters, and if you look at the lives of Al Gore's son and kids in the suburbs who engage in just as much deviant behavior as kids in "the hood", you will see that a parent's decision to get married or not can be good for the child or bad, depending on the circumstances.

In other words: I get sick of people trying to say that black families are immoral or culturally inferior. Our culture is just fine thank you. Also, racial inequality and wealth gaps are due to one thing: historical discrimination. If you want to talk about creating a fair america, then you must first correct the huge imbalance created by racist ancestry. Trying to be fair from this point on (as Ward Connerly tries to argue) is like a lifelong crook stealing billions and then promising not to steal anymore. A fix must be applied to past wrongs before you can move forward in fairness.

I did this NPR interview on the topic not too long ago. It was done with Farai Chideya, a woman I had a huge crush on during my time in graduate school. Don't tell her I said that (haha!).

Rutgers Offers Global Scholarships

2007-12-20T13:25:00.000-05:00

REMINDER - Please Distribute Widely

The Institute for Research on Women at Rutgers, The State University of
New Jersey solicits applications from Global Scholars who would like to be
in residence during the 2008-09 academic year (September 2008 through May
2009).

We cannot provide any financial support, but do welcome scholars/activists
into a vibrant interdisciplinary community focused on women and gender.
Our theme for 2008-09 is “The Culture of Rights/The Rights of Culture.”

The application deadline is January 15, 2008. More information about the
IRW and how to apply is available on our website (http://irw.rutgers.edu)
and at http://irw.rutgers.edu/scholars/08-09globalscholarcall.pdf

Thank you.
--

Marlene Importico, Office Manager
Institute for Research on Women
Rutgers the State University of New Jersey
160 Ryders Lane
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
732/932-9072; 732/932-0861 (FAX)
http://irw.rutgers.edu

Peculiar History of slavery and racism in New York

2007-12-20T12:51:00.001-05:00

DID YOU KNOW?

New York for much of its early history had a huge enslaved population. People of African descent in the city, during the colonial era and for much of the 19th Century, lived under a harsh form of Jim Crow-like segregation. Racist regulations extended even into their houses of worship. Most churches had an area, either in the back, the balcony or separate rooms where Black New Yorkers were housed and located during the religious service. As slavery waned, the City’s newly freed Blacks chafed under New York’s long standing segregationist policies. In spite of this oppression and despite several deadly and destructive race riots, New York’s African American community remained vibrant, dynamic and because of their efforts, the City continued also to be a center of abolitionist, anti-slavery activity.

St. Augustine’s Church at 290 Henry Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which opened in 1828, has as part of its original architecture two rooms, up a small twisting flight of stairs that were and still are called Slave Galleries. These rooms, just above the balcony and mainly out of sight, were intended for African American congregants, servants and perhaps even visitors, and may have been so used for years after slavery ended.

-----------------------------------------------------

New York City was an early center of slavery in colonial America--- for much of the period only the city of Charleston, South Carolina had a larger enslaved population. Brought to New York from Africa, South America, the Caribbean and the South, people of African descent were largely commodities to be purchased, traded, measured and sold. For most, New York and its unwinding harbor was a quick stopping off point on the way to somewhere else on the triangulated trade route that led primarily south. Most must have found it an exotic, scary, sometimes cold and fleeting place. Yet, a significant number remained, to undertake the backbreaking work that building this expansive metropolis required.

As decades passed, the city and the African population grew, as did New York’s dependence on the free labor they provided. Special laws were passed to control the enslaved population. To calm the fear of revolt and insurrection, it became illegal for Black New Yorkers to gather in groups of more than three. To justify and maintain a white privileged class, African New Yorkers were denied access to housing, jobs and most public and private institutions, businesses and facilities. We often lose sight of the fact that New York City played a crucial role in both the development of the slave trade in colonial America and the virulent racism that accompanied it and helped codify the culture and concept that later came to be called in the South -- Jim Crow.

Across the street from what is today City Hall in downtown Manhattan, the African Burial Ground, the graveyard of colonial African New Yorkers was rediscovered in the 1990s. It was about five acres wide and used for virtually a hundred years until the end of the Revolutionary War. The history and existence of the African Burial Ground demonstrates that New York Jim Crow reached into the graveyard. Indeed segregation in New York reached into every facet of life for African and African American New Yorkers, including, perhaps especially their religious sanctuaries and institutions.

On the odd occasion, in the hands of a racist priest or a rowdy hate mongering congregation, religious events like marriage, communion or baptism could erupt into embarrassing and even dangerous experiences. In the main, for Black New York, when allowed entrance, church must have been oddly like the devil wrestling with God, as they were closely monitored and set apart. In some, Black New Yorkers had to sit or stand in the back of the parish, in others they were confined to an area in the balcony. In several churches there were rooms for Blacks, often out of view. These rooms, like the two at St. Augustine’s Landmark Church at 290 Henry Street in Lower Manhattan, were called Slave Galleries.

“Once in a while some of the old timers would talk,” says Harold Hayes, long time parishioner and Lower East Sider, “I used to hear little things that the blacks used to sing up there and such things and they were slaves.”

What is now St. Augustine’s landmark church has been standing on Henry Street in Manhattan since 1828. Constructed, legend has it, with rocks gathered from a long gone mountain, locally known as Mount Pitt, once a few blocks away. Originally, the church was called All Saints. A controversial aspect of its design, are two rooms on either side of a more than 150 year old Erben Organ one flight above the balcony. We know from articles and church records that these rooms were referred to as slave galleries and associated with the African American community.

A historical anomaly is that slavery in New York City and State officially ended in 1827. If so, why would a church that opened in 1828 build two slave galleries? This question ignited some intense debate in corners of the New York Historical community.

“Maybe they didn’t believe slavery was going to end.” The Reverend Errol Harvey, Rector of St. Augustine’s Church has said with his wry smile.

Though the vast majority of African American New Yorkers were no longer enslaved by 1827, the last gained freedom in 1841. The emancipation of slavery in New York was complicated and gradual. A law to stop slavery in New York State passed in 1799, starting a process that climaxed in 1827. A great deal is yet to be learned about who sat in the St. Augustine’s slave galleries – were they slaves -- indentured servants ill treated or otherwise -- free blacks encumbered by New York Jim Crow?

Around 1949, after decades spent struggling to survive, a decision was made to move St. Augustine’s Church, located on E. Houston Street into the All Saints Building on Henry Street and merge the institutions. The Christian part of the community had largely become African American and Hispanic. The new Church leaders decided to assertively reach out to them. In the ensuing years ironically, the once rich white All Saints Free Church became the primarily working class African American St. Augustine’s Church. Its first African American Rector was appointed in 1977. Reverend Errol Harvey, who has been at St. Augustine’s for 23 years, is the second. Reverend Harvey has spearheaded and supported renewed interest in the Slave Galleries, embracing the St. Augustine’s Project’s mission to help tell the story of African American New Yorkers and their contributions to the culture and development of the City and the neighborhood.

Rodger Taylor
Management Board member

---------------------------------------
author of "The Black Holocaust for Beginners"
Social Activism is not a hobby: it's a Lifestyle lasting a Lifetime
http://blackeducator.blogspot.com
---------------------------------------

Stanford Summer Research Program for Minorities

2007-12-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Stanford!

I'd like to encourage you to consider us for graduate school and to apply to our Stanford Summer Research Program (SSRP)/Amgen Scholars Program.

The SSRP is a fully funded, 8-week residential research program open to current undergraduate students. It is an advanced scientific research opportunity for diverse students who want to prepare for and enter PhD, MD/PhD, or MD programs. Each student is matched with a Stanford faculty member and lab mentor and works on a research project that is challenging, involves a broad range of research techniques, and is feasible within the 8-week period. More information about SSRP can be accessed at http://ssrp.stanford.edu and our application deadline is February 1. Our on-line application will be available December 21.

Stanford Biosciences is composed of thirteen close knit home programs: Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Informatics, Biophysics, Cancer Biology, Chemical and Systems Biology, Developmental Biology, Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology and Immunology, Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Neurosciences, and Structural Biology. You can find more information on these programs at http://med.stanford.edu/phd. I'd also like to encourage you to learn about the faculty and the research being conducted in those departments by going to http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/

Students pursuing their PhD’s at Stanford are fully funded, which includes tuition, health insurance, and a $28,000 stipend. Currently, there are close to 500 students enrolled and while external fellowships are welcome and all Ph.D. students are encouraged to apply for them, they are not required.

One of my favorite things about Stanford is that it is a truly collaborative university. The Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Humanities and Science are all located on the same campus, which facilitates the numerous interactions between students, faculty, and departments across the university. The Biosciences programs also offers students the opportunity to work in the laboratories of any of our 280 faculty members. Departments within the Biosciences can be found within both the School of Humanities and Sciences and the School of Medicine. Students and staff involved in the Biosciences can easily develop relationships and collaborations between laboratories and departments.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,

Tenea Nelson

-------------------------------------------------------

Tenea Nelson, PhD

Director of Diversity and Outreach Programs

Department of Genetics

Stanford University School of Medicine

300 Pasteur Drive, M-350
Stanford, CA 94305-5120

office: 650-723-6274

mobile: 415-608-9167

fax: 650-725-1534

tenea@stanford.edu

How should black students rank colleges?

2007-12-17T07:20:00.001-05:00

Written by Ashley Finigant at YourBlackworld.com:

For high school seniors across the country, this time of year does not just bring the joy of the holiday season, but also the anxiety of impending college application deadlines. And for many high achieving students, the yearly rankings provided by US News and World Report is the academic bible they swear on. Although these rankings can be very helpful, in turning a student on to a school they've never heard of or shedding light on their top choice; for the most part, the ranking system provided by this magazine is heavily biased. Stanford and MIT will always be on top. Furthermore, other academic power houses are left in the dark, overshadowed by eight universities in the Northeast (better known as the Ivy League, aka, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Penn, Brown and Dartmouth). The rankings have rankled many academics as well, and many schools have even elected to drop the system all together.

So where is the talented student of color to turn in search of a ranking system they can trust? Well the easy answer is: all ranking systems are biased and flawed and the only way to truly find a college that fits is to do a search based on one's needs and preferences. But if short on time and resources, the following should help...

The Black Enterprise list of top 50 Colleges for African-Americans
Not only does this magazine rank HBCU favorites, but also gives some shine to the overlooked liberal arts colleges.

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education ranking of America's leading universities
Methodical and precise. The editors of this publication offer a wholistic approach to ranking universities with black students in mind and their interests at heart.

and while it isn't an academic ranking per se, the JBHE did another ranking on acceptance rates for black students at liberal arts colleges. (my plug for the liberal arts, lets do like DuBois and learn for edification and learnings sake).

And parting words to the wise - do not live and die by any ranking system, no matter who compiled it based on whatever data. College is college is college. Knowledge is the same everywhere, it all depends of what you make of it and where it takes you. That and loans.

Ashley Finigan is a staff writer for YourBlackWorld.com.

Math Education Conference in Long Island

2007-12-16T16:35:00.001-05:00

Join educators, parents, students, activists, and community members from around the country for the 2008 Creating Balance in an Unjust World conference on math education and social justice. The conference will be at Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY from Friday, April 4th - Sunday, April 6th.

In April 2007 over 500 educators and students from 28 states attended the first 'Creating Balance' conference. Through workshops, panels, Keynote speakers, networking sessions, Action Groups, local chapter meetings, and school visits, 2008 conference participants will explore questions, challenges, and opportunities to work for social and economic justice through mathematics and math education.

www.radicalmath.org/conference

Registration Open
Conference Registration is now open. The registration fee is on a sliding scale from $25 - $300. Click here to learn more.

Conference Schedule
Friday, April 4th
· School Visits (limited space available)
· Kickoff Event, Vanguard High School (details TBA)

Saturday, April 5th
· Workshops (3 sessions)
· Networking Lunch
· Keynote Speaker (TBA)

Sunday, April 6th
· Panel (speakers TBA)
· Action Groups

Request for Proposals
Reminder: the Abstract's for the RFP's are due on January 7th and the final proposal is due January 21st.

Youth Travel Grants
We strongly value the input and expertise of young people, and are offering travel grants for student groups to attend the conference. To learn more about how your group could qualify for a travel grant click here.

The Great Debaters is Up for an Award Already

2007-12-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

The producers behind the film "The Great Debaters" are already up for an award.

They will receive the 2008 Stanley Kramer Award at the PGA Awards on February 2. The film details the life of Professor Melvin Tolson, coach of the debate team at Wiley College, a small black college founded in 1873.

The professor took a great deal of criticism during for his teaching style and social views.

Tolson's debate team defeated some of the top universities in the world, including Oxford, USC and others. However, the team was never formally recognized as a championship debate team because in the 1930s, black teams were not considered for championship status.

The school struggled to survive during the 1980s and 1990s, coming very close to closing. However, after getting the attention of Hollywood, the school has new buildings and a new set of opportunities.

Enrollment recently doubled and Walmart has agreed to set up a scholarship fund.

Sports is not the only place for Performance Enhancing Drugs

2007-12-16T07:19:00.000-05:00

Written by a former MLB player (Bob Tufts), this message is a wake up call to those who think that performance enhancing drugs are only taken in professional sports. Turns out that many of your own children may be using the same drugs.

I am an ex-pitcher with the SF Giants and KC Royals, 1981-83

To the Editor:

Fraudulent statistics are being generated yearly because of the use of
illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I believe we must crack down on this
criminal activity and guarantee that these statistics remain pure and
honest, so that we can fairly evaluate and compare those who excel in
their fields.

Unfortunately for overexcited sportswriters, fans, and members of
Congress, I am not advocating continued heavy-handed investigations of
Barry Bonds or a thousand other Major League Baseball players, mentioned
by Warren Goldstein ("The Conundrum That Is Barry Bonds," The Chronicle
Review, June 8). Although I am a former pitcher for the San Francisco
Giants and the Kansas City Royals, what I am advocating against is the
unscrupulous and dangerous use by millions of high-school and college
students of Adderall, Ritalin, and other substances that have been proven
to artificially raise test scores and thereby distort the entire
college-admissions process. I am also advocating on behalf of
African-American students who are negatively affected by this crime. This
is a true national health emergency and public-policy nightmare that
warrants federal action, as families are being punished for obeying the
law.

Adderall is classified as a Schedule II drug by the Food and Drug
Administration; that makes it more dangerous than steroids, which are
Schedule III substances. Schedule II drugs include opium, morphine,
cocaine, and OxyContin. According to the FDA's Web site, Adderall has a
high potential for abuse and can cause severe psychic or physical
dependence, even schizophrenia.

A survey of high-school students by the University of Wisconsin estimated
that 14 percent to 25 percent had taken academic enhancers in order to get
better grades and SAT scores. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America
estimated that 10 percent of high-school students had used similar drugs
without a prescription. This means that several million high-school
students may have cheated on their classroom and standardized tests.

The use of these so-called study aids has a disparate impact on
African-American students. Recent government surveys state that there are
approximately 10.5 million white college students and 1.9 million
African-American college students. The National Institute on Drug Abuse
found in 2004 that 4.9 percent of white college students and 1.6 percent
of African-American college students had admitted using stimulants to
study for tests. It can be safely assumed that the high-school numbers are
comparable, and equally biased against African-American teenagers who are
applying to college.

We demonstrate great concern when 100 baseball players test positive for
steroids, but we avert our eyes when millions of teenagers participate in
academic fraud and risk harming their bodies. Our attention and selective
moral indignation is focused solely on athletics, a profession where
minorities are overrepresented. We demand harsh penalties and a
zero-tolerance policy against these athletes to ensure fairness, but we
ignore blatant drug-law violations by millions of upper-class white
children and their ethically challenged parents when the enhancement
effect is intellectual and not physical.

Many elected officials were able to find time to grandstand during
oversight hearings on athletes and steroids. In the process, they did not
deal with far more serious national health issues. Will those on the
Democratic side of the aisle who now control the House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform find the time to address massive education
fraud and racially discriminatory pharmacology, or will they demur because
it won't draw a media swarm and may damage their fund-raising base?

If the committee were acting in a consistent manner, there would be
hearings regarding Adderall and demands for mandatory drug testing for
students before final exams and all standardized tests. But I will not
hold my breath waiting for the announcement of that event.

Bob Tufts
Forest Hills, N.Y.

***

All-nighters give you lower grades

2007-12-14T11:57:00.000-05:00

I saw this article stating that students who study all night have lower grades than those who don't. I was surprised at all. In my 14 years teaching at the college level, I learned that studying all night only does the following:

1) makes you cranky

2) makes you hate school

3) makes you too tired to remember anything that you learned the night before

4) stresses you the hell out

I continuously tell my students to remember the importance of consistency in their studying, but of course they don't listen. There's always this persistent image of the college student staying up all night, drinking tons of coffee and doing a bunch of other stuff that is only going to make his/her life miserable.

This study didn't surprise me at all, and I am only shocked that the information is just now becoming public knowledge.

Killing the Demons of Campus Alcohol

2007-12-07T16:50:00.000-05:00

The demon of campus drinking has possessed our students, faculty and administrators, as campus culture has gotten out of control. Administrators turn a blind eye, def ears and plugged nostrils to the problems, just assuming that this is part of normal campus life. I am not one to judge other people’s choices, but whoever decided that drinking till you puke every weekend is fun or cool really needs to get slapped. They should also tell you the other side of drinking, which says that the 20 year old getting “twisted” at the party becomes the 40 year old sitting up in the Betty Ford Clinic with no liver in his body.

College campuses are proficient at producing leaders and geniuses. But they can be equally proficient at producing alcoholics, AIDS patients, rape victims and members of gamblers anonymous. As a professor at many “party schools”, I’ve watched 14 years of campus atrocities being committed every weekend with the primary suspect being a student named Jack Daniels. The word “moderation” is rarely used, and over the top behavior is embraced, endorsed, accepted and expected.

When I saw the scandal that plagued Duke University, I didn’t try to figure out if someone was raped. My first question was, “What IN THE HELL were 19 year olds doing at a party with 27 year old strippers?” I’m not one to hate on a good party, but damn. If there had been no rape allegations, it appears that everything would have been A-OK to the administrators. The climate creates the storm, and this was Hurricane Katrina. So, while we chastise Duke University, there are many campuses that are nothing more than a Duke waiting to happen.

My good friend is a prosecutor who deals with drunk driving cases. Many of her defendants are college students who don’t know any better, some of them after killing their best friends. She helped me compose a list of actions campuses can take to exorcise the drunken demon from their university. I don’t want to tell students what to do. But it’s sad when they do the wrong thing because the adults around them did not have the courage to warn them of the dangers. I am not trying to soap box....but I will pull out the Irish Spring for just one second.

1) How about having a former student come to campus and tell some of their horror stories? - Nearly every college graduate (or non-graduate) can tell a story about something terrible that happened to one of their friends in the middle of some alcohol-laden environment. The more you care about the students, the more you will allow the dialogue to be raw and realistic. The University of Life holds no punches when giving lessons, you shouldn’t either. The frightening tales of the past that haunt university walls should be used to benefit future students.

2) There is nothing that a good lawsuit won’t fix. On-going lawsuits at Colgate University and other campuses are stark reminders that the courts are now starting to hold some campuses liable for their missing eyeballs. Choking the purse strings is a good way to make these administrative Stevie Wonders gain 20/20 vision. Perhaps administrators should be legally educated about the consequences of “letting kids be kids”? I do not want them to get sued; I would rather just have them realize that this is a possibility.

3) What about a revolution in parenting? I find myself leaning over the toilet every semester, as I see more and more parents sending their children to campus as “Little Paris Hiltons”, being provided for like middle class welfare recipients. Every minor expense is fully paid, and the words “get a job” might as well be Mandarin Chinese. So, you then have an energetic, horny 19 year old with 80 hours of free time on their hands. Are they going to spend that time studying or memorizing the locations of the local bars? What’s worse is that the student has left home a child and returned a child, never gaining any sense of personal responsibility. If you give someone a wheelchair before they learn to walk, then they will never bother to learn to use their legs.

As I sat flipping through my mental rolodex, I felt sadness for my peers who were deceived by the drunken demon. I thought about the deaths, prison sentences, divorces, drop outs and middle age alcoholics, all created right before my eyes. My friends and I arrived on campus with clean slates, clear consciences and bright futures, only to have our lives complicated in ways that we never imagined. Our parents, teachers and mentors never warned us of these realities, allowing the University of Life to be our abusive boarding school. I searched for the “rewind” button in my mental
VCR, knowing I wouldn’t find one. So instead, I confronted the demon head on, hoping to make a difference.