In many ways, 2009 was a wonderful year for Black people in higher education, a year characterized by extraordinary achievements and exciting inroads, but punctuated, occasionally, by some painful and disappointing lows.

The Black on Campus Hall of Fame for 2009 celebrates the year’s most exciting and inspiring highs, from the athlete who proved that brains and brawn can exist in the same body, to the college president whose ability to reinvigorate a highly-regarded but under-funded university was commemorated with a proud celebration of her achievements. This year’s hall of fame recognizes these five extraordinary men and women:

1. Martina, Kenny, Ray, and Carol Crouch and their parents. Raising one child to reach the highest levels of academic achievement, to love learning, and to relish the opportunity to challenge herself intellectually is difficult enough. This extraordinary household produced four intellectual standouts, each of whom was admitted early to the Yale University class of 2014. Follow THIS LINK to read more.
2. Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Dr. Jackson’s first 10 years at RPI have come to be known as the “Decade of Transformation,” and not solely due to her successful $1.4 billion dollar capital campaign. An inveterate fundraiser and academic visionary, President Jackson’s Rensselaer Plan has led to the hiring of over 200 new faculty, a reduction in class size, and the renovation and expansion of research and classroom facilities, all since 1999. Follow THIS LINK to read more.
3. Myron Rolle, FSU football standout and Rhodes Scholar. When he matriculated at Oxford University this past fall, Myron Rolle became the first Florida State football player in anyone’s memory to be selected as a Rhodes Scholar. A likely candidate for the 1st or 2nd round of the NFL draft, Rolle chose Oxford over professional football, risking the possibility that he might not be as desirable to NFL coaches after time away from the sport. Rolle planned to combine his studies at Oxford with rigorous workouts, all with the intention of remaining as competitive athletically as he is academically. Follow THIS LINK to read more.
4. Professor Annette Gordon-Reed, author of The Hemingses of Monticello. In April of 2009, Gordon-Reed, a Harvard Law grad and Rutgers University history professor, became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize in History for this, her second book on the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his family, the enslaved African American woman who was his lover (Sally Hemings), and the origins of race and sex in the U.S. In November of 2008, Gordon-Reed became the first African American woman to win a National Book Award in the nonfiction category for the same volume. Follow THIS LINK to read more.
5. U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama. On January 20, 2009 Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation’s first Black president. There was, however, a dimension to Obama’s inauguration that was especially thrilling to me, as a African American scholar,  and it was the curious pleasure of seeing a Black professor sworn in as the nation’s chief executive. A Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, from 1996 to 2004 (when he was elected to the U.S. Senate), Obama was a non-tenure-track constitutional law professor at the UC Law school. Follow THIS LINK to read more.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

James Warren Payton, in his graduation photo, taken in 1900. In 1902 Payton died of typhoid fever. This photo was published in the December 1902 issue of The Colored American magazine.

Payton was memorialized in the June 1903 Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University. The obituary record provided this short biography of the young man who had become one of the University’s first African American alumni:

JAMES WARREN PAYTON, son of Philip A. and Annie (Rives)
Payton, was born on July 30, 1877, in Westfield, Mass., and was
fitted for college in the High School in that place.
The year following graduation he spent in tutoring in Westfield,
and in the fall of 1901 became Professor of Greek and
Latin in Wiley University, Marshall, Texas. He was about to
return to his work for a second year when he was stricken with
typhoid fever, of which he died at his home in Westfield, on
October 15, 1902, at the age of 25 years. He had planned to
enter the legal profession eventually.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

The positive developments in Black education rarely make the national news, and so you may well have missed the story out of Maryland and South Carolina, that significantly greater numbers of African American high school students are choosing to take Advanced Placement (AP) exams. This is an important change because, traditionally, Black students at all levels were discouraged from enrolling in honors and advanced placement courses. That greater numbers of African Americans are taking AP exams could mean that academic counseling for Black students has dramatically transformed in recent years, with guidance counselors becoming more supportive of Black student achievement. It might also mean that, in certain areas of the country, African American parents are becoming more involved in managing their children’s progress through school. I am certain that the increase in the number of Black students taking AP exams is due, in part, to the increase in the number of Black immigrants (from African and Caribbean nations) and their children enrolling in U.S. schools. As I have reported in previous posts, African immigrants and their children have significantly higher graduation rates from U.S. and English colleges and universities than any other ethnic group.

Whatever the reason for this change, the numbers are impressive. In Montgomery, Maryland, a full 14% more African American students took AP exams in 2009 than in the previous year. Montgomery school officials report that, across the district, the number of Black and Latin American AP exam takers has “practically doubled” within the last five years. (Source: The Washington Post).

A few states away, South Carolina has seen a similar increase in African American participation in the Advanced Placement testing program. The South Carolina Department of Education reports the following increases in Black participation and performance in AP testing:

The number of African-American students taking the tests during the last five years in S.C. public schools has grown 43 percent, according to the Dept. of Education. The number of African-American students scoring well enough to earn credit during that time period has increased 45 percent.

— Brian Cox for Fox News and Midlandsconnect.com

If the recent past is any indication, then 2010 should hold even greater promise for the academic performance of Black students across the nation.
Posted Ajuan Mance

Newly appointed KU football head coach, Turner Gill.

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Many congratulations to Turner Gill, who will be leaving the University of Buffalo (UB) to become the first African American head football coach of the University of Kansas (KU) Jayhawks. KU is almost certainly hoping to capitalize on Gill’s proven ability to dramatically improve the performance of a struggling football program. He led UB to its first bowl game and to a Mid-American Conference championship.

Gill’s goals for the Kansas football program indicate that he plans to achieve the same kind of football turnaround for KU. In a recent press conference he explained:

“I did not come here to use it as a stepping stone to a football dynasty, but rather to create a football dynasty here at KU.”

[…]

Gill says his priorities are simple. “Recruit, beat Missouri, recruit, win the North, recruit, win the Big 12 — as we all know in most cases, you win the Big 12, you’re playing for a national championship, and then we’re gonna recruit.”

— KSCW.com

KU’s faith in Gill’s skill and experience is reflect in the contract they offered their new coach. KSCW.com reports that, “Gill will make approximately $2 million a year for the next five years.”

Gill began his football career as a starting quarterback for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. KSCW.com describes the path that took him from the playing field to minor league baseball and, finally, to the sideliness of big college football:

As the starting quarterback at Nebraska from 1981-83, Gill led the Cornhuskers to a 28-2 record and a 20-0 mark in Big Eight Conference play, three straight Big Eight Conference championships and three consecutive Orange Bowls.

Gill was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 1983 when teammate Mike Rozier claimed the honor. He was a three-time All-Big Eight selection and was named the quarterback of the Big Eight Conference All-Decade Team (1980-89).  He has been inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame and the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame.  He also spent three seasons in the minor league systems of the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians.

Prior to Gill’s departure for Kansas, the University of Buffalo was the only NCAA Division I school with an African American athletic director, an African American head football coach, and an African American head basketball coach.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Martina, Kenny Ray, and Carol celebrate their admission to the Yale Class of 2014.

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Many congratulations to Martina, Kenny, Ray, and Carol Crouch. It’s still early in the college admissions season, but the young men and women already have a lot to celebrate. This week, all four siblings were admitted to Yale. The New York Times describes the day when each of the four quadruplets were admitted to the prestigious Connecticut university:

Ray Crouch, a senior at Danbury High School, logged onto the computer in his family’s living room just after 5 p.m. on Tuesday and entered the Web site of the Yale admissions office.

Suddenly the screen turned blue — Yale blue — and an image of a bulldog, the university mascot, appeared, followed by “Welcome to the Class of 2014.” Ray, 18, had been offered a spot in the next freshman class, under its early-admission program. Standing behind him, his mother, Caroline, screamed.

But that was only the beginning. Moments later, Ray’s brother, Kenny, also 18, went to the Yale site and got an identical message. He was followed by their sister Carol. Same news. Then the room fell silent. Ray, Kenny and Carol are quadruplets, and their sister Martina had applied to Yale, too.

“I was thinking, it’s going to be really awkward when I don’t get in,” Martina recalled Friday.

But the computer turned blue for her as well, which prompted such an outpouring of joy from their mother that she wrestled their father, Steven, to the floor in a hug.

The Crouches’ perfect batting average represents a first for Yale — the first time in anyone’s memory that it has offered admission to quadruplets. It is also, of course, no small milestone for the siblings, who were born more than two months premature. (Ray was the last to be released from the neonatal unit, more than four months later.)
They made up for that rough start. Their class rankings range from 13 out of a class of 632 (Kenny) to 46 (Martina) — and they have sky-high SAT scores (including Carol’s perfect 800 on the verbal part of that exam).

— from “Boola Boola, Boola Boola: Yale Says Yes, 4 Times,” by Jacques Steinberg, for The New York Times

The 18-year-old quadruplets have not yet decided whether or not they will attend the prestigious Connecticut University. Each has applied to a number of schools, and Yale’s early admission program does not require admitted students to make a decision  until May 1.

In the meantime, the Crouch quadruplets can enjoy the experience of making Yale admissions history.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Then…

Alpha Phi Alpha founders, 1906

(Source: Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. Centennial Site and the Cornell U Library)

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…and Now

Members of the Alpha Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. from Morehouse College, 2009.

(Source: Access Atlanta)

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For more wonderful and historic photos of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. members, check the links belows:

• Wittenberg University Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. page
• Yale University Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. page

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Noted African American woman poet Alice Dunbar-Nelson was an 1892 gradauted of historically Black Dillard University.

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

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I am continuing to build the blackoncampus.com roster of Notable Black College Graduates. Today I have added prominent African American alums whose alma maters begin with the letter “D.” For more Notable Black College Graduates click on the menu bar (above), or follow THIS LINK… and if you know of any names that should be included on these list, please leave a message in the comments section, or email me at blackoncampus@yahoo.com

Your Black on Campus blogger,

Ajuan Mance

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Dartmouth College

• Keith Boykin (Bachelors, 1987)
• Aisha Tyler (Bachelor’s, Political Science with minor in Environmental Policy, 1992)
• Shonda Rimes (Bachelor’s, 1991)
• Brian J. White (Bachelor’s, Political Psychology, Theatre Arts)

DePaul University

• Benjamin Hooks (J.D., 1948)

Detroit College of Law

• Dennis Archer (J.D., 1970)

Dillard University

• Ruth J. Simmons (B.A. 1967)

• Alice Dunbar Nelson (B.A., 1892)

Drew University

• Calvin O. Butts (Doctor of Ministry, Church and Public Policy)

Duke University

• Benjamin Chavis (M.Div., 1980)
• Bill Campbell (J.D., 1977)
• Dahntay Jones (Bachelor’s, 2003)
• Denise Majette (J.D., 1979)
• Grant Hill (Bachelor’s, 1994)
• Reggie Love (Bachelor of Arts, 2005)

Compiled and posted by Ajuan Mance

Howard University in the late 1800s.

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

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From the June 9, 1881 issue of The Christian Recorder

HOWARD UNIVERSITY

BY E.P.C.

Howard University, under the administration of President Patton, is rapidly improving. She had, on the 13th inst., Class Day exercises for the first time in her existence. This certainly speaks well for the institution, and also reflects a good deal of credit on the class of ’81. The exercises were unexceptionably fine. The class consists of seven, representing Pennsylvania, Missouri, South Carolina, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. The young men seem to be full of zeal and energy; their aim is “onward.” As they have equipped themselves so nobly, may it be their highest ambition to alleviate the condition of the race with which they are identified.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

“Pomp,” assistant janitor at the University of Pennsylvania, photographed in 1884.

(Source: Collection of the blogger)

Posted by Ajuan Mance

The Daily Beast has published a list of its 25 Smartest People of the Decade. According to the editors at The Daily Beast, a website founded by former New Yorker Editor Tina Brown, intelligence isn’t limited to any single field, occupation, or political perspective. The list includes internet entrepreneurs, politicians, religious leaders, scientists, and writers. To be recognized as one The Daily Beast’s 25 Smartest People, you could be a man or a woman, you could hail from the Eastern hemisphere or the West, from a wealthy nation or a developing nation, young or old, widely recognized or largely unknown. To be included on this list you could be almost anything…but you couldn’t be a Black woman.

Not Condi.

Not Oprah.

Not Annette Gordon-Reed.

Not Valerie Jarrett.

Not even Wangari Maatthai.

It is difficult to fathom how the editor’s of The Daily Beast could have overlooked all of these women. No one can deny that these women are all very smart, nor could anyone argue that these women and their achievements over the last 10 years have been insignificant. Several of these figures are internationally known, and many participate in decisions that impact people all over the world. This, then, raises the question of why none of these women — arguably the smartest and most influential Black women in the world — made the 25 Smartest list. How is it that a woman like Wangari Maathai could possibly be upstaged by the creator of The Sims computer game?

Also missing from the list: African men and women, African Americans, Latinos and Latinas, Asian and/or Asian American women.

I do not believe that The Daily Beast 25 Smartest People list should have been created by quota. When it comes to finding brilliant contributors of different ethnicities, quotas are not necessary. There a billions of people of color on the planet and one would need only to review the academic journals, public radio transcripts, book reviews, and national and international headlines of the last 10 years to find countless examples of the kind of intellectual prowess that the Beast claims to value. To completely overlook the extraordinary intellects that have emerged out of the global Black, Latino/a and Asian communities (including Asian men and women) is to wholly misrepresent the richness and variety of intellectually-based accomplishments that have shaped the first ten years of the 21st century.

Posted by Ajuan Mance