Del. State awards first doctorate

Delaware State University awarded its first doctorates Sunday and graduated a record number of students who received other degrees.

Paul "Frank" Gibson of Dover and Ben Kamau of Middletown received their doctorates in mathematics and physics, an interdisciplinary program.

Twenty-two more students are working toward doctorates in the math and physics program, and two more are entering in the fall, said Fengshan Liu, chairman of the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics.

The doctoral program in math and physics started in 2003. The educational leadership program began its doctoral program in 2004, but it has not yet turned out any graduates.

The conferral of a record 529 degrees moved at a fast clip on the windy, sun-drenched morning, until Gibson and Kamau were recognized at the end; they received a standing ovation. Gibson's cap blew off in the wind as he accepted his diploma, but he swiftly recovered it.

Kamau arrived in the United States seven years ago from Kenya, where he taught mathematics at Egerton University. On Sunday, 30 members of his family attended the ceremony, including his parents and daughter, who traveled from Kenya for the event.

Kamau is the first in his family to earn a doctorate.

"I never imagined," said his father, Joseph Mungai, as Kamau translated into English. "God is great. The day has come."

Gibson, a longtime math professor at DSU, studied applied mathematics, writing his dissertation on the relationship between algebra and probability.

Gibson had the pleasure of graduating alongside his stepdaughter, Jingsi Gao, who received her master's degree in applied mathematics. He said they encouraged other as they worked.

Gao said she respected her stepfather's time at home, and went to him for help mainly during his office hours.

"He enjoys math. He loves helping students. He can just sit there and do math for one day, without any interruptions," Gao said. "He's very ambitious."

Defense grant

The math and physics program benefited from a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. That allowed Kamau to study 3-D computer modeling, such as facial recognition software, for his dissertation. The grant paid for Kamau's full scholarship.

Liu said the school also does research for the Defense Department on ground-penetrating radar, which helps identify land mines and bombs in caves and tunnels. Researchers there also work with video cameras that are able to scan for unusual activity in crowd situations, Liu said.

Kamau said he's looking for a faculty job in which he can research, teach and "give back to the community."

He's considering DSU as one of his options.

Gibson said he came close to getting his degree several times, including at the University of Delaware and Temple University, but never quite finished. This time, with the encouragement of his wife, a computer science lab technician at DSU, he was able to finish.

He said he got up every morning at 5 and worked through his weekends, continuing to teach all the while.

Gibson, 65, has been teaching at DSU since 1976. He said he'll continue to teach and write some articles.

"Mathematics is really for young people," he said of the rigorous calculations. Math is about seeing patterns, he said, which remains his strength.

Gibson's two daughters finished the requirements for their degrees, one in music, the other in art education, earlier this school year at DSU.

Del. treasurer addresses crowd

The large number of graduates was reflected in the robust attendance of family and friends at Alumni Stadium, where they packed the bleachers and huddled around the perimeter fence.

Commencement speaker Jack Markell, Delaware's state treasurer, urged graduates to try to cut through the clutter of everyday life, look for the beauty around them and keep their senses attuned to injustices in the world. "Every age has this massive moral blind spot that we don't see, but our children will," he said.

What the hell is going on at Coppin?

Baltimore Examiner Editorial: http://www.examiner.com/a-717919~Editorial__What_s_going_on_at_Coppin_State_.html

Security lapses, laziness, abuse of taxpayer-financed vehicles and general incompetence. These are just a few of the charges, three repeats, the Office of Legislative Audits levels against Coppin State University in a report released earlier this week.

Among the most egregious findings is the fact that of 20 students monitored with delinquent accounts, all were allowed to register for classes against University System of Maryland policy. Who needs to work for a scholarship when you can get a free education without doing anything? The horrible thing about the problem is that the previous audit in 2002 found the same issue.

We wonder how many students have graduated without paying.

Other outrages include the fact that the school barely made an effort to collect back due fees — which as of June 30, 2006, were $5.4 million, or almost 10 percent of the yearly budget in 2006. It waited up to 31 months to notify the Department of Budget and Management’s Central Collection Unit, which it is supposed to do immediately — to help the school retrieve accounts receivable. We wonder what the school could be doing with that money.

Coppin also did not try to reconcile some accounts receivable with its general account for three years — leaving $6.8 million in discrepancies unresolved. Another major issue is lax security on databases holding sensitive student information. The school responded to that issue in the report with, “security privileges have been updated to reflect job duties.” What does that mean? Why should students trust the administration? Can it prove the integrity of all of its student records?

After years of accepting blatantly false vehicle log reports of state cars the administration finally reported mileage discrepancies to the Attorney General in March. According to the audit one vehicle log from December 2005 showed a car had been driven 4,400 miles in six days — in an around Baltimore City and County. Talk about lying as an art form. This would be funny if it weren’t such an outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars.

How could President Stanley Battle, who leaves to head North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro this summer, allow such incompetence, not to mention criminal activity? The response should be clear: Cut off state funding — $21 million of its $61.5 million budget in 2006 — to the school until it can prove it’s cleaned up its management and oversight. Given the report’s findings one would wonder why alumni would consider giving to their alma mater.

And before the General Assembly raises taxes — as it’s leaders keep saying is necessary to fix the projected $1.5 billion structural deficit — it should wade through all of its Department of Legislative Services audit reports and total the waste in every state agency. $21 million here and there adds up to a lot of money — maybe enough to offset any need for a tax increase — right Senate President Miller and House Speaker Busch?

Some faculty, students want CAU president out

The chorus of dissent at Clark Atlanta University, an institution that has struggled to emerge from financial and institutional crisis in the last five years, is growing louder -- just in time for graduation.

In the last three months, faculty and student groups have been calling for the ouster of President Walter Broadnax, who will speak at Monday's commencement ceremony.

On Tuesday, some faculty, students and alumni say they plan to hold a press conference to again ask for Broadnax's "immediate removal."

Members of the board of trustees, which oversees the school, have said they will continue to support him.

Last month, more than 80 percent of faculty members cast a vote of "no confidence" in Broadnax, who, in his five-year tenure, has taken a series of unpopular steps he said were needed to stave off financial crisis. He slashed staff and academic programs and re-structured the school, and announced plans to phase out the library and engineering schools, among others, a decision that caused contention on the fractious campus.

In recent months, students have held protests on campus, complaining that they are not getting enough for their steep tuition costs.

Last month, six Clark Atlanta graduate students sued the school for breach of contract, saying it failed to offer the courses necessary for them to earn their degrees in a timely fashion. The students, who were enrolled in the African-American Studies & Africana Women's Studies programs at Clark Atlanta, said in the suit they have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars pursing degrees "they cannot obtain because CAU's financial woes have resulted in severe faculty under staffing of the program." The suit was filed in late April in Superior Fulton County Court.

Broadnax has said when he arrived on campus in August 2002, he found a university that was millions of dollars in debt and collecting only half the tuition students owed. The school had overspent the previous year's $100 million budget by $7.5 million.

Juanita Baranco, chair of the Board of Trustees, said Broadnax has the "full support of the board." Baranco said the school is continuing its financial recovery.

"There is a lot of tension between Dr. Broadnax and the faculty," she said. "But when you're in the middle of doing a turn around, when you have to shut down programs, that is not unusual."

Baranco declined to comment on the specifics of Broadnax's contract. She said board will soon an appoint an executive vice president of operations who will handle the day-to-day running of the school to allow Broadnax to spend nearly all of his time on fundraising endeavors.

"I am not saying Dr. Broadnax is perfect, but he took us through a very difficult time," she said. Clark Atlanta continues to improve, she said.

"We are in a difficult situation but not an impossible one."

Trustee says President's poor leadership harms Ala. State

By Joe L. Reed

According to experts in trusteeship, the two most important duties for a university's board of trustees are to protect the integrity of the university and select a quality president.

I believe that the members of the board of trustees of Alabama State University have failed in both respects. I must speak out concerning the nature of these failures. I know that there are some people who will never forgive me for what I say; however, the future of ASU and the students it must serve is far more important than how some individuals may pass judgment.

Obviously, I am very proud of ASU as an institution and few would challenge my commitment to serve the university. My involvement with ASU began in 1958 when I enrolled as a freshman and worked as a custodian in Kilby Hall for 25 cents per hour. I literally flushed the toilets others would not flush and cleaned the floors others made dirty.

I became active in the affairs of the university and served as student body president my senior year, and later I served as president of the ASU National Alumni Association. My service to ASU culminated with my election as chairman of the ASU Board of Trustees in the 1990s. I am still a member of the board. For more than 45 years, I saw it as my duty to lobby the Alabama Legislature and the federal government for ASU, at my own expense, to gain funding and help ASU improve and grow.

Recently, the ASU board agreed to extend the contract of its president, Dr. Joe A. Lee, for two years. I originally voted for Dr. Lee to become president of ASU, even though I had been previously warned not to support him by people who had a deeper knowledge of Dr. Lee -- but a search committee had recommended him. I accepted that recommendation and voted for him.

I now believe that I made a mistake. I could not vote to extend his current contract, nor did I vote for his extension two years ago.

I want to believe that Dr. Lee is an upright, Christian gentleman, and a fundamentally honest family man, who would make a good next-door neighbor; however, he has not been an effective president.

The record shows that Dr. Lee has brought no vision to ASU. Practically every ASU program was in place when he arrived. Most of the buildings that are under construction on campus were on the drawing board before his arrival.

The one facility initiative to renovate six dormitories appears to be headed toward huge cost overruns and long delays. Poor management has led to this project becoming a fiasco, resulting in expensive lawsuits against ASU. Strong presidential leadership would never have allowed a routine construction project to become an embarrassment to the institution.

Dr. Lee has not been adept at handling personnel. We have numerous vacancies, including two vice presidents. We have been forced to call upon retired professors to fill vacant positions. Last year, he summarily terminated several upper-level administrators without discussing their dismissals with them. To this day, these positions remain without a permanent appointment and are being filled on an interim basis.

Dr. Lee to refuses to implement a long-standing board instruction to recommend an in-house legal counsel to reduce the exorbitant amount ASU is paying to outside lawyers.

To his detriment and the university's detriment, Dr. Lee has no firm connection to the community or the institution. This shows in his inability to raise our endowment.

Under the Knight consent decree, the state of Alabama will match contributions to ASU's endowment up to $1 million per year. The board ordered Dr. Lee to develop a plan to raise funds, but he has failed. Although ASU continues to struggle to recruit students despite its vast network of alumni and supporters, Dr. Lee has not tapped into that reservoir of good will for funding support or to bring the best and brightest to Montgomery.

Because of administrative ineffectiveness, ASU lost out on an opportunity to receive between $4 million and $6 million because of a failure to write a short, simple proposal on economic development. Troy University, Tuskegee University, Jacksonville State University, Wallace State Community College and Bishop State Community College and some other universities received millions of dollars through this program. These universities got money. ASU only got presidential excuses.

It is unfortunate that Dr. Lee has placed himself in this position. It is beyond reason for the board to continue Dr. Lee's contract when every evaluation he has received has been less than satisfactory. Incredibly, the board voted unanimously at its February 2007 meeting not to extend his contract.

The chairman notified him of this decision and Dr. Lee was preparing a letter stating that he would not accept a renewal of his current contract. In an about-face, the board chairman told him not to submit the letter and started lobbying other board members to retain Dr. Lee.

Dr. Lee has compromised the presidency of ASU and diluted its influence. He has lost the confidence of the faculty, the trust of the students and the support of many alumni. To keep Dr. Lee as president does a disservice to the entire university family.

I am saddened to say that I am not optimistic about the future of a place that I hold near and dear to my heart, a university that has helped educate generations of students and improves our state. Our university cries out for help, but a majority of the board ignores the pleas.

For the sake of Alabama State University, time has come for the alumni to come forward to demand new leadership and a vision for the future of the university.

Joe L. Reed is a former chairman and a current member of the Alabama State University board of trustees

Howard U. president plans smooths transition

H. Patrick Swygert, who announced his retirement as Howard University president in the wake of criticism from the Faculty Senate, has pledged to work with the Board of Trustees and the community to ensure a smooth transition to his successor. His retirement is effective June 30, 2008.

Swygert told the Howard commumity he had put the school in a sound direction and felt it was time to think about the next phase of his life. He wanted to announce his decision now, he said, to give a proper farewell to the senior class, graduating May 12.

"We just finished a great capital campaign. What better time?,'" said Swygert who has held Howard's top position for 12 years.

Swygert initiated and completed a list of projects to better the university, the Howard community and the surrounding Washington community. When he took the position in 1995, he became the university's fourth president in six years. Since then, Swygert has overseen the completion of two computer labs, the I-Lab and the Commuter I-Lab, construction of the Louis Stokes Health Library and the Howard University Law Library was completed under his administration as well.

This March, the Campaign for Howard, a $250 million fundraising campaign for the university, was completed 10 months ahead of schedule.

The university has phased through two strategic plans, called Strategic Frameworks for Action, and in his letter, Swygert said that he intends to continue with Strategic Framework for Action III during his final academic year at Howard.

"I think he's made his impact on the university and he really has the university's best interests at heart. I think that's why he's going to work on the Strategic Framework for Action III, because the other two have been really successful," said Marcus Ware, incoming 2007-08 Howard University Student Association president.

Swygert's memo to the Howard community mentions other accomplishments, including the addition of 142 tenure-track faculty members, an A+ credit score rating by Standard & Poor's and an Intel Corp. ranking of Howard as among the top 24 wireless universities in the country.

Swygert spearheaded community improvement and development.

"We can join as well in celebration of the LeDroit Park Initiative, now a nationally recognized model for university- community neighborhood revitalization efforts," Swygert wrote. The initiative, created in 1996, seeks to improve the surrounding neighborhood.

Winfrey speaks to Howard Grads

A tearful Oprah Winfrey accepted an honorary docorate and gave a 20 minute commencement address at Howard University Saturday.

It happened under a huge blue-and-white tent, amid the cheers and applause of 2,200 soon-to-be graduates of the nation's most prestigious black university.

School President H. Patrick Swygert handed Winfrey an honorary doctorate in humanities, declared her a "citizen of the universe" and added, "We now name you a daughter of Howard University."

And the media mogul, philanthropist, actress, producer and educator welled up, as the students and their families applauded and frantically snapped pictures of her.

"You can receive a lot of awards in your life, but there is nothing better," she said before breaking off to catch an emotional breath, "there is nothing better than to be honored by your own."

She delicately wiped tears from beneath her eyes and accepted a handkerchief from Swygert, who later promised to add it to the university's permanent archives.

Then she delivered a 20-minute commencement address in which she hammered home one of her well-known themes: "I'm here to tell you today, 'Don't worry. Don't worry about it. Relax. . . . All you have to know is who you are.' "

Her grandmother, a maid, once told her, " 'I hope you grow up and find some good white folks to work for.'

"I regret that she didn't live past 1963 and see that I did grow up and get some really good white folks working for me," she said.

Continue reading: Oprah at Howard

SSU's mass communications program accredited by ACEJMC

Savannah State University's mass communications program has earned accreditation by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC), the organization that oversees external review and accredits programs for professional education in journalism and mass communications at colleges and universities in the United States.

The announcement was made on May 4, 2007, during the organization's national meeting in Portland, Ore., where the SSU mass communications program was one of 14 to achieve accreditation. The SSU program met the requirements for all nine standards, which range from mission and governance to assessment of learning outcomes.

The SSU mass communications program becomes the second in Georgia to earn approval by the ACEJMC.

While professional accreditation is not required, meeting national standards is considered an important quality benchmark that further defines Savannah State's comparative advantage in the marketplace.

"Te ACEJMC stamp of approval is an assurance of quality to students, parents and the public,"said Jane M.Gates, interim vice president for Academic Affairs. "The accreditation validates that we are offering a degree that is relevant and valuable."

The ACEJMC does not compare or rank programs; instead, each institution?s program is measured on how effectively it meets the goals and challenges identified by the faculty and others when measured against the national standards. For Savannah State, the initial self-examination was a five-year process that will now be reviewed every six years to maintain the ACEJMC accreditation.

At SSU, the mass communications program is one of four undergraduate degree programs that have been designated as Centers of Academic Excellence based on student demand and market relevance. The mass communications program has grown to become one of the five most popular undergraduate study areas based on program enrollment. Students in the mass communications major select one of three concentrations: print journalism, radio/television and public relations/advertising.

NCCU law school may get extra $2.5M

North Carolina Central University's law school is in line to receive an extra $2.5 million from the state this year, if the budget being debated in the General Assembly holds.

The money would help the school deal with enrollment growth and reduce its current reliance on federal grant money to pay many members of its support staff, NCCU law dean Raymond Pierce said Wednesday.

Federal grants accounted for about 30 percent of the law school's roughly $12 million operating budget last year, a percentage share that ABA officials criticized because the school might be forced to cut support jobs during a period of rising enrollment if it were to lose those grants.

But with the $2.5 million allocation and the proceeds of a $1,000 tuition increase, the school should be able to change that, Pierce said.

"We're not going to be able to move everybody off grants onto state dollars, but we'll be able to move enough to satisfy the ABA," Pierce said.

The push for the state allocation, and the tuition increase, began last year after the school received a letter from the ABA's accreditation team. The bar inspects the law school's programs and facilities once every seven years.

ABA pressure following an earlier accreditation review contributed to NCCU's decision to build the Turner Law Building, the law school's new headquarters off South Alston Avenue. This time, inspectors fretted about the stability of the law school's funding.

Over the winter, NCCU and UNC system officials responded by coming up with the plan to request both a tuition increase and extra money from the General Assembly. That came, according to UNC system documents, after they discarded the idea of using tuition alone.

At one point, officials pondered raising the school's tuition by $6,000 for new students and $3,000 for existing students. But they concluded that that wouldn't jibe with the school's mission or the system's desire for "reasonable tuition increases."

The UNC Board of Governors signed off on the plan, including the budget request, over the winter. Gov. Mike Easley, an NCCU law alumnus, supported the idea in his budget proposal even though he stopped short of going along with the full amount.

Still another NCCU law alumnus, state Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, senior chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, pushed for the money once budget deliberations began in the House chamber. The full $2.5 million appeared as a line item in the preliminary draft of the House budget released on Monday.

So far, the request has encountered smooth sailing in the chamber. "No one seemed to have any problems with that," said state Rep. Larry Hall, D-Durham.

There was some grumbling about "pork" from outside the General Assembly when a list of potential budget earmarks that included the law school money leaked out of the advance deliberations, but even some of the UNC system's usual critics are holding their fire.

"If it's to comply with accreditation requirements, if it truly is, that is an existing state asset," said John Hood, president of the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation. "Pork has to be in some way distinguishable from other things. One useful definition would be a project that has almost entirely local effects and yet is funded by a higher level of government. [The law school is] not a Durham institution, it's a state institution."

Hood added that his colleagues at the foundation would likely regard NCCU -- which he called a commuter school that serves many students who work full-time -- as "a more efficient conveyor of legal education" than some other institutions.

The school's plan, if the money comes through, is to shift some of its grant funding into other initiatives, including an effort to build ties with NCCU's push to develop expertise in biotechnology, UNC system documents say.

Bishop College's former financial aid chief, 13 others, accused of theft

Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr. announced charges Tuesday against 14 people in the alleged theft of more than $45,000 in federal financial aid from Bishop State Community College.

The Mobile college's former financial aid head, Charles Weymon Holloway, was charged in connection with more than $14,000 of that amount. Thirteen of the 14 charged are college employees.

The announcement comes two days before college President Yvonne Kennedy was expected to appear before the state school board to defend her job. But Renee Culverhouse, who requested Kennedy's presence, resigned as interim chancellor on Tuesday, and it remained unclear late Tuesday what effect that might have on the Thursday meeting.

"I have conferred with the president, and the college has no official statement with reference to the arrests," college spokesman Herb Jordan said Tuesday. "Prayers go out to all who are affected by today's announcement."

Jordan declined to answer further questions about the charges or say whether Kennedy planned to appear before the state school board Thursday.

Tyson's office had previously charged 13 other people with theft from Bishop State. With the addition of today's charges, a total of 27 people are accused of stealing more than $201,000 in financial aid and sports program money from Bishop State, according to Tyson's office.

"I think almost every single employee in the financial aid office has been caught up in this at this point," Tyson said. "Not every last one, but virtually every last one."

Financial and academic practices at the college have also come under the scrutiny of the FBI, the state's two-year college system, the U.S. Department of Education and Bishop State's accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or SACS.

SACS has placed Bishop State on probation, though the school remains accredited.

Kennedy has not been charged, and her lawyer, J. Cecil Gardner, has said there is no cause for her removal as president.

"Just because someone hasn't been indicted does not mean they shouldn't be fired," said Randy McKinney of Orange Beach, one of three Republicans on the nine-member state school board to have called for Kennedy's removal as president.

Kennedy, a Democrat, represents parts of Mobile in the Alabama House.

McKinney said that Tuesday's charges underscore Bishop State's problems.

"I think it's just a further indication of a leadership void that has existed at Bishop State Community College for several years," McKinney said.

He added that he is not sure how Culverhouse's sudden resignation Tuesday might affect efforts to remove Kennedy but said it could "unfortunately" cause further delays.

Tyson in his Tuesday news conference noted that Holloway is "the most senior official" at Bishop State that has been charged, adding that charge was "probably the most disappointing."

The $14,646 that Holloway is charged with stealing is the second highest amount in this third round of arrests.

Holloway was removed last October as director of financial aid at the college, but continued as director of the school's Carver campus.

Tyson said that while his investigation into Bishop State financial aid is not yet over, the end could be near.

"We'll be finished, maybe, by next week," Tyson said, adding that any new revelations could prolong the investigation.

Tyson declined to comment on whether he had any evidence against Kennedy.

"When and if we obtain probable cause to believe that she committed a crime, then you will hear about it," Tyson said. "It's probably not appropriate for me to comment on ... whether or not there is any evidence."

In January, Tyson said he did not have a "shred of evidence that implicates Dr. Kennedy in a crime."

Tyson said Tuesday that his refusal to talk about whether evidence has been found to implicate Kennedy was not meant to suggest any change in her status.

"I just simply am trying to be faithful to the standards that I'm supposed to operate under," he said.

SU President placed on two months leave

The Southern University Board of Supervisors suspended the system president today for two months while an internal investigation is conducted into sexual harassment allegations against the former board chairman.

Southern University System President Ralph Slaughter was ordered at a special meeting to step down with pay through July 5 and cooperate with the investigation to be conducted by Southern Human Resources Director Lester Pourciau, who also is the university’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission coordinator.

Former Southern Board Chairman Johnny Anderson is accused of alleged sexual harassment of multiple Southern University employees.

Anderson, who also is the governor’s assistant chief of staff, stepped down as board chairman April 21, along with former Vice Chairman Myron Lawson, to avoid any appearance of influencing investigations.

The allegations against Anderson came to light in November after Slaughter sent a letter to state Sen. Charles Jones, D-Monroe, asking for an external investigation because Slaughter argued he did not feel comfortable investigating Anderson, since Slaughter works for the board.

Slaughter has faced criticism for taking the allegations outside of the university.

Morehouse president leaves strong financial legacy

Walter Massey was a shy, black boy from Hattiesburg, Miss., when he arrived as a 16-year-old freshman at Morehouse College.
Nearly 40 years later, he returned to change the school that changed him. He served as Morehouse's president for 12 years but will step down in June.

During his tenure, a fund-raising campaign brought in $119 million in three years, and he helped the school land the collection of more than 7,000 handwritten notes, letters and sermons by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. -- the most famous alumnus of Morehouse, the nation's only historically black all-male college.

After presiding over his final commencement May 20, Massey, 69, and his wife, Shirley, will move to Chicago.

Robert Franklin -- an Emory University professor and former president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta -- has been named Morehouse's 10th president.

Massey became a Morehouse student almost by chance.

As the story goes, he had driven a group of students to take a test for early admission. ''When I got there, they said, 'As long as you're here, you might as well take the test, too','' Massey recalled. ''It was life-changing, to say the least.''

He developed confidence at the school. ''There was this sense that there was certain kinds of behavior you were expected to adhere to,'' said Massey, whose bachelor's degree is in physics and math. ''And it gave us all the sense that as a Morehouse student, you would be able to compete with anybody in the world.''

As he leaves, Massey has much to be proud of. Two Marshall scholars graduated under his watch. Morehouse also produced two Rhodes scholars. All of Morehouse's tenured faculty now hold doctorates.

Former TxSU CFO found guilty, could do serious time

Quintin Wiggins, 46, was convicted of one count of misapplication of fiduciary property over $200,000. He faces a sentence ranging from five to 99 years or life in prison.

The jury was set to begin hearing testimony in the trial's sentencing phase shortly after the guilty verdict was announced.

The verdict came after three weeks of testimony and three days of deliberations in the court of state District Judge Brock Thomas.

Harris County prosecutors contended that Wiggins acted criminally when he allowed the use of university funds for such expenditures as furniture, landscaping and a security system for Slade's home.

Defense attorney L. Mickele Daniels told jurors, however, that he may have been negligent, but that he did not intentionally break the law.

He relied on the advice of others for some purchases and did not know about other expenditures, they said.

Wiggins resigned in March last year after the TSU Board of Regents placed him on paid leave in connection with the investigation.

Slade, 55, who was fired in June, is scheduled for trial on Aug. 10 on two counts of misapplication of fiduciary property over $200,000.

She was fired after TSU attorneys concluded that she had failed to follow university policies and state laws while spending more than $260,000.

A criminal investigation concluded that more than $1.9 million was spent during her tenure on such purchases as artwork, club memberships, spa treatments and sports tickets.

Former TSU Vice President Bruce Wilson, 53, charged with one count of misapplication of fiduciary property, is set for trial on Sept. 28.

Del. State presidents says state's 2-year scholarship undermines 4-year schools

Two years ago, more than 70 percent of Delaware State University's freshman class was made up of in-state students - a number that pleased university president Dr. Allen L. Sessoms, who said he wants the college to cater to Delawareans.

This school year, however, in-state enrollment for incoming freshman dropped to 29 percent, and Dr. Sessoms is afraid that the downward trend will continue next year.

While overall enrollment is up at DSU, Dr. Sessoms said he is disappointed to see that fewer Delawareans are choosing the school.

He attributes the problem to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's Student Excellence Equals Degree program, which provides tuition to Delaware students who enroll fulltime in associate's degree programs.

Economic impact

Not only does Dr. Sessoms think SEED is limiting students' economic potential, but he also thinks it could be limiting the state's economic future.

"Sending students to what in some sense is a limited future doesn't help Delaware companies," he said.

Gerard McNesby, vice president of finance with DelTech, disagreed that students are hurting themselves or the local economy by enrolling in associate's programs instead of four-year universities.

He stressed that nurses, paramedics, automotive technicians and other valued professionals throughout the state hold associate's degrees.

"DelTech produces a highly qualified, highly educated and well-paid workforce," he said.

Lisa Hastings, a spokeswoman for the college, said the average annual salary for someone with an associate's degree in Delaware is $50,000.

Additionally, she said DelTech graduates are hired by 517 employers in the state.

"We're certainly serving the needs of the businesses depending on us," she said.

Dr. Sessoms agreed that DelTech graduates go on to hold important jobs, but he said they're usually not the kinds of careers that drive the economy.

"People with associate's degrees tend to work for people," he said. "(DSU) is trying to create entrepreneurs who have people work for them."

Dr. Sessoms said he would prefer to see the SEED program expanded to include four-year colleges and universities.

He said he understands there isn't enough money in the SEED program to completely fund four-year degrees, but he believes that students who qualify for the scholarship should have the choice to put the money toward a bachelor's degree.

Voorhees College Ordered to Pay $500,000 in Sexual Harassment Case Against its President

A jury late last week found that a former Voorhees College professor was sexually harassed by the college’s president Lee E. Monroe and that Voorhees College “acted with malice or with reckless indifference to the federally protected rights” of the former professor.

Dr. Moreen B. Joseph brought the civil lawsuit against Monroe and Voorhees College, alleging that Monroe sexually harassed her and the college did nothing about it.

The jury awarded Joseph punitive damages of $400,000 and compensatory damages of $100,000.

According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina, Orangeburg Division on July 13, 2004, the Louthian Law Firm of Columbia, representing Joseph, alleged that she was subjected to “lewd, gross and suggestive language of a sexual nature and unwanted touching” by Monroe for a period of several months in 2002 and 2003, creating a “hostile work environment.”

Monroe and Voorhees College, represented by Evans Taylor Barnette of McCutchen Blanton Rhodes and Johnson, denied all of Joseph’s allegations.

Joseph claimed that Monroe “repeatedly made unwelcome sexual advances and implied that if she would agree to his sexual advances, she would benefit personally and financially.”

The complaint went on to state that Monroe suggested to Joseph that if she “received his sexual advances favorably, that she would continue to prosper as an employee of the college and implied that if she did not go along with his advances that she would regret that decision.”

Joseph claimed that she “consistently and adamantly rejected ... Monroe’s advances and, as a result, she was retaliated against, culminating in the loss of her position and more than $70,000 per year in income.”

The complaint stated that Monroe and the college “discriminated against and harassed (Joseph), retaliated against her and caused her to suffer damages because of her sex (gender), all in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, as amended.”

As a result of Monroe’s conduct, Joseph claimed that she “suffered and continues to suffer severe emotional distress, psychological injury, mental suffering and humiliation.”

The complaint also alleged that Monroe “unlawfully placed his hands on the body of (Joseph) in a sexually suggestive and offensive manner, thereby inflicting a battery upon her person.”

However, the jury Thursday found that Joseph had not proven her claim of battery.

Joseph also alleged that Monroe’s actions and conduct were “pervasive and ongoing and known to the Board of Trustees and other officials” at Voorhees College. The complaint stated that she reported the sexual harassment and assault and battery to appropriate officials at Voorhees including the Human Resources Office and the Board of Trustees.

In answering the complaint, Monroe and Voorhees College denied “each and every allegation” related to sexual harassment and assault and battery.

The defendants, in their answer, acknowledged that Joseph notified one or more college officials, including Monroe, of “claimed sexual misconduct but failed to follow college policies and procedures with regard to investigating said wrongful conduct.”

The answer to the complaint also stated that Joseph was not “terminated or constructively discharged by (Voorhees College). Rather, (Joseph) voluntarily quit and terminated her employment with Voorhees College,” and it called for the suit to be dismissed.

In commenting on the jury’s decision, Don Fowler, Voorhees College Board of Trustees member and spokesperson, said, “The proceeding was disappointing but there are additional steps before the final determination is made in respect to this proceeding. We continue to have faith and confidence in Dr. Monroe, and I will not have any other comment until the court has concluded all of the steps in this process.”

Herbert W. Louthian, attorney for Joseph, said, “I feel that the jury was very conscientious in their approach to the case. They were attentive, they were diligent, they did their duty and, in so doing ,they have helped us protect the lives of women in the workplace.”

Robert Franklin choosen as Morehouse's 10th president

The Morehouse College Board of Trustees has named Dr. Robert Michael Franklin Jr. the 10th President of Morehouse College. Franklin will officially take office on Monday, July 2, succeeding Dr. Walter E. Massey (Morehouse class of 1958), who will retire June 30, 2007.

Franklin currently serves as presidential distinguished professor of social ethics at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He is leader, in the Office of the Provost, for the university's strategic theme focused on "Confronting the Human Condition." He also is a senior fellow in the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Religion in the School of Law. From 1997 to 2002, Franklin served as president of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), which is part of the Atlanta University Center consortium. He also has served as theologian in residence at The Chautaugua Institution in New York.

"We are fortunate to have someone of Dr. Franklin’s national stature -- a man who exemplifies the best qualities of a Morehouse man, the one who rose to the top among a distinguished pool of candidates," said Willie J. Davis, chairman of the Board of Trustees. "In selecting Dr. Franklin, great consideration was given to the strength of his moral and spiritual character, his experience as an educational and administrative leader, and his ability to attract funds and friends to the College."

"At a time of social crisis in African American communities and throughout the nation, the educational mission of Morehouse is more urgent than ever before," said Franklin. I am both humbled and energized by the Boards' invitation to serve the College that has produced extraordinary change agents and thought leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Maynard Jackson, Julian Bond and Spike Lee."

A 1975 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and religion, Dr. Franklin earned the Masters of Divinity in Christian Social Ethics, Pastoral Care from Harvard Divinity School, and the Ph.D. in Ethics and Society, Religion and the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Howard U. president plans to retire in 2008

Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert says he will retire at the end of June 2008.

In a letter to the university community dated Friday, Swygert, 64, outlined goals for his final year in office and pointed to his accomplishments since taking the helm of the historically black school in 1995.

Swygert, who earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Howard, said the school has produced Fulbright and Rhodes scholars, recruited acclaimed faculty and upgraded the school's research facilities. He also noted that the latest fundraising program passed its goal of $250 million 10 months ahead of projections.

But some faculty are upset at the way he has run the university. Faculty leaders in March called for Swygert's firing, saying it was time to end "an intolerable condition of incompetence and dysfunction at the highest level."

Theodore Bremner, chairman of the faculty Senate, wrote to Howard's board of trustees last month on behalf of the senate's leadership council. He accused Swygert of allowing the school's financial problems to affect academic budgets, and he cited a recent National Science Foundation audit that criticized Howard's management of grant money.

The chairman of Howard's board of trustees, A. Barry Rand, released a statement praising Swygert's stewardship.

"He leaves behind a proud legacy of achievement including the most successful Capital Campaign of any African-American institution," Rand wrote.

SC State hosts first presidential debate of '08 campaign

There were lights, cameras, and a lot of action on the campus of South Carolina State Thursday, as the stage was being set for an unprecedented presidential debate.

"There was another debate at Morgan State College sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus, but this is the first to be sponsored by one of the parties on the campus of a Historically Black College or University," explained Andrew Hugine, president of South Carolina State University.

On Thursday, Hugine was a celebrity, telling national media outlets about the impact of the debate on the school and its 5,000 students. "You can feel the energy and feel the excitement on this campus," said Hugine. "Students are moving around, enjoying this, taking part in this. They're well-versed on the issues."

Demar Roberts, a junior majoring in political science, says he never expected to receive real-world experience during his college years. "Interviews, campaigns, meeting candidates, seeing a variety of people, it just gives you excitement," said Roberts. He says the event has motivated him to follow in the footsteps of alums like U.S. Congressman Jim Clyburn, who wielded his power as House Majority Whip to put his alma mater in the spotlight.

"I think this gives us an opportunity to launch a new beginning on this campus," explained Clyburn. "That's why I pressed so hard for it to come here. I have been on this campus many, many times. I have seen people look beaten and defeated. Today, they are uplifted."

Hugine thanked Clyburn and the Democratic Party for shining a positive light on the institution. "Individuals throughout this world will know there exists a South Carolina State University," he said. "The university could not afford that kind of positive exposure."

BET's College Hill prompts apology from UVI President

The reality series "College Hill" caused an uproar at its previous locations, but the Black Entertainment Television show provoked its greatest controversy to date at its most recent setting, the University of the Virgin Islands.

Alumni and parents sent e-mails and called the university. Radio shows aired discontent over the way the students portrayed themselves.

Members of the university's Board of Trustees expressed their outrage over the cast members' behavior and distanced themselves from the decision to allow the show to be filmed at UVI.

They advised President Laverne Ragster to apologize to both the university and Virgin Islands communities, which she did in full-page advertisements in the Virgin Islands Daily News and the St. Croix Avis.

Continue reading: College Hill

Ms. gives Jackson State Veterans Mem. Stadium

Gov. Haley Barbour has signed a bill that will dissolve the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Commission and give control of the facility to the Department of Finance and Administration and Jackson State University.

Senate Bill 2745 abolishes the commission July 1, 2008.

The stadium is home to Jackson State University football games and high school state championships. The university’s $32 million request for a stadium on its west Jackson campus this year failed.

The new law reads:
The Department of Finance and Administration shall grant
210 Jackson State University the right to hold any of its sports,
211 ceremonial and concert events at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial
212 Stadium without any rental payment, and shall allow the proper
213 signage designating the stadium as the home stadium of Jackson
214 State University. All profits realized by the Department of
215 Finance and Administration after paying all expenses and costs,
216 including management fees, from any event held on stadium property
217 shall be deposited to the credit of a special fund and authorized
218 for expenditure by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of
219 Higher Learning exclusively for Jackson State University.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Texas Southern regents refuse Gov's call to resign

Three Texas Southern University regents are refusing to relinquish their posts in the face of Gov. Rick Perry's call for their resignations from the troubled school's governing board.

The Rev. Robert Childress, David Diaz and Belinda Griffin had not submitted their resignations as of Wednesday, five days after Perry recommended replacing the board with a conservator "to reinstate accountability" and "to correct mismanagement" at the historically black university.

"I'm not going to resign because that would be an acknowledgment of doing something wrong," said Diaz, a Corpus Christi attorney appointed to the board by Perry in 2001 and reappointed four years later. "I haven't done anything wrong."

The standoff comes amid talks between the governor's office and the legislative Black Caucus about alternatives to the proposed conservatorship. Both sides emerged from a second day of closed-door discussions with no concrete plans.

Perry has said a financial czar could turn around TSU at a quicker pace than a board of regents. Under the plan, a conservator would be placed in charge of the university's spending, with the ability to fire any employee, hire new people and change the administrative structure.

Some lawmakers worry that the proposal would hurt enrollment and diminish the value of degrees earned at TSU.

What's more, the presence of a conservator could jeopardize TSU's accreditation, said Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the regional accrediting body for 780 colleges and universities in 11 Southern states.

Checks and balances

The accrediting body requires multi-member governing boards for colleges and universities. "It's a matter of checks and balances," Wheelan said.
Without accreditation, the federal government would stop providing financial aid to students. Nearly two-thirds of TSU's 11,200 students receive Pell Grants, which are awarded to the poorest students, based on a formula assessing income and assets.

Raymund Paredes, the state's higher education commissioner, said TSU is at no more risk with a conservator than without because of the university's wide-ranging problems.

"TSU is vulnerable right now," Paredes said. "It's clear that the issues at the university have tripped a wire, and the accrediting agencies will be watching closely."

As an alternative to conservatorship, state Rep. Garnet Coleman, a Houston Democrat whose district includes the campus, has drafted a bill that would grant additional powers to an interim president. Those unspecified powers would be temporary, lasting only until a new board is acclimated.

"We're all in agreement about the fiscal concerns," Coleman said. "But we think the (governor's) method would do irreparable harm."

Perry's proposal follows a series a financial missteps and a spending scandal that led to criminal charges against former TSU President Priscilla Slade and three aides.

Making progress

But his call for the regents to resign came as the board was making strong progress toward turning the university around, Diaz said. The board had fired Slade, reduced the work force amid a budget shortfall and proposed cuts in academic programs. "We've done a lot of good," he said.
Childress and Griffin did not return messages. A fourth regent, Bill King, had not resigned but said he would not stand in the way of the governor's wishes.

"Clearly there is some need of dramatic, drastic action, but I kind of agree with the Black Caucus on conservatorship," King said. "We need to find a better solution."

Five vacancies on board

The regents, meanwhile, are planning to meet April 28 to discuss several issues, including whether to extend the contract of interim President J. Timothy Boddie Jr. The meeting had been scheduled for last Saturday, but the board could not get a quorum.
The nine-member board has five vacancies. The terms of three regents expired in January, and attorney Harry Johnson Sr. and hospital administrator Earnest Gibson III recently resigned.

Coleman said he would not recommend that the remaining regents resign because "people should make the decision on their own time. But the time is near. It would be better if they resign so as not to harm the students."

Southern Board Chair and VP step down amid sexual scandal

The chair and vice chair of the Southern University Board of Supervisors stepped down from office temporarily.

Chairman Johnny Anderson, is also the governor’s assistant chief of staff, said he is doing so to remove the appearance of “improprieties” while the board considers the results of a report into sexual harassment allegations against Anderson.

“I feel strongly I don’t want to be accused of any improprieties,” Anderson said after the Saturday board meeting.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’ve been vindicated,” he said.

The board oversees Southern’s three campuses and a law school.

Anderson announced his decision shortly after a “break” when he was with most board members behind closed doors.

Vice Chairman Myron Lawson of Alexandria, who was not at the Saturday meeting, also stepped down temporarily. He said in a phone interview that he wants to avoid the appearance he is influencing other board members.

Lawson works closely with Anderson as vice chairman.

The change in leadership likely will last between one and three months, Lawson said. He and Anderson said the move is not permanent but is effective immediately.

Dale Atkins of New Orleans is the temporary chairwoman and John Joseph of Opelousas is now vice chairman.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, in Novermber, ordered Baton Rouge lawyer Mark Falcon to investigate allegations leveled by multiple unnamed Southern employees.

On April 13, Falcon reported no findings of guilt or innocence, but ended the inquiry saying he had been “thwarted” by Southern University System President Ralph Slaughter and the board.

Atkins called for a special board meeting Saturday to continue the discussion about the report that started Friday.

Atkins declined comment about what actions the board could take Saturday.

Slaughter declined comment when asked if his job status could be affected, adding that he will wait until the board meets again.

Anderson argued the report recognizes the falsity of the allegations against him.

When asked about Slaughter’s future, Anderson referenced the board’s four hours of closed executive sessions to deliberate.

“They (board members) met with the president; they did not meet with me,” Anderson said.

Falcon’s report targets Slaughter’s actions.

“His (Slaughter’s) refusal to answer my questions cannot be justified,” Falcon said in the report. “More importantly, his defiance of the directives of Southern University’s Board of Supervisors is unconscionable.”

The board failed to address Slaughter’s “apparent insubordination,” the report states.

Slaughter has said he turned over all his documentation to a federal grand jury investigating the matter and he admitted withholding some information because he wanted to protect the privacy of the alleged harassment victims.

The board met in closed session for more than four hours total Friday and Saturday to discuss Falcon’s report without Anderson present.

After the Southern personnel committee finished its closed executive session Saturday morning, Atkins called for a “break” before the full board meeting began.

At that time, board members left together and joined Anderson behind closed doors. With a majority of board members together in private, they represented a quorum — an apparent violation of state open meetings law.

A reporter with The Advocate pointed out the quorum and requested an open meeting. Board attorney Winston DeCuir alerted the board there could not be a majority of the board together behind closed doors.

Several board members then left. They returned to the meeting later and other board members left.

Then another group of members joined the meeting while others left. The number of members involved in the meeting at any one time always was less than the majority regulated in the open meetings law.

Shortly after the more-than-30-minute “break” and the full board meeting began, Anderson announced he would step down as chairman.

Applications up at Fort Valley State

The number of applications for fall enrollment at Fort Valley State University has increased by 62.5 percent over last year, the university reported.

As of Tuesday, Fort Valley State had received 1,845 applications and had admitted 594 students, said Cindy Gambill, coordinator of public relations at the university.

Fort Valley State officials intend to enroll between 1,000 and 1,500 new students in the fall, she said.

"We're certainly on the way," Gambill said. "We're pretty confident we'll reach our goal."

Last year's total enrollment was 2,176 students.

Albany State student wins research scholarship

An Albany State University Biology major has been chosen to receive the Merck Undergraduate Science Research Scholarship Award. Rosa Maudie-Monet Wright, a junior from Thomasville, will receive a $25,000 scholarship and two summer internship stipends totaling $10,000.

Wright, who is scheduled to graduate from ASU in May 2008, plans to attend medical school or pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences. She credits Dr. Louise Wrensford, professor of Chemistry, with the foresight in encouraging her to apply for the Merck scholarship. “I can honestly say that without her persistence, I would not have applied,” Wright said. “From the time she told me about the scholarship until all of my paperwork had been submitted, Dr. Wrensford constantly reminded me to submit my application in a timely manner.”

The Merck Undergraduate Science Research Scholarship program seeks to increase the number of African Americans in biomedical science education and research. Wright said she is hopeful that the scholarship begins “many good things” for the research component of the Natural Sciences Department at ASU. As a result of an ASU student winning the scholarship, the department is now eligible to receive a $10,000 grant from Merck to support its research programs.

Expressing gratitude for her scholarship, Wright thanked God and her family for her achievements. “Without both of these, I would not be where I am today,” she said. “I thank the ASU faculty and staff for inspiring, motivating and molding me into the strong, determined person that I am. I especially thank Dr. (Louise) Wrensford for always pushing me to do my best and making me realize that great things do not come at small costs. I also thank Dr. Edward Lyons (professor of Biology), for being my mentor and a bridge builder for me in my path to success.”

Texas Governor proposes takeover of Texas Southern

The governor proposed a state takeover of beleaguered Texas Southern University and called for the resignations of the regents at the historically Black school.

Gov. Rick Perry’s advisory panel recommended last month that TSU revamp its nine-member board, focus on a new mission and be under strict oversight by the state auditor. But Perry thought the recommendations did not go far enough, his spokeswoman said Friday.

“It’s more than just having a clean slate,” Krista Moody said. “We need to make changes to the way the university operates.”

A report by TSU’s interim chief financial officer outlined overspending, missing purchase orders and poor financial projections at the school. It highlighted flooded basements in several buildings and said the athletic program was $2 million over budget.

Perry said the school would function more efficiently with a conservator, essentially a one-person board. The governor has already put the state’s juvenile prison system under conservatorship after allegations of sexual and physical abuse of inmates.

Top lawmakers would have to authorize the move before Perry could appoint a conservator.

Conservatorships are generally in place for a year, Moody said, after which the state would evaluate the university’s progress.

TSU interim president J. Timothy Boddie Jr. said he was caught off guard by the announcement, but understood the advantages a conservatorship.

“Ideally, the conservator will be able to get the job done and get us back on our feet quicker,” he said. “It’s a matter of expediting the process.”

A university spokeswoman said the board members were not available for comment. TSU Regent Bill King told KHOU-TV: “It’s probably an unfortunate but necessary step at this time.”

Fired professor sues Benedict president

A lawsuit accusing Benedict College president David Swinton of trying to force professors to change students’ grades to keep them eligible for state and federal tuition assistance is scheduled to be heard in court Monday.

Former professor Milwood Motley says in his lawsuit that he was fired when he refused to give students grades they had not earned.

Motley is seeking unspecified damages in the lawsuit against Benedict and Swinton, saying the actions and statements of Swinton amounted to defamation that has damaged his career and his family life.

Benedict has filed a motion for a summary judgment that the college has done nothing wrong and the lawsuit should be dismissed without a trial. Eleventh Circuit Judge William P. Keesley of Lexington is presiding over the case.

The judge said he was called in as the trial judge because every available judge in Richland County had a conflict of interest in the case.

In a hearing Friday afternoon on the motion, Keesley said he still had much reading to do before deciding.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do,” Keesley told attorneys for the two sides Friday. The hearing involved only the judge and the attorneys; neither Motley nor Swinton were present.

But despite his disclaimer, Keesley grilled Motley’s attorney, Victoria Eslinger, about the strength of their case.

Eslinger told the judge that Swinton had told the Benedict faculty repeatedly that the purpose of his new grading policy — the Success Equals Effort, or SEE, policy — was to ensure that poorly performing students remained eligible for state and federal student assistance.

“Where is the evidence he intended to defraud the federal or state government, to defraud the students?” Keesley asked. “What’s the difference between this and an institution that grades pass-fail?

“Your client never talked about the federal government (in his pretrial deposition),” Keesley said. “He talked about academic fraud. I can see that.”

Benedict was represented by attorney Steve Morrison, who is also a member of the Benedict Board of Trustees. Morrison argued that Motley had discretion to define student effort, just like every other professor.

“Dr. Motley refused to define it,” Morrison said.

Motley’s lawsuit, in a complaint filed in 5th Circuit Court in Columbia three years ago, states that “Defendant Swinton well knew that requiring Plaintiff Motley to enforce the SEE (Success Equals Effort) policy would affect Life Scholarship eligibility and told Plaintiff that it would be ‘good’ if students received all A’s and B’s.”

The Life Scholarship is provided to South Carolina residents pursuing undergraduate degrees at colleges in South Carolina. State law requires that a Life scholar maintain a B average to continue receiving the award.

Morrison argued Friday that colleges have broad latitude in designing grading policies. The judge seemed sympathetic to that argument, frequently noting that Benedict is a private college.

Motley states in his lawsuit that during his employment at Benedict, he received “excellent evaluations and raises.”

According to Benedict’s “Code of Academic Responsibility,” academic dishonesty is defined as “any conduct designed to gain unfair advantage in obtaining a grade through representing one’s academic performance as something other than what it is ...”

The lawsuit states that near the end of the fall semester in 2001, Swinton unveiled his new grading policy, Success Equals Effort. (It was initially referred to by its acronym SEE, but because it quickly became associated with a C grade, Swinton began referring to the program as SE-Squared.)

The SEE policy required professors to base 60 percent of their grade in freshman-level classes upon “effort” and 40 percent upon “knowledge.” For sophomores, the split would be 50-50 between effort and knowledge.

Numerous faculty took issue with the policy, but only a few actively resisted it.

Motley believed the SEE policy violated his rights of academic freedom and forced him to falsely report the achievement of his students under the guidelines of the Life Scholarship program.

““The SEE policy is academically dishonest in that it generates ‘grade inflation’ and does not reflect a student’s knowledge of the course content,” Motley states in his lawsuit. On Feb. 26, 2004, Motley states he was asked to change the grades of students with D’s and F’s and those classified as WA, a grade that indicates a student withdrew from the class.

He refused to change the grades on the basis of student effort, which he said he could not objectively measure.

Swinton fired Motley on July 13, 2004.

NSU dedicates $35 million research center

Clean, as in 10,000 times cleaner than a hospital operating room, smells like, well, not much of anything.

The air in the cluster of "clean rooms" at Norfolk State University's new research building is filtered so finely that the only thing you smell is the latex gloves visitors must wear.

The rooms are the technological centerpiece of the $35 million Marie V. McDemmond Center for Applied Research, dedicated on Friday. The clean room facilities are the largest of their type at a Virginia university, Norfolk State officials said.

They explained that the smallest particles of dust, flakes of skin, oil from a finger, even moisture from talking could wreck the delicate work envisioned for them.

That work will include nanotechnology, or creating materials molecule by molecule, so that desired properties can be engineered in. For example, Frances Williams, an assistant professor of engineering, is working on a microscopic sensor that detects toxic gases.

"A lab or facilities like these will open doors for Norfolk State University," Williams said.

Norfolk State officials expect t he laboratories, classrooms and offices of the six-story brick building diagonally across Brambleton and Park avenues from the main campus to be fully occupied this fall. That's two years later than originally planned, due to funding shortages and construction delays. It's envisioned as the first phase of a 25-acre research and technology park with public and private tenants, called the RISE Campus. RISE is short for Research and Innovations to Support Empowerment.

To date, less than seven acres have been bought by NSU. Work toward soliciting more partners is just beginning after a period of planning, Norfolk State Rector Jack Ezzell Jr. said Friday.

"I welcome you to the future of Norfolk State University," he later told about 300 people attending Friday's ribbon-cutting.

The McDemmond Center is named for the past university president who championed the project. McDemmond, who served from 1997 until her 2005 resignation due to illness, said she hoped the facility will spur more minorities into technology careers, and "assist NSU to become a science and technological powerhouse."

Hampton Students Launch Broadband Television Network

Three Hampton University students have developed an innovative online television network. The purpose of EMQTV.com is to provide an informative and entertaining network for black college students. E-Mackqulent, LLC (EMQ), the parent company of EMQTV.com, is co-owned and operated by Antonio Hawthorne, senior media management major from Piscataway, N.J.; Erin Z. Young, senior public relations major and marketing minor from Wilmington, Del.; and SGA president Darrian Mack, junior broadcast journalism major and marketing minor from Randallstown, Md.

EMQ is currently a new media multimedia organization that produces EMQTV, a broadband television network highlighting the black college experience.

“We are a cable channel that exists on the Internet,” said Young.

The network site, http://www.emqtv.com, launched in late January. Hawthorne, Mack, and Young met during the 2004-2005 academic year to develop the idea of their “immaculate” organization and chose that name for their company with a unique spelling combining all of their names.

The idea was “definitely divine intervention,” said Young. Young said the group realized that “all media companies are developing broadband media arms” and that EMQTV is the “perfect thing” to reach their target audience.

The students developed a business plan and decided to incorporate in Delaware as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Then in summer 2006 the group began to create their site.

EMQTV.com contains five components: EMQ News, Submit Your Video viral video, The College Yard social network, music, and EMQ on Campus broadband television programs. The EMQ site is ad supported and features market specific advertising. The site is geared toward black college students and alumni ages 18-35. The group is excited that their market is growing because more black students are attending college than ever before.

Young said that the site is not strictly for Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students because “the black college experience is shared no matter where you are.”

The group has focused on creating a socially conscious site by displaying positive images and encouraging alumni giving.

E-Mackqulent, LLC is not stopping with EMQTV. They have future goals of providing business consultation, establishing a “brick and mortar” cable site, and to spread their brand among all media.

Hubbard won't forget Robinson's impact

By RAY McNULTY
Scripts Howard News Service

Rudy Hubbard wasn't sure when, exactly, the conversation took place.

But he'll never forget it did.

It was the last time he spoke with Eddie Robinson, the legendary Grambling State football coach who died Tuesday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

"I had been out of coaching for a few years, and he was trying to talk me back into it _ which was typical of him," Hubbard said from his home in Tallahassee, Fla. "One of the reasons he loved coaching so much was because of the impact he could have on a young man's life. That's why he wanted me to go back to it.

"But as convinced as I was that I needed to leave it alone, he was just as convinced that I needed to get back in."

The two men never would speak again. And Hubbard, who led Florida A&M to the Black College National Championship in 1977 and the inaugural NCAA Division I-AA national championship in 1978 before being fired in 1985 after back-to-back losing seasons, never returned to coaching.

To this day, he has no regrets _ especially after seeing the way Robinson, as beloved a figure as college football has known, was shoved into retirement in 1997.

In his 57 years at Grambling, Robinson's teams won 408 games, 17 Southwest Athletic Conference titles and nine Black College National Championships, and he sent more than 200 players to the NFL.

But when Grambling struggled in the mid-'90s, the face of black college football was told to retire.

"He was forced out," said Hubbard, who became Woody Hayes' first black assistant at Ohio State in 1968 before taking the Florida A&M job in 1974. "Can you believe that? After all he did for Grambling? After all he did for black college football? He meant too much to all of us to go out the way he did. To most people, Coach Robinson WAS black college football.

"But when you're as successful as he was, you raise everyone's expectations. And Coach Robinson got that program to a point where that's all people expected. What they don't realize is that he raised the bar on very limited funding."

Not only did the predominantly black colleges operate with smaller athletic budgets, but, after the South was desegregated in the 1960s, they were forced to compete against the major universities for the best black players.

Black schools still could get top-shelf talent - even into the early 1980s - but it was getting more difficult every year.

"My last few years at Florida A&M, I could see the change," said Hubbard, who will turn 61 later this month. "Even in the late '70s, I was able to get my share of really good players. That team in '78 was loaded. We could've played with a lot of Division I-A teams. We beat Miami in '79. But after that, things started getting tougher. You could see the talent waning.

"From a financial standpoint, we just couldn't keep up. The rich got richer, the poor got worse. Eventually, we were down to getting what was left. Even kids whose parents went to black colleges were choosing the big schools. Now, the black schools don't have a chance."

The Rattlers brought in about $1 million in TV revenues during their championship run in 1978, Hubbard said, but that money was lost to Title IX, which, adopted in 1979, created athletic opportunities for thousands of young women but crippled the football programs at many black colleges.

So the decline of black college football already had begun when Hubbard, only 39 at the time, was fired for not winning as much in the 1980s, despite putting together a 30-5 run from 1977-79.

He had seen enough to see there was no reason to go back.

"As far as black college football goes, the heyday was over," said Hubbard, who now works for a financial services firm. "You think back to what it was, then see what it is now. ... It doesn't even look the look the same. It's gone."

And, now, so is Robinson.

But Hubbard won't forget him _ or their last conversation.

Maryland Senate Seeks to Protect HBCU's

The Maryland Senate approved a bill last week that was intended to protect the state's historically black public colleges from having their white students drawn away by new programs at other colleges that duplicate their own.

The bill was drafted in response to a 2005 vote by the Maryland Higher Education Commission to let the University of Baltimore and Towson University jointly offer a new program — a master's degree in business administration — that had been strongly opposed by the historically black Morgan State University. Morgan State complained at the time that the commission was violating a federal desegregation agreement under which it had pledged to prevent the duplication of programs already offered by historically black colleges seeking to attract white students. So far, however, the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has declined to intervene.

Lawmakers passed a measure last year allowing colleges to appeal commission decisions on duplicative programs to a state circuit court. The state's governor at the time, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, vetoed the bill.

The bill that the State Senate passed last week requires the commission to make a decision on whether a program is duplicative if it is challenged as such by one of the state's four public historically black colleges: Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Morgan State University, and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. The measure also provides that the commission's decisions on the matter are subject to appeal to a state circuit court covering a jurisdiction of the state where none of the colleges involved in the dispute is located.

At the urging of State Sen. James Brochin, a Democrat from Baltimore County who had complained that Towson University was being unfairly singled out, the bill was amended with a provision allowing colleges to operate programs for at least four years after the commission has declared them duplicative and ordered them shut down.

The measure, which the Senate approved 27 to 19, had not been acted on by the state's House of Delegates as of last week.

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Virginia State U Looks To Double Its Enrollment

Virginia State University is reinventing itself.

The historically Black college of just under 5,000 students hopes to double its enrollment in upcoming months, diversify its largely Black student body and strengthen its image with new buildings, curriculum and staff.

The changes come as school attempts to become a destination for Southside Virginia and beyond.

“I believe in diversity. We’re not an isolated entity,” says Harold T. Green Jr., VSU’s rector, who acknowledged the school’s role in molding generations of Blacks.

The school has already taken several steps toward raising its profile as it approaches its 125th anniversary.

Over the past three years, officials have embarked on $87 million in new construction and renovations.

Academically, VSU has bolstered its liberal arts curriculum with computer science and nursing programs; a school of engineering is under construction.

VSU awarded its first doctorate this year in educational administration, and university officials want to start additional doctoral programs.

The university also wants to be more selective in the students it admits, while requiring faculty members to be accredited — the latter a requirement to continue receiving millions of dollars in state money provided through a civil-rights agreement.

School officials even want to change their address from Petersburg to the higher-profile Chesterfield County.

Officials say that will more accurately reflect the school’s physical location. And if a potential student or faculty member were to Google the area, the school would be connected with Chesterfield’s more favorable economic and demographic indicators.

That will be a boon both for the school and the county, according to Millard D. “Pete” Stith Jr., Chesterfield’s deputy administrator for community development and a former rector of VSU. The university sits in the Chesterfield village of Ettrick on a high bluff above the Appomattox River.

“Chesterfield believes that Virginia State is a crown jewel on its southern borders,” Stith says.

The university is playing catch up from decades of state underfunding during segregation.

Under the civil-rights agreement, the state has agreed to make up for the losses — but only if the school take steps that include becoming more diverse.

Today, 94 percent of the students are Black.

Oprah to speak at Howard Commencement

Oprah Winfrey has agreed to speak at Howard University's commencement, the school's president announced.

The prestigious historically black university is ''blessed'' to have the talk show host for the May 12 ceremonies, Howard President H. Patrick Swygert said Monday. Winfrey will receive an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

''When one thinks about the criteria for a great commencement speaker, there are a few things that come to mind: engaging, inspiring, charismatic and a champion of change,'' Swygert said. ''Our commencement speaker this year is certainly all that and much more."


Read more: The Coup that has Howard Gushing

Howard to establish University in Botswana

Only 7 percent of Botswana's 1.6 million citizens have access to tertiary education. By the year 2016, Howard University and the Republic of Botswana plan to nearly triple that number increasing access to 20 percent. On March 29, 2007, Howard University President, H. Patrick Swygert and Mrs. Festina S. Bakwena, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Botswana signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish the Botswana International University of Science and Technology.

Howard University will provide technical assistance in the following areas: 1) development of a campus plan; 2) development of undergraduate and graduate curricula in science, technology, the social sciences, humanities, business and economics; and 3) recruitment, selection, hiring and development of an administration and a faculty for the institution, including the provision of graduate education, mainly at the Ph.D. level at Howard University for talented Botswana who are designated for future faculty positions.

"Howard University is celebrating its 140th year of preparing and producing leaders for America and the global community; we are extremely proud to be a part this partnership with the Republic of Botswana," said Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert. "We are committed to making the Botswana International University of Science and Technology a reality."

The Republic of Botswana's delegation during the signing ceremony expressed the urgency for capacity building and economic development in the Southern African nation.

"When there are no more diamonds we will have our people," said Bakwena. "It is important as a developing country for us to invest in our human resources and there is no better way to do that but through education."

Graduation rates rising at Fisk, TSU

Fisk University may be short on cash, but its rising graduation rates prove that success isn't always dependent on deep pockets.
The school's graduation rate was 63 percent in 2004, according to figures from the National Center for Education Statistics, and it was still 63 percent in 2006. Among historically black colleges and universities, that puts Fisk in good company.

The center's report lauded Fisk and Tennessee State University for succeeding with large enrollments of low-income students, a classification based on Pell Grant awards, which is even more of an anomaly, national educators say.

"What we know about graduation rates is that the financial situation of the students has a huge impact," said Michael Lomax, president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund.

As recently as 1993, Fisk's graduation rate was a dismal 25 percent. Tennessee State University, with a 2004 graduation rate of 44 percent, also landed on the NCES "success" list. TSU's graduation rate rose to 47 percent in 2006.

The new study found that all institutions defined as low-income-serving had a median graduation rate of 39 percent.
About half of Fisk's undergraduate enrollment is classified as low-income students. At state schools like TSU, where the percentage of low-income students is closer to 60 percent, officials believe the graduation rates are actually higher than reported.

"Many low-income students often are working jobs and may take more than six years to earn a degree," said Ken Looney, TSU's associate vice president for academic affairs. "In those cases, the student does not fit into that six-year window and doesn't figure into the graduation rate."