SECTOR NEWS
LAIKA Teams up with BSU to Build First HBCU Stop-Motion Animation Studio
LAIKA, the Oscar®-nominated and BAFTA and Golden Globe Award-winning feature film animation studio best known for Missing Link,Kubo and the Two Strings and Coraline, is partnering with Bowie State University to build the nation’s first stop-motion animation studio at a historically Black college and university (HBCU). The partnership will enhance BSU’s animation curriculum, with the goal of providing a career pathway for BSU students into the animation industry. (Bowie State University)
All American spinoff to feature fictional historically black college
The CW is looking to expand the world of All American.
The network is developing a spinoff of the series — whose third season premiere recorded its biggest audience ever — called All American: Homecoming. It’s set to air as a planted episode later in the season and will focus on Geffri Maya’s recurring character, Simone Hicks, and another athlete as they make their way to a prestigious historically Black college. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Top-ranked minority-owned finance firm invests in future of HBCUs
The Siebert Williams Shank Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Siebert Williams Shank & Co., LLC (SWS), the nation’s top-ranked minority- and women-owned investment banking firm, is helping to establish the next generation of African American business leaders by donating $200,000 to support educational programs at Howard University and Spelman College, two of America’s preeminent Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to kick off Black History Month.
SWS, dually headquartered in New York City and Oakland, Calif., with more than 15 offices throughout the country, is among the most diverse in its industry, with 64% of its workforce comprised of women and minorities. The firm is both majority-owned by people of color (92%) and women (61%). (Siebert Williams Shank)
Funding Maryland HBCUs must be a priority
As we begin the year 2021, one thing remains unchanged from 2020: Our nation and the state of Maryland, in particular, must address decades of disparate treatment imposed upon our citizens and institutions. Enacting Maryland House Bill 1/Senate Bill 1 (”Historically Black Colleges and Universities — Funding”) will send a clear signal to our nation and, indeed, the world that the state will no longer tolerate disparate and unequal treatment of its citizens and institutions (”Maryland speaker again seeks to force settlement of long-running HBCU lawsuit, after Gov. Hogan veto last year,” (Baltimore Sun)
INDUSTRY NEWS
FAFSA application changes are coming — what they mean for middle and high-income families (Kiplinger)
Legal win for foreign student work program (Inside Higher Ed)
With Illinois budget shortfall, experts say public universities could see major cuts (ABC 20)
Gov. Tim Walz proposes automatic college acceptance for qualifying Minnesota high school seniors (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
