SECTOR NEWS
As corporations expand HBCU recruitment, diversity officer hiring is booming
If history is any guide, there’s no guarantee the hiring boom and unprecedented promises in response to the Black Lives Matter movement will convert into lasting change. While 85 of the nation’s top 100 corporations tracked by Bloomberg for corporate diversity have a chief diversity officer, representation of minorities within their workforce continues to lag behind. Recruiting a new leader sends a strong signal, but it takes more than one executive to make an impact in the face of institutional pushback.
Under the pressure, corporations have started to take concrete actions that can be measured. McDonald’s Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Boeing Co. have set hiring quotas. International Business Machines Corp. has dropped degree requirements that had proved barriers to recruiting minorities. Eighty-one companies in the Bloomberg tracker have expanded their recruitment pool to historically Black colleges and universities. (Benefits Pro)
Fisk Jubilee Singers win first Grammy award
The Fisk University Jubilee Singers can add another accolade to their list of achievements– the legendary choral ensemble won their first GRAMMY in the Best Roots Gospel category for “Celebrating Fisk!: (The 150th Anniversary Album)” Sunday, March 14. (Tennessee Tribune)
New talk show “HBCU White House” debuts on WHPR-TV Detroit
The original television program focuses on political news and business information, breaking down headlines and stories through an HBCU-centric lens. The election of Kamala Harris as Vice President of the United States of America boosted the national profile of historically black colleges and universities (or HBCUs), and “HBCU White House” will celebrate diverse aspirational narratives that further advance the achievements of HBCU alumni, supporters and friends. Airing on Tuesdays and Thursdays of each week throughout the Detroit metro area, new episodes will also stream twice-a-week online at https://hbcuwhitehouse.com/. (PR Web)
False-positive may have cost A&T MEAC title shot
A positive COVID-19 test ended the last shot North Carolina A&T had at winning its final MEAC Tournament. But some officials at A&T believe a false-positive may have cost them a shot at the MEAC title.
Highly placed sources within the A&T program have confirmed for HBCU Gameday that an A&T basketball assistant coach was given a positive result in Norfolk twice on Thursday, the day before the team was to take on the NC Central-Norfolk State winner. (HBCU Gameday)
8 Black food pros on how their HBCUs prepared them for greatness
On January 20, 2021, hundreds of masked-up Howard University students and alumni milled excitedly across campus grounds to celebrate the inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris (class of 1986). As both the first graduate of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the first woman to ever hold the office, the event represented a glass ceiling finally shattering. Later that same day, Harris swore in Morehouse College graduate Reverend Raphael Warnock (class of 1991)—the first Black Democrat to ever represent a Southern state in the U.S. Senate.
These victories, along with some headline-worthy philanthropic donations, amplify how essential HBCUs have become in shaping African American leadership in this country—from fine art and politics to the food and beverage world. Though few schools offer culinary programs, alums have still made a meaningful impact. Here, eight Black culinary professionals share how HBCUs have inspired, and shaped, their careers. (Yahoo! News)
INDUSTRY NEWS
One way to speed up economic recovery? Focus on adult higher education (Forbes)
How to rebuild the workforce without a four-year degree (Politico)
Survey: Most want more rural access to higher education in Tennessee (The Tennessean)
Rogers college readiness program helps makes higher education attainable (Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette)
