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Section: Opinion

African-American

One Month of Black History is Not Enough

Black History Month is here. It is a time when we celebrate the many accomplishments and contributions of African-American people.

February 1, 2018

072716_James_Ewers

African-American

Black History Month: Opportune Time for Health Emphasis

In celebration of Black History Month, we remember Booker T. Washington as the founder of a historic initiative focused on addressing Black health disparities. Washington founded Tuskegee University, an HBCU formerly named Tuskegee Institute. What many do not know is that he also was the founder of National Negro Health Week, an annual observance in the United States from 1915 to 1951 dedicated to improving overall health in Black communities.

January 30, 2018

How to Avoid 12 Common Mistakes Serving Student ‘Customers’

Do you like making mistakes? I certainly don’t. Making mistakes are inevitable and as long as we humans exist, the opportunity for them to occur will be present.

January 29, 2018

112117JeffPierce

Exemplary Philly Charter School Should Stay Open

Just take a look at the number of students from Eastern University Academy Charter School in Philadelphia who go on to graduate and attend college, and you can’t help but be impressed.

January 26, 2018

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UC’s Best Advice to ‘Dreamers’: Ignore Trump Show, File for DACA

Government shutdown? Forget the blame game. We saw the process unfold before our eyes. It was one built on the word of Donald Trump, but then dashed. Maybe because as a real builder might say, there was no foundation in truth to provide structural integrity – for anything.

January 22, 2018

Immigration Ensures Diversity

It is estimated that immigration to the North American continent began no later than 10,000 B.C./B.C.E. It has continued ever since, and by all knowledgeable accounts this continuous flow of people seeking a better life is what has made and continues to make America great. Immigration is good because it ensures diversity.

January 21, 2018

New Blog Explores Health, Wellness Education

Welcome to the inaugural Diverse blog of Tanya Leake, an engineer-turned-“healthpreneur” based in Atlanta. She is a certified health coach, wellness presenter and group fitness and dance instructor, author, and owner of a wellness consultancy.

January 18, 2018

Academia’s Investment in Diversity Can Enhance Disaster Science

A series of devastating natural disasters in 2017 brought attention to the fact that extreme weather events disproportionately affect underserved communities. Pre-existing vulnerabilities in communities ravaged by Hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma were amplified following these events. Yet, our understanding of the health and societal impacts of natural disasters remains underdeveloped.

January 17, 2018

Becoming Latino: Why Our Safe Spaces Matter

Growing up in the Bronx, I was accustomed to identifying as Puerto Rican. I was surrounded by communities of color and went to school where the student body was predominantly Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican, and Black.

January 17, 2018

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Recent Trump Comments Smack of Racism

Last week, a number of journalists, radio hosts, pundits and ordinary folk have worked themselves into an understandable frenzy over President Donald Trump’s alleged reference to Haiti, Nigeria, El Salvador and other Third World countries as “shithole” nations. He did not stop there. He argued that the United States should make an effort to recruit immigrants from Norway. Just think about it! The statement alone speaks volumes. It is the most blatant and arrogant form of racism.

January 16, 2018

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Trump’s Comment Should Outrage Us All

One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of each semester is to review the class rosters and scan all my students’ beautiful names-names like Samrawit, Priyanka, and Chukwuemeka to name a few. That is because I teach at Montgomery College in Takoma Park, Maryland. Out of the approximately 60,000 students who will take classes this year, 159 different countries will be represented, including countries that President Trump called “shitholes.”

January 14, 2018

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When Promises Are Not Enough

Promise scholarships have been regarded as key to economic growth in many states and municipalities. The idea of providing funding for college-bound students within a designated area as an incentive for remaining in that same area post-college seems harmless enough.

January 11, 2018

011218Robertson

What If the MLK Holiday Were April 4?

Since its first observance in 1986, the Martin Luther King federal holiday has become an important moment for the nation to reflect on King’s historical importance and the broader significance of the Civil Rights Movement. The observance of the MLK holiday on the third Monday of January has become an almost taken for granted memorial tradition for classrooms and government offices. The decision to establish a federal holiday for King was far from inevitable. It was the subject of heated debated within the U.S. Senate. Passage of the holiday came 15 years after Representative John Conyers first proposed the idea in legislation and 13 years after Congress received an unprecedented 6 million signatures in support.

January 10, 2018

Praying for Kindness in 2018

I can remember people many years ago making New Year’s resolutions. These were things we wanted to either start doing or possibly do better. Yes, I too, began making these New Year’s resolutions. Quite honestly, I didn’t start to make the resolutions until New Year’s Eve. And during some years, I didn’t make them until New Year’s Day.

January 9, 2018

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Educators Should Care About “Fire and Fury”

If you’re in higher ed and are trying to ignore Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, you shouldn’t.

January 8, 2018

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Home for the Holidays

Imagine what it is like to dread going home for the holiday break because all semester you struggled academically and questioned whether you belong at your institution. As a first-generation, low-income student in college, this is what I went through. You see, upon acceptance to Cornell University several years ago, I became a beacon of pride for my family and everyone wanted to know how I was doing in college—and quite frankly, I was embarrassed

January 4, 2018

Memory and Racism

In refusing to let America forget her asthmatic father’s death at the hands of a New York cop using an illegal chokehold, Erica Garner seized the narrative that writes history. Dead at 27 after a heart attack, her persistence and zeal apparently has taken its toll.

January 2, 2018

What Are You Really Saying?

Whether your interaction with a prospective student is via telephone or face-to-face, respectively, tone and body language are key during the initial stages of the service experience.

December 18, 2017

112117JeffPierce