HBCU student accepts internship at the Minneapolis Police Department in hopes of improving community relations
By Sheyla Fairley
Jayla Hall, a rising senior studying criminal justice at Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, AL, joined the Police Executive Research Forum’s internship program.
As stated in a release, Hall’s perception of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) was “shaped by what she saw on television, coverage of George Floyd’s murder and the unrest that followed” but she learned quickly how “Minneapolis officers are seen by the people they serve and protect” and “found that it was a big difference to what she thought it was going to be.”
“They are trying to do their job which is to protect the community and to be able to engage with the community,” said Hall, “It’s not always about enforcing the laws and arresting people it’s so much more than that once you’re able to sit down and experience and see the magic behind the curtains.”
“Some people may be in the department just for their personal gain and not for community gain,” continued Hall, “I wouldn’t want to be around a police officer who doesn’t truly care about their community but I also know that’s not everyone, that’s really just a select few out the bunch.”
Harvard collaborates with Axim Collaborative and UNCF to develop digital platform for HBCUs
By Sheyla Fairley
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, the nonprofit Axim Collaborative, and the United Negro College Fund will collaborate to develop HBCU Virtual, or HBCUv, a new online platform that will expand digital learning and educational access for all historically Black colleges and universities.
As stated in a release, the partnership with Harvard will “focus on developing a robust instructional design framework, establishing a repository of culturally responsive course resources, and leveraging existing knowledge, expertise and digital learning assets that exist at Harvard and MIT.”
“The HBCUv platform will include a shared learning management system, allowing students to take courses across institutional boundaries,” said Ed Smith-Lewis, vice president of strategic partnerships and institutional programs at UNCF. “In addition to signing into a [learning management system] to take courses, you could also sign into that same system to connect with friends, build relationships, get support programming, access resources.”
Delaware State University and TMCF announce new center to support adult learners earning their degrees
By Sheyla Fairley
Delaware State University, Dover, DE, will team up with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to create a TMCF-DSU Joint Center for HBCU Non-Traditional Completion housed on campus.
According to an article, the program will aim to “support adult students who have some college experience but have not yet earned their degrees” and will also look to “counsel nontraditional learners on best practices with new pathways like online completion and stacked credentials.” The program will be led by Terry Jefferies, assistant dean in the School of Graduate Adult and Extended Studies.
“Since their founding, HBCUs have always served diverse student populations,” said Harry Williams, Thurgood Marshall College Fund president and CEO. “There’s a collective knowledge about how to support learners whose journey to graduation veers from what society calls the traditional path. This Joint Center for HBCU Non-Traditional Completion is just another example of the important leadership role HBCUs play in higher education and in the upskilling of the nation’s workforce.”
For more information, read the full article here.
Partnership between Stackwell and Fintech in Action to launch a financial wellness program for historically Black colleges and universities
By Sheyla Fairley
According to an article, Stackwell, the digital investment platform designed to eliminate the racial wealth gap, and Fintech in Action, a social impact initiative that accelerates progress, innovation, and opportunity for Black talent in finance and fintech, announced the “launch of a a new financial wellness program supporting historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) students” with the pilot program providing a cohort of Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, students with “a finance and investing course plus a seeded Stackwell account to begin building wealth during their college careers.”
The goal of the program is to “provide access to the financial markets, a foundational investment education, and ongoing support and resources to enable and empower the students to grow their investments over time. Students will graduate with all the funds they have amassed, providing a solid financial foundation as they begin their professional careers.”
Read the full article, here.
HBCU scholarship named in honor of late Atlanta news anchor Jovita Moore
By Sheyla Fairley
In honor of the late WSB-TV news anchor Jovita Moore, the Jaguar Foundation of Atlanta created the “Jovita Moore HBCU Undergraduate Scholarship.”
The Jaguar Foundation of Atlanta gave the first one out during their 14th annual Atlanta Achievement Awards in downtown Atlanta on August 6, 2023 to Aliyah Beal, who plans to major in business economics at Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA. The event had been hosted by Jovita Moore for more than a decade before her passing in October 2021.
“I’m just really honored to be the first recipient of this scholarship, just seeing her involvement in metro right there it really just impacted me,” said Beal.
For more details, read the full article here.
