August 10, 2022

Charles Dumas, professor emeritus in the School of Theatre at Penn State, received the 2022 National Black Theatre Festival Living Legend Award. Presented in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at the festival’s Opening Night Gala Awards Banquet, the award recognized Dumas for his “significant contributions to American theatre and to the entertainment industry.” Dumas, who came to Penn State in 1995, has acted in, directed, or written more than 300 plays, films, and commercials. He received an Emmy Award for his ensemble work in “Separate but Equal” with Sidney Poitier. Dumas received a fellowship for playwriting from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and he was honored as best actor by the Hollywood and Beverly Hills NAACP for his work in “B.C. Historia.”

August 17, 2022

The Eberly Foundation committed funds to commission a sculpture of the Rev. James Lawson Jr., renowned non-violence advocate of the civil rights movement. The sculpture will be installed at the Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. Lawson was born in Uniontown, PA.

May 25, 2022

Calvin Booth (BA Lib 1998) was named general manager of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. Booth was a three-year starter on the Nittany Lion basketball team and the Big Ten career leader in blocked shots. He was drafted in the second-round to the NBA and spent 10 years in the league before retiring in 2009. Booth previously served as the Nuggets assistant general manager before being named to run the NBA team.

July 26, 2022

Bria Bryant (BA Com 2020) was featured on the fourth season of Love Island USA; she appeared along with her brother Chazz. While at Penn State, Bryant was the president of the Black Student Union at Penn State Altoona, a member of the club cheerleading team, and a telecommunications major. The New Jersey native earned a master’s degree at Rutgers University in 2022. After learning about the technical side of television at school, Bryant was ready to step in front of the camera. Although her time on the show didn’t go quite as planned—Bryant was “dumped” from the villa just five days after arriving—she said she has no regrets and plans to leverage the notoriety she received. (Source: Onwardstate.com)

October 23, 2021

Penn State seniors DeAndre Malcolm and Jaylen Carr were named the recipients of Penn State Homecoming’s fourth-ever gender neutral “Guide State Forward” award, which replaced Homecoming King and Queen in 2018. Malcolm, a liberal arts major, served as president of the Penn State Black Caucus. Carr, an engineering major, was Treasurer of the Penn State National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Vice-President of the Penn State Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity chapter. Both were also resident assitants in the dorms.

April, 2022

Dr. Shirley Malcom (PhD Sci 1974) is a noted scientist and leading advocate for representation in the sciences for women and girls of color. Over the course of her illustrious and influential career, Malcom has opened doors into the sciences for women and girls, particularly women and girls of color. Her life’s work represents an unfaltering and demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion in the sciences.

Malcom earned her doctoral degree in ecology from Penn State in 1974. In 1976, she co-published the landmark report The Double Bind: The Price of Being a Minority Woman in Science, bringing attention to the challenges of intersectionality, specifically the challenges of being a Black woman in the sciences.

Malcom has served in leadership positions for the National Science Foundation’s science education directorate and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She was appointed to the National Science Board by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and served as a member of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology from 1994 to 2001.

Malcom’s decades of work have been recognized by several notable science organizations and associations. She has been awarded the Public Welfare Medal, the greatest honor given by the National Academy of Sciences in celebration of leaders who use science for the public good. She received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Penn State and also served on the Penn State Graduate School Diversity Review Team. Malcom has also served as the commencement speaker for the Penn State Eberly College of Science and as a featured speaker for the Penn State Forum, which exclusively highlights experts with demonstrated, multifaceted impact.

Malcom’s work and impact is profiled on PBS’s The History Makers: The Nation’s Largest African American Video Oral Library. (Source: psu.edu)

October, 2021

A dedication ceremony was held for theThe Guion S. Bluford, Jr. Building (formerly the 320 Building, Innovation Pak). Named for the first African American in space, it is the second building named for an African American alumnus at the University Park campus.

September, 2021

5,158 African American students are enrolled at Penn State, comprising (5.8%) of the student population.

May 12, 2021

Errol Henderson, a associate professor of political science, filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Penn State of racial discrimination. He indicated that he was disciplined and denied a promotion to full professor in response to his complaints about racism at Penn State. As far back as 2010, Henderson had formally complained about a racially hostile work environment. In January 2019, he wrote an op-ed published in the Daily Collegain titled “Being Black at Penn State,” in which he recounted discriminatory experiences he has had during his time at Penn State.

May 7, 2021

Janiyah R. Davis was elected by the Penn State Board of Trustees to serve a 2-year term as Student Trustee, effective July 1, 2021. She is the second African American to hold that position. Davis was a Schreyer Honors Scholar and a third-year student in the College of the Liberal Arts, studying public policy, criminology, and psychology with minors in anthropology, sociology, and child maltreatment and advocacy studies as well as a certificate in behavioral health and counseling psychology. She was a member of Penn State’s Black Caucus and President of the National Panhellenic Council. Davis servesd as an Undergraduate Research Fellow within the Rock Ethics Institute, President of the Student’s Restorative Justice Initiative, and the University Relations Director for the Multicultural Association of Schreyer Scholars. She was also the Vice President of the Justice Association and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Student Minority Advisory and Recruitment Team (SMART), and the Gender, Power, and Privilege Lab at Penn State.

March 15, 2021

Micah Shrewsberry is named the head coach of the Penn State men’s basketball team. Shrewsberry previously held coaching positions at both the collegiate and NBA levels, including coaching in six NCAA Tournaments, two NCAA Final Fours, five NBA Playoffs, and two NBA Conference Finals.He is the second African American head coach of the Penn State men’s basketball team.

January 27, 2021

Black Caucus members were attacked with slurs and hate speech via a “Zoom Bombing.” During their virtual Involvement Fair, 51 unwanted users “ambushed” the Black Caucus Zoom room and filled the chat with anti-semitic and white supremacist language, while several users screamed into their microphones, played loud music or exposed themselves sexually. Additionally, Black Caucus members said the users used racist and homophobic slurs. The University condemned the incident and launched an investigation for which University police partnered with multiple officials including the FBI.

January 13, 2021

Rev. Dr. Donna King (PhD Edu 2010 was the Pastor of Bellefonte’s St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church. Often known as “Mama King,” King was a pastor, historian, and lecturer in African American Studies at Penn State. She was well known for researching and teaching about the abolitionist movement in Bellefonte and Centre County. She regularly gave walking tours of Bellefonte stops on the Underground Railroad with a lantern while singing “Oh Freedom.”

“You’ve got to keep your mind straight on freedom, you have to have that abolitionist mindset. You’ve got to come together and listen to each other’s stories and find out what the local history is, wherever you are,” King described her guiding principles when she spoke to WPSU in the summer of 2020. King was featured in the WPSU Series Keystone Stories. King died in on January 7, 2021 at the age of 64 from cancer.

January 15, 2021

The “Project 1972: A Conversation with Our Elders” panel is sponsored by the Penn State Forum on Black Affairs and Penn State World Campus Student Affairs as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration. The Zoom panel included staff and faculty who worked at the University at the height of the Civil Rights movement and students who were first-year students in 1968—the year of King’s assassination—and graduated in 1972. The panel included Gary Abdullah, Monte Dawson, Selma G. Harrison, Earl Frank Merritt, Barry Reddish, and Denita Wright Watson.

October 13, 2020

Several of the participants in the “Black Student Alumni at Penn State Oral History Project” gathered at University Park for a group video interview by researcher Maia Hill (BA Lib 2020). The project consists of approximately hour-long Zoom interviews with 13 Black alumni from the late 1960s and early 1970s as well as a group interview. Hill said she wanted to cover this period because of the number of protests around the Vietnam War, Black representation in the student body, and curriculum related to Black heritage. The video interviews can be accessed at https://sites.psu.edu/blackstudenthistories/.

January 4, 2021

George Grant Jr. assumed the position of chancellor at the Penn State Berks campus. He was selected following a national search. As chancellor, Grant is responsible for all aspects of college administration at the commonwealth campus. He previously served as dean and professor of the College of Community and Public Service at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Grant earned his bachelor’s degree in social work from Marygrove College, his master’s from Grand Valley State University, and his doctorate in sociology from Western Michigan University. On August 9, 2022 Grant was named the next president of Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. He began his tenure at Saginaw Valley State on December 1, 2022.

September 13, 2020

Karli Short, daughter of Penn State Board of Trustee member and former Penn State linebacker Brandon Short (BS Bus 1999), was shot and killed in McKeesport, PA. She was 26 years old and was pregnant at the time of her death. In 2022 Brandon Short launched a foundation in his daughter’s name to create scholarships for college students coping with the fallout of gun violence. “When people are affected by gun violence they’re traumatized and they need support,” Short said. “And that’s the premise of this scholarship.”

September, 2020

The Penn Stater Magazine dedicated it’s September/October 2020 edition to “Black Voices: Alumni, Faculty and Students Speak Out.” Editor Ryan Jones (1995 Com) indicated that the issue was intended to “provide a platform for the voices of Black Penn Staters at a time when brutal acts of racist violence have brought the country’s entrenched racism to the forefront of the national consciousness.” The edition also featured the art of Aaron Maybin (2008).

June 19, 2020

The State College chapter of the NAACP hosted the first official Juneteenth celebration in State College at Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held virtually.

July 29, 2020

Harold E. Cheatham (BA LA 1961) and his wife, V. Arlene Cheatham, pledged an estate gift of $500,000 to create two endowed funds in the Office of Educational Equity, of which $100,000 would endow the Harold E. and V. Arlene Cheatham Lectureship in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The gift was committed through the couple’s revocable trust. Harold Cheatham spent 16 years in the department of counselor education—some of which as department head—before becoming founding dean of the College of Bahavioral, Social and Health Sciences at Clemson University.

May 25, 2020

White Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kills George Floyd, a Black man, by kneeling on his neck for almost 10 minutes. The death, recorded by bystanders, touched off what may have been the largest protest movement in U.S. history and a nationwide reflection and reckoning on race and policing.

Dr. Ala Stanford (BS Sci 1991, Med 1997) is the founder of the nonprofit Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium. The consortium started in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when testing was scarce in the Black and Latinx communities where people were dying the most. So, Stanford rented a van, set up shop in church parking lots, and started swabbing noses. Between April 2020-October 2021, the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium tested more than 25,000 people for the coronavirus and vaccinated more than 75,000 Philadelphians. Because of her work, Philadelphia was named the No. 1 city in the nation for vaccinating people of color.

During these clinics, Stanford found it was common for people to ask her advice on other medical issues. She realized the services she was providing were just a small part of battling the health inequities that exist for underserved populations. In response, her group founded a more comprehensive, preventative care, health equity clinic, the Dr. Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity (ASHE), which offers blood draws for lab tests, X-rays, behavioral and mental health care, and wellness checkups for adults and children, plus standard immunizations and flu shots. Stanford’s ongoing efforts have made her a national symbol and advocate for equalizing access to health care for people of color in disadvantaged communities.

Stanford received the Pennsylvania Society’s 2021 Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement, given annually to a prominent person in recognition of leadership, citizenship, and contributions to the arts, science, education, and industry. She also received the national George H.W. Bush Points of Light Award in 2021 for the critical role she played in Philadelphia’s pandemic fight. The award honors individuals who demonstrate the transformative power of service, and who are driving significant and sustained impact through their everyday actions and words.

Stanford was the 100th person honored with the Philadelphia Award, given annually to a citizen of the Philadelphia region who has acted on behalf of the best interests of the community. Among the city’s most cherished, meaningful, and prestigious awards, past recipients have included some of the most distinguished Philadelphians, including industrialists, educators, lawyers, political figures, scientists, physicians, clergy, social activists, philosophers, musicians, artists, architects, and writers. (Source: psu.edu)

March 11, 2020

Penn State annouces that all classes will move to remote learning due to the COVID 19 outbreak. The University would not go back to primarily in-person classes until August 2021.

March 12, 2020

Penn State basketball player Lamar Stevens’ college sports career ended prematurely when the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament was abruptly cancelled the same day Penn State was scheduled to play. The cancellation came a week before the Nittany Lions would have made their long-awaited return to the NCAA tournment. And also ended Stevens’ his opportunity to become the program’s all-time leading scorer. Stevens, a first team all-Big Ten forward, fell just 7 points short of passing Talor Battle’s (BS H&HD 2011) 2213 point Penn State record Stevens would later sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA.

January, 2020

Karla Trotman (BS Bus 1998) was named the CEO of Electro Soft, Inc., the largest African American custom electronics contract manufacturing and engineering company in the country. The company was founded by her family in 1986. Trotman gained notarity in 2008 when she launched BellyButtonBoutique.com, an e-commerce site offering comfortable, supportive products for pre-and postnatal women, an idea inspired by her own difficult pregnancies.

January 20, 2020

“More Rivers to Cross: The Status of African American Professors at Penn State University (UP) Part 1” was published in 2020. The report, which covers a 15-year period, documents institutional racism in the hiring and retention of African American and Black professors at Penn State’s University Park campus. The report explicitly details the comparative patterns of hiring and retaining black faculty at the university and each college from 2004-2018. It also includes a literature review of the racial biases entailed in the use of student teaching evaluation forms. A subsequent report (Part 2), was published on March 21, 2021 and presented the results of a survey of Black professors about their experiences with interpersonal and systemic racism and the academic climate at University Park and the 24 Commonwealth campuses.

December 28, 2019

Penn State football players wore helmet decals honoring the late Wally Triplett when the Nittany Lions defeated Memphis in the 2019 Cotton Bowl. Triplett and his teammate Dennie Hoggard were the first African-Americans to play in a Cotton Bowl game in January 1948.

December 6, 2019

B. Stephen Carpenter II (MA Edu 1989, Phd Lib 1996), professor of art education and African American studies, and interim director of Penn State’s School of Visual Arts, was appointed to the position of dean of the College of Arts and Architecture. Carpenter joined the School of Visual Arts faculty in 2011.

October, 2019

Several Penn State football players, and head coach, James Franklin come to the defense of redshirt sophmore safety, Jonathan Sutherland, after Sutherland received a letter calling his dreadlocks ‘disgusting” and suggesting he adopt a more “clean cut” appearance. The letter came from alumnus, David Petersen (MA Edu 1966), and was shared on Twitter by Sutherland’s teammates in order to bring light to the issue.

October 5, 2019

Freddy Purnell and Marlisa Shaw were named the recipients of Penn State Homecoming’s second gender neutral “Guide State Forward” award, which replaced the Homecoming King and Queen in 2018. Purnell, a biology major, was the president of the LGBTQA Student Round Table, vice president of Queer and Trans People of Color, and a member of the Penn State Black Caucus. Shaw, a biology and psychology major, was a member of Envisions, a co-captain for the Dark Storm Step Team, and a member of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers.

July 1, 2019

Randolph “Randy” B. Houston, Jr. (BA Lib 1991) becomes president of the Penn State Alumni Association, having served as vice-president for the two years prior. Houston becomes the second African American and the first African American male to hold the position. Following his two year term, Houston will join the Penn State Board of Trustees as the designated Penn State Alumni Association representative.

June 24, 2019

The College of the Liberal Arts announced it had hired nine new faculty members in an effort to strengthen its scholarly expertise in African American and African Diaspora life and culture. All of the new hires will have at least a partial academic appointment in the Department of African American Studies. “This is the biggest single step forward in faculty and academic diversity in the history of the college,” said Susan Welch, dean of the College of the Liberal Arts.

June 6, 2019

Christopher Jefferson was named the director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, a unit of Penn State Student Affairs. Jefferson came to Penn State from Indiana State University where he was director of Fraternity and Sorority Life since July 2018.

March 28, 2019

Edred Richardson (Sophomore) selected as the first Black Caucus UPUA representative at the Black Caucus general body meeting.

May 17, 2019

A dedication ceremony was held for The Warren Washington Innovation Building (formerly the 328 Building). Named for the pioneering scientist Dr. Warren M. Washington (PhD EMS 1964), it is the first building named for an African American alumnus at the University Park campus.

February 28, 2019

Clarence Lang was the named the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts. He is also a professor of African American Studies. Lang previously served as the interim dean of the College of the Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas.

March 20, 2019

Osaze Osagie, a 29 year-old African American State College man, was shot and killed by a State College police officer. The officer was attempting to serve a mental health warrant on Osagie. Osagie had been diagnosed with autism and had a history of anxiety and schizophrenia. According to police records, the shooting happened as Osagie reportedly brandished a knife and confronted the officers. A State Police investigation later determined that the police officer’s actions were justified for the situation, however many in the community and at the university continue to question the circumstances of the shooting. Sylvester Osagie, Osaze’s father, filed a lawsuit against the borough of State College in November 2020.

November 14, 2018

The UPUA approves designated representation for the Black Caucus, as well as the Latino Caucus and the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Caucus, on the UPUA general assembly.

December 1, 2018

Curt Warner (BA Lib 1983) and his wife Ana release their book The Warner Boys: Our Family’s Story of Autism and Hope. Warner, a two-time All-American and three-time Pro Bowler with the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL, and his wife, Ana, wanted to tell their story of raising autistic twin boys in an effort to help other families in a similar situation.

June, 2018

Isaiah Harris becomes the first Nittany Lion in 95 years to win a national championship in the Men’s 800 meters. A native of The Lewistown, ME, Harris finished runner-up in the Men’s 800 meters at the 2017 outdoor The NCAA Men’s Track & Field Championships and the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

June 18, 2018

Amy Freeman (BS Eng 1991, MS Eng 1991, and PhD Edu 2009) is named the director of Penn State’s Millennium Scholars Program. The Program is designed for high-achieving Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) students who will become leaders in their chosen fields and who are committed to increasing the diversity of professionals in STEM-related disciplines. Freeman previously served as an associate provost, chief diversity officer, and research assistant professor of engineering at Tufts University.

Brandon Short (BS Bus 1999) is the executive director and portfolio manager of PGIM Real Estate, where he manages PGIM’s Private REIT Fund and directs the fund’s east coast investment and asset management activities. He previously served as M&A Director at Round Hill Capital, a member of the Cerberus European real estate investment team, and as a real estate investment banker at Goldman Sachs based both in New York and Dubai. Before his career in finance, Short had a 7-year career in the National Football League, with the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants. Short holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing from Pennsylvania State University and received a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia Business School. He was elected to the Board of Trustees by the Alumni effective July 1, 2018.

In 2021, Short’s daughter, Karli, was shot and killed in McKeesport, PA. She was 26 years old and was pregnant at the time of her death. In 2022, Brandon Short launched a foundation in his daughter’s name to create scholarships for college students coping with the fallout of gun violence. “When people are affected by gun violence they’re traumatized and they need support,” Short said. “And that’s the premise of this scholarship.”

November, 2017

Hanif Johnson (BS Bus 2012) was elected as a judge in the Dauphin County Magisterial District. The 27-year-old Democrat is the youngest person to hold the role. He won the election by a 73-point margin over his Republican opponent after defeating 3 other Democrats in the primary elections. While a student, Johnson was the president of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

April 12, 2018

Haley McClain-Hill (BS Sci 2018) was selected for the NFL Atlanta Falcon Cheerleading squad and, later, for the San Francisco 49ers Cheerleading squad. The former Penn State Cheerleader and Assistant Cheerleading Coach was also a member of the Air Force ROTC. In November 2021 she was featured in a Monday Night Football “Salute to (Military) Service” pre-game segment for her dual roles.

October 27, 2017

The Black Caucus hosted a 50th Anniversary celebration for the establishment of the Fredrick E. Douglass Association, the predecessor to the organization. Students and alumni interacted and celebrated the historic journey of African Americans activism at Penn State. William “Rick” Collin and Frederick Phillips, two of the earliest Douglass Association presidents, were among the speakers.

July 13, 2017

Greg Davis (BS Bus 1992) was promoted to chief investment officer (CIO) at Vanguard. As CIO, Davis assumed oversight responsibility for more than $3.8 trillion managed by Vanguard’s Fixed Income, Equity Index, and Quantitative Equity Groups.

April 6, 2017

The first annual Paul Robeson Awards were handed out in Heritage Hall of the HUB-Robeson Center. The awards are awarded to five students who characterize Robeson’s legacy; categories include Humanitarian, Athlete, Social Justice Leader, Artist in Activism, and Academic Excellence.

May 14, 2017

Led by Malik Moffett, the Penn State men’s outdoor track and field team won its first ever Big Ten championship. Moffett captured titles in the long jump and the 200 meters and teammate Isaiah Harris took gold in the 800 meters, helping the team to edge out Ohio State for the team title.

December, 2016

Jeff Ballou (BA Com 1990) is elected the 110th President of The National Press Club becoming the first African American male to head the organization. Founded in 1908, The National Press Club is the world’s leading professional organization for journalists. Ballou is a news editor at Al Jazeera English Media Network and a member of the National Association of Black Journalist as well as the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

February 22, 2017

Four of the founding members of the Brandywine Campus Black Student League participated in a panel discussion at the campus. The event was hosted by the current Black Student League in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the organization. Darryl Trent (BA Lib 1972), Natalie Burrell Wells (BA Lib 1975), Barry Reddish (BA Lib 1972) and Zawdie Abdul-Malik (BA Lib 1970) returned to the Brandywine campus to share their experiences from the late1960s.

December 3, 2016

James Franklin leads Penn State to victory in the Big Ten Championship game, making Franklin the first African American head coach to win a Big Ten football championship in the 120-year history of the conference.

November 29, 2016

Robin Pleshette Cooper (BA Edu 1992) is elected to lead the Teamsters Local 502 of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators (CASA). The union represents principals, vice-principals and other administrators in Philadelphia. Cooper it the first woman and the first African American selected to lead the union.

April 27, 2016

Sovereign Magazine releases its first issue with a distribution at the HUB. Advertised as “Penn State’s First Magazine for People of Color.” The magazine works to bring attention to students of color and their work. The first issue featured Ramon Guzman, executive director for the 2016 class gift campaign, and Ryan Valencia, then-president of the College Democrats. Adrienne Thompson is the founder and editor in chief.

September 1, 2015

Marcus A. Whitehurst is named Penn State’s vice provost for Educational Equity after holding the position in an interim capacity for more than a year. Dr. Whitehurst brings more than 20 years of experience in educational leadership to this role. He previously served as assistant vice provost for Educational Equity. He succeeded W. Terrell Jones, who died August 19, 2014, after an extended illness.

September, 2015

5,556 African American students are enrolled at Penn State, comprising (5.7%) of the student population. It is the first time the Hispanic student enrollment surpassed the African American student enrollment.

June, 2015

Penn State establishes the Restorative Justice Initiative (RJI) as part of the College of Education. The goal of the program is to give incarcerated individuals access to a wide range of for-credit classes that would count towards a degree. Studies have found that former prisoners who have advanced their education while in prison are less likely be re-incarcerated.

February 11, 2015

The idea of The Underground, a multicultural student-run media site devoted to telling the untold stories within the Penn State community, is first discussed after a presentation from CNN’s Soledad O’Brien on the Penn State University Park campus. Freshmen Candice Crutchfield and Adriana Lacy came up with the idea. After discussion with other students, the website (psuunderground.com) was created. The first contributors included a small group of friends: Candice Crutchfield, Adriana Lacy, Matthew Lamas, and Adam Tidball.

July, 2014

Kenneth C. Frazier (BA Lib 1975), named “Corporate Executive of the Year” by Black Enterprise Magazine

May 15, 2014

Wanda J. Blanchett (BA Edu 1997), an academic administrator with a long and deep commitment to diversity, was named dean of the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education.

February 26, 2014

Kevin Clark (PhD EDU 1994) is honored as a “Champion of Change” at a White House ceremony for his innovative approach to creating diversity and access in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. Dr. Clark currently serves as the director of George Mason University’s Center for Digital Media Innovation and Diversity and a professor in the College of Education and Human Development. His work focuses on the use of video game design to increase interest in STEM careers. The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to recognize individuals, businesses, and organizations doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities.

March, 2011

Tyrone Parham worked for Penn State University Police from 1989 -2016. He served as an auxiliary officer while a student and earned a bachelor’s degree in crime, law and justice and a master’s in workforce education and development, both from Penn State. After graduating, Parham became an officer for University Police. He was promoted several times, ultimately becoming director and chief in 2011.

During his tenure as chief of police at Penn State, Parham was responsible for the operation of police and security for University Park campus, responding to emergency situations, and coordinating with University leadership and local law enforcement. He served on a number of University and community boards and committees as well as professional associations. Among Parham’s accomplishments at Penn State was completing a six-month Police Executive Fellowship Program with the FBI, working with the National Joint Terrorism Task Force. He and another officer received a Pennsylvania Meritorious Service Medal for service to the Pennsylvania National Guard for their work with Operation Salute in September 2006.

Parham accepted an appointment as chief of police at the University of Massachusetts Amherst effective Jan. 11, 2016. (Source: psu.edu)

October 6, 2016

“All In at Penn State: A Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion” kicks off with a public rally in front of Old Main. The event, which was livestreamed to all Penn State campuses, launched an ongoing University-wide initiative to bring students, faculty, and staff together to cultivate a diverse and inclusive environment. President Eric Barron and Vice Provost for Educational Equity Marcus Whitehurst addressed the crowd; the Essence of Joy choir provided entertainment.

September 18, 2016

Keagan-Michael Key (MFA A&A 1996) wins a Primetime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Variety Sketch Show” for his Comedy Central TV show, “Key & Peele.” The show was ended after a successful 5-year run because Key and his co-star, Jordan Peele, wanted to pursue other opportunities.

September, 2016

Cumberland “Cum” Posey, Jr. (Sci 1911), who is recognized as the first known African American student athlete in Penn State history, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Posey enrolled at Penn State in 1909 and played forward on the freshman basketball team (1909- 10) and the varsity basketball team (1910-11), while also playing on the freshman baseball team (1910). He left Penn State after just two years and joined the Monticello Athletic Association, which later became the Loendi Big Five. By the following year, Posey was the star player and operator of the club. Loendi won the Colored Basketball World Championship four years in a row from 1920 to 1923. He was widely regarded as the best African American basketball player of his time. Along with his 2006 induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Posey became the only person enshrined at both sports halls of fame.

August 11, 2016

Nate Parker (Sci 2001) receives the Sundance Institute Vanguard Award for writing, directing and starring in “The Birth of a Nation.” The film, which received critical acclaim at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, centers on Nat Turner, a Virginia slave who used his fierce intellect, profound faith, and deep belief in his ability to change things to become a preacher and eventually lead a 48-hour rebellion in 1831—30 years before the American Civil War. Fox Searchlight acquired “The Birth of a Nation” for a festival-record $17.5M, The film also stars Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Penelope Ann Miller, Aunjanue Ellis, Mark Boone Junior and Aja Naomi King. “The Birth of a Nation” opened nationwide on October 7, 2016. Parker had previously starred in movies such as “Beyond the Lights,” “Red Tails,” “The Secret Life of Bees,” “The Great Debaters,” “Arbitrage,” “Non-Stop ,” “Felon” and “Pride.” During his time at Penn State, Parker was a nationally ranked wrestler for two seasons. Following a 2001 trial and acquittal for sexual assault, he transferred to the University of Oklahoma.

Penn State Abington permanently honored a prominent African-American architect who earned little recognition during his lifetime but whose work impacts the campus to this day. Students, faculty, and staff dedicated a bronze plaque to Julian Francis Abele, the architect of the iconic Sutherland Building. Abele designed the structure in 1916 for the Ogontz School for Girls, which occupied the Abington site until the principal donated it to Penn State in 1950.

January 5, 2016

Richard Ross, Jr. (BA Lib 1992) is sworn in as Philadelphia Police Commissioner, taking over the nation’s fourth-largest police department. He had previously served as deputy commissioner. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Ross had more than 27 years of service at the time he was sworn in.

December 10, 2015

Tanya R. Kennedy (BA Com 1989) is sworn in as a justice in the Supreme Court for the State of New York. Kennedy was a judge in the New York City Civil Court prior to her selection to the state supreme court. Kennedy is also active in a number of organizations including the New York Coalition of 100 Black Women, the NAACP, and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority

December 4, 2015

“Holding History: The Collections of Charles L Blockson” premieres at the Paterno Library’s Foster Auditorium. The documentary short tells the story of Charles Blockson’s (H&HS, 1956) lifelong journey to unearth, collect, and preserve the history, culture and contributions of people of African descent. The WPSU production was produced, directed and narrated by Cheraine Stanford. It was honored with a Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Award.

To view the documentary, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mns_wwH2U7M

September, 2015

Hispanic student enrollment (5,947 students/6.1%) surpasses African American student enrollment ( 5,556 students/5.7%) for the first time.

September 1, 2015

Marcus A. Whitehurst is named Penn State’s Vice Provost for Educational Equity after holding the position in an interim capacity for more than a year. He succeeded W. Terrell Jones, who died on August 19, 2014. Whitehurst had previously served as Assistant Vice Provost for Education Equity, a position he assumed in July 2007.

July 15, 2015

The dead body of 27-year-old Jasmin Wright (BS H&HD, 2011) was found in her West Philadelphia apartment. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Wright had just earned her master’s degree from Drexel University’s School of Public Health. Police eventually charged a 56-year-old former building handyman with the murder.

July 15, 2015

Devon Still (BA Lib 2011), a former Penn State Football Captain and All- American defensive lineman,  accepts the Jimmy V. Perseverance Award at the 2015 ESPYS in Los Angeles on behalf of his 5-year-old daughter, Leah. Leah Still was diagnosed with cancer in June 2014; her story inspired countless football fans around the world to raise millions of dollars for pediatric cancer research. Her good spirits and “never give up” attitude earned her the nickname “Leah Strong.” She went into remission in March 2015, but due to complications with her medication, was not well enough to attend the award ceremony. Devon Still, a Delaware native who was then playing for the NFL Cincinnati Bengals, was introduced by NBA superstar, LeBron James. When he took the stage, Still was greeted by a standing ovation from his peers. “I would beg [God] to give me the fight with death rather than my daughter,” he told the crowd in a very emotional speech. He continued, “At the age of four, my daughter hadn’t even begun to understand what life was all about. She’s the toughest person I’ve ever met and she has the mindset that nothing will hold her down.”

July 5, 2015

Tina Q. Richardson assumes the post of chancellor at Penn State Lehigh Valley. She previously served as associate dean of Academic Affairs at Drexel University’s School of Education.
Richardson earned her bachelor’s in psychology and master’s and doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Maryland.

March 23, 2015

Gregory Drane is selected as the first African American Blue Band Director. Drane became the assistant director for the Blue Band in 2005, putting him in charge of the pep band for women’s volleyball, along with the Pride of the Lions basketball pep band.

March 15, 2015

Charmelle Green is named Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator at Penn State. Green is responsible for the management, supervision, and evaluation of women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country and track and field, softball, and ability athletics.

December 2, 2014

Approximately 80 Penn State students protest in support of “Black Lives Matter” by lying motionless on the HUB-Robeson Center ground-floor. The primary catalyst for the protest, which lasted for several days, was the decision not to indict a police officer who shot and killed unarmed teenager, Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. The Black Leadership Union was the main organizer with various student organizations also participating, including the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Black Caucus, and the National Council of Negro Women. University President Eric Barron was photographed giving the “hands up” gesture alongside the student protesters.

May 6, 2014

Kyle Godwin, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sports Journalism and Broadcasting in 2008, wins an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Sports Documentary Series” for his role as an associate producer of ESPN’s “30 for 30” series. Godwin, a native of Philadelphia, is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He worked for ESPN for 6 years beforestarting his own film and multimedia production company entitled Marvalous Entertainment, LLC.

September 27, 2014

Kenya Crawford is elected 2014 Homecoming Queen, becoming the third straight African American to wear the crown. Crawford, a senior Human Development and Family Studies major, was active as a member of the Health and Human Development club and Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society. This Philadelphia native’s student involvement included serving as a research assistant for the Family Relationships Project and the Center for Healthy Aging. She also participated on the Women’s Leadership Initiative and Global Leadership Initiative Committees. As the president of Keep a Child Alive, a program designed to raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Crawford received an Undergraduate Discovery Summer Research Grant and represented Penn State internationally as a counseling intern in South Africa. Crawford became the seventh overall African American, and first openly lesbian to be elected Homecoming Queen at Penn State. 

August, 2014

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, is shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Missouri.

April 11, 2014

John Urschell was named the recipient of the 84th James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to America’s top amateur athlete.  Urschel was announced as the winner of the prestigious award during an awards ceremony at the AAU National Headquarters in Orlando, FL.  Urschel was selected from a pool of 19 semifinalists vying for the honor in 2014. First presented in 1930, the Sullivan Award honors an athlete who demonstrates the qualities of leadership, character, sportsmanship and the ideals of amateurism.

March 22, 2014

Nittany Lion wrestler (184 lbs), Ed Ruth, becomes Penn State’s first three-time NCAA champ.  In the finals Ruth beat previously undefeated Maryland senior Jimmy Sheptock 7-2.  Ruth had a record of 136 wins to just 3 defeats in his 4 year career at Penn State.  The victory also helped lead the Nittany Lions to their fourth straight NCAA team championship.

February 3, 2014

The Black Student Union, hoping to battle different stereotypes facing African Americans, launched the “WE ARE BLACK” campaign.  Secretary of BSU Chantelle Beachum said they painted the exposed skin of different volunteers with common stereotypes and photographed them for the campaign.  “We hope to combat these stereotypes by presenting them to the Penn State community and creating a more accurate, untold perception of African Americans that we all strive to be,” Beachum told the Daily Collegian.

January 11, 2014

James Franklin hired as Penn State’s sixteenth head football coach, succeeding Bill O’Brien.  Franklin, 41, a native of Langhorne, Bucks County, had led Vanderbilt to three successful season prior to becoming Penn State’s first African American head football coach.

December 10, 2013

John Urschel, Nittany Lion offensive lineman, wins the 2013 William V. Campbell Trophy, given to college football’s top scholar-athlete. Sometimes called the “Academic Heisman,” the award specifically recognizes “an individual as the absolute best in the country for his academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership,”
With the award, Urschel received $25,000 to go toward his post-graduate work. Urschel graduated in three years with a degree in math, later earned his master’s degree in math, and continued to work toward a second master’s in math education. The lineman plans to pursue a Ph.D. upon completion of his football career. Urschel was Penn State’s first recipient of the award.

October 12, 2013

Rhonda Bates is elected 2013 Homecoming Queen. Originally from Philadelphia, Rhonda was majoring in Human Development and Family Studies. She served as president of the Student Minority Advisory and Recruitment Team (SMART) and as co-director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Day of Service.  Rhonda became the second straight African American to be elected Homecoming Queen at Penn State, and the fifth overall to wear the crown.

August, 2013

Miles Chamley-Watson, (2013), made history by becoming the first man from the U.S. to win a Senior World Fencing Championship title.  The 2013 world championships were held in Budapest, Hungary.  Chamley-Watson had represented the U.S. during the 2012 Olympics, and was an All-American fencer at Penn State. 

April 14, 2013

Jalon Alexander elected president of the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSC).  Alexander, a student in Letters, Arts, and Sciences had served as president of the Penn State Mount Alto Student Government Association, and was tapped in January 2013 to serve as the student representative on the University Presidential Search and Screen Committee.  Alexander would expectantly resign the CCSC presidency on January 27, 2014

October 5, 2012

Tracey Edouard, a senior – public relations and advertising major, is elected 2012 Homecoming Queen.  The Huntington, NY native becomes only the fourth African American woman to hold the crown.  A violinist and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society member, Edouard was involved in a wide range of campus activities including orchestra, a resident assistant, and head of the women’s volleyball student section

April 21, 2012

A bust of alumnus David Alston was unveiled at the Nittany Lion Inn.  Penn State’s first African-American football player, Alston played on the 1941 freshman team, along with his younger brother, Harry. Alston died from complications following minor surgery on Aug. 15, 1942, six weeks before the varsity season began.  The bust, sculpted and donated by Penn State Professor of Art Blake Ketchum, is on displayed at the Penn State All-Sports Museum

April 20, 2012

A State College Historical Marker is dedicated at “Lincoln Hall,” the former boarding home for colored male students from the late 1930s to the early 1950s.  Lincoln Hall served as an unofficial colored dormitory and sanctuary for early African American Penn State students. The ceremony was held at the119 North Barnard Street location, and included two of the three surviving former Lincoln Hall residents, Clayton Wilson III ‘49 and Wally Triplett ‘49

April 17, 2012

The State College Borough Council voted 5 to 2 in favor of renaming Fraser Plaza to “Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza”. Borough Council president Don Hahn expressed his full support, saying that the more diverse population of Penn State and State College were a reflection of King’s success.

March 16, 2012

Penn State’s Board of Trustees approved a name change and reorganization for the Department of African and African American Studies (AAAS) in the College of the Liberal Arts. The renamed Department of African American Studies reflects a focus on African American topics. The African Studies Program will be created as a separate entity.

December, 2011

The Southern Africa Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association was launched in Soweto, South Africa.  This is the first chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association in Sub-Saharan Africa.

October 20, 2006

Shartaya Mollett, a Pittsburgh resident and a human development and family studies major, becomes the third African American to hold the crown. 

Beverly McIver was born in Greensboro, NC in 1962. She is the youngest of three girls born to Ethel McIver. She is legal guardian to her eldest sister Renee, who is mentally disabled. McIver’s efforts to balance her career with the challenges of her role as caretaker are chronicled in the HBO2 documentary, Raising Renee. 

McIver is widely acknowledged as a significant presence in contemporary American art in general and has charted a new direction as an African American woman artist. She is committed to producing art that consistently examines racial, gender, social and occupational identity.
 
Her work is in the collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, NC, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the NCCU Museum of Art, the Asheville Museum of Art, The Crocker Art Museum and the Nelson Fine Arts Museum on the campus of Arizona State University.
 
She is currently the Suntrust Endowed Chair Professor of Art at North Carolina Central University. Prior to this appointment, McIver taught at Arizona State University, Duke University, North Carolina State University and North Carolina Central University. She has also held residencies at many of the nation’s leading artist communities and has served on the board at Penland School of Arts and Crafts and currently serves on the board of directors at YADDO in Saratoga Springs, NY.
 
McIver’s work has been reviewed in Art News, Art in America, and The New York Times and a host of local newspapers.  She has received numerous grants and awards including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and a Radcliffe Fellowship from Harvard University.

In 2010, McIver received the Penn State Alumni Fellow Award, which is the highest award given by the Penn State Alumni Association and is presented for outstanding professional accomplishments.

McIver earned a bachelor’s degree in art from North Carolina Central University, a master of fine arts degree in painting from Pennsylvania State University and an honorary doctorate from North Carolina Central University.

Guion S. “Guy” Bluford (BS Eng 1964) was the first African American to go to space on August 30, 1983, as a member of the crew aboard the third flight of the space shuttle Challenger.

After graduating from Penn State in 1964 with a B.S. in aerospace engineering, he entered active duty with the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a pilot during the Vietnam War. He earned an M.S. in aerospace engineering in 1974 and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering and laser physics in 1978, both from the Air Force Institute of Technology. Bluford earned an M.B.A. in 1987 from the University of Houston, Clear Lake.

Bluford was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1978. Bluford’s 1983 mission aboard the space shuttle Challenger included the deployment of an Indian communications satellite and the first launch and landing of a space shuttle at night.

In November 1985, Bluford again flew aboard the space shuttle Challenger on a mission dedicated to German scientific experiments. Bluford’s third spaceflight was aboard the space shuttle Discovery in April 1991.

In 1993, Bluford resigned from the Air Force and NASA to become vice president of the Engineering Services Division of NYMA Inc. in Greenbelt, Md. In 1997, he became vice president of the Aerospace Sector of Federal Data Corporation, and in 2000, Bluford became vice president of Microgravity R&D and Operations for the Northrop Grumman Corporation. 

Bluford has served on numerous boards including the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the National Research Council’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, the Aerospace Corporation, and the Space Foundation. He is currently president of the Aerospace Technology Group in Cleveland, Oh.

Guion Bluford was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1997, and he was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on June 5, 2010.

He received the Pennsylvania Society’s Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement. Each year, since 1909, the Society presents its Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement to a prominent person in recognition of leadership, citizenship and contributions to the arts, science, education and industry.  Past recipients have included Dwight D. Eisenhower, Joe Paterno, Bill Cosby, and Henry Ford.

(First flight footage courtesy of NASA)

Penn State freshman cornerback Adam Taliaferro (BS Lib 2005) was seriously injured in a nationally televised football game against Ohio State on September 23, 2000. Despite being told he might not walk again, within a year Taliaferro completed a determined and courageous recovery. Though he would never again play college football, on September 1, 2001, Taliaferro miraculously led the Nittany Lions onto the field to start a new season.

On November 8, 2011, Taliaferro won a seat on the Gloucester County (NJ) Board of Freeholders.

October 23, 2011

Edward N. Thompson, Penn State director of development for Office of Educational Equity, died from a heart attack while running the Tussey Mountainback Relay in Rothrock State Forest (PA). Thompson, 58, had bypass surgery 13 years earlier, but was a lifelong athlete.  The former president of the Forum on Black Affairs spent most of his Penn State career raising funds to allow more minorities, veterans and disabled students to attend the university. Thompson was a very proud member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

September 20, 2011

Roland Fryer (PhD Bus 2002), professor of economics, Harvard University, is named as a recipient of the 2011 MacArthur Foundation Genius Award.  MacArthur Fellows each receive $500,000 in no-strings-attached support over a five year period.  The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction. There are three criteria for selection of Fellows: exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment, and potential for the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.

Fryer is an economist illuminating the causes and consequences of economic disparity due to race and inequality in American society. Through innovative empirical and theoretical investigations, Fryer has opened up a range of topics to quantitative analysis, offering new insights on such issues as the cognitive underpinnings of racial discrimination, labor market inequalities, and, in particular, the educational trajectory of minority children.  In January 2008, at age 30, he became the youngest African American to receive tenure at Harvard University.  He has been the recipient of a number of honors, including a Sloan Fellowship, the Calvó-Armengol International Prize, and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. He was listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2009.

Source: The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Photo courtesy of The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation