JoAnn Pavletich, University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) associate professor of English, was elected treasurer for the Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins Society—a national academic literary society. Pavletich has been an active member in the society, participating in the annual conference, and published on the works of Pauline Hopkins in peer-reviewed venues. Pavletich's term lasts three years.

"My participation in the Hopkins Society along with my scholarly publications on her novels is part of my larger commitment to ending racial injustice and inequality," said Pavletich. "I'm honored by the trust that the society has placed in me and look forward to continuing to bring Hopkins's life and work to readers in and out of universities."

Hopkins (1858-1930) was an African American playwright, singer, novelist, editor of the Colored American Magazine and in the decades around the turn of the twentieth century, an important public intellectual with an unwavering commitment to pursuing racial justice and equality. The Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins Society encourages interest, scholarship and dialogue on Pauline Hopkins's life and writings, and the issues she explored.