Higher Education Headlines: June 9
By Sheryl E. Taylor
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Prairie View A&M to Launch a Race and Justice Center in Wake of George Floyd Death
Houston Chronicle
Prairie View A&M University is launching a Center for Race and Justice and requiring a mandatory class on the history of race for incoming students in the wake of the tragic death of Houston native George Floyd. [Subscription Required]
Rice Group Raises More Than $90K for Houston Advocacy Groups
Houston Chronicle
A group of Rice University students set out to raise $2,500 for locally based advocacy groups in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Instead, they raised almost $100,000 in just 24 hours. [Subscription Required]
Texas Colleges Expect Larger Online Summer Classes as Students Lose Jobs, Internships
The Texas Tribune
School officials, still reeling financially from shutting down their campuses mid-semester, are unclear what the summer surge signals for their fall enrollment. [Free Subscription Required]
Coronavirus in Texas: UT is Putting Its 400 Biggest Classes Online
The Texas Tribune
The University of Texas at Austin is putting its biggest classes online next fall, officials there told The Daily Texan — the campus paper. The rest of its classes — about 11,000 — will be conducted in person. [Free Subscription Required]
As George Floyd Protests Rock Cities, Students and Presidents Condemn Systemic Racism
The Chronicle of Higher Education
In Minneapolis, where the uprisings began, the president of the University of Minnesota, Joan T. Gabel, announced that she was cutting some of its ties with the city’s police department. The announcement followed a demand by the student-body president, Jael Kerandi, that the university server its partnership with the force. [Free Subscription Required]
TSU Makes Temporary Changes to Admission Requirements Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
Houston Chronicle
Texas Southern University’s board of regents voted to waive test score requirements for the upcoming academic year for student applicants who are in the top 25 percent of their class and also earn a 3.0 minimum GPA. [Subscription Required]
As COVID-19 Constrains SAT Capacity, College Board Urges Admissions Offices to ‘Provide Flexibility’
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The novel coronavirus slammed the door on more than a million first-time SAT takers in the high-school class of 2021 who weren’t able to sit for the exam this spring. [Free Subscription Required]
Judge Orders Baylor to Turn Over Pepper Hamilton Documents
Houston Chronicle
A federal magistrate judge issued a sharply worded order that requires Baylor University to provide documents prepared by the Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton to attorneys for 15 women who are suing Baylor for alleged Title IX violations. [Subscription Required]
Prairie View A&M President Named to Dallas Fed’s Houston Board
Houston Chronicle
Prairie View A&M University President Ruth Simmons was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board of directors of the Houston branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Fed said announced. [Subscription Required]
Texas A&M System Makes Plans For How to Handle In-Person Instruction For This Fall
The Texas Tribune
Texas A&M University System officials voted systemwide guidance for the fall semester. While some face-to-face classes will resume, many will be conducted in a hybrid model, using a combination of online and in-person instruction. [Free Subscription Required]
The University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) is the second-largest university in Houston and has served the educational needs of the nation’s fourth-largest city since 1974. As one of four distinct public universities in the University of Houston System, UHD is a comprehensive, four-year university led by President Loren J. Blanchard. Annually, UHD educates approximately 14,000 students, boasts more than 66,000 alumni, and offers 45 bachelor’s degrees, 12 master’s degrees, and 19 online programs within four colleges: Marilyn Davies College of Business, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Public Service, and College of Sciences and Technology. UHD has one of the lowest tuition rates in Texas.
U.S. News and World Report ranked UHD among the nation’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Applied Administration and Best Online Master’s Programs in Criminal Justice, as well as a Top Performer in Social Mobility. The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse ranked UHD one of the best colleges in the U.S. for its 2024 rankings, with notable distinctions: No. 1 for diversity (tied) and No. 3 for student experience. The University is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a Minority-Serving Institution, and a Military Friendly School. For more information on the University of Houston-Downtown, visit uhd.edu.
