BU to host National Black Graduate Student Association
BU will host the National Black Graduate Student Association's (NBGSA) 2008 northeast regional conference. The conference, "The Fierce Urgency of Now: Black Scholars in a Rapidly Changing World," will be held Friday to Sunday, Nov. 14 to 16, in the Kehr Union.
The National Black Graduate Student Association, in existence for 20 years, aims to improve the status of African Americans in higher education. The nonprofit group offers leadership training, professional development, mentoring opportunities and career placement services. The northeast region includes New York, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Events will begin at BU on Friday, Nov. 14, with an opening discussion, "Challenges and Charges - Have We Finally Reached Equality?" by Edward Summers, a doctoral student at The New School and NBGSA northeast regional representative. Summers also will open Saturday's activities.
S. Ekema Agbaw, interim director of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Frederick Douglass Institute and professor of English at BU, will deliver Saturday's keynote address, "The Fierce Urgency of Now: Black Scholars in a Rapidly Changing World," following a welcome by BU President David L. Soltz.
Other conference participants are: Dan Knorr, mayor of the Town of Bloomsburg and a 2007 BU graduate; James E. Mackin, BU provost and vice president for academic affairs; and these BU faculty and staff members: Vivian Yenika-Agbaw, professor of English education; W.
Emeka Obiozor, assistant professor of exceptionality programs; Wazi Apoh, assistant professor of anthropology; Pamela Wynn, professor of management; George Agbango, professor of politics and public administration; Kambon Camara, assistant professor of counseling and human development; Irvin Wright, assistant to the provost and vice president for academic affairs for diversity initiatives; and Alicia K. Redfern, associate professor of psychology. Ivan B. Turnipseed, a former Frederick Douglass teaching scholar, will take part in panel discussions and breakout sessions throughout the day.
Sessions will focus on a range in topics, from "Dissertation and Thesis Writing: How to Get Over the Slump and Just Get it Done" to "Making the Transition from Undergraduate to Graduate School." A panel discussion, "Black Youth and Education," will be lead by Judy R. Wright, a retired Central Columbia Elementary School teacher and 1982 BU alumna; a second panel discussion will center on "President-Elect Obama and the Black Community."
The conference concludes Sunday afternoon with a networking brunch. For more information, contact Robert Wislock, deputy to the president for social equity, at, or Ivan Turnipseed, immediate past president, NBGSA.