Similar to Former President Barak Obama’s Favorites of the Year on Instagram, the Black Student Association has come together to create the following list of iconic and influential Black LGBTQIA+ individuals. We encourage you to explore our suggestions and even come up with your own! Happy Learning and Exploring!
Each year, the Marie Fielder Center for Democracy, Leadership, and Education recognizes an individual that has made a significant contribution on the national stage to advancing the cause of social justice with the prestigious Marie Fielder Medal for Social Transformation. Dr. Marie Fielder Past recipients include Dr. Walter Bumphus, President of the American Association for Community Colleges, Dr. Gary Orfield, Co-Director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, Dr. Patricia Gurin, Nancy Cantor Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Psychology and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan, American labor leader Dolores Huerta, and social justice activist, writer, and [...]
Media Psychology Program alum Dr. Lawrence Drake, II, appointed Interim President at Bethune-Cookman University. Lawrence M. Drake II, Ph.D. According to Ormond Beach Observer, Drake currently serves as Dean of B-CU’s College of Business and Entrepreneurship and has been instrumental in designing and co-sponsoring the University’s strategic review process, “Re-Imagining B-CU: Now, Next and Beyond.” Drake will continue serving as CBE’s dean in his new interim role. Drake enjoyed an impressive 21-year career with The Coca-Cola Company, where he held several key positions, including Division President & CEO of Nigeria and Equatorial Africa Division. This role included global [...]
Monique Morris, Ed.D. When Monique W. Morris, Ed.D. ‘13 was in the sixth grade, she got into a fight. It wasn’t her first, but fighting at school made this time different. A classmate who had taunted her for weeks stepped on her shoe in gym class and refused to apologize. It didn’t matter that her opponent was taller and bigger, she grabbed the boy and flung him to the ground, the way she learned to do in her judo class. She could have been “pushed out” of school or arrested that day for fighting. Today, Dr. Morris said, [...]
On the Occasion of Juneteenth A Time of Remembrance and Action A year ago this month, the U.S. federal government officially declared June 19 a holiday in observance of Juneteenth. On that day in 1865, enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned from Union Army soldiers that the Civil War had ended and they were no longer legally enslaved. That news came late—two and half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was ratified on January 1, 1863. In 2021, the swift passage of bills that created the holiday did not allow time for Fielding to officially observe Juneteenth (a blend of [...]
Nearly 40 years ago, business and community leader Beverly J. Dorsey Stevenson, Ph.D. (2013) learned about the abiding yet forbidden Civil War-era relationship between Edward Ruthven Taylor, the white son of a prominent Texas slave broker, and Ann George, a Black enslaved woman his family owned. Dr. Beverly Stevenson and her husband Major William Stevenson spent decades unearthing and protecting a little-known American story that was their own. [ALL PHOTOS: Courtesy of Dr. Beverly Dorsey Stevenson] The story was passed along via the couple’s great-grandson, Major William Stevenson Sr., whom Dr. Stevenson was dating at the time and who would later [...]
The National Native American Hall of Fame announced on June 1 that Patricia Zell, J.D., secretary of Fielding’s Board of Trustees, will be inducted into this year’s slate of nine honorees. Patricia Zell, J.D. Zell, who is of Arapaho/Navajo descent, is a partner in Zell & Cox Law, P.C., where she specializes in law affecting American Indians, Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians. Prior to entering private practice, Zell served for more than two decades as chief counsel and staff director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. "We are thrilled that Trustee Patricia Zell has been inducted [...]
by Zabrina Epps, Fellow, Marie Fielder Center for Democracy, Leadership, and Education. Abstract Purpose: This study examines education system leaders as agents of equity and future education systems by exploring their perceptions of themselves in the role. Methodology: The research employed in-depth, semi-structured interviews with seven superintendents throughout North America to obtain their perceptions of themselves as equity advocates and of possible alternative futures of their school districts. Findings: Six categories of leader agency (i.e., the capacities for intentionality, forethought, action, and reflection; Bandura, 2006) emerged from the narratives. Recommendations: Educational leadership training, certification criteria, and professional development should integrate [...]
Today is the start of Pride Month across the nation and in many countries elsewhere in the world. Fielding Graduate University’s global learning community is proud to join with 2SLGBTQIA+ people in this hard-won recognition of the valuable contributions and achievements they continue to make in the world. Rich in diversity, this community embraces individuals who identify as Two-Spirit (2S), Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual, and many other identities. Fielding stands in solidarity, not only with the ongoing struggle that many who are 2SLGBTQIA+ wage against injustice, violence, and discrimination, but with those 2SLGBTQIA+ people of color who [...]
June Rumiko Klein, Ed.D.'10, an award-winning business and civic leader, is Fielding Graduate University’s new vice president and chief financial officer. In the role since April 2022, Klein serves as a key member of President Katrina Rogers’ leadership team and heads Fielding’s Department of Administration and Facilities. She also oversees all financial resources for the University—including treasury responsibilities, insurance, and grants administration. Before she joined Fielding, Klein was vice president for business affairs and CFO at Palo Alto University, positions she held for 20 years. June Rumiko Klein, Ed.D. Since stepping into her new position, the former Fielding [...]
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