racial justice
A second public university in Kentucky closes its diversity office under GOP lawmakers’ pressure
A second Kentucky public university has disbanded its diversity office under pressure from Republican lawmakers. Northern Kentucky University President Cady Short-Thompson wrote in an email to campus: “The circumstances under which universities across the Commonwealth and the country find themselves, coupled with the legislative priorities of state leaders for the upcoming session, require universities to […]
Federal government pays $2 billion for farmer discrimination
Tens of thousands of farmers or would-be farmers who say they suffered discrimination when they applied for assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will get one-time payments that total about $2 billion from the federal government. “While this financial assistance is not compensation for anyone’s losses or pain endured, it is an acknowledgement,” U.S. […]
‘Larger than life’ sociologist who broke down racial barriers at University of Kentucky dies at 88
Doris Y. Wilkinson, a University of Kentucky sociologist and part of its first class of Black undergraduates, died June 23. She was 88.? Wilkinson entered UK in 1954, the year a U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawed racial segregation in public education and the first year that Kentucky’s flagship public university accepted Black undergraduates. She had […]
Beshear makes Juneteenth a Kentucky holiday, protects natural hair in state workplaces
Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday signed executive orders making Juneteenth an executive branch holiday and protecting natural hairstyles like braids, locs and twists from discrimination.? Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have tried and failed to pass bills on both of these issues.? CROWN Act stalls in legislature Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, is among those […]
No money to build new nursing school raises old question: ‘When will it be Kentucky State’s time?’
FRANKFORT — Kentucky State University requested $50 million this year to build a nursing school for its growing class of future health care providers. The legislature ultimately rejected the request, even though Kentucky enjoys a record-high revenue surplus and suffers from a shortage of nurses. “The real tragedy is that we had the money to […]
10,000 Kentuckians marched to demand racial equality. My grandmother was one of them.
I never got a chance to ask my grandmother about what March 5, 1964 was like for her. What she heard from speakers on the steps of the Kentucky Capitol. If she saw Martin Luther King Jr. or Jackie Robinson. What she felt standing with thousands of others from across Kentucky. She didn’t speak much […]
As Kentucky lawmakers push anti-DEI bills, Black scholars define diversity
FRANKFORT — Against the backdrop of the Kentucky General Assembly considering a couple of bills that would limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in education, a panelist of Black scholars and academics met to define the state’s past and present with DEI.? The discussion concluded the Kentucky Legislative Black Caucus’ annual Black History Speakers Series […]
On party lines, Kentucky Senate OKs bill to curb diversity, equity, inclusion in higher education
FRANKFORT — Kentucky Senate Republicans passed a bill aimed at curbing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in public universities and colleges Tuesday.? Senate Bill 6 was sent to the House on a party line vote with 26 Republicans voting in favor and seven Democrats voting against it.? The sponsor, Senate Republican Whip Mike Wilson, of […]
Conservative student testifies ‘I’m used to being in the minority’ as anti-diversity bill advances
FRANKFORT — A bill that would curb diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in Kentucky’s public universities advanced from a legislative committee Thursday after undergoing several changes. The original Senate Bill 6 would have allowed employees and students to sue public universities and colleges on grounds they were discriminated against for rejecting “divisive concepts.” Under […]
‘They are important to us’: Remains of Sisseton Wahpeton children returning home
Amos La Framboise and Edward Upright didn’t know that they’d never see their homes and families again. The boys, of the Spirit Lake and Lake Traverse bands of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, set off to Pennsylvania in 1879 to attend the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. They didn’t know they would die at the school before […]
States urged by Biden administration to rectify underfunding of land-grant HBCUs
States engaged in decades of underfunding land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities, leading to a more than $12 billion disparity with comparable white institutions, leaders of the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday. “Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities to […]
Hopkinsville police to undergo diversity training after video stirs controversy
In the wake of an officer’s controversial social media post that drew both support and outrage from community members and tens of thousands of TikTok users, Hopkinsville Police Chief Jason Newby says he’s coordinating plans for all officers to undergo diversity training. Officer Jerimiah Kline came under fire early this month after posting a TikTok […]