Diversity
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The PWI Experience: Black Students Building Forms of Community at Georgia’s Flagship Institution
College dropouts have a grip on the U.S. economy, amounting to $6.2 billion in taxpayer money lost after students make the decision to call it quits. A substantial 30.6% of those dropouts are Black students, according to the Education Data Initiative and the American Institute for Research. That’s nearly double the…
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Joy Village School Offers New Chances for Local Black Youth
Books focusing on Black history and pride fill the shelves of a library. Along the walls, there are posters about historical Black figures, like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, and there’s even a Juneteenth flag proudly hung in the center of a classroom. Walking around the Joy Village…
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Valerie Boyd Recognized For Her Impact on Writing Community by Georgia Writers Hall of Fame
On April 12, the personal journals of Alice Walker — Georgia native, literary revolutionist and the first-ever Black woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize in fiction — will be released to the public. Walker chose a University of Georgia professor to work with her to publish “Gathering Blossoms Under Fire:…
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Study Abroad Is Priceless — Except When It’s Not
Ben Barrett was having a great time studying abroad in Leon, France in the spring of 2020 until he was informed that his program was being canceled due to ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19. He had 24 hours to book a flight back to the U.S. Barrett, a senior at the…
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A New Era: Number of Female Politicians Grows in Athens
In 2021, women across the country have changed history by winning seats in elected office on various levels for the first time in history. A progressive pocket in Northeast Georgia, Clarke County, has been leading this charge for the last several years and continues to do so. Currently, the county…
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‘Queer People Shake $#*! Up’: LGBTQ Representation in Government and the Driving Force Behind It
The LGBTQ Victory Fund, founded in 1991, is the only national organization dedicated to electing openly LGBTQ people to all levels of government in an effort to “achieve and sustain equality.” The Victory Fund provides campaign, communications and fundraising support to LGBTQ candidates nationwide, while its sister organization, the LGBTQ…
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Without Words: How the Arts Connect Us
Alexia Benavent-Rivera left a part of herself in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico when her family, unable to survive in the declining tourist economy, sold its three-building shopping center, packed up and moved to the United States in the summer of 2006. Benavent-Rivera remembers bawling at the airport as she said goodbye…
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More Than Skin Deep: Effect of Racial Disparities, Discrimination on Black Children’s Development
As more Americans begin to understand the insidious nature of racism and discrimination faced by Black Americans, little attention has been given to the impact of racism from the very beginning of Black Americans’ lives. Research shows, however, that structural and interpersonal racism experienced during the first 18 years…
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Charlayne Hunter-Gault: 60 Years After Making History at UGA
The year 2021 marks the 60th Anniversary of the desegregation of the University of Georgia. An exhibit at the main library on the campus of UGA, honors people like Hamilton Holmes, who passed away on Oct. 26, 1995, and Charlayne Hunter-Gault, the two students who desegregated UGA in January…
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Revisiting a Forgotten Athens Cemetery: Updates and Community Connections
The atmosphere in Brooklyn Cemetery holds the stories of past Athens residents and represents a strong tie to the past. Local residents are working to restore Brooklyn Cemetery, a historically Black cemetery in Athens, Georgia after it fell into disrepair in the 1980s. As volunteers continue to beautify the cemetery,…