2012 News

Wei LAB Director, Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson, received Iowa State University’s 2012 Outstanding Young Alumni Award. The award recognizes ISU alumni under 40 who have excelled in their professional areas and have provided service to their communities.

The Iowa State University College of Human Sciences also honored Dr. Jackson, along with 7 other alumni, for their professional excellence. Three of the honorees were men of color, and were honored by an institution whose most famous alum is George Washington Carver. Dr. Jackson received his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Iowa State University before beginning his career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and founding the Wei LAB.

Diverse UW-Madison’s Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Office Dr. Damon Williams is featured on the cover of a 2012 issue of Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. His feature highlights his expertise on issues surrounding diversity and inclusion in higher education and how he is increasing diversity and inclusion practices at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to achieve educational excellence.

Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson was named the Vilas Distinguished Professor of Higher Education effective July 1, 2012. The Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorships recognize professors whose scholarship has advanced the confines of knowledge, and whose excellence has included teaching or service. Dr. Jackson will hold this distinction for the remainder of his career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Jackson was also selected as the 2012 recipient of the Dr. Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Exemplary Scholarship. This award is given annually, on behalf of the Multicultural/Multiethnic Education (MME) Special Interest Group (SIG) of AERA, to one exemplary scholar/practitioner based upon the following criteria: (a) illustrating effort in producing scholarship which advances multicultural and multiethnic education within all educational, cultural, societal and social settings, contexts, levels and locations; and (b) a demonstrated commitment to underserved communities beyond scholarship with evidence of improving the practical conditions experienced by multicultural/multiethnic communities.

Wei LAB and Athletics form Partnership The University of Wisconsin-Madison has developed an initiative to strengthen the post-graduation trajectories for student-athletes. The University’s “Beyond the Game Initiative” confronts the challenge of student-athletes who face the end of their eligibility to play without identifying viable careers beside professional sports. The program is open to all student-athletes. Black Male student-athletes are strongly encouraged to participate as research has shown that they are less likely to graduate than their peers. The initiative results from collaboration between WCER’s Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) and the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. The “Beyond the Game Initiative” is funded by the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, the Lumina Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement.

The Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) held its 37th annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada November 14-17, 2012. ASHE convenes annually as a community of scholars dedicated to the study of higher education. Dr. LaVar Charleston and Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson presented “Arizona’s Rising STEM Occupational Demands and Declining Participation in the Scientific Workforce: An Examination of Attitudes among African Americans toward STEM College Majors and Careers.” Dr. Charleston and Barbara Escobar also presented, “Navigating Underrepresented STEM Spaces: Experiences of Black Women in U.S. Computing Science Programs who Actualize Success.”

Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) co-sponsored the International Colloquium on Black Males in Education’s 2012 Colloquium entitled, “Global Research on the Black Male Educational Pipeline Colloquium: International Perspectives to Inform Local Solutions.” This was held on November 8-10, 2012 at the University of Leeds in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The colloquium served as a space for researchers to exchange ideas and examine the global dynamics of Black males in the educational pipeline with a mission to catalyze discussion and ideas that can be implemented to aid and improve the experiences of Black males.

ICBME 2012 gathered researchers from numerous universities and institutions within and outside of the United Kingdom to discuss and highlight international perspectives on realities for Black males in Education. As part of the event, senior researchers presented research that will appear in a special theme issue with Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education: An International Journal. Undergraduate and graduate student participants also took part in workshops designed to enhance their academic and professional profile.

The colloquium was also sponsored by Worldwide Universities Network, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of International Studies Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, University of Leeds, and The Ohio State University.

Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson, Director of the Wei LAB and Vilas Distinguished Professor of Higher Education, chaired the event along with co-chair Dr. James L. Moore III, Professor of Counseling Education and Director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male at The Ohio State University.