MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 14 -- Rhodes College issued the following news release: Caki Wilkinson '03 has won the 2010 Vassar Miller Prize in Poetry (http://web3.unt.edu/untpress/potential_authors.cfm#subvassar). American poet J.D. McClatchy selected her poetry manuscript, "Circles Where the Head Should Be," out of a pool of 350 manuscripts. It will be published next spring by the University of North Texas Press. Bernal Smith II '95 is new Publisher and President of Memphis' Tri-State Defender   more

DANVILLE, Va., April 15 -- Averett University issued the following news release: Virginia Court of Appeals Judge and Averett graduate the Hon. Rossie Alston Jr. will deliver the university's Spring Commencement address May 1 during a 10:30 a.m. ceremony in Averett's E. Stuart James Grant Center. More than 330 graduates are expected to receive diplomas. Alston graduated from Averett in 1979 with a degree in history and later graduated fifth in his class from North Carolina Central Universit  more

WASHINGTON, April 15 -- Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif. (34th CD), issued the following news release: Citing statistics that show 53 percent of Latina and 51 percent of African American teenage girls will become pregnant at least once before they turn 20, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) introduced H.R. 5033 Communities of Color Teen Pregnancy Prevention Act of 2010 to provide needed resources and educational programs to reduce teen pregnancies in minority communities. "Tee  more

WASHINGTON, April 15 -- Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill. (7th CD), issued the following news release: Congressmen Danny K. Davis and Steve Cohen today joined U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Al Franken (D-MN) to introduce legislation in both the Senate and the House that will restore fairness in student lending by treating privately issued student loans in bankruptcy the same as other types of private debt. Before changes were made to the bankruptcy code in 2005,   more

ST. LOUIS, April 14 -- The Siteman Cancer Center issued the following news release: Using powerful DNA sequencing technology to decode the genomes of cancer patients, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine and the Siteman Cancer Center are getting an unprecedented look at the genetic basis of a highly lethal breast cancer that disproportionately affects younger women and those who are African-American. Scientists have decoded the entire genome -- all the DNA -- of a 44-year  more

WASHINGTON, April 15 -- The office of Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Al Franken (D-MN) today joined U.S. Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Danny Davis (D-IL) to introduce legislation in both the Senate and the House that will restore fairness in student lending by treating privately issued student loans in bankruptcy the same as other types of private debt. Before changes were made to the   more

DEKALB, Ill., April 15 -- Northern Illinois University issued the following news release: The College of Engineering and Engineering Technology at Northern Illinois University has been selected once again as one of 30 institutions nationwide that will host the Exxon Mobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp Program. The announcement came on the 15th anniversary of Dr. Harris' historic space walk on Feb. 9, 1995, while aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. "Much in my life has changed since  more

HOLLAND, Mich., April 15 -- Hope College issued the following news release: Dr. Albert Bell, professor of history at Hope College, is the author of a new middle-grade novel, "The Secret of the Bradford House," published this month. The second in a series, the mystery is set around Lake Barkley, in southwest Kentucky, where Bell's in-laws had a houseboat. In 2008 Bell's first middle-grade novel, "The Secret of the Lonely Grave," won the Evelyn Thurman Young Readers' Award, given by the W  more

WASHINGTON, April 15 -- People for the American Way issued the following statement by Michael B. Keegan: Dr. Benjamin Hooks died today at the age of 85. Michael B. Keegan, President of People For the American Way, issued the following statement: "The Board and staff of People For the American Way was saddened to learn of the death of Dr. Benjamin Hooks, whose leadership in the civil rights movement of the last 60 years has facilitated profound change in our country and has inspired generat  more

WASHINGTON, April 15 -- House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., issued the following news release: House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement on the passing of civil rights leader Benjamin L. Hooks: "It is with great sadness that I mark the passing of a civil rights icon, Benjamin L. Hooks. For over fifty years, Hooks dedicated his life to the pursuit of justice as he fought for equal rights for all Americans. Emerging as a leader of the Civil Rights M  more

WASHINGTON, April 15 -- The American Association for the Advancement of Science issued the following news release: National innovation and competitiveness depends on a steady supply of engineers, but women and minorities remain underrepresented in undergraduate engineering classrooms. A new study of undergraduate engineering students in the United States shows gender and ethnicity differences in how comfortable students feel in engineering classrooms and suggests strategies that may improve t  more

AMHERST, Mass., April 14 -- Amherst University issued the following news release: When visiting professor of music and saxophonist Jason Robinson (http://www3.amherst.edu/%7Ejrobinson/) takes the stage at Buckley Recital Hall for a concert with pianist Myra Melford April 25, he'll have one very important issue on his mind that most musicians usually don't: whether or not his Web stream will drop. He and Melford--who will play that evening on the West Coast from the University of California  more

BOSTON, April 15 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts issued the following news release: A Medford man was arrested today and charged in federal court with mailing threatening letters to churches and offices of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division; Robert Bethel, Inspector in Charge of the U.S.  more

ROANOKE, Va., April 15 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia issued the following news release: William A. "Bill" White, the self-proclaimed commander of the neo-Nazi group the American National Socialist Workers Party, was sentenced today in federal court for threatening two individuals and for attempting to intimidate litigants in a federal housing discrimination lawsuit, the Justice Department announced. White was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James C. Turk to 30   more

ALBANY, N.Y., April 15 -- Gov. David Paterson, D-N.Y., issued the following statement: "Today, we mourn the loss of Benjamin L. Hooks, a champion of equality who sought to expand opportunities for the African-American community and protect the freedoms of all Americans. Throughout his life, Mr. Hooks committed himself to service, as a minister to his church, a leader within his community, a distinguished professor with the University of Memphis, and as the revered Executive Director of the NA  more

IOWA CITY, Iowa, April 15 -- The University of Iowa issued the following news release: The University of Iowa honored outstanding students, faculty, staff and alumni on Tuesday, April 13, at the 93rd anniversary Finkbine Dinner for representative Student Leaders, one of the university's most prestigious award ceremonies. Interim Vice President for Student Services Tom Rocklin emceed this year's dinner, which was held at the Iowa Memorial Union. UI President Sally Mason was among those who   more

WALTHAM, Mass., April 15 -- Brandeis University issued the following news release: "A renaissance of American Negro literature is due; the material about us in the strange, heart-rending race tangle is rich beyond dream and only we can tell the tale and sing the song from the heart." W.E.B. Du Bois (1920) On Saturday, April 17 at 7 p.m. in Slosberg Music Center (http://my.brandeis.edu/map/print-page?id=89&office=11200), the Brandeis University Chorus (http://www.brandeis.edu/departments  more

GREENSBORO, N.C., April 15 -- Guilford College issued the following news release: Guilford presented the Bruce B. Stewart Awards for Teaching Excellence and Community Service to faculty members Carolyn Beard Whitlow and Maria Rosales and to staff member Tammy Martin at the Spring Awards Celebration April 14. The cash awards for teaching and advising excellence (faculty) and community service (staff) honor one tenured faculty member, one junior/non-tenured faculty member and one staff membe  more