White Christians' fear of Black people is dangerous. A notable Catholic fueled the hysteria.
Alessandra Harris on the persistent racist ideas about African-American crime and how a famous professor's crusade helped enhance the hate.
Academia
Poet-academic Airea 'Dee' Matthews named provost of Bryn Mawr College
The 53-year-old former Philadelphia Poet Laureate, known for two award-winning books, co-chairs the school's creative writing department.
Xavier University of Louisiana ranked #6 HBCU for third straight year
Xavier University of Louisiana is once again the #6 HBCU in the nation, maintaining its status as a top higher education institution in new rankings released this month by U.S. News & World Report. The Black Catholic school in New Orleans also tied for the #16 university in the
Black Catholic couple make $50k gift to Drexel Prep School in New Orleans
A sizable donation from a pair of hometown heroes will help support the mission of St. Katharine Drexel Preparatory, a historic, all-girls Black Catholic high school in New Orleans. The $50,000 gift from the Michigan-based Dr. Antoine Garibaldi, former president of the University of Detroit Mercy, and his wife,
Dr. Frank B. Wilderson Jr., pioneering Black psychologist and education researcher, dead at 94
The retired Catholic educator was the first tenured Black professor at the University of Minnesota and the school's first Black vice president.
XULA medical school leaders speak on health equity at 2025 Essence Fest panel
XULA President Dr. C. Reynold Verret and Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine dean Dr. Leonardo Seoane spoke on the state of Black healthcare.
Dr. William Tate IV tapped as next president of Rutgers University
Since 2021, the Catholic-raised academic has served as the first Black president of Louisiana State University.
Fr Jeff Harvey, acclaimed Vincentian professor and preacher, dead at 61
The Los Angeles native spent more than three decades as a parish priest and seminary professor in the United States and Oceania.
Goodbye, Francis, pope of mercy
Tamika Royes remembers the pontiff who inspired her to embrace her Catholic spirituality as faith demanding justice and outreach.
Majority-minority Rosemont College to merge with Villanova University
The Philadelphia-area Catholic school has faced financial concerns for more than a decade and emerged from an accreditation crisis in 2023.
2025 Institute for Black Catholic Studies to convene June 29-July 18
The historic master's degree and continuing education program celebrates its 45th year during the centennial for Xavier University of Louisiana.
Georgetown Law dean rebuffs Trump administration's threats against DEI
Dean William Treanor is making waves for his defense of the school, a Jesuit institution facing threats for its commitment to diversity programs.
Dr. Alvin Poussaint, Harvard scholar of anti-Black racism and mental health, dead at 90
The Civil Rights veteran spent 50 years in Cambridge and was known for challenging texts on both White prejudice and African-American resilience.
Racism and abuse have devastated U.S. Catholicism. Is there a way forward?
Alessandra Harris surveys various eras of Church history where human dignity was cast aside, and envisions a new dawn where healing can flourish.
Black Catholic university presidents talk higher education at public forum in New Orleans
The livestreamed event featured the leaders of Xavier University of Louisiana, Loyola New Orleans, Canisius, College of the Holy Cross, and the University of Portland.
Xavier University of Louisiana to kick off yearlong centennial celebrations
The nation's first and only Catholic HBCU, XULA was founded in 1925 by St. Katharine Drexel and her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.