Fisk University Selected as #1 HBCU Landmark in the Nation by HBCU Digest

Fisk University has been voted as the number one HBCU landmark in the nation in HBCU Digest’s “Seven HBCU Wonders of the World” online contest.

Congratulations to Fisk students, faculty, alumni, staff and friends for casting their online votes from August through September 15.

As the winning university, Fisk will be included in a forthcoming multi-media presentation by HBCU digest featuring campus landmarks.

For more information on HBCU digest, click here.

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Fisk’s Statement Regarding Attorney General Cooper’s Proposal

Consistent with Fisk University’s long stated fear, the Attorney General has today said that he intends to rip control of the Stieglitz Art Collection away from Fisk.  Attorney General Robert Cooper has filed with the Davidson County Chancery Court a proposal that the Chancery Court transfer the Stieglitz Art Collection to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville.  Under the terms of the proposal Fisk might continue to technically own the collection, but it would be displayed at the Frist and all decisions regarding the exhibition and preservation of the collection would pass to a committee made up entirely of non-Tennessee residents. In an outrageous theft from Nashville’s oldest university, nothing would be paid to Fisk for absolute control over the Collection. 

Fisk has previously proposed to the court that it be allowed to share the collection with the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas for a payment of $30 million.  Under this proposal, the art would be exhibited in Arkansas and at Fisk on a rotating 50/50 basis.  The court previously stated that it would approve this sharing arrangement if the parties would alter certain provisions of the agreement with Crystal Bridges which were objectionable and there was no appropriate Nashville based alternative.  Fisk is in the process of re-negotiating the Crystal Bridges sharing agreement in order to address those objections.

Fisk President Hazel O’Leary stated:

“Nashville has a simple choice to make, and that is whether it is better to keep the art in Nashville full time and have Fisk close or keep the art in Nashville half the time and have Fisk survive.  The State of Tennessee and Metropolitan Nashville have decided that the art is more important than Fisk.  We believe that continuing the education of our students is more important.”

Fisk is adamantly opposed to the Attorney General’s proposal and calls on Nashville to reject this outrageous taking of private property.  Taking full control of an art collection, valued at $74 million in 2007, without the payment of any funds to Fisk amounts to nothing less than a theft of the art from Fisk.

The Frist Board of Trustees met on Wednesday, September 8, without discussing the proposal with Fisk.   Additionally because the Frist facility is owned by the people of Nashville through the Metropolitan Development and Housing Authority, the approval of MDHA to Cooper’s proposal is required.  While MDHA has not approved this transaction at this time, the Director of MDHA has filed an affidavit with the Court representing that he has spoken to all members of the MDHA and that all of those persons will vote in favor of the proposed action. It is our belief that the Attorney General misrepresented to the Director the circumstances facing Fisk and that the MDHA Board will reject the proposal at their meeting on September 14.  Fisk calls on Nashville to tell MDHA this stealthy deal must be rejected.

Fisk President Hazel O’Leary testified in court on August 12th that Fisk would be required to cease operations unless it received a large infusion of cash.  For this reason, Fisk proposed selling the one-half interest for $30 million, because that proposal not only generates the required cash infusion but Fisk retains the right to exhibit the art on its campus half the time.  Cooper’s proposal generates no cash for Fisk and removes the art work from Fisk’s campus, possibly forever.

President O’Leary added: 

“The proposal ignores the fact that Fisk, at the court’s direction, has spent nearly one million dollars on improvements to the art gallery where the collection is currently exhibited.  So long as Fisk remains open, it can exhibit the art in accordance with the conditions originally imposed on it.  It is only if Fisk closes that it becomes unable to exhibit the art.  The proposal is premature and not necessary.”

“Moreover, this proposal was developed without an invitation to or participation  by Fisk from the Attorney General, the Frist Center or the MDHA.  This so-called partnership between the Frist Center, the State and the Metropolitan Government is nothing more than the display of raw power in an undisguised attempt to steal this art from its rightful owner.  We will use every ounce of our energy to oppose this proposal.  This is a shameful day in the history of Nashville.”

Nashville must reject this outrageous proposal by the Attorney General if for no reason other than to slow his unprecedented grab for power.

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Statement From Fisk University

Today the Court found that Fisk had demonstrated changed circumstances which require alteration of Ms. O’Keeffe’s conditions on the Stieglitz Collection.  The Court also held that the University and Crystal Bridges Museum must rework eight provisions of the proposed Crystal Bridges agreement in order for it to be considered by the court.  The Chancellor has given Fisk until October 8, 2010 to refashion the Crystal Bridges Agreement to share a one-half-undivided interest in the Stieglitz Collection.  The ruling also gives the Attorney General until September 10, 2010 to craft an alternate proposal providing Fisk with $30 million and an alternate Nashville location for display and maintenance of the Collection.   

Fisk’s objective remains to fashion an agreement that provides both relief to Fisk and supports the Collection.  The Fisk-Crystal Bridges agreement does just that by expanding accessibility to the Collection to more of the South and providing fiscal relief that we seek to begin rebuilding Fisk’s endowment.  The sharing proposal, increasingly popular with galleries and museums across the globe, is an innovative arrangement that is clearly in the best interests of Fisk, Tennessee, and the South. To achieve these ends, we will follow the courses outlined in the Chancellor’s order.

Today’s ruling will have no immediate adverse impact on Fisk’s daily operations. Classes begin next week for the University and we remain focused on doing what we do best which is enhancing educational opportunities for our talented students. 

For five years Fisk has fought to preserve and protect its ability to educate its students and the integrity of the Stieglitz Collection. There is no daylight between a solution that benefits Fisk, the people of Tennessee, and the nation.

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Fisk Excellent Ranking Will Continue

On August 20, The Tennessean published an editorial by Fisk President Hazel R. O’Leary regarding the University’s latest top-tier ranking by U.S. News and World Report. Fisk is one of three HBCU’s to receive the distinction. Click here to read President O’Leary’s full comments.

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Vote for Jubilee Hall as an HBCU Wonder of the World

Fisk University’s Jubilee Hall is nominee for HBCU Digest’s Seven HBCU Wonders of the World. From now until September 15, 2010, cast your vote for Jubilee Hall as your favorite iconic HBCU landmark. The seven landmarks will be announced as winners, and will be included in a special multi-media presentation illustrating the importance of these landmarks on their campuses and in their communities.

Click the link – http://www.hbcudigest.com/hbcu-wonders/ – and vote for Jubilee Hall as one of the HBCU Wonders of the World. Vote early and ofte

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Fisk University Is One Of Three Historically Black Colleges And Universities To Earn A Tier One Ranking in U.S. News Media Group’s 2011 Edition of Best Colleges

Washington, D.C. – August 17, 2010 – Fisk University is one of three Historically Black Colleges and Universities to earn a tier one ranking on the list of Best National Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2011 edition of Best Colleges by U.S. News Media Group.

Fisk, ranked #122, finished behind Spelman (#59) and ahead of Morehouse (#127) on the tier one list consisting of 246 national colleges and universities.

The exclusive rankings, which include rankings of more than 1,400 schools nationwide, are available today at http://www.usnews.com/colleges, and will also be published in the September issue of U.S.News & World Report, on newsstands starting August 31.

Over the past two decades, the U.S. News college rankings, which group schools based on categories created by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, has grown to be the most comprehensive research tool for students and parents considering higher education opportunities.

That Fisk moved from Tier 2 to Tier 1 is extremely rare and demonstrates the continuity of emphasis on academic excellence and cultivation of the whole person.

The 2011 Best Colleges feature the established rankings of the Best National Universities and Best National Liberal Arts Colleges, while also including rankings of A+ Schools for B Students, Great Schools at Great Prices, and Up-and-Coming Schools, among others.

The 2011 Best Colleges package provides the most thorough examination of how more than 1,400 accredited four-year schools compare on a set of up to 16 widely accepted indicators of excellence. Among the many factors weighed in determining the rankings, the key measures of quality are: peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, and, for National Universities and National Liberal Art Colleges, “graduation rate performance” and high school counselor ratings of colleges. U.S. News has made some significant changes to the 2011 Best Colleges’ ranking methodology and presentation. For more details on these changes, go to http://www.usnews.com/collegemeth.

For more information about Best Colleges, visit http://www.usnews.com/colleges. To access the Premium Online Edition, go to http://www.usnews.com/collegestore.

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Fisk University Earns Third R&D 100 Award for Radiation Detection Research

For a third time, Fisk University has received one of the most highly regarded science and technology awards for its groundbreaking development of hypersensitive crystals used in the detection of radiation.  Fisk is the only minority serving institution to ever win the coveted recognition.

R&D 100 Awards identify the 100 most significant, newly introduced research and development advances in multiple scientific disciplines. The winning of an R&D 100 Award provides a mark of excellence known to industry, government, and academia as proof that the product is one of the most technologically significant national and international innovations of the year. Awards will be formally presented at a ceremony in Orlando, Florida on November 11, 2010.

Today the University announced that it, along with partner institutions Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge national laboratories and Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc.  have earned an R&D 100 Award for its role in the development of more accurate and economical radiation detection devices.  This is the third R&D 100 Award that the University has received for its work in this burgeoning area of research.  Research in the area of crystal growth at Fisk, a key element in radiation detection devices, has been ongoing for approximately 25 years.  Fisk’s role in the Department of Homeland Security funded initiative is the growth and optimization of Strontium Iodide crystals. 

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Thanks for Your Support of Fisk in the Home Depot Retool Your School Grant Challenge

Greetings Fisk Family,

I wanted to send a quick note to thank you for your participation by voting for Fisk in the Home Depot Retool Your School Grant Challenge. 

While the final grantees will not be known until June 15, 2010, we can say that, at the close of voting, Fisk received in excess of 10,000 votes and had secured the 5^th highest ranking of total votes (a total of 57 schools are in the competition).  To put this in perspective, many of the schools we are competing against have student populations that are up to 12 times larger than Fisk’s.  And while the votes are but a portion of the criteria considered by the Home Depot judges, we can certainly say that your broad-based and enthusiastic support was an essential part of a good showing in this phase of the competition.  We are most appreciative.

When Home Depot makes their final announcement, we will be sure to keep you informed as it regards Fisk’s performance.

All the best,

Ken West

Vice President for Communication and Public Relations
Fisk University
kwest@fisk.edu

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Fiskite Alma J. Powell Gives Commencement Address at Kentucky State University

Fiskite Alma J. Powell gave the 2010 commencement address at Kentucky State University. Powell, who earned her bachelor’s degree from Fisk and her graduate degree at Emerson College in Boston, shared that her mother, Mildred Bell Johnson,  matriculated and was a graduate of Kentucky State University in 1926. After graduating, Johnson moved to Birmingham, Alabama and founded the first daycare there for African-American children.

Powell recieved an honorary degree during the ceremony and urged graduates to carry Kentucky State’s mission of providing opportunities for education for persons among underrepresented populations. 

Click here to read more from Powell’s address at Kentucky State University.

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Congratulations to the Class of 2010

The recent graduating class of over 200 students has demonstrated, to an almost unbelievable degree, the extent to which the principles of hard work, collaboration, and faith can build the foundation for a bright future.

This year’s graduates have secured employment in various firms, post baccalaureate positions in academia, and have earned placement in great graduate schools across the nation.

Hailing from cites and towns from all over the globe, the Class of 2010 was able to model how diversity of culture can be something that builds strong bonds.

On behalf of the entire Fisk Family, we want to thank you for your support of Fisk and congratulate and extend our well wishes to the Class of 2010.

Click here to enjoy this video of just a few of this year’s shining stars.

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