Education

Mfume, Cummings Testify For JHU Police

THE AFRO — Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Chair of the House Oversight Committee, delivered powerful personal “surprise” testimony before the Maryland House of Delegates.

Published

6 years ago

March 17, 2019

Oakland Post

By J. K. Schmid

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Chair of the House Oversight Committee, delivered powerful personal “surprise” testimony before the Maryland House of Delegates, March 12..

“I am not telling you do to it,” Cummings told the legislative panel led by Del. Cheryl D. Glenn. “That’s none of my business. But…I have come here begging you to do something.”

Cummings plea is that the Maryland general assembly do something about violence on Baltimore City streets. He recounted a time when he himself was robbed at gunpoint and the shooting death of his 20-year-old nephew.

“I literally saw his brains splattered on the wall,” Cummings testified. “Why am I telling you this? This is one of those situations where I believe we have to do something.”

While recommending no particular policy, Cummings’s remarks came during the debate over Johns Hopkins University’s (JHU) request for a 100-officer private police force to secure its campus. Generally, such forces are forbidden by Maryland statute JHU is looking for an exception to be made similar to Coppin State University, Morgan State University and University of Baltimore.

JHU currently relies on a police force of off-duty officers of the Baltimore Sheriff’s Department and Baltimore Police Department (BPD) that the JHU administration has characterized as unreliable.

Cummings 7th District predecessor, Kweisi Mfume, the Chair of Morgan State’s Board of Regents, and JHU graduate, has unequivocally come out for, Senate Bill 793 and House Bill 1094.

“We face a challenge that demands a new level of cooperation and investment from all of us who call Baltimore home,” Mfume wrote in a letter to committee members. “Violent crime in our city has risen to staggering heights. Too many citizens know the tragedy of losing a loved one to violence, or the daily worry of being out at night. This situation demands new solutions like the comprehensive approach proposed.“

JHU officials have described Morgan State’s police force as a model for what students and community members can expect when it comes to how JHU will be policing.

“I know firsthand the painful history of abuse of power by law enforcement that has overwhelmingly impacted people of color,” Mfume wrote.”Yet it is precisely that raw and real history that gives me hope about the draft legislation you are considering.”

JHU touts the endorsement of former Baltimore Mayor and University of Baltimore President, Kurt Schmoke. The new force will be accountable to Baltimore Office of Civil Rights and Wage Enforcements Civilian Review Board as well as further accountable to boards on JHU and the administration itself.

“I don’t see this as exceptional,” JHU President Ronald J. Daniels told the AFRO. “I see this as very much on par with what the other institutions in Baltimore currently enjoy. I think the percentage is 70 percent of universities in the United States, both public and private, that have an excess of 2,500 students, have sworn police forces,” Daniels added. “So, again what we’re talking about here, is not the exception, but in fact what seems to be the best practices standard for how one ensures the safety and security of a university community.”

Daniels referred to page 35 of it’s Interim Study Report, and recommendation from the committee last year, when similar bills failed to pass. Daniels and the administration infer that JHU’s rising crime rate across three campuses is best explained by the absence of a police force similar to campuses like Morgan, Coppin and University of Maryland.

However, the figures don’t seem to explain why crime is stable or in decline on other Baltimore campuses when they have the exact same force JHU has envisioned.

Daniels referred the AFRO to a study of police force at the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia. As further evidence of how JHU’s police force could and should work.

However, this study indicates that there is no longitudinal data to determine the long term impact of focused policing by committing more officers to restricted locations. The study could not determine if crime was eliminated to simply pushed outside the force’s area of operation and could not determine whether crime would resurge in the new established order.

“We cannot police our way out of poverty, economic stratification or any of the other ills that fuel violent crime in our city or our country,” Mfume’s letter reads.

“a lively, dynamic street life is the best way that one can deter violent crime,” Daniels told the AFRO. “In that respect, we have first and foremost, spent considerable time, effort and money over the last decade that I’ve been at Johns Hopkins, investing in and around our two major university campuses in Baltimore.”

JHU is a lead investor in the $2 billion East Baltimore Development Initiative (EBDI). EBDI characterizes itself as a rejuvenation project, the project overlaps with JHU campuses. JHU’s reports its endowment at $4.3 billion.

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

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California Holds the Line on DEI as Trump Administration Threatens School Funding

The conflict began on Feb. 14, when Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), issued a “Dear Colleague” letter warning that DEI-related programs in public schools could violate federal civil rights law. The letter, which cited Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ended race-conscious admissions, ordered schools to eliminate race-based considerations in areas such as admissions, scholarships, hiring, discipline, and student programming.

Published

3 weeks ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

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By Joe W. Bowers Jr
California Black Media

California education leaders are pushing back against the Trump administration’s directive to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in its K-12 public schools — despite threats to take away billions in federal funding.

The conflict began on Feb. 14, when Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), issued a “Dear Colleague” letter warning that DEI-related programs in public schools could violate federal civil rights law. The letter, which cited Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ended race-conscious admissions, ordered schools to eliminate race-based considerations in areas such as admissions, scholarships, hiring, discipline, and student programming.

According to Trainor, “DEI programs discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another.”

On April 3, the DOE escalated the pressure, sending a follow-up letter to states demanding that every local educational agency (LEA) certify — within 10 business days — that they were not using federal funds to support “illegal DEI.” The certification requirement, tied to continued federal aid, raised the stakes for California, which receives more than $16 billion annually in federal education funding.

So far, California has refused to comply with the DOE order.

“There is nothing in state or federal law that outlaws the broad concepts of ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ or ‘inclusion,’” wrote David Schapira, California’s Chief Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, in an April 4 letter to superintendents and charter school administrators. Schapira noted that all of California’s more than 1,000 traditional public school districts submit Title VI compliance assurances annually and are subject to regular oversight by the state and the federal government.

In a formal response to the DOE on April 11, the California Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond collectively rejected the certification demand, calling it vague, legally unsupported, and procedurally improper.

“California and its nearly 2,000 LEAs (including traditional public schools and charter schools) have already provided the requisite guarantee that its programs and services are, and will be, in compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulation,” the letter says.

Thurmond added in a statement, “Today, California affirmed existing and continued compliance with federal laws while we stay the course to move the needle for all students. As our responses to the United States Department of Education state and as the plain text of state and federal laws affirm, there is nothing unlawful about broad core values such as diversity, equity and inclusion. I am proud of our students, educators and school communities who continue to focus on teaching and learning, despite federal actions intended to distract and disrupt.”

California officials say that the federal government cannot change existing civil rights enforcement standards without going through formal rule-making procedures, which require public notice and comment.

Other states are taking a similar approach. In a letter to the DOE, Daniel Morton-Bentley, deputy commissioner and counsel for the New York State Education Department, wrote, “We understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems ‘diversity, equity & inclusion.’ But there are no federal or State laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.”

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Asm. Corey Jackson Proposes Safe Parking for Homeless College Students Sleeping in Cars

Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), is the author of AB 90, which would require community colleges and California State University campuses to create overnight parking programs where students can sleep safely in their vehicles. With one in four community college students in California experiencing homelessness in the past year, Jackson says the state must act urgently.

Published

3 weeks ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Assemblymember Corey Jackson. File photo.

By Bo Tefu
California Black Media

As California’s housing crisis continues to impact students, new legislation, Assembly Bill (AB) 90, promises to allow college students without stable housing to sleep in their cars on campus, offering a stark but practical solution aimed at immediate relief.

“This just deals with the harsh realities that we find ourselves in,” he said at a recent hearing.

The bill passed its first committee vote and is gaining attention as housing affordability remains a top concern across the state. California rents are more than 30% above the national average, and long waitlists for student housing have left thousands in limbo. CSU reported more than 4,000 students on its housing waitlist last year.

Supporters stress that the bill is not a long-term solution, but a humane step toward helping students who have no other place to go. A successful pilot program at Long Beach City College has already shown that safe, supervised overnight parking can work, giving students access to restrooms, Wi-Fi, and a secure environment.

However, the CSU and community college systems oppose the bill, citing funding concerns. Critics also worry about safety and oversight. But Jackson and student advocates argue the crisis demands bold action.

“If we know students are already sleeping in their cars, why not help them do it safely?” said Ivan Hernandez, president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges.

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Newsom Fights Back as AmeriCorps Shutdown Threatens Vital Services in Black Communities

“When wildfires devastated L.A. earlier this year, it was AmeriCorps members out there helping families recover,” Gov. Newsom said when he announced the lawsuit on April 17. “And now the federal government wants to pull the plug? We’re not having it.”

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3 weeks ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

California for All College Corps.

By Bo Tefu
California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom is suing the federal government over its decision to dismantle AmeriCorps, a move that puts essential frontline services in Black and Brown communities across California at risk, the Governor’s office said.

From tutoring students and mentoring foster youth to disaster recovery and community rebuilding, AmeriCorps has been a backbone of support for many communities across California.

“When wildfires devastated L.A. earlier this year, it was AmeriCorps members out there helping families recover,” Newsom said when he announced the lawsuit on April 17. “And now the federal government wants to pull the plug? We’re not having it.”

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration is behind the rollback, which Newsom calls “a middle finger to volunteers.”

Meanwhile, Newsom’s office announced that the state is expanding the California Service Corps, the nation’s largest state-run service program.

AmeriCorps has provided pathways for thousands of young people to gain job experience, give back, and uplift underserved neighborhoods. Last year alone, over 6,000 members across the state logged 4.4 million hours, tutoring more than 73,000 students, planting trees, supporting foster youth, and helping fire-impacted families.

The California Service Corps includes four paid branches: the #CaliforniansForAll College Corps, Youth Service Corps, California Climate Action Corps, and AmeriCorps California. Together, they’re larger than the Peace Corps and are working on everything from academic recovery to climate justice.

“DOGE’s actions aren’t about making government work better. They are about making communities weaker,” said GO-Serve Director Josh Fryday.

“These actions will dismantle vital lifelines in communities across California. AmeriCorps members are out in the field teaching children to read, supporting seniors and helping families recover after disasters. AmeriCorps is not bureaucracy; it’s boots on the ground,” he said.