Daily Lumina News 072723

A new report is calling on Congress to close a loophole that has allowed states to deprive Black land-grant universities of $200 million in matching funds over the past decade, even as they’ve generously supported predominantly white land grants.
Many experts expect these institutions and other historically Black colleges to play a growing role in educating minority students in a post-affirmative action world, especially at a time when college diversity efforts are under attack in many states.

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to gut affirmative action, the U.S. Department of Education is starting a $45 million postsecondary student success competition to boost strategies that help underrepresented students graduate from college.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona made the announcement during the National Summit on Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. He also called on college leaders to make their presence known on K-12 campuses, build a culture of belonging on campus, and increase their enrollment number of Pell-eligible students.

Jayshree Seth, chief science advocate and corporate scientist for global manufacturing company 3M, says she relies on science to find "solutions that stick.” (It is 3M after all!)
In this interview, Seth discusses how she uses that solution-finding skill to help keep the pipeline of new STEM workers flowing with diverse job seekers.

The end of affirmative action policies does not have to mean the death knell of diversity. Affirmative action was one tool to diversify the Ivy League and other elite universities. But truth be told, it was never enough, say some equity experts.
A long-time university president reflects on what it will take for selective colleges and universities to diversify their campuses. Spoiler alert: We already know how to do it.

Chanel Powell served five years in the Army National Guard, including one year in Iraq, before it was time to retire her military gear and head back to college to fulfill her dream of becoming a lawyer.
Like many veterans-turned-college students, Powell says the adjustment to civilian life wasn’t easy. She describes those obstacles in this interview, along with the support that made her education possible.

Artificial intelligence is transforming many aspects of the practice of medicine, and some medical professionals are using these tools to help them with a diagnosis.
Doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess, a teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School, decided to explore how chatbots could be used—and misused—in training future doctors.