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“Our Media Is the means of
liberation, an instrument of
clarification, information,
education and mobilization.”
Kwame Nkrumah
Dr. Elias Blake, Jr. Clark’s New President
Dr. Elias Blake, Jr.
Dr. Elias Blake, Jr., a
lative Georgia, lias been
lected by tile Board of Trustees
of Clark College to become its
19th president, commencing
August 1, 1977. The president
elect leaves the position of
president, Institute for Services
to Education, based in
Washington, D.C., in order to
accept the Clark presidency.
Dr. Blake received his B.A.
degree from Paine College in
1951; his master’s from Howard
University in 1954; and his
doctorate from the University of
Illinois in 1960.
Nationally known in
education circles, he has served
on the Board of Higher
Education, District of Columbia
(Federal City College, District of
Columbia Teachers College);
and the American Council on
Education. He serves on the
Board of Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of
Teaching; the Board of Visitors,
George Mason University; the
Board of Graduate Advocates,
Meharry Medical College; the
National Advisory Board,
Institute for the Study of
Educational Policy; the Editorial
Policy; the Editorial Board,
Journal of Negro Education, and
the Journal of Law and
Education. ,
His consultant activities
have included: Developing
Institutions Program, USOE;
Office of Student Special
Services, USOE; National
Institue of Education; Fund for
the Improvement of Post-
Secondary Education, USOE;
the John Hay Whitney Foun
dation; the Ford Foundation;
the Lilly Foundation; and the
Pennsylvania Department of
Higher Education on Planning
for Desegregation.
A noted Author, his most
recent publications include, ’
“Minority Colleges as Outposts
of Institutional Redirection,”
New Colleges for New Schools;
“Future Leadership Roles for
Predominantly Black Colleges in
American Higher Education,”
Daedalus; Degrees Granted and
Enrollment Trends in
Historically Black Colleges: An
Eight-Year Study; and an Eassy
Book Review of Thomas
Sowell’s Black Education:
Myths and tragedies, Chronicle
on Higher Education.
Selected papers include,
“Higher Education for Black
Americans: Issues in Achieving
SGA Seeks Student Involvement
By Althea Hickson
“I can not hide my failures
or my inactions, I am not at
tempting to do that nor to justify
anything,” said Clark College’s
Student Government
Association (SGA) President in
an interview Friday.
Michael Poole gave his
reasons for the SGA’s lack of
activities so far this year.
According to Poole the duty
of the SGA is to coordinate
activities, but the im
plementation of those activities
should be carried out by the
Student Council.
The Student Council is
composed of Presidents from all
student organizations on
campus. (With the exception of
class officers).
Poole also said that other
organizations conflicts with the
SGA’s activities.
“The SGA has to compete
with greek organizations, which
are the big activity givers on
campus,” he said. There is little
co-operation between the SGA
and these organizations.”
“The SGA and other
organizations can provide good
activities only if they combine
their resources, Poole ex
plained.”
Poole went on to say that
the SGA is comprised of everyone
enrolled in Clark College. He
also said that students should
support all phases of school
activities.
Poole felt that some
students had the right to
complain and some do not.
“If you did not vote, then
do not complain,” he said.
“Only 540 people have the right
to complain, those who voted for
me or my opponent.”
When asked about the
performance of his vice
president all other officers.
Poole replied, “No comment.”
More than Just Equal
Opportunity,” National Policy
Conference on Education for
Blacks of the Congressional
Black Caucus;” “Black
Graduates or Black Dropouts:
Will the Academic Needs of
Black Students Be Met?,*’
American Association of Higher
Education; and, “The Impact of
History on Meritocracy and the
Need for Affirmative Action,”
National Human Affairs
Conference, Florida State
University.
Dr. Blake has also been
extensively involved in activities
relating to desegregation,
organizing the first conference
on, “The Role of Predominantly
Black Public Colleges in
Statewide Systems of Higher
Education, which was held in
Washington, D.C., and the
emergency follow-up conference
on Pending Litigation at
Appeals Court level in, Adams
vs. Richardson, March, 1973.
During his tenure as
president at ISE, which began in
1969, the non-profit
organization has moved from
being primarily involved in
curriculum reform and
development with a staff of 20,
to a multiple-purpose agency
dealing with research on Equal
Opportunity and Technical
Assistance in Program
Development, Information
Systems, Planning and
Management in Higher
Education, with a staff of 70 -
the largest of its kind in the
country.
Michael Poole
The 47-year-old Dr. Blake
has been the foremost developer
of basic research, defining in
quantitative terms, the con
tribution of historically Black
colleges to equal opportunity in
America. He did some seminal
work in defining how all Black
colleges, public and private,
make major contributions to the
participation of Black
Americans in the professional,
managerial, and technical
sectors of the society. Out of his
work, he has been one of the
more effective advocates for
continuing to increase support
for historically Black colleges.
At the Institute, he was one
of those instrumental in the
organizing of the National
Association for Equal Oppor
tunity in Higher Education, an
association of public and private
Black colleges. Later, he helped
create a Technical Associate
Consortium, now called
TACTICS, to pool the expertise
of several organizations in
assisting historically Black
colleges.
“Though the work ok ISE is
important to all the Black
colleges and must continue, I
feel that after 11 years, it is
important to face the challenge
of helping a particular in
stitution deal with the same
issues. I will continue to be
interested in the work of ISE
because, as the head of a college
, I will need its help.
“Clark College represents
a very important institution in
an important multiple in
stitution center. I am honored to
have been asked to served. I
look forward to the new
challenges.”
Dr. Blake will succeed the
late Dr. Vivian W. Henderson,
who died January 28,1976, after
serving the college since 1965.
Dr. Henderson, one of the
nation’s most respected
educators and i economists,
succumbed during heart
surgery. Dr. Charles L. Knight,
Vice President, has served as
Acting President since February
3, of last year.
Clark College is a four-
year, coeducational college, one
of four undergraduate colleges
and two graduate schools that
comprise the Atlanta University
Center. This group of in
stitutions form the largest
private Black consortium of
higher education in the world.