These are tough times for the law profession. Employment prospects are the weakest they have been in decades. Wages have stagnated. Many blue chip law firms have laid off lawyers or are hiring fewer lawyers. Lately, law schools have been accused of luring students with false promises of cushy, high-paying jobs. There have been accusations of law…

Today, thousands of California students worry about vanishing college affordability and access, especially for historically under-represented and marginalized populations. The author reports on how students and faculty throughout California are grappling with the effects of draconian state cuts to postsecondary education that have topped more than…

When Dr. James Ammons took the helm of his alma mater, Florida A&M University (FAMU), he inherited a nationally recognized school facing numerous crises. Ammons, who served as provost of FAMU during its heyday in the 1990s, knew the school was mired in trouble with the state, having accumulated dozens of state auditor questions about its…

In a media advisory released earlier this month, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) had an urgent message for the newspaper industry: Diversity should not be treated like a passing fad and it should continue to be a top priority. The advocacy organization, where a majority of its 4,000 members are Black print journalists, warned…

Two years after Hurricane Katrina, faculty ranks at New Orleans' historically Black colleges remain noticeably shallower than before the floods. The languishing numbers mirror a decline in student enrollment. Xavier University of Louisiana's student head count, for instance, has lingered at about 73 percent of the pre-Katrina enrollment, a…

This article presents five vignettes, written by veteran journalists, that focus on the current and future state of journalism. Despite almost daily reports of media consolidation and newspaper layoffs, the journalists sound a cautionary but optimistic tone about the industry. They weigh in on everything from the threats to diversity to the future…