Making a Lasting Impact

November 4, 2019

Roddy Rosemond Denor is a graduating senior and majoring in political science and sociology with a minor in Africana Studies. His future plans include continuing to further his education with acquiring a master’s degree in sociology and working.

As an Africana Studies minor, his Haitian background, along with the gained knowledge concerning the diaspora, will benefit him in the work that he will pursue. Roddy is interested in poverty and inequality. He wants to help immigrants and low-income residents on improving their lives. Although he realizes that this will be a journey, he thinks this is how he can make a lasting impact in the lives of the have-nots.

Roddy thinks that as Martin Luther King said once: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘what are you doing for others?'” He thinks the best way to tackle this question is by changing the odds that are against one’s circumstances.

Focus on Education and Community Action

November 4, 2019

Bertram Welton Pride II is a graduating senior born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. Welton is majoring in marketing and minoring in Africana Studies.

On campus, he is heavily involved with multiple organizations with many leadership roles. Currently, he is a member of the Chancellor’s appointed Commission for Blacks, which advises university programs and policies as they relate to Black students, faculty, and staff. He is also a student recruiter for the Minority Enhancement for the University of Tennessee (ME4UT), works with the College of Education as an art education marketing and promotions assistant, a Diversity Advancement Program liaison, a Haslam College of Business Ambassador, and the former vice president of marketing for Alpha Kappa Psi, professional business fraternity.

Professionally, Welton has held four internship positions – one every summer since his freshman year and two simultaneously in 2018. At each company, he was one of, if not the first, African-American to hold an intern position in each field. He aspires to continue his education through a master’s program in the near future, relating to education and community action, along with continuing his passion of diversity and inclusion every step of the way.

Post-graduation, Welton has secured a full-time offer with Louisiana-Pacific in Nashville, working with their sales impact program, and eventual marketing and branding strategy.

Hodges Receives African American Hall of Fame Award

November 3, 2019

Since arriving at UT in 1982, Carolyn Hodges, a professor of German, has time and again proven her commitment and dedication to UT. After more than a decade in administration, serving as vice provost and dean of the Graduate School, Hodges became chair of the Africana Studies program in 2016. Under her leadership, the program now has more than 100 majors and minors, and the graduate certificate program is attracting talented PhD candidates. She helped get approval to hire additional tenure-line joint faculty and lecturers, infusing new life into the department and adding diverse personnel to the university’s ranks. Hodges has supported faculty members’ outreach endeavors and approved experiential learning as a component of faculty-led summer study abroad programs to Senegal and South Africa. Hodges’s own academic interests are in Afro-German literature and legacy, and under her guidance, the Africana Studies program has expanded its perception of Africa and its diaspora by becoming more globally inclusive

In our last newsletter, Professor Carolyn Hodges wrote that it has been a pleasure to serve as chair of the Africana Studies program. In fact, is has been an honor to have her as chair and it gives us faculty, staff, and students even more of a reason to be a part of the program. Just this past year, undergraduate and graduate students remarked on how grateful they were to have received knowledge from her that will impact them for the rest of their lives. The program has grown immensely under her leadership with increased majors and minors, as well as the graduate certificate program.

Since beginning her career at UT in 1982, Professor Hodges has broken barriers not only for African-American women, but all women.

Professor Hodges is the wife of Professor Emeritus John O. Hodges, Department of Religious Studies and past chair of Africana Studies. All of us in the Africana Studies are grateful to both of you. Congratulations, Professor Hodges on your 2019 African-American Hall of Fame Award.