Washington Post • 12th August 2023

‘A bit of a rush’: Summer academy lets teens train to become pilots

Ryan Tran, a rising freshman at the University of Southern California, didn’t spend his summer packing his bags for college. Instead, he found himself piloting planes. Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. Tran spent eight weeks at the U.S. Navy Summer Flight Academy at Delaware State University, a tuition-free program designed to enhance aviation expertise while promoting diversity within the field. “Flying planes was kind

Washington Post • 10th August 2023

Phylicia Rashad to step down as Howard fine arts dean after school year

The university said Rashad played a pivotal role throughout her tenure in revitalizing the prominence of the fine arts college, including attracting noted scholars, artists and creatives to the institution. “Dean Rashad has successfully led the reestablishment of the College of Fine Arts as an independent college that continues to attract a high caliber of nationally and internationally recognized scholars, artists, and creatives who serve as department chairs, mentors, teachers, and role model

Washington Post • 10th August 2023

Morgan State enrollment is surging. Students will live in hotels.

As enrollment surges at some historically Black colleges and universities, Morgan State University has hit over 9,000 students for the fall semester for the second time in the university’s history. But the campus can house only 2,571. Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. To address the shortfall, the university is partnering with a hotel in Baltimore that will provide 350 extra beds for new and returning students. “Our goal

Washington Post • 31st July 2023

D.C. spice shop owner creates affordable spaces for Black businesses

After seeing there was limited affordable property for business owners in D.C., Angel Gregorio wanted to build a space to support other Black entrepreneurs like herself. “I have friends who do hair and nails,” said Gregorio, founder of Black + Forth. “I noticed they had been paying exorbitant amounts of money to have spaces in D.C., so I decided to start a conversation about affordable commercial space in a city where we always talk about affordable housing.” Black + Forth officially launched e

Washington Post • 15th July 2023

HBCUs revise admissions policies amid expected surge in applications

Leaders at historically Black universities are considering changing some of their admissions practices in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action — and, in some cases, are anticipating becoming more selective as they brace for an influx in applicants. The ruling, which bars colleges from using race as a factor when considering which students to admit, has shaken higher education, dismantling a tool that some schools had used to increase diversity. However, at historically

Washington Post • 11th July 2023

Bowie State reaches $50 million fundraising goal — two years early

Bowie State University said Tuesday that it has raised $50 million to support scholarships, building renovations and other initiatives at the oldest historically Black college in Maryland. The fundraising effort, dubbed “BSU Bold: The Campaign for Excellence,” is the largest in the university’s history, and Bowie State officials said they met their goal more than two years ahead of schedule. “We think that it’s extremely significant not just because we reached our goal early, but most important

Washington Post • 9th July 2023

At this Black nerd convention, ‘It feels like a family reunion’

Blerdcon, the celebration of Black nerd culture, buzzed Saturday in Crystal City, its attendees adorned with pink wigs, bedazzled wings and elaborate face paint designs, meticulously re-creating the appearances of their favorite anime and animated characters. Here came Spider-Man. Over there was Sailor Moon. Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. Within the halls of the Hyatt Regency, the air was filled Beyoncé music and a con

Washington Post • 1st July 2023

People line up as recreational marijuana becomes legal in Maryland

Mayberry said the dispensary in Silver Spring was only a few blocks away from his childhood home, where he was briefly kicked out at 19 after being caught smoking weed alongside a few friends. Now, Mayberry hopes to educate others about recreational and medical marijuana use, and shatter the stigma associated with it. He said his mother was issued a medical marijuana card several years back, which has helped her mobility and chronic pain issues. Existing medical marijuana businesses converted t

Washington Post • 25th June 2023

After family’s long fight, Lena Ferguson gets honor from the DAR

In 1980, Lena Ferguson wanted to connect with her ancestry and aimed to join the Daughters of the American Revolution. But after multiple attempts, she was denied by a local D.C. chapter. It led to a fight to make the organization more inclusive of Black and other women of color. Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. Four decades later, Ferguson is being recognized with a plaque in a memorial garden at DAR’s National Headquar

Washington Post • 26th November 2022

20 years after ‘Drumline,’ HBCU bands credit film for boosting visibility

Janae McCloud didn’t always know how to read music perfectly, or the technicalities of playing the alto saxophone. She just did whatever she needed to keep going with the music. But in her sophomore year of high school, she watched the film “Drumline” and felt seen in the fictional story of talented band member Devon Miles, who couldn’t read music. It inspired her to keep performing. “I’m a biology major, and I want to become a doctor,” McCloud said. But “I’m still using things that I’m learnin

Washington Post • 10th November 2022

George Mason University launches College of Public Health

George Mason University has officially renamed the former College of Health and Human Services to the College of Public Health, refocusing its efforts on public health education, research and practice. Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It will be the first college of public health in Virginia, the university said. The college will implement new programs at the undergraduate master’s and doctoral levels that include a focu

Washington Post • 2nd November 2022

American University boosts patrols after report of sexual assault in dorm

American University increased patrols around its residence halls after a sexual assault was reported in a dorm earlier this week. The university’s police department is working with D.C. police to investigate the incident that took place at about 2 a.m. Monday in Leonard Hall on the campus in Northwest Washington, according to the university. No arrest was announced as of Wednesday. “The safety of our community is a top priority, and any incident that affects students in the residence halls that

Washington Post • 29th October 2022

In Montgomery Co., bus driver shortages anger parents, strand students

A previous version of this story misstated the timeline of events when Montgomery County parent Shannon Ingram begins waiting with her daughter at the bus stop. It also said incorrectly that Ingram’s daughter once was dropped off at the wrong school. She was nearly dropped off at the wrong stop. The story has been corrected. In Montgomery County, a bus driver shortage has led to some schools having to excuse students from classes when their buses do not show up in the morning. At others, parent

Washington Post • 24th October 2022

U-Md. expands tuition aid for state residents from low-income families

The University of Maryland pledged Monday to expand aid for students from within the state who have significant financial need, a $20 million annual program to be known in College Park as the Terrapin Commitment. Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. Starting in January, the program at the state flagship university will provide funds to help ensure tuition and fees are covered for Maryland residents who receive federal Pell G

Washington Post • 14th October 2022

Transgender students fear being ‘deadnamed’ at college

Howard officials said students can update their preferred name on university systems but need to contact its enrollment management team to make the change. The university also is working to create more policies that support the LGBTQ+ community, said Jose Cadiz, director of the intercultural and LGBTQ+ center at Howard. Universities across the country have varying policies on how they identify students by name or pronouns, and some have begun to review their rules in recent years. For some stud

Washington Post • 30th September 2022

Shared Voices program aims to help HBCU student performers grow

Opera star Denyce Graves was in her first year of teaching at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University when she says she met a graduate student with a beautiful voice. The student was a hard worker, Graves said, but wasn’t getting the opportunities to perform that she felt she should have. She didn’t get into the opera program and was upset and disillusioned. Graves says she sat with the student and cried and hugged her. It led her to want to do more to help other students. “How are w

Washington Post • 29th September 2022

U-Md. to dedicate dorm named for Black students who broke barriers on campus

In the fall of 1955, Elaine Johnson Coates became one of seven African American students allowed to live on the University of Maryland campus. She graduated four years later, the first African American woman to do so. She overcame struggles of prejudice and loneliness to get her education. “I thought when I walked away in 1959 with my diploma in hand that no one would ever speak my name again,” Coates said. “I was surprised but really honored when they contacted me and started asking about my ti

Washington Post • 18th September 2022

Maryland women’s college to go fully coed starting in fall 2023

Notre Dame of Maryland University, a private institution in Baltimore, said it will begin admitting male students to its traditional women-only undergraduate program starting in fall 2023, a shift that has surprised some students and faculty members. Once NDMU makes the shift to coed, there will be 29 colleges in the United States and one in Canada with women-only programs, according to the Women’s College Coalition. Many others have closed or decided to admit men in recent decades, the organiza

WSJ • 6th September 2022

The New Fashion Brand that Wants Women to Claim Space

The double f in Fforme, a new clothing label offering a capsule-like collection of structured classics, stands for “fundamental and foundational,” highlighting the brand’s core ideas. Co-founders Nina Khosla, a product designer for startups, and Laura Vazquez, who has worked in womenswear for more than 25 years, sought to create a new line that would allow women to dress boldly and confidently—or, as Fforme creative director Paul Helbers puts it, claim “the space around them with architectural v

WSJ • 26th August 2022

Mother Nature

Photographer Ethan James Green returned home to Michigan to shoot this fashion portfolio, which stars two of his earliest muses. Green photographed his mother, Melinda Green, and aunt, Brendolyn Van Zomeren, at the farm where the two women grew up and among Lake Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes. “It’s a very surreal, beautiful place that not many people know about,” says Green. The shoot, styled by Tonne Goodman, was an emotional one for Green, as family and friends joined the set alongside his cr