FAMU Professor selected as President of Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.

FAMU Professor selected as President of Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc.

From Pamela Tolson and Stephanie Lambert                                     

      TALLAHASSEE, FL – David H. Jackson, Jr., chair of Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) Department of History, Political Science, Public Administration, Geography and African American Studies, has been selected as president of the Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc. (SCAASI) for 2013-2014.         

     “I am honored to be selected as the next president of the Southern Conference on African American Studies, Incorporated, a group that has focused on preserving and sharing information on the African-American experience for thirty-four years,” said Jackson. “Professional associations like SCAASI continue to provide opportunities for faculty to publish research on topics related to African Americans and an avenue for intellectual exchange among scholars interested in African-American studies.  Thus, I plan on implementing new systems of recruitment and retention within the association and expanding scholarly opportunities for faculty throughout the country as we work together to rescue and reconstruct the legacy and story of African Americans.” 

     SCASSI began in 1979 following a successful statewide Black History and Culture program at Texas Southern University. The program was held to bring together persons from across the state of Texas who were interested in interpreting and preserving Black history and culture.

     FAMU recently hosted the SCAASI 34th annual meeting in Tallahassee. Professors from Tallahassee, California and New York participated in the conference along with FAMU faculty and students.  Guests were taken on a tour of historic African-American sites in Tallahassee and were welcomed to FAMU’s campus with a reception at the FAMU Black Archives.  

     During the conference, FAMU students competed in a competition and won the following awards: Jermaine Scott, Tanesha Bryan, Inger Deal-Hanna and Darnesha Carter won the Hornsby Memorial Quiz Bowl and were awarded a $500 cash prize.  They defeated Rust College and Savannah State University.  Scott also won second place in the Renitsa Butler Essay Contest. 

     Keila Dumas won first place and Michael Young-Harris won second place in the poetry contest.  Titus Brown, a FAMU professor of history, was given an Honorary Life Advisory Board Member award.