Christopher Span Appointed Dean of Rutgers University Graduate School of Education

Christopher M. Span, a scholar, historian, educator and higher education administrator whose expertise spans the fields of history and education policy, has been appointed dean for the Graduate School of Education (GSE) at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.

Span, who assumes the role July 1, comes to Rutgers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also earned his doctoral degree, as a professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership.

“I am absolutely thrilled about becoming the next dean of the Graduate School of Education,” said Span. “The GSE’s legacy of excellence, its esteemed faculty, its vibrant student body, its ever-growing impactful research enterprise and supportive alumni are truly impressive. Together, I am confident we can further enhance the school’s reputation as a leader among leaders in the field of education.”

The Rutgers school is New Jersey’s top-ranked graduate school of education and among the top 10 percent in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report, and recently celebrated a century of national excellence in preparing education leaders.

“Through his research, teaching, and leadership, Dr. Span continues to make profound contributions to the field of education, enriching our understanding of the past while informing the future of education policy and practice,” said Rutgers–New Brunswick Chancellor Francine Conway. “He is an ideal choice to lead the GSE and we look forward to him joining the Rutgers community.”

His research focuses on the educational history of African Americans, particularly during the 19th century. He is widely recognized as a leading authority in this field and has authored several influential works including From Cotton Field to Schoolhouse: African American Education in Mississippi, 1862-1875. Additionally, Span is a co-editor of Using Past as Prologue: Contemporary Perspectives on African American Educational History and has contributed numerous articles and book chapters on the subject.

In addition to his scholarly contributions, Span also has held several prominent administrative roles at the University of Illinois, including serving as chief of staff and associate chancellor for administration and pre-K-12 initiatives, where he oversees strategies and fosters collaborations to advance the university’s mission.

Previously, Span was an associate dean in the College of Education at Illinois for more than 10 years, where he helped shape curricular development and oversaw student affairs. He also was a faculty athletics representative for both the university and the Big Ten Conference.

In addition, Span has been involved in professional organizations dedicated to the study of educational history, including vice president for the American Educational Research Association and as president of the History of Education Society.

At Rutgers, Span will succeed Dean Wanda J. Blanchett, who served as dean for 10 years and assisted in the nationwide search that recruited Span. Blanchett will continue to work at Rutgers and the Graduate School of Education as a faculty member.

Darryl Williams Named First Bristow Fellow from Howard University School of Law

Howard University School of Law alumnus, Darryl Williams (J.D. ’22), has been named a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General for October Term 2024. Bristow Fellowships offer a unique opportunity for young lawyers to experience Supreme Court practice early in their careers. 

Bristow Fellows help draft briefs filed in the Supreme Court of the United States and prepare recommendations to the Solicitor General regarding authorization of government appeals in the lower courts. Fellows also assist the Solicitor General and other lawyers on special projects and with preparation of oral arguments to be made before the Supreme Court.  

Williams is one of five lawyers selected for the prestigious yearlong fellowship, and the first lawyer from an HBCU.  

Inspired by his exposure to issues of police brutality through media, and the opportunity to influence the way the legal system interacts with people, Williams decided to pursue a career in law. In 2018, a year before he graduated from Florida A&M University, he participated in a Pre-Law Summer Enrichment Program at Howard. In 2019, he began his studies at Howard University School of Law. 

“After the Howard pre-law summer program, I made two decisions: I was going to go to law school and Howard would be the only school I applied to. Those decisions paid off. Although there are tons of good law schools out there, Howard is special—we, of course, learn the same law but do so through a lens that instills in us the value of using it as a tool to create good in the world,” said Williams. 

At Howard Law, Williams focused on building skills in appellate litigation, which allowed him to gain experiences that he believes will pay off during the Bristow Fellowship. 

“My first real exposure to Supreme Court work was during my second year as a student attorney in our civil rights clinic. In the clinic, I got to work alongside leading practitioners on important cases that affected us all,” said Williams. “I also took a seminar about the Supreme Court during my third year. We followed the Supreme Court in real time and thought deeply about the issues before the Court while the justices were doing the same. That seminar provided an interesting perspective into the position the justices are in and the strategies that would be effective when talking to them.” 

Upon graduating, Williams worked in Hogan Lovells LLP's Supreme Court and Appellate practice group where, among other roles, he worked on the team of appellate lawyers that opposed Derek Chauvin’s challenge to his conviction for murdering George Floyd. Williams then served as a judicial law clerk for Judge Michael Nachmanoff with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He currently serves as a judicial law clerk for Judge Toby Heytens on the United States Court of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit. 

More than anything, Williams thanks Howard. “Being selected as a Bristow Fellow says far more about the law school than it does about me,” he said. “Howard gave me amazing professors, brilliant classmates, and a body of experiences that have proven invaluable. In return, I hope only to use what I have been given to add to the 150-year legacy I inherited.” 

“We are incredibly proud of Darryl and this most prestigious accomplishment,” said Lisa A. Crooms, interim dean of the Howard University School of Law. “Darryl's law school journey has been one of the few times where I have taught one of our graduates as both a participant in our pre-law summer program and a law student. His experiences demonstrate the importance of this pipeline and the long-term impact opportunities like our summer program can have on a student.”   

 

Biden-Harris Administration Releases First Set of Draft Rules to Provide Debt Relief to Millions of Borrowers

First proposed rules would provide relief to borrowers who have seen balances grow from runaway interest, or entered repayment a long time ago, among other categories

The Biden-Harris Administration today released its first set of draft rules that propose to provide student debt relief for tens of millions of borrowers across the country. These plans were announced last week by President Biden in Madison, Wisconsin. If implemented as proposed, these plans, and others announced by the President, would bring the total number of borrowers getting relief under the Biden-Harris Administration to more than 30 million. To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic action to approve debt cancellation for nearly 4.3 million borrowers, totaling $153 billion in debt forgiveness through various actions.

“Today's announcement shows that the Biden-Harris Administration is continuing to fulfill our promises to fix a broken higher education system," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. "Student loan forgiveness isn't only about relief for today's borrowers. It's about social mobility, economic prosperity, and creating America that lives up to its highest ideals."

The rules will be formally published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, April 17 for a 30-day comment period. The U.S. Department of Education (Department) will carefully consider comments received and aims to finalize these rules in time to start delivering relief this fall, including for borrowers who have been subject to runaway interest. The Department will publish a second draft rule focused on providing relief for borrowers experiencing hardship in the coming months.

The draft includes nine rules that permit separate and distinct types of waivers using the Secretary of Education’s longstanding authority under the Higher Education Act. Eight of these are applicable to loans held by the Department, while a ninth addresses commercially held loans in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program. These rules are:

Cancelling runaway interest

More than 25 million borrowers owe more than they originally borrowed, including many who have made years of payments, due to the interest that accrues on Federal student loans.

The Department proposes two rules to address this issue through automatic relief. One would permit automatic relief of up to $20,000 of the amount by which a borrower’s loans currently exceed what they owed upon starting repayment. This relief could be provided automatically to all types of student loans held by the Department, including parent loans, consolidation loans, and loans in default. A second, separate rule would permit the Secretary to forgive the full amount by which a borrower saw their balance grow after entering repayment if the borrower is enrolled in any Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan and has annual income equal to or below $120,000 if they are single or $240,000 if they are a married couple that files taxes jointly. No application will be needed for borrowers to receive this relief if these plans are implemented as proposed.

The Department estimates over 75% of borrowers benefitting from uncapped interest relief are Pell Grant recipients, and over two-thirds of borrowers benefiting from the automatic $20,000 in interest relief are Pell recipients. Combined, these rules could eliminate all balance growth since entering repayment for 23 million borrowers.

Eliminating student debt for borrowers who entered repayment at least 20 years ago

This rule would help an estimated 2.6 million borrowers who still have outstanding debt on old loans that entered repayment at least two decades ago. The proposal would permit student debt forgiveness for borrowers with only undergraduate debt if they first entered repayment at least 20 years ago (on or before July 1, 2005), and borrowers with any graduate school debt would qualify if they first entered repayment 25 or more years ago (on or before July 1, 2000). As proposed, this relief would be provided automatically to any type of loan held by the Department, including parent loans and consolidation loans. The Department proposes this rule to provide one-time relief but seeks comment on how to consider ways to assist borrowers who are close to, but not quite at, the timeline for proposed relief while still encouraging them to make payments.

The Department proposes a separate rule to authorize relief to any borrower with a commercial loan in the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program that first entered repayment on or before July 1, 2000.

Authorizing the automatic discharge of debt for borrowers who are otherwise eligible for loan forgiveness under SAVE, closed school discharge, PSLF, or other forgiveness programs, but not enrolled

The draft includes two separate rules that could assist borrowers who are otherwise eligible for relief under existing forgiveness opportunities but have not successfully applied due to paperwork requirements, bad advice, or other obstacles. One section would authorize relief to borrowers identified by the Secretary who are otherwise eligible for relief under payment plans, including Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) and other IDR plans but have not successfully applied. The Department estimates this provision could help 1.7 million borrowers eligible for relief under the SAVE Plan provision that provides relief sooner than the typical 20 or 25-year timeline for borrowers with smaller original loan balances. A second section proposes to authorize relief for borrowers eligible for forgiveness opportunities like closed school discharges but have not successfully applied. The Department’s initial estimate is that this could help around 250,000 borrowers based on closed school discharges.

Automatic relief under these two rules would only be permitted for loans that are eligible for the relevant type of forgiveness, as some programs are not available for parent borrowers or non-Direct Loans. These proposed rules could provide this relief on an ongoing basis.

The Department separately proposes to authorize relief to commercial FFEL borrowers who are identified as eligible for closed school discharges but have not successfully applied.

Helping borrowers who enrolled in low-financial-value programs or institutions

Three additional rules would authorize ongoing relief for borrowers who took out debt to attend programs or institutions that failed to provide sufficient financial value.

One provision could assist borrowers whose debt came from institutions or programs that lost access to Federal aid following a Secretarial action. This includes institutions or programs that lost access due to high student loan default rates, producing graduates whose debt represents too large a share of their income, graduates whose earnings are no better than those of a high school graduate, or were subject to a final agency action to terminate aid for failing to provide sufficient financial value. A second provision would authorize relief for borrowers whose schools or programs faced similar situations but closed before the action was finalized. A final provision could help borrowers whose programs closed and the Department determines their graduates had high levels of debt relative to earnings or insufficient earnings compared to a high school graduate.

The Department also proposes separate provisions to assist commercial FFEL borrowers who took out loans during the period associated with high default rates that resulted in their institution losing access to federal aid.

A forthcoming rule to assist borrowers experiencing hardship paying back their loans

The Department also remains hard at work on a separate proposal that would help many other borrowers experiencing hardship related to student loans that creates a barrier to them fully repaying their loans or the cost of collection is not justified. That rule will be released for comment in the coming months. It will include proposals to authorize the automatic forgiveness of loans for borrowers at a high risk of future default as well as those who show hardship due to other indicators, such as high medical and caregiving expenses. The regulatory text in this proposed rule will mirror the proposals that achieved consensus among negotiators in February.

“These distinct forms of debt relief are designed for borrowers struggling with their loans – and that’s a lot of people,” said Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal. “There are 25 million borrowers whose interest is growing faster than they can pay it down. That fact alone shows how badly President Biden’s student loan relief is needed.”

An unparalleled track record of borrower assistance

The Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to reduce the burden of student debt and ensure that student loans are not a barrier to opportunity for students and families. The Administration secured the largest increase to Pell Grants in a decade and finalized new rules to protect borrowers from career programs that leave graduates with unaffordable debts or insufficient earnings. The Administration has also approved $153 billion for nearly 4.3 million borrowers, including:

• $49.2 billion for more than 996,000 borrowers through improvements to IDR that addressed longstanding administrative failure and the misuse of forbearance by loan servicers.
• $62.8 billion in forgiveness for almost 876,000 borrowers through fixes to PSLF.
• $4.8 billion for almost 360,000 borrowers on the SAVE plan. These are borrowers who originally took out smaller loans for their postsecondary studies.
• $22.5 billion for more than 1.3 million borrowers who were cheated by their schools, saw their institutions precipitously close, or are covered by related court settlements.
• $14.1 billion for more 548,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability.

Statement from President Joe Biden on $7.4 Billion in Student Debt Cancellation for 277,000 More Borrowers

APRIL 12, 2024

Statement from President Joe Biden on $7.4 Billion in Student Debt Cancellation for 277,000 More Borrowers

Today, my Administration is canceling student debt for 277,000 more people, bringing the total number of Americans who have been approved for debt relief so far under my Administration to 4.3 million borrowers through various actions. These 277,000 borrowers are enrolled in my Administration’s SAVE Plan, or were approved for relief because of fixes we made to Income-Driven Repayment Plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve made for students and borrowers over the past three years. That includes: providing the largest increases to the maximum Pell Grant in over a decade; fixing Public Service Loan Forgiveness so teachers, nurses, police officers, and other public service workers get the relief they are entitled to under the law, and holding colleges accountable for taking advantage of students and families. And, earlier this week, I laid out my Administration’s new plans that would cancel student debt for more than 30 million Americans when combined with everything we’ve done so far.

From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. I will never stop working to cancel student debt – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.

HBCU Basketball Team Gets White House Visit Decades After Winning Championship

An HBCU basketball team finally got to visit the White House after winning the national championship over 60 years ago.

According to Vice President Kamala Harris, Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State University men's basketball made history in 1957 when they became the first HBCU team to win a national championship. The Tennessee A&I Tigers would go on to also become the first college team to win three back-to-back national titles, Harris said.

Surviving members of the team — Dick Barnett, George Finley, Ernest Jones, Henry Carlton, Robert Clark, and Ron Hamilton — were invited to the White House for the first time to commemorate their historic achievement. On Friday (April 5), Harris hosted a private ceremony for the Tigers in the Roosevelt Room where she paid homage to the team's victories. The Tigers also received a tour around the White House and gifted Harris a custom jersey following the ceremony.

Vice President Kamala Harris releasedthe following statement on Threads:

The Tennessee A&I Tigers men’s basketball team broke barriers on the court while fighting injustice off it. In 1957, they became the first HBCU to win a national championship before becoming the first team to win three in a row. It was my honor to welcome them to the White House for the first time.

[SOURCE: BINNEWS]