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VOLUME 96 - NUMBER 26
Johnson O. Akinleye Elected 12th
Chancellor of North Carolina Central U.
Johnson 0. Akinleye, Ph.D., who has served as interim chancel
lor of North Carolina Central University since January 2017, has
been elected to the position on a permanent basis by the Board of
Governors of the 17-campus University of North Carolina.
UNC System President Margaret Spellings formally nominated
Akinleye during a special meeting of the board in Chapel Hill.
“Dr. Akinleye is a strategic thinker and no-nonsense leader,” said
President Spellings. “His distinguished career includes extensive ex
perience in senior administrative leadership roles at public, private
and church-affiliated institutions. He sees building a relationship
with the campus and community leaders as a priority and he under
stands the need to maximize the full value of being in the Research
Triangle. I’ve had the benefit of watching Dr. Akinleye lead on an
interim basis during a challenging period at N.C. Central, I’m con
fident that he will build on the proud traditions and storied history
of the institution while continuing the legacy of great leaders before
him - most notably the late Dr. Debra Saunders-White.”
Young scientists explore science, technology and math (STEM) during the ExxonMobile Bernard Harris
Summer Camp. See story on page 14). NCCU Photo
Trump administration opposing
bid for syphilis study museum
By Jay Reeves
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - The Trump administration opposes a bid to use unclaimed money from a legal settlement
over the government’s infamous Tuskegee syphilis study to fund a museum honoring victims of the research project.
The Justice Department argued in court documents recently that providing the money to the Tuskegee Human and
Civil Rights Multicultural Center would violate an agreement reached in 1975 to settle a class-action lawsuit. For the
study, hundreds of black men suffering from the sexually transmitted disease were allowed to go untreated for decades
so doctors could analyze the progression of the illness.
The government said that it “does not intend in any way to justify, condone, or defend the Tuskegee Syphilis Study,”
but allowing remaining money from a $9 million settlement to be used for the museum would violate the settlement’s
original provision that any left over money go back to the government.
Fred Gray, a civil rights attorney who represented men in the study and made the funding request in 2016, declined
comment on the government’s position.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson held a telephone conference on the request on May 30, records show, but hasn’t
ruled yet.
Starting in 1932 and continuing for four decades, government medical workers operating in rural, segregated Alabama
withheld treatment from unsuspecting black men infected with syphilis so doctors could track the disease and dissect
their bodies afterward.
Revealed by The Associated Press in 1972, the study ended and the men sued, resulting in the settlement negotiated
by Gray on behalf of the victims, all of whom have died.
The men wanted to be remembered in a memorial that told their story, Gray said in court documents, and a county-
owned history museum that already includes exhibits about the study could use the “relatively small” amount of un
claimed money. The men’s names are emblazoned in a circle on the floor of the museum, which only opens during the
summer because of funding shortages.
The Justice Department said sending the money to the museum would “fundamentally alter the terms of the agree
ment.”
Days after the government made its argument in legal documents, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo bar
ring third-party organizations from receiving money from settlements involving the government.
Officials say more than 6,000 heirs of the roughly 600 men who were involved in the study received settlement pay
ments through the decades, but an undisclosed amount of mainly interest earnings remains in court-controlled ac
counts. Court officials say they can’t find additional descendants, if any exist.
Some descendants of the men have said they support using the settlement money to help the museum, while others
like the idea of a new memorial at Tuskegee University, where the study was based. Still others want new medical
screenings on relatives.
At NCCU, Dr. Akinleye worked to expand the university’s aca
demic partnerships, including new agreements with community col
leges, as well as introduced to the campus a robust online, distance-
education program, NCCU Online. He also created K-12 initiatives
and implemented a security strategy to increase safety for campus
constituents. Before his appointment as interim chancellor, he was
named acting chancellor from August 2016 to January 2017. Prior
to that role, Akinleye was named acting chancellor NCCU’s provost
and vice chancellor for academic affairs, where his responsibilities
included faculty development, academic planning and assessment,
enrollment management, and academic oversight of NCCU’s seven
schools and colleges.
“I accept the awesome responsibility as the 12th Chancellor for
North Carolina Central University with humility,” said Chancellor
Akinleye. “I look forward to leading NCCU in a manner that honors
our mission and to working closely with UNC General Administra
tion to fulfill the university’s system-wide mission and goals that
(Continued On Page 14)
JOHNSON O. AKINLEYE, PH.D.
Report: Losses mount at historic
Florida black university
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A historically black
university in Florida is dealing with mounting financial
problems.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported June 25 a re
view of tax documents showed annual losses at Bethune-
Cookman University have climbed over a three-year pe
riod from $254,000 to $17.8 million.
The paper said that tax returns show that salaries are in
creasing and that the college borrowed money from its
endowment fund.
President Edison Jackson did not respond to questions
about university finances. Joe Petrock, chairman of the
school’s board of trustees, said it is not the college’s poli
cy to discuss fiscal affairs in public. He added that trustees
are working to “address and improve our financial mat
ters.”
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos gave a commence
ment speech at the university in May and had her speech
nearly drowned out by boos and shouts.
Alabama mayor wants Confederate
statues that New Orleans removed
HANCEVILLE, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama mayor is offering to
take Confederate-related monuments recently disassembled in New
Orleans.
Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail wrote to New Orleans Mayor
Mitch Landrieu, asking him to consider donating the monuments for
display in Veterans Memorial Park in Hanceville. The town of about
3,250 people is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north ofBirmingham.
Nail tells The Cullman Times he’s heard nothing but positive
feedback on the idea from Hanceville residents.
Landrieu’s office didn’t immediately respond to an emailed re
quest for comment. New Orleans officials have said they will issue
a formal request for proposals to host the monuments in “a more
appropriate place” than the high-profile spots they once occupied.
Landrieu proposed their removal after the 2015 slayings of nine
black parishioners in South Carolina.
Minister who oversaw Lutheran
integration in 3 states dies
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A minister who oversaw the
integration of Lutheran churches in Louisiana, Missis
sippi and Alabama has died at the age of 92.
Schoen’s (SHANE’S) Funeral Home says the Rev.
Edgar Homrighausen (HOM-rig-how-zen) was born on
Long Island in 1924, grew up in New Jersey, and died
June 23.
He was elected bishop of the Missouri Synod’s South
ern District in 1959. During his 10 years as bishop, black
Lutheran churches in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisi
ana were integrated into the formerly all-white Southern
District.
Homrighausen moved in 1959 from First English Lu
theran Church in New Orleans to St. Paul’s Lutheran
Church in Cullman, Alabama. He moved back to First
English in 1965, retiring as bishop in 1969, but kept
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