Book Talk: Black Woman on Board – Dr. Donna J. Nicol

Dr. Donna J. Nicol, author of the newly released Black Woman on Board, will be joined by Dr. Timeka Thomas Rashid for a discussion about affirmative action, equity, and the legacy of Black women in leadership.

This event is free, but please RSVP here if you plan to attend.

Black Woman on Board: Claudia Hampton, the California State University, and the Fight to Save Affirmative Action examines the leadership strategies that Black women educators have employed as influential power brokers in predominantly white colleges and universities in the United States. Author Donna J. Nicol tells the extraordinary story of Dr. Claudia H. Hampton, the California State University (CSU) system’s first Black woman trustee, who later became the board’s first woman chair, and her twenty-year fight (1974–94) to increase access within the CSU for historically marginalized and underrepresented groups.

Dr. Donna J. Nicol is the Associate Dean of Personnel and Curriculum in the College of Liberal Arts and a professor of history at California State University Long Beach.

She is the immediate past department chair and professor of Africana Studies at CSU Dominguez Hills, a post she held from 2017-2023.  She earned her doctorate degree in Educational Studies (with a specialization in History and Philosophy of Higher Education and a graduate minor in African American and African Studies) from The Ohio State University in 2007.

Dr. Nicol’s research focuses race, conservative philanthropy, and U.S. higher education, and the history of African American women’s educational activism. Her work has been published in Race, Ethnicity and Education, The Feminist Teacher (twice), History of Philanthropy, Palimpsest: A Journal of Women, Gender and the Black International, The Encyclopedia of American Women’s History, Encyclopedia of Multiracial America, and Habitus of the Hood. In February 2021, Dr. Nicol was a featured guest expert for the Al Jazeera English documentary, The Big Picture: A Race for America. Dr. Nicol has also published opinion columns on racism in philanthropy for Al Jazeera Digital and has appeared on the Insufferable Academics podcast, the Fresh Off the Vote podcast, and the Peace and Justice Radio Show.

Prior to becoming an academic, Dr. Nicol spent three years teaching secondary language arts and social studies for Los Angeles Unified School District and seven years in various academic administrative roles at Mt. St. Mary’s College and The Ohio State University. She serves on the board of directors for the Historical Society of Southern California, co-principal investigator for the State of Black Los Angeles County Report (2023) and is active in a number of professional academic and social service organizations. Follow Dr. Nicol on Twitter @donnajnicol.

Dr. Timeka Thomas Rashid, PhD. is the Vice President for Student Affairs at Baldwin Wallace University (BW). She arrived June 1st, 2021. Her responsibilities include: the day-to-day oversight of thirteen areas of the co-curricular experience for BW, which include Student Engagement, Athletics/Campus Recreation Services, Residence Life & Housing, Counseling and Health Services, Orientation, FY&SYE, Parents and Families programming, Dean of Students, the Student Union and TriO. She also serves as an officer and member of the President’s cabinet, working to support the University President and other BW areas across the university. She serves and facilitates several university committees.

Dr. Rashid has held a variety of positions in her 20+ year career in the field of student affairs. Some of her areas of oversight have included: student activities, union, fraternity and sorority life, leadership programming, community service, first-year experience, residence life, multicultural affairs, athletics, and student conduct. Dr. Rashid has received her Bachelor of Arts in a double major in History and Black Studies from the College of Wooster. She received her Master’s in Higher education administration from The Ohio State University and her doctorate in higher education administration from Ohio University.

Her research and presentation interests have included women’s leadership and practices and barriers to career ascension for African American women.

A proud Clevelander, Dr. Rashid believes in giving back to her hometown. In addition to her professional responsibilities, Dr. Rashid is active in community and civic organizations. She is a member of the Cleveland NAACP, a proud twenty-seven + year member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). In 2023 she was recognized a Cleveland Business Journal Woman of Influence.