Category Archives: News

Townhall: COVID-19 Impact on African Americans Health & Safety

D2 Strong Presents: COVID-19 Impact on African Americans Virtual Townhall Series- Episode 1: Health & Safety Hosted by: Black IMPACT San Antonio Bexar.

Monday April 20, 2020 – 7 pm to 8:30 pm via YouTube livestream

This outbreak of COVID-19 will affect you or somebody you know!

Join us for a virtual town-hall to discuss the health and safety of our African American community hosted by Black IMPACT San Antonio.

Black IMPACT, a Blackbook Studios Inc. initiative, is a coalition of community stakeholders who will determine how the community will emerge and rebuild our local and regional industries with an African American focus.

Be sure to stay up-to-date with all of UTSA’s Virtual Town Halls amid the on-going Covid-19 pandemic. https://www.utsa.edu/coronavirus/event/index.html

Emmanuel Akwar and Erica Sosa

BFSA member is inaugural fellow in faculty leadership program

(Nov. 18, 2019) — Congratulations to BFSA member Dr. Emmanuel Akwar, who one of the inaugural members of UTSA’s Advancing Next-Gen Faculty Leadership Fellow Program! This program promotes one-on-one training and development experience to promote diverse academic leadership at UTSA. Dr. Akwar ’99, M.S. ’01 is a Lecturer III in Biology and specializes in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and genetics.

Full story: http://www.utsa.edu/today/2019/11/story/faculty-leadership-fellows.html

Emmanuel Akwar and Erica Sosa are the inaugural members of UTSA’s Advancing Next-Gen Faculty Leadership Fellow Program.

BFSA recipients of President’s Distinguished Diversity Award

(April 9, 2019) — For the first time, the Black Faculty and Staff Association is the recipient of the 2019 President’s Distinguished Diversity Award in the faculty and staff category. We are proud of the efforts of our organization to advance inclusiveness at UTSA.

from left to right: Vice-President Dr. Sonja Lanehart, President Michelle Skidmore, Historian Yolanda Williams, VP for Inclusive Excellence Dr. Myron Anderson, Secretary Wanda Guntz, and Treasurer Brian Kelley

A message from the BFSA President Michelle Skidmore

 It is with great honor and pleasure to inform you that the Black Faculty and Staff Association has been selected to receive The University of Texas at San Antonio’s 2019 President’s Distinguished Diversity Award (faculty and staff category). This is the first time that BFSA has received this distinction at UTSA.  We also honor BFSA member LT Robinson, Dean of Students, who received the University Excellence Leadership Award, and Taylor Waits, recent graduate of UTSA and student ambassador, who received the President’s Distinguished Diversity Award (student category).

I’m extremely proud of everyone who has committed to advancing diversity and inclusiveness and fighting for ensuring the African-American community has a voice in contributing to improved practices of recruiting Black faculty and staff, providing mentorship for our students of color and retaining faculty, staff and students who exemplify Black excellence. We thank President Eighmy, his team, and Dr. Myron Anderson who are working hard to create innovative and strategic ways to enrich the campus climate and serve historically underrepresented groups.

BFSA wins Diversity Award
BFSA is presented with the President’s Distinguished Diversity award at the University Excellence Ceremony April 18, 2019.

Farewell dinner for Dr. Sonja Lanehart

(July 18, 2019) — BFSA members, friends and colleagues gather to wish Dr. Sonja Lanehart a warm farewell at Pappdeaux’s Restaurant on Thursday, July 18, 2019. Dr. Lanehart accepted a position at the University of Arizona at Tucson. We will miss her dearly. Dr. Lanehart served with BFSA since 2008, and she has taken on leadership roles as President and Vice President.

Dr. Lanehart presented with gift
The BFSA presented Dr. Lanehart with a hand made decorative orange and blue glass bowl.