News

Mount Vernon Triangle CID Executive Board Member, Dr. Ivory Toldson, Appointed as Deputy Director of White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Friday September 13, 2013

Washington, DC – The Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District (Mount Vernon Triangle CID) congratulates Executive Board member and Howard University professor, Dr. Ivory Toldson, on his presidential appointment as Deputy Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The HBCU initiative is intended to help increase the number of Black college graduates and sustain the institutions that have played a pivotal role in educating them.

President Obama also announced that George Cooper, Ph.D., former South Carolina State University president, will be executive director of the White House Initiative. As part of the leadership team for the White House Initiative on HBCUs, both Toldson and Cooper will work with the presidentially appointed HBCU Board of Advisors and assist Education Secretary Arne Duncan as a liaison between the executive branch and HBCUs across the country.

In a statement for Howard University, Toldson said, “I am honored to serve in the new role with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I plan to promote a level of excellence among HBCU faculty, staff, administrators, and students, which will empower them with the leverage they need to meet the challenges, promises and potential of HBCUs today.”

The White House Initiative on HBCUs serves as the constant voice of the HBCU community at the Department of Education and helps shape policy and deploy resources to better serve the students, faculty and families of the greater HBCU community. The HBCU initiative also works with 32 federal agencies that support HBCUs through federal grants and contracts.

An associate professor in the School of Education at Howard University, Toldson also serves as senior research analyst for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and Editor-in-Chief of “The Journal of Negro Education.” He formerly served at Southern University and A&M College and is responsible for the Breaking Barriers series for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), which analyzes success indicators for Black male schoolchildren. Toldson was also the lead author of The Quest for Excellence: Supporting the Academic Success of Minority Males in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Disciplines.

About The Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District
The Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District is a private, nonprofit organization established to enhance the overall quality of life for residents, visitors, employees and property owners in the Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood. Founded in 2004, the Mount Vernon Triangle CID is considered to be one of Washington DC’s best examples of a mixed-use community. The Mount Vernon Triangle is at the heart of the City—both geographically and culturally. Its boundaries include 19 blocks within the East End of downtown Washington, D.C., bordered by Seventh Street to the west, Massachusetts Avenue to the south, New York Avenue to the north and New Jersey Avenue to the east. The Mount Vernon Triangle is a welcoming, authentic, and centered neighborhood that mirrors the City’s unique mix of historic and modern buildings, longtime and new residents, and diverse cultures, restaurants, and experiences. For more information, we invite you to explore our website at mvtcid.org or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MountVernonTriangleCID or Twitter @MVTCID.