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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 28, 1999

News Release

NEA Welcomes Dr. Beverly Caffee Glenn as New Director of Human and Civil Rights

Washington, D.C. -- Dr. Beverly Caffee Glenn has joined the National Education Association (NEA) as Director of its Human and Civil Rights unit.

Dr. Glenn brings more than 20 years of experience in education policy and administrative work experience to NEA, the nation's largest professional employee organization with nearly 2.5 million members. The appointment marks her return to NEA. She served the association as a program development specialist from 1986 to 1989.

Prior to rejoining NEA, Dr. Glenn served as the Dean of the School of Education at Howard University in Washington, D.C. from 1989 to 1992 before becoming an associate professor of administration and policy at the historically black university. There she created a consortium of universities focused on recruitment and retention of teachers of color.

"We need minority teachers everywhere," says Dr. Glenn. "Not just in urban settings but also in the suburbs because we can't have suburban kids growing up distant from minorities."

NEA's Human and Civil Rights unit, with a staff of 24, is responsible for programs that promote equity and combat discrimination. Its staff networks with national organizations working against intolerance, censorship and violence to help design projects and provide information on attacks on the freedom to teach and learn.

Dr. Glenn, who assumed her new position this month, says she is ready to take on new challenges with NEA. "These are exciting times in education. I would like to draw attention to important issues such as the achievement gaps between whites and minorities."

Dr. Glenn's credentials and honors are numerous, most notably her 1997 Howard University Excellence in Teaching award for her work at the school. She has degrees from Morgan State, Catholic University and Harvard University in mathematics, curriculum development, and administration respectively.

She also has served as a consultant to the world-renown education innovator Dr. James Comer, who received the prestigious Heinz Award in the Human Condition in 1996. Comer developed a curriculum emphasizing a family-like atmosphere that is now improving the educational climate in more than 600 schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia.

Dr. Glenn has also consulted the Aurora International Inc. in South Africa, the Public Education Fund Network, and the National Coalition Advocates for Students.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 2.4 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support personnel, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.