Slippery Rock University Frederick Douglass Institute

Slippery Rock University Frederick Douglass Institute Creating transformative connections and educational opportunities for underrepresented at SRU.

Guided by the spirit and legacy of distinguished orator and statesman Frederick Douglass, the Frederick Douglass Institute Collaborative is committed to creating inclusive university communities and transformative connections among historically underrepresented students and faculty, as well as other communities across the Commonwealth and beyond. As a network of scholars who deliver forward-thinki

ng initiatives that promote inclusive excellence and enhance access and success, we seek to advance the state of knowledge and practice around educational engagement and achievement for historically underserved and underrepresented students. The Frederick Douglass Institute Collaborative exists across the 14 universities of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.

SRU student presenting at the annual FDI conference at Clarion University
04/26/2025

SRU student presenting at the annual FDI conference at Clarion University

Yesterday we spent the afternoon watching The Wiz on Broadway in Pittsburgh. Before the show, we enjoyed delicious pizza...
11/06/2023

Yesterday we spent the afternoon watching The Wiz on Broadway in Pittsburgh. Before the show, we enjoyed delicious pizza at Giovanni’s Pizzeria. The show was a masterpiece full of comedy, extraordinary performances, talented musicians, and beautiful voices. Standing ovation!!

Celebrating at with good and great students
10/02/2023

Celebrating at with good and great students

As we celebrate at we look at the numbers of our diverse group
09/28/2023

As we celebrate at we look at the numbers of our diverse group

Did you Know
09/28/2023

Did you Know

Join us as we celebrate at
09/28/2023

Join us as we celebrate at

Big thank you to everyone who came to the Butta Bar experience!
04/16/2023

Big thank you to everyone who came to the Butta Bar experience!

Please join us tomorrow at the BUTTA BAR!Come make your own personalized body scrubs using essential oils and fragrances...
04/11/2023

Please join us tomorrow at the BUTTA BAR!

Come make your own personalized body scrubs using essential oils and fragrances while learning about the importance of self-care. See you there!!

SHE PAVED THE WAYKatherine Switzer The first woman to run the Boston Marathon with a legitimate race number was Kathrine...
03/30/2023

SHE PAVED THE WAY

Katherine Switzer

The first woman to run the Boston Marathon with a legitimate race number was Kathrine Switzer, in 1967. She achieved this in spite of the race director's attempts to have her taken off the course. She registered for the 1967 Boston Marathon race because there was no rule against women participating in the official rules. She signed her name "K. V. Switzer," as she did every time she signed her work.

On April 19, 1967, the snowy day she revolutionized women's athletics, Switzer wore bib number 261. 20-year-old Switzer at the time didn't enter with any political statements in mind. She was just a runner who wanted to finish a prestigious marathon, and she was shocked by what happened about four miles in.“Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!” The race director yelled, and if Switzer's boyfriend had not stepped in to block her, the race director could have ripped the bib from her sweatshirt. After the widely reported event, Switzer vowed to assist future female athletes who had been refused opportunities.
Switzer made a name for herself. She became a journalist, author, TV commentator and champion of women's sports. She led the effort for the women's marathon to be added as an Olympic event and won the 1974 New York City Marathon.

SHE PAVED THE WAYMalala YousafzaiOn July 12, 1997, Malala Yousafzai was born in Pakistan. When the Taliban seized contro...
03/29/2023

SHE PAVED THE WAY

Malala Yousafzai

On July 12, 1997, Malala Yousafzai was born in Pakistan. When the Taliban seized control of Yousafzai's town, they imposed a prohibition on all girls attending school. Yousafzai's father was a teacher and headed an all-girls school in her village. Malala, then 15 years old, was shot in the head by a gunman who boarded her school bus after she spoke out in 2012 for women's rights to education. Malala survived the gunshot.

Yousafzai relocated to the UK, where she established herself as a formidable force on the international scene and, at the age of 17, became the youngest person to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. “I tell my story not because it is unique, but because it is the story of many girls.”

SHE PAVED THE WAYMarjorie Stewart JoynerAs the creator of the Permanent Wave Machine, Marjorie Stewart Joyner will go do...
03/27/2023

SHE PAVED THE WAY

Marjorie Stewart Joyner

As the creator of the Permanent Wave Machine, Marjorie Stewart Joyner will go down in cosmetology history as a significant figure. Together with Mary Bethune McLeod, she co-founded the United Beauty School Owners and Teachers Association in 1945 and contributed to Illinois's first cosmetology laws. Joyner was also involved in the African American community, supporting black colleges and fighting racial prejudice alongside First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

On October 24, 1896, Joyner was born in Monterey, Virginia. She was the granddaughter of a white slave owner and an enslaved Black woman. She was a very underprivileged child who moved to Chicago in 1912 at the age of sixteen and enrolled in the A.B. Molar Beauty School. The first Black American to graduate from that college in 1916.

Joyner developed and patented her well-known device, the Permanent Wave Machine, in 1928. It was a new way to curl hair that lasted for days. The pins Joyner used to cook pot roast that heated the meat from the inside served as the inspiration for the invention. Her innovation consisted of 16 rods connected to an electric cord inside of a drying hood. To set in the curls, a customer would spend a certain amount of time sitting in the hood for the best results. Later, she also created a scalp protector to lessen the discomfort. Despite the popularity of her invention among black and white women, Joyner never saw any profit from the invention as the rights were owned by Madam C.J. Walker’s company.

Joyner trained almost 15,000 hairdressers during the course of her 50-year career. A display exhibiting Joyner's creation and a copy of her original salon debuted at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington in 1987. At the age of 77, she achieved a lifetime goal by graduating from Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida, with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

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