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History
The Onyx Senior Honor Society was founded in 1974 by seven black
university students: Claudette Christian, Craig Inge, Sharon Moorer,
Linda Walker, Charles Wardlaw, Joseph Watkins and Robert Wilson. These
pioneers, with the aid of administrators Provost Elliot, Dean of
Students, Alice E. Emerson, and Associate Dean of Students, Harold
Haskins, formed the honor society to encourage and provide incentive
for high academic achievement and community service at the university.
These collaborators sought to recognize and commend outstanding
performance within, and outside of, the classroom. The organization has
played and continues to play a significant role in promoting academic
success and survival for minority students operating in an often
competitive environment.
One of the goals of Onyx was to re-establish the Society for
African-American Students at the University of Pennsylvania. The
society provided an all expenses paid program for black students in the
summer before their first year. The program lasted from 1969-72 and
concentrated on preparing its participants for the academic mainstream
by providing books, room and board, a stipend, and two credited
courses. This program later birthed the Pre-Freshman Program. In
response to such changes, the goals of Onyx have also changed and
developed over time. In the past, Onyx has focused on forums as a means
to inform the campus community about black issues. Some topics have
included the organization and promotion of networking and support
within the black community as well as the provision of mentoring for
both the campus and surrounding Philadelphia communities. Onyx hopes to
create a positive social experience for blacks at the university and to
recognize black achievement past and present.
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With the tenets of heritage, humility and humanity as their base, The Onyx Senior Honor Society attempts to achieve these goals.
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Harold Haskins
Harold J. Haskins has been an administrator at the University
of Pennsylvania for 29 years. From his starting post as Assistant
Dean of Students, in 1973, to his current role as Director
for Student Development Planning, his time and experience
have been dedicated to designing and incorporating orientation,
admissions, and student development activities for under-represented
minoritiesHigh school and university collaboration projects,
corporate and university partnerships, pre-college preparation,
and career development activities exemplify Mr. Haskins' efforts
through the years. Specifically, his efforts include a University-wide
Tutoring Center, a pre-freshman program, summer internships
-- sponsored by corporations and university academic departments,
the LEAD Program at the Wharton School, and the W.E.B. Du
Bois Ph.D. Accelerator Program, a pilot summer project to
introduce rising minority high school sophomores to research
skills.
Mr. Haskins has been a long-standing advocate of collaborative
learning among Penn’s diverse undergraduate and graduate student
populations. He has extensive experience generating projects
that engage students during their undergraduate years, thereby
enabling student growth and leadership in the early stages
of academic development.
Haskins has broadened the context of collaborative learning
in concert with deans, department chairs, and faculty members.
He has done this by including policy formulation and production
of resources to implement and institutionalize student development
programs in undergraduate schools and Wharton graduate programs
at the university. He has tailored program supports for under-represented
student populations, which included services to physically
challenged, educationally and economically disadvantaged,
and minority students. He founded The Tutoring Center, Support
Services, Department of Academic Support Services, and various
other developmental activities that are the foundation of
current minority student services, career development, and
retention activities at Penn.
In 1967during his tenure as Associate Vice President for Community
Development at Temple University Health Sciences Center, “Hask”
produced a film entitled “The Jungle,” featuring teenage gang
life in North Philadelphia. In 1968, The Jungle won a Documentary
Film Award at the Festival de Popoli, Italy. The film was
the catalyst for a number of teenage gang members to return
to high school to earn their high school diplomas. Several
members continued their education and earned college degrees
at regional universities. As a result of the national recognition
they received, the 12th and Oxford Street gang formed The
Twelfth & Oxford Filmmakers Corporation to focus their energies
on community development projects, and film production --
thus establishing several businesses in their neighborhood.
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