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PROBLEM. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine in their historical context the seven accredited colleges of the National Baptist Convention of the United States of America, Inc., in order to assess their present programs , status, responsibilities, and opportunities, and to suggest appropriate directions for their future. The seven colleges are: Benedict College, Bishop College, Florida Normal College, Morehouse College, Shaw University, Spelman College, and Virginia Union University. PROCEDURE. The problem is developed in four stages : First a description of the rise and development of the National Baptist Convention of the United States of America, Inc., in its historical and cultural setting; second, a study of the rise and development of the seven accredited colleges; third, an assessment of their present programs, status, responsibilities and opportunities; and fourth, suggested appropriate directions for the future. Data were gathered through historical research, and through questionnaires, interviews , and several on-campus personal investigations at each college. FINDINGS. The seven colleges were founded by the American Baptist Home Missionary Society during the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War, not by the National Baptist Convention of the Uni tad States of America, Inc., as commonly claimed. Religion constituted the core of the curricula as the schools were initially training centers ministers and Christian workers. The academic programs were gradually expanded to train teachers and provide pre- professional training :for doctors, dentists, and lawyers. All were to work primarily with Negroes in a stratified society. Accreditation became synonornous with survival for these colleges between 1932 and 1951. During this period all the schools were approved by the (then) Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. They became quantitatively accredited by 1961, and qualitatively accredited by 1965. Due to the struggle for accreditation, they emerged as four-year liberal arts colleges, largely exhibiting a sameness of format. Their original purpose has been redefined. They recognize their moral responsibility to prepare for academic excellence and social responsibility, an educationally and culturally deprived minority who would normally be denied a college education by most institutions of higher learning. RECOMMENDATIONS. These colleges can become pace-setters among the predominantly Negro institutions of higher learning, in producing qualified, socially responsible citizens who can be assimilated into, and develop responsible roles in American society. To that end the following recommendations are made : 1. Qualified and competent administrators and faculties should be employed, representing a racial, geographical, and international cross- section. The student body body should be integrated in the near future. 2. Boards of Trustees should represent a concerned cross-section of society. They should be knowledgeable regarding the special needs of the schools, with terms of office extended to five years. J . Management of the colleges should be organized on a more democratic basis, with policy making a cooperative venture among all vested interests. 4. Curricula should be re-designed to bridge the existing cultural and educational gaps. Crash remedial programs should be abandoned. The regular four-year college program should be extended to five years for those in serious need of remedial work, allowing for a comprehensive program encompassing English, speech, reading , mathematics, and the humanities during the remedial program in the first year. 5. Guidance, counseling, and placement services should be made more effective, preparing heretofore disadvantaged youth for new opportunities. 6. Physical facilities should be expanded and improved to accomodate increased enrollments. Science, audio- visual, and language laboratories, reading and speech clinics should be established. 7. Students should be admitted on a heterogenous basis. Admission standards should remain at the present level for a short time, to help students who would normaly be denied admission to most other colleges. 8. Faculty and student exchange programs should be expanded to involve greater number s and a wider cultural range.

Hypertension is the cause of about 7.5 million deaths per year, globally. More than 40% of African Americans are diagnosed with hypertension. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of walnut consumption on blood pressure in a small convenience sample of African Americans in Mississippi. Fifty subjects participated in the study. Blood pressure was measured once a week for three weeks prior to the initiation of the intervention for a baseline data of the subjects’ normal blood pressure. During the 6-week intervention, the participants consumed a package of walnuts, daily. Blood pressure was measured weekly. The results of the study indicate that there was no significant impact on systolic pressure (MD: 1.61; CI: -.979, 4.20; p=.217) or diastolic pressure (MD: .806; CI: -.905, 2.51; p=.349). Future studies should be performed with more participants, higher dose of walnuts, and a longer trial period.

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