vitalvoices 2024-2025
The vitalvoices Speaker Series serves as a forum to bring scholars and practitioners alike to speak
to students, faculty, alumni and community partners at UHD's College of Public Service.
It is our hope that those we invite to speak will share, from the heart, their professional
experiences, their knowledge, and how the work they do impacts society as a whole.
We like to feature people whose work is interdisciplinary and touches upon the fields
social work, criminal justice and urban education.
March
The Rise of Black Women in Higher Education
Thursday, March 20th from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Bernadette Pruitt, Sam Houston State University
Register For This Event Today!
Building on the work of academics who have examined the impact Black women, Latinas, Asian American women, women with queer identities, people of color broadly, and people with disabilities have had in higher education, this study investigates the evolution and history of African-descent women faculty in Texas colleges and universities.

Dr. Bernadette Pruitt
The first Black woman to earn a PhD in History from the University of Houston, she obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Southern University, an Historical Black College/University (HBCU) in Houston.
For more information contact Steven Villano, director of the Center for Public Service and Community Research at villanos@uhd.edu.