What Everyone Should Know About Fisk University

Founded in 1866, Fisk University is the oldest institution of higher education in Nashville, Tennessee, and will celebrate its sesquicentennial in 2016.  Fisk received a charter for the first chapter of The Phi Beta Kappa Society on a predominantly black campus in 1953.  Fisk’s outstanding faculty and students continue to enhance the University’s national reputation for academic excellence that is validated year after year by the leading third party reviewers, as well as by the pool of talented applicants and the large percentage of alumni who complete graduate or professional degrees and become leaders and scholars in their fields.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Programs

Fisk’s longstanding legacy of excellence is reinforced by its accomplishments in the 21^st century, especially in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Business disciplines. Fisk remains the only historically black college or university (HBCU) ever to win the prestigious R&D 100 award, and to date has one three.

The Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D Bridge Program has produced five Ph.D. graduates in the past three years in physics, astronomy, and materials science, disciplines in which African Americans and Latinos are underrepresented.  As of 2006, no U.S. institution awards more master’s in physics degrees to African-American U.S. citizens than Fisk, which is also one of the top ten U.S. institutions awarding master’s in physics degrees to U.S. citizens of any ethnic background.  In 2012, the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program graduated five Ph.D. recipients in the physical sciences and is on track to graduate this number each year.  This is ten times the national average for physical science Ph.D. programs.

Department of Business Administration

The Department of Business Administration has a reputation for producing alumni who hold top positions in their fields.  These include entrepreneurs George Russell Curtis, Sr. ’56, Karl Turner ’77 and Jacquelyn Denton Alton ’66, sports agents and executives Carl Poston II ’77 and Kevin Poston ’81, Music World Entertainment Founding CEO Mathew Knowles ’75, hospital system executive Mark Chastang ’74 and American Hospital Association Chairman John W. Bluford III ’71.

Among the many young alumni who have begun to make their marks are risk analysts Jenise Burks ’11 and Jordan West ’10, financial services professional James Horton ’06, accunting executive Dominique D’Antingnac-Bell ’97, social media strategist Rob Wingfield ’00, foreign services officer William Campbell ’07, and human resources professional Johnathan Montgomery ’99.

The department’s Entrepreneurial Action by University Students (ENACTUS) organization (formerly known as Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) regularly regional competitions for their innovative projects that make a difference in the Nashville community while developing them into socially responsible business leaders.  Fisk holds membership in the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). The Department of Business Administration offers a B.S. degree with concentration in music business through a collaborative agreement with Belmont University.  In addition, Fisk offers a joint program with the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.  In five years, students earn a Fisk baccalaureate degree and a Vanderbilt Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree.

National Rankings

Fisk ranked in the top 20 percent of 650 higher education institutions and is the highest ranked HBCU on Forbes’ 2012 Top Colleges List.  Fisk also ranked #119 among all private institutions and #34 among all institutions in the South.

The 2013 U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges and Universities” ranked Fisk in Tier One at #145 of more than 1,400 Liberal Arts Institutions in the United States.  Only three HBCUs are ranked in Tire One.  Fisk is ranked #5 on the list of “The Best Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)”.

The Washington Monthly, September 2012, ranked Fisk as the “#1 Liberal Arts HBCU in Research” in its “Top Liberal Arts Colleges and Universities.”  Fisk ranks in the top 6 percent of the 254 leading liberal arts institutions based on social mobility, research and service.

For the 20^th consecutive year, the Princeton Review included Fisk on the 2013 list of “The Best Southeastern Colleges.”

Fall 2012 Enrollment

Enrollment is 620, a 16 percent increase over last year and the largest growth in six years.  The average GPA for the Class of 2016 is 3.33, which is higher than the average GPA of 3.15 for the previous class.

Fisk’s entering students’ average SAT score is 1622, which is higher than the national average SAT score of 1500 and of 1272 for African American college entrants.[1] Students’ average ACT score is 21, which is higher than the national average of 17 for African American college entrants.[2]

Among Fisk’s Class of 2016, biology is the most popular major, followed by business, psychology, physics and chemistry.

Fisk’s Fall-to-Fall persistence rate is 84 percent.  The national average persistence rate is 57 percent, and the average persistence rate at other Tennessee institutions is 51 percent.

Fisk’s six-year graduation rate is 59 percent. The national graduation rate was 56 percent in 2009, which is the latest available number from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

Over 17 percent of Fisk students are selected for internships, which is above the 9 percent national average for internship placement on college campuses.[3]

Sixty-one percent of students who earn a Fisk degree enter graduate or professional school within one year of their graduation, ahead of the national average of 23 percent.[4]

Fisk’s 2012 graduating class included five students who were inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Cultivating Scholars & Leaders One By One

Source: Office of Institutional Advancement

February 15, 2013

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[1] College Board (CEEB), 2012

[2] The ACT Profile Report, 2012

[3] National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2012

[4] National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2012

 

Holland & Knight Secures More Than $100 Million in Financing for Second Phase of Mixed-Use Redevelopment Project

The CityMarket at O is poised to revitalize the Shaw neighborhood of D.C. while preserving key historical elements from the 19th century.

 

 

A team of attorneys and professionals from across the firm successfully secured more than $100 million for the second phase of the CityMarket at O project in the heart of Washington, D.C. The closing was finalized on April 4. The team coordinated the funding from a wide range of nontraditional commercial lending sources. The funding included tax-increment financing from the District of Columbia, EB-5 financing for the hotel construction, low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) investment funds, bond financing and additional funding from the District of Columbia for the affordable senior housing building.

 

 

This second phase involved a Cambria Suites hotel, an eight-story affordable senior housing building, a Giant grocery store, additional retail space, two eight-story multifamily towers and a condominium building with a four-story underground parking garage. Both phases of this deal totaled more than $300 million of financing.

 

 

Holland & Knight has represented this client since the business was founded in 1998 for the majority of its legal work. Many different groups within the firm contributed to this success as this deal took more than 10 years from start to finish. Numerous talented attorneys pitched in to get this deal done, including: Partners Leila Batties, Carolyn Brown, Kyrus Freeman, Chip Glasgow, Paul Kiernan, La Fonte Nesbitt, Tara Scanlon, Janis Schiff and Joe Whitebread, Director of Zoning/Land Use Services Steve Sher, Associates Kate Bagwell, Michelle Hess, Julia Lane and Ana Oza, as well as Paralegals Candace Evans and Dianne Holmes (all WAS); Partners Doug Clapp and Jim McDermott (both BOS); and Senior Counsel Tara Vance (NYC).

4/11/2013

Town Hall with H. James Williams, 15th President of Fisk University

 

 

 

 

The Atlanta Friends of Fisk Committee and The Fisk Fund National Steering Committee Request the pleasure of your company at  The Welcoming Reception for Dr. H. James Williams 15th President of Fisk University   Sunday, April 21, 2013 2:30 to 5:00 p.m.   First Congregational Church, UCC 105 Courtland Street Atlanta, Georgia   Please RSVP to mdromgoole@fisk.edu by April 17th   Atlanta Friends of Fisk Committee
Gwendolyn Campbell Antonio Grissom Charles Johnson  P. Andrew Patterson  William Settle Charles Smith	Bette Graves Thomas  Linda Gulley Francene Mangham Mary Sams  Robyn Jefferson Sims  Jessie Sydnor
Stephanie Wanza

Health Care Provider Practice

2012 - Recovery of Medicare Underpayments

When Grady Memorial Hospital was getting less than its fair share of federal funding for Medicare, they turned to Charles Johnson and Paul Vranicar in the Atlanta office of Holland & Knight. As a result of an intermediary's interpretation of Medicare regulations, Grady had been underpaid by approximately $4 million from 2003-2004. The Atlanta team quickly pushed two cases that had been pending for years to hearings before the Provider Reimbursement Review Board in Baltimore. At the last moment before each hearing, the intermediary agreed to reimburse Grady for almost the full amount owed.

Grady Memorial Hospital is the primary hospital for inner-city and medically indigent populations in DeKalb and Fulton Counties - the two largest counties in the Atlanta metro area. Grady Memorial Hospital serves as the only Level-1 trauma center in metro Atlanta and for 100 miles in all directions. It also serves as one of only two burn units in the state, provides ambulance coverage for the city of the Atlanta, houses the state's Poison Control Center, and serves as a regional referral for high-risk obstetrics and neonatal care.

2009- Medicaid Outpatient Settlements

In 2009, the Holland & Knight team won a number of cases in which the courts ordered the State of Georgia to follow its own rules in reimbursement for outpatient services, resulting in supplemental payments to the Grady for the following years in the following amounts:
 

Hughes Spalding FY 1999-2002: $1,826,333.00

Grady Memorial Hospital FY 2000: $1,543,074.00

Grady Memorial Hospital FY 2001: $2,230,246.00

Total: $5,599,653.00

2008 - Rare Grant of Rehearing on Medicaid Reimbursement

With Holland & Knight's help, a large public hospital in Atlanta finally obtains $1.8 million in reimbursements.

Charles Johnson, Sarah Leopold and Josh Bosin (all ATL) recently received an appellate win on behalf of Grady Health Systems. The case stems from an action by the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) to under-reimburse Hughes Spalding for services rendered to Medicaid patients from 1999-2002.

Hughes Spalding was owned and operated by the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority (d/b/a Grady Health System). The DCH based its reimbursement decision on a retroactive application of its hospital services manual, despite the existence of a contract between the parties expressly prohibiting such retroactive action. The action by the DCH resulted in a $1.8 million loss to Grady.

Grady's in-house counsel first challenged the action in administrative proceedings and lost before an administrative law judge who affirmed DCH's reimbursement decision. Holland & Knight came in as appellate counsel and successfully appealed the action to the Superior Court of Fulton County. The superior court reversed the administrative law judge and awarded Grady $1.8 million.

On DCH's discretionary appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeals, the court reversed the superior court, adopting the position of the administrative law judge and finding in favor of DCH. Holland and Knight filed a motion for reconsideration arguing that the court ignored the binding authority of the contract between the parties. On Nov. 7, the same appellate panel reversed itself, vacated its original opinion and found in the client's favor based on the arguments advanced in the motion for reconsideration

"Getting rehearing granted like this is an extremely rare occurrence," said Laurie Webb Daniel (ATL), chair of Holland & Knight's appellate team. "This win will provide Grady with a much-needed $1.8 million in reimbursements."

2007 - Atlanta Team wins $1.8 Million for Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital

This is the second time in two years that Holland & Knight has secured a money judgment against the state of Georgia on behalf of Grady Health System.

A Holland & Knight team recently handled an appeal to the Superior Court involving the Georgia Department of Community Health's decision to recoup $1.8 million in Medicaid funds for costs incurred at Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital from 1999 - 2002. The hospital is owned by Grady Health System, Georgia's largest public health system.

The Medicaid plan incorporates Medicare rules which require the regulator to recognize an individual hospital's method of cost allocation. In 2003, the state decided that it would recognize only its own method of cost allocation, and attempted to apply this decision retroactively to Hughes Spalding's cost reports for 1999-2002. The Superior Court of Fulton County sided with Holland & Knight, agreeing that it was improper for the state to engage in this sort of retroactive decision making.

"The Georgia Department of Community Health has essentially acted as if they could run the Medicaid program in any way they like," Charles Johnson (ATL) said. "We have repeatedly been forced to take them to court to establish that they have to follow their own rules and also abide by principles of due process."

The Holland & Knight team was led by Charles Johnson with the assistance of Joshua Bosin, Sarah Leopold, and Jane Warring (all ATL). If the court's decision holds, Grady will receive a refund of the $1.8 million they paid the state some time ago.

2005 - Recovery of Diverted DSH Funds

In 2005, the Atlanta Team secured a $6.4 million judgment for Grady as a result of the state's failure to follow another portion of its Medicaid rules relating to the State’s administration of the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital Program.

Join us in the Struggle for a More Representative Judiciary

On the Occasion of Accepting the R. Pruden Herndon Community Service Award

 

In 1964, Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. appointed A.T. Walden to a pro hac position on the Atlanta Municipal Court.  After Walden’s death the following summer, Mayor Allen appointed Walden’s protege, Rachel Pruden Herndon to serve in what was essentially the same position.

Some might say that these events were of little significance. After all, these were merely pro hac positions in the Atlanta Municipal Court. At the time of his appointment, Judge Walden had already practiced law for 43 years. At the time of her appointment, Judge Herndon had practiced for 21 years. But part of the significance lies in the fact that Judge Walden and Judge Herndon were the first black judges in Georgia since Reconstruction. Viewed in that context we see the actions of Mayor Allen as particularly noteworthy.

Among other things, these appointments were the start of a trend, as other persons of African descent began to ascend to the bench, but for the next 14 years, they were all by appointment, until Judge Clarence Cooper in 1979 became the first Black judge to take office by county wide election.

Judge Cooper’s election, and the subsequent elections of individuals such as Leah Sears and Kimberly Esmond Adams, proved that Georgia voters can select highly qualified judges who are representative of the communities they serve, if they are only given a chance.  Many of us see this as a positive development, but apparently not all of us see it that way.

It appears that there are some who view this triumph of democracy as threatening.  And so we are witnessing the emergence of a disturbing new trend in which judicial vacancies are timed in a manner to deprive the voters of the opportunity to fill vacant positions.  Today, in places like Fulton County, these vacancies are more often filled by appointment, the appointing authorities are not like Ivan Allen, and the bench is becoming less and less representative.

Public institutions are more likely to be accountable to the people – more likely to instill the confidence of the public - if those who administer them are representative of the communities they serve.  If the people who appoint judges can’t be made to understand this, then let the voters fill the vacancies, and let’s make sure that they have candidates to choose from who are highly qualified and who are representative of their communities.

There are those of us who are working to make this happen.  We hope that you will join us.

Collaborating with LDF on Major Voting Rights Brief

Working with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), our attorneys wrote an impactful brief for an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case.

On Feb. 27, the United States Supreme Court will review one of the most consequential and effective civil rights statutes via the case Shelby Co. v. Holder. In this dispute, Shelby County, Ala., is challenging the constitutionality of a core provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The provision in question, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, requires jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination in voting to submit proposed voting changes for federal approval before they are enacted to ensure that they are free from discrimination. The city of Calera, which is within Shelby County, enacted a discriminatory redistricting plan in 2008 without complying with Section 5.

Holland & Knight is representing LDF, which represents six African-American residents of Shelby County who intervened as defendants to support the statute's constitutionality. We filed a brief, as did the United States, on Jan. 25.

This is one of the most important cases being heard by the Supreme Court this term and, when decided, will receive a lot of attention. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of Section 5 four separate times in the past and all lower courts have similarly upheld Section 5 against constitutional challenges.

Senior Counsel Sam Spital led our team in these efforts along with substantial support from Executive Partner Bill Honan and Partners Barry Vasios, Marisa Marinelli and Bob Burns (all NYC). International Law Clerk Oyvind Movlen, Associates Mustafa Rizvi, Alexander Marmar, Duvol Thompson and Leila George-Wheeler (all NYC) as well as Chesterfield Smith Fellow Jonathan Stratton (MIA) also provided helpful assistance.       

Adventure Resort Planned for the Georgia Coast

With our assistance, a South Georgia community has created an incentive package designed to support the development of a major adventure resort.