A boost for Africana Studies

Technology marketing and communications CEO Clare DeNicola ’85 is intent on helping Lehigh students have the same outstanding, life-changing educational experience that she received while an undergraduate on South Mountain.

So when DeNicola, chair of the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council and principal of the10company, learned of the university’s Africana Studies program and the prestigious $500,000 challenge grant it had received from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), she and her husband, Frank, immediately supported the initiative.

“The Africana Studies program has such potential to broaden the experience of so many students at Lehigh and move the school forward progressively,” said DeNicola, who earned a dual degree in English and journalism at Lehigh. “The courses forge creative thinking, in addition to social and political aspects.”

The endowed funding will support an enhanced curriculum, Africana studies public humanities programs, student workshops, digital documentation, visiting fellows, graduate fellows, research grants, and community interaction programming.

“Africana Studies explores the literature, history, politics, religion, and culture of Africans and people of African descent all over the world,” said James Peterson, director of Africana Studies and associate professor of English. “We are truly interdisciplinary, and through our faculty and our robust programming, we contribute to the ongoing cultivation of our campus climate and the consistent preparation of our students for the modern globalized world in which we live and work.”

Students in the program take courses such as Art and Architecture of Africa, Jazz History, and Social Movements and Legacies of the 1960s. Classes are taught by Africana Studies faculty and by faculty who share appointments in different disciplines, including political science, theatre, art, architecture and design, sociology and anthropology, and journalism.

“I met a student who was minoring in Africana Studies and going to a hip hop culture class. He said that he had to write his own rap. That sparks so much creativity,” said DeNicola. “If I were in school now, I would totally want to take these courses and get involved.”

Miles Davis ’16 majored in supply chain management and minored in Africana Studies. Having taken courses in his minor, including Hip Hop Theatre and Introduction to Black Religions and Hip Hop, Davis said the subject matter challenged him with intense critical and creative thinking and that he learned more about himself and what he is passionate about.

“These courses were so integral to my development as a life student in understanding truth and applying that academic knowledge into the real world,” said Davis. “Classes in the program are extremely valuable to not only students who major/minor in Africana Studies, but to those outside of the program, because it opens the mind to another way of thinking that you do not activate while in any other program or department.”

In August 2015, Davis completed a research internship in Ghana that combined his major and minor programs. Working with Peterson, he analyzed the functional areas of supply chain management of Gold Coast Africans enslaved by Europeans during the transatlantic slave trade in the 18th and 19th century.

Like Lehigh, the NEH believes that the more students study, understand, and connect in these areas, the more prepared they will be to break down barriers and have success in the changing world in which we live. In supporting the NEH challenge grant, DeNicola said it will allow the Africana Studies program to develop more opportunities that foster new ways of thinking.

“This has the potential to broaden the experience of many students at Lehigh,” she said. “Lehigh and the world need more of this expanded thinking across all spectrums.”

DeNicola added that as a business person, she loves the idea of the challenge grant and that, by supporting it, she has a bigger impact because of the NEH matching funds.

“The idea that Lehigh built something impressive enough to get NEH attention and get the grant…I want to get behind it to help them have a bigger impact,” she said. “I hope more alumni join me.”

From dog walker to CEO

DeNicola credits her Lehigh education with providing a strong foundation in the arts and sciences to begin her career and operate in a business environment. As a Brown and White reporter and features editor and a member of Delta Gamma sorority at Lehigh, she developed skills in leadership, responsibility, decision-making and philanthropy.

When she graduated, she began a pet service business in Manhattan until she found her first position during a tough job market. She earned an MBA degree from Fordham University in 1992 and gained early professional experience in positions at Coopers & Lybrand, the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, and GCI Group. DeNicola joined IVANS Inc. as chief marketing officer in 1997. When she left the company in 2011, she had been president and CEO for eight years, turning the business into an innovative technology solutions provider. During that time, she was named one of the 100 Most Powerful People in the Insurance Industry for North America by Insurance Broadcasting and the Insurance Media Association.

In 2012, DeNicola founded the10company with business partner Valerie Di Maria to provide C-level executives with the services to transform their businesses through results-driven marketing and communications.

Story by Dawn Thren