Dr. Loretta Walton Jaggers, professor of education at Grambling State University, is one of seven outstanding faculty of historically or predominantly Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) recently honored as NAFEO NOBLE prize awardees.
The award was presented at the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education’s 35th National Dialogue on Blacks in Higher Education – Ending the Cradle to Prison Pipeline, Establishing a Cradle to College Pathway, at the Renaissance Concourse Hotel in Atlanta.
A native of Minden, she received a B.S. degree in elementary education from GSU in 1970. She also attended State University of New York at Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1971 and received a M.Ed., in elementary education (reading emphasis).
She received an Ed.D in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston, Houston, Texas. She previously was coordinator of reading and study skills lab at Texas Southern University in Houston.
She has received numerous honors including the Louisiana Reading Association Educator of the Year Award in July 2008, and has published Developing Literacy Skills Across the Curriculum, Edwin Mellen Press, in 2002.
“I am honored and humbled to have been recognized by Grambling State University and NAFEO,” Jaggers said.
Dr. Jaggers is the proud mother of two daughters. Denesha Nichelle Jaggers is a 2007 graduate of Grambling State University, College of Professional Studies (School of Nursing). She is now a registered nurse at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. Demetria Eneece Jaggers is a senior psychology major in the Department of Psychology and Sociology at GSU.
Dr. Jaggers has served as the organizer and coordinator for the Grambling State University Annual Spring Reading Conference for the past 15 years.
NAFEO was founded in 1969 by a group of HBCU presidents as the professional association of the presidents and chancellors of the nation’s historically black and emerging predominately black colleges and universities. NAFEO represents approximately 400,000 students and their families, and African Americans across the higher education spectrum. NAFEO member institutions are public and private, 2- and 4- year community, regional, national, and international comprehensive research institutions, located in twenty-five states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Brazil.
The mission of the Association is as follows: to champion the interests of historically and predominately black colleges and universities with the executive, legislative, regulatory, and judicial branches of federal and state government, and with corporations, foundations, associations, and non-governmental organizations; to provide services to NAFEO members; build the capacity of HBCUs, their executives, administrators, faculty, staff, and students; and to serve as an international voice and advocate for the preservation and enhancement of historically and predominately black colleges and universities for blacks in higher education.