Tasty Morning Bytes – Race and Class at UDC, Gray’s Brown Issues and Using Malia Obama

Good morning, DCentric readers! Welcome to Wednesday’s links.

UDC students stage protest, call for school president’s resignation Previously, Sessoms resigned from Delaware State and Queens College: “At both…he was praised as an intelligent reformer but questioned on his spending. He also was accused of seeking to elevate the academic pedigree of both institutions at the expense, some said, of low-income and minority students, an allegation that is now fueling antipathy at UDC.” (The Washington Post)

Md. Man Pleads Guilty To Prostituting Girl 12-year old Child had been reported missing, called family member from a Maryland Motel: “She also told officers Smith had picked her up on the street in Washington, DC, paid for sexual services performed in the backseat of his car and recruited her to work for him as a prostitute.” (WUSA Washington, DC)

Sulaimon Brown’s charges must be taken seriously Editorial about the Mayor’s press conference: “What Mr. Gray didn’t explain – and why these disquieting charges must be taken seriously – is why his administration gave a $110,000-a-year job to a man with a spotty background, questionable credentials and a pattern of peculiar behavior…” (The Washington Post)

Aware of felony, Gray gave D.C. job to campaign worker Facebook friend! “Gray appointed a campaign supporter and Facebook friend, Cherita Whiting, as a $65,000-a-year “special assistant” in the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) in January after being warned months earlier that she had not disclosed a prior felony conviction when she applied for previous city council employment…” (Washington Times)

Rookie ANC official Pugh’s efforts part of rising civic energy in Southeast D.C. Who’s moving to SE again? “These new homes are being snatched up by people such as Pugh: 30-something, white-collar and African American. She has lived in Henson Ridge, a 300-townhouse development, with her fiance since 2008. ” (The Washington Post)

Buca di Beppo Promotes Malia Obama’s Visit Ha. That beloved local slang term is applied to all races, creeds, castes… “We should point out here that Buca di Beppo’s Dupont Circle location was where, as our own Rend Smith reported last year, a white server, Chris Costa, was fired for calling someone a “‘Bama,” because managers thought it was a racial slur.” (Washington City Paper)