The city of Columbia, South Carolina has found a very unique way to honor the dedicated student-athletes of nearby Benedict College! Get the full story from Benedict below.
Credit: Nate Salley
Benedict College recognized the men’s and women’s outdoor track and field teams on Monday in the Swinton Center cafeteria for winning the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships over the weekend, while the City of Columbia honored the entire Benedict athletic program for winning a school-record seven conference championships over the 2021-22 school year.
City of Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann presented Benedict President Dr. Roslyn C. Artis a proclamation naming Monday as “Benedict College Tigers 2021-22 SIAC Championships Celebration Day.”
The proclamation recognizes Benedict’s conference championships in men’s cross country, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, and mixed cheerleading. The proclamation also acknowledges Benedict’s three coaches who earned SIAC Coach of the Year honors – Frank Hyland in men’s cross country, men’s track and field and women’s track and field; Gwendolyn Rouse for men’s volleyball; and Gary Taylor for men’s and women’s tennis. Also mentioned are Benedict’s two SIAC Players of the Year – Tajh Green for men’s basketball and Ras Jesse Delancy for men’s volleyball, as well as Benedict’s 39 student-athletes who received SIAC All-Conference honors this year. The proclamation also highlights Benedict’s success in the classroom as well, with student-athletes having an overall grade point average of 3.0.
Mayor Rickenmann also presented Keys to the City to each of Benedict’s championship teams and coaches of the year.
Monday’s celebration included recognition of Benedict’s 19 men’s and women’s track and field athletes who were named All-SIAC.
Benedict won both the men’s and women’s track and field championships on Saturday at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. The men won by 62.5 points, winning five gold medals during the three-day event. The Lady Tigers were even more dominant, winning the championship by 131 points and bringing home 12 gold medals.
Morris Brown College is no longer an unaccredited HBCU! Get the full story from Gabriella Nunez at 11 Alive below.
Source: Essence
After nearly 20 years, Morris Brown College has regained its accreditation.
A spokesperson with the liberal arts college announced Tuesday the historically Black institution regained full accreditation.
The school was put in limbo, losing its federal funding in 2002 after financial mismanagement. Last year, it gained candidacy with President Kevin James calling it “a new day for Morris Brown College.” The accreditation marks a new era.
The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS), a Virginia-based accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education granted the 141-year-old college its candidacy last year. MBC’s website cites it as a member of TRACS.
The college was previously accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Just before the end of 2021, the U.S. Department of Education also reinstated the college’s participation in the federal program, meaning students have been able to apply for federal grants, scholarships and work-study jobs this year as the institution worked toward full accreditation status. It costs about $4,250 a semester to attend MBC, according to James.
Advocates for the school’s accreditation said its journey to be a federally recognized institution is important to Atlanta’s history and for future generations.
“Morris Brown College is unique to the Atlanta experience when we talk about historically Black colleges and universities,” Maurice Hobson a civil rights and Atlanta scholar said in a previous interview with 11Alive’s Jennifer Bellamy.
“Morris Brown College was the first college in the state of Georgia that was owned and operated purely and solely by Black people,” Hobson said.
Hobson said the narrative regarding misappropriation of funds shouldn’t shadow the college’s rich history and the significance MBC holds in Georgia, calling its journey to accreditation another example of resilience — which Morris Brown has become known as it stands out among HBCUs.
“It is going to take new and innovative ways of understanding college education and what Morris Brown College can be than what it’s been in the past,” he said about its leadership and the college’s future.
Hobson added that there are advocates, alumni, HBCU alumni, supporters, and other members of the Black community invested in and rooting for MBC.
“We all want to see Morris Brown win,” he said. “If Morris Brown wins, then Atlanta ultimately wins.”
There are 107 HBCUs in the U.S. recognized by the Department of Education. Of those 107, three are closed and two are at risk of losing their accreditation, records show.
Jackson State University senior Kamilah Fipps has been missing for a week, but there are signs that she may be in Virginia. Get the full story from Tannock Blair and Autumn Childress at WRIC below.
Credit: WAPT
A family is desperate for answers after a 21-year-old Jackson State University student went missing last Tuesday.
Kamilah Fipps, a senior at JSU, left her campus in Mississippi a week ago, but evidence shows she could be in the Richmond area.
“She has never done this before…this is not her character,” said Vicky Fipps, Kamilah’s mother. “I’m scared. I just want my baby back home.”
Fipps’ bank account shows she purchased a one-way Greyhound bus ticket out of Mississippi on Thursday. After the stop in Richmond — the bus continued to New York. However, Kamilah paid $239.99 — the exact amount to get from Mississippi to Richmond.
The bank account also revealed a purchase from Gelati Celesti on Arthur Ashe Boulevard near the bus station.
Credit: Gelati Celesti
Surveillance pictures from the ice cream shop show Fipps making her purchase at 7:33 p.m.
Another purchase was made at the CVS on Broad Street a few blocks over, but her mother says there have been no other transactions since then.
“We’ve been monitoring her card activity and there has been no activity since this purchase at CVS,” she said. “And she still has money in her account.”
The family also reached out to T-mobile who found Fipps’ last pinged location was in Richmond on Friday. Her phone now goes directly to voicemail, leaving mounting questions for the family.
“This is what’s scaring me so much. I don’t want to think the worst. I don’t know if she was lured here,” her mother said. “You hear people saying she’s an adult, she’s 21, but to me, she’s my baby. I want all the help I can get to find her.”
The family says that they have no known connections to Virginia.
Richmond Police confirmed that they are working with the Jackson State University Police Department for any information the whereabouts of Fipps.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations has also issued a “silver alert,” indicating that a medical condition could be impairing her judgment.
“It’s killing me and I always tell her if anything ever happened to you I would be devastated,” Fipps’ mother said. “I just want her home that’s it.”
Kamilah Phipps is around 5-foot 5-inches tall, weighing around 130 pounds. She wears glasses and has dreadlocks with red tips.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Richmond Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
Howard University alumna Kamala Harris is one of the latest politicians to test positive for COVID-19. Get the full story from By Jasmine Wright, Maegan Vazquez, Betsy Klein, Kevin Liptak and Ted Barrett at CNN below.
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the 57th anniversary commemoration of ‘Bloody Sunday’ at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 6, 2022. – On “Bloody Sunday,” March 7, 1965, some 600 civil rights marchers headed east out of Selma on US route 80. They got only as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge six blocks away, where state and local lawmen attacked them with billy clubs and tear gas and drove them back into Selma. Two days later on March 9, Martin Luther King, Jr., led a “symbolic” march to the bridge. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage / AFP) (Photo by ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday after returning from a weeklong trip to California.
“Today I tested positive for COVID-19. I have no symptoms, and I will continue to isolate and follow CDC guidelines. I’m grateful to be both vaccinated and boosted,” Harris tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
Kirsten Allen, the vice president’s press secretary, said in an earlier statement that Harris tested positive for Covid-19 on rapid and PCR tests. Harris “will isolate and continue to work from the vice president’s residence,” Allen said.
“She has not been a close contact to the President or First Lady due to their respective recent travel schedules. She will follow CDC guidelines and the advice of her physicians. The Vice President will return to the White House when she tests negative,” she added.
Harris had been scheduled to receive her intelligence briefing at 10:15 am ET Tuesday at the White House alongside President Joe Biden, according to daily guidance sent to reporters Monday evening. She did not participate in any events or meetings at the White House on Tuesday, according to a White House official.
White House Covid-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said he did not know if Harris is being treated with therapeutics.
“That’s a conversation that she’s having with her physician. I’m not her physician. I’m not privy to those conversations, so I don’t know the answer to that,” he said.
Contact tracing is underway, a White House official said. Officials will notify the appropriate people, but as of Tuesday afternoon, the office had not identified close contacts among staff.
A handful of staff members traveled with Harris to California last week, including deputy chief of staff Mike Fuchs and national security adviser Phil Gordon. It’s unclear whether all staff members listed stayed in California with Harris through the duration of her weeklong trip.
Biden and Harris spoke over the phone on Tuesday afternoon, according to the White House.
“He wanted to check in and make sure she has everything she needs as she quarantines at home,” a White House statement to reporters said.
The President last tested negative for Covid-19 on Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Harris’ isolation will have immediate impact on Senate Democrats. Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Ron Wyden of Oregon both also announced they had tested positive as well on Tuesday, meaning that their absences — along with Harris — will delay Democrats’ plans to confirm a pair of high-profile nominees this week, a senior Democratic aide told CNN.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hoped to confirm Lisa Cook to be a member of the Federal Reserve Board and Alvaro Bedoya to be the chair of the Federal Trade Commission. But because there is broad Republican opposition to them, votes to process those nominations will be put off until Democrats, who narrowly control the 50-50 chamber, are back to full strength.
In a sign of the partisan combativeness that is so prevalent in the Senate, Republicans will still force a procedural roll call vote on Cook’s nomination — which will fail — later Tuesday and force Democrats to go through the process of breaking a filibuster against her again. GOP senators could have given consent to waive the actual vote but didn’t. Republicans have not said yet if they would do the same with Bedoya’s nomination.
“That is something that members and leaders will work through in Congress,” Psaki told reporters on Tuesday when asked about the dilemma. “We are confident we have the votes to get them confirmed. We’re eager to have them in place. But of course, we need all the people, all members there to do that.
“The Senate confirmed Lael Brainard to be the vice chair of the Fed Tuesday afternoon. Her nomination is not affected by the absences because she has bipartisan support.
Harris not a close contact of Biden
Harris arrived at the White House Tuesday morning, a White House official told CNN, and went straight to take a test. After testing positive on both PCR and rapid tests, she returned home to her residence at the Naval Observatory, where she will be isolating.
While in California last week, she held events on portfolio issues. In San Francisco on Thursday, Harris highlighted the Black maternal health crisis during events and was indoors talking to expecting mothers and health providers without a mask on. Masks are recommended, but no longer required, in most public indoor spaces in the city.
Harris held no public events over the weekend before returning to the nation’s capital.
One official said Harris tested negative through her “regular” testing up until Tuesday. CNN has asked when the vice president last tested negative.
Harris completed her two-dose regimen of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in January 2021. She received her first booster dose in late October and a second booster vaccine on April 1.
Covid makes its way through elite Washington
The vice president’s positive Covid-19 test comes as the US has largely lifted most of its Covid-19 mitigation measures after the Omicron variant spike over the winter.
In accordance with federal public health guidelines, officials and visitors have not been required to wear masks or socially distance at large White House events. Covid cases in Washington have declined since their peak in early January, when the country was facing a wave of Omicron variant cases, but have been rising recently.
Though the White House has continued to hold crowded indoor events where masks are optional and officials have forgone masks in public, the administration has said they are going beyond federal guidelines to detect Covid-19 in the building. There’s mandatory testing for those who come into contact with Biden and social distancing during meetings, at least when it’s possible.
Psaki said on Tuesday that she does not expect the White House to implement additional Covid-related protocols as a result of Harris’ positive test.
“There’s a regular testing cadence. Obviously, the vice president was tested this morning because of that regular testing cadence. And for the rest of us — anyone who’s going to be around the President, to travel with him, to see him in the Oval Office — is tested that day,” she said, outlining existing White House protocols. “And even if you’re not going to see him, you’re on a regular testing cadence around here.”
Psaki also said some White House staff have taken the additional steps of socially distancing where possible and masking of their own volition. And she confirmed that the President would still attend a number of high-profile events this week, including the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and the memorial for former Vice President Walter Mondale in Minneapolis.
Officials have acknowledged that it’s “possible” Biden will eventually contract Covid-19, but have emphasized the precautions being taken to prevent infection.
“The bottom line is he is vaccinated and boosted. He is very well protected. He’s got very good protocols around him to protect him from getting infected. But there is no 100% anything,” Jha said on Tuesday.
Covid has also been making the rounds among White House staff and among the Washington elite recently.
In late March, White House press secretary Jen Psaki cancelled her plans to travel with the President to Belgium and Poland after testing positive for Covid-19 for the second time. Her replacement on the Europe trip, White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, tested positive shortly after returning from the trip. Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in March.
Following the Gridiron Club Dinner, an annual event with members of the press and prominent Washington officials that was held in early April, dozens of attendees tested positive, including two Cabinet members and Harris’ communication director, Jamal Simmons. He was considered to be a close contact of the vice president. Harris was criticized in the wake of that close contact for her seeming disregard of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention masking guidance for those who were exposed to Covid-19, as she did not wear a mask during the Supreme Court confirmation vote for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Former NBA player JR Smith has made an impression in his golf program at North Carolina A&T State University. Get the full story from Tory Barron at ESPN below.
Credit: Getty Images
Who needs 3s when you can score a 4.0? In the fall of 2021, 16-year NBA veteran JR Smith enrolled at North Carolina A&T State University and joined the golf team as a walk-on. Now, in his second semester at the HBCU, the two-time NBA champion is already earning accolades in the classroom.
On Monday, the 36-year-old — who was originally slated to play basketball at North Carolina before jumping from St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, New Jersey, to the NBA draft in 2004 — was named the Aggies’ Academic Athlete of the Year.
The news comes a week after apparel brand Lululemon signed Smith to be its golf ambassador through a name, image and likeness deal. The athlete known to hoops fans as “JR Swish” is the first male golfer to sign a brand ambassador deal with Lululemon.
In January, Smith signed with Excel Sports Management for NIL representation. At the time, Smith’s agent, Lance Young, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that there was high interest from golf apparel and equipment manufacturers in sponsoring the enormously popular (6.2 million followers on Instagram alone) college athlete.
Smith first revealed that he was excelling in the classroom at the end of the fall semester. On Dec. 14, Smith took to social media to share he had achieved his goal of earning a 4.0 grade-point average.
An Alcorn State University faculty member has been selected to lead a top organization just for educators! Get the full story from Vicksburg News below.
Dr. LaShundia Carson (Credit: Alcorn State University)
Mississippi’s largest professional organization for educators has selected an Alcorn State University faculty member to guide the organization for the upcoming academic year.
Dr. LaShundia Carson, acting associate dean for the School of Education and Psychology, was elected president of the Mississippi Professional Educators. Carson served as the faculty advisor for the organization’s student chapter on campus.
The organization is a statewide professional organization whose members come from all aspects of educational systems in the state. Its 13,000 members include teachers, administrators, and non-certified staff from kindergarten to graduate school.
Serving the organization is an honor for Carson. She looks forward to displaying her leadership skills in the new role.
“I am humbled to have this golden opportunity to serve in this leadership capacity,” said Carson. “Being selected for this position expresses the organization’s confidence in my leadership ability.”
Advocating for others in the education field and being a difference-maker in students’ lives inspired Carson to pursue the position.
“I have a love and passion for making a difference in students’ lives. This is an opportunity to help advocate and empower educators to ensure excellent and equitable education for every student in Mississippi. The president’s position also allows me to promote the achievements of all students while working with colleagues from the P-12 environment, college and university faculty, and policymakers to identify factors that impact the achievement gap. I hope that we implement the best practices using high-quality instructional materials and finding policies that would help close the gap. Educators are the backbone of society.”
Some of Carson’s goals are to expose the organization’s services to a broader audience while empowering educators.
“My goal is to increase the Mississippi Professional Educators’ presence in the Southwest Mississippi region. There are numerous challenges facing public education and educators.”
She continued, “My goal is to encourage educators to stay the course because the state needs them. My other goals include addressing teachers’ concerns, providing relevant professional development, and promoting safe and nurturing environments for students to flourish.”
Carson looks forward to leveraging her position to recruit students to Alcorn while promoting professional development.
“I’ll use my position as a recruitment opportunity to attract undergraduate and graduate candidates to our programs at Alcorn. In addition, I plan to expose our pre-service candidates to the organization’s scholarships and professional development opportunities. Promoting the University’s mission of providing service and outreach to local school districts through our student chapter of MPE is also important to me.”
The cover of Alabama State University’s program for the ceremony dedicating Jo Ann Robinson Hall at the university.(Credit: Alabama.com)
Jo Ann Robinson was an English professor at Alabama State College in the 1950s who fought for changes on Montgomery’s segregated buses well before the arrest of Rosa Parks.
When Parks was arrested in December 1955, Robinson spread the word through Montgomery’s Black community that the time had arrived for a long-anticipated boycott of the bus system.
Robinson, working overnight with help from another Alabama State professor and students, wrote, mimeographed, and distributed 52,500 leaflets flyers urging Black people to stay off the buses for a day. The idea caught on and grew into the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a year-long campaign that broke the segregated system known for abusing and humiliating Black riders.
Today, Alabama State University rededicated the former Bibb Graves Hall in the heart of its Montgomery campus as Jo Ann Robinson Hall.
Civil rights attorney Fred D. Gray, a 1951 ASU graduate and the legal counsel for the boycott, told the crowd at today’s ceremony about meetings with Robinson to plan the boycott and described her as an essential leader of the effort.
“If she had not done what she did and been insisting on it, there would have been no Montgomery bus boycott at that time,” Gray said.
ASU President Quinton Ross noted at today’s ceremony that Easter would have been Robinson’s 110th birthday. Robinson died at age 80 in 1992.
Alabama civil rights attorney Fred D. Gray speaks at the dedication of Jo Ann Robinson Hall at Alabama State University on April 19, 2022. (Credit: Mike Cason)
“Today we are here to sing her praise and to let the world know that Jo Ann Robinson’s name deserves to be honored along with other icons with which we are all familiar, many of whom like Professor Robinson held significant ties to this great university,” Ross said.
In 2020, Ross commissioned a committee to research and identify ASU buildings named after leaders or avowed members of racist organizations.
Bibb Graves was governor of Alabama from 1927 to 1931 and from 1935 to 1939. Graves won his first term with the backing of the Ku Klux Klan and was grand cyclops of the Klan in Montgomery, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama.
Following a recommendation from Ross, the ASU Board of Trustees voted in September 2021 to rename Bibb Graves Hall for Robinson.
The three story-building with a bell tower was built in 1928 and is the oldest residency hall on the campus. It was renovated in 2008.
The move by ASU comes after several other state universities renamed buildings that were named after Graves.
In February, the University of Alabama renamed Bibb Graves Hall in honor of Autherine Lucy Foster, who was the first Black student at the university.
Troy State University renamed Bibb Graves Hall in 2020, rededicating it as John Robert Lewis Hall in honor of the Pike County native, civil rights champion and late Georgia congressman.
The Alabama Legislature passed a law in 2017 to prohibit the removal of historical monuments in place for 40 years or more and the renaming of historical buildings and streets. Several Alabama cities, including Birmingham and Mobile, have paid $25,000 fines for moving Confederate monuments.
The new sign unveiled at the dedication of Jo Ann Robinson Hall at Alabama State University. (Credit: Mike Cason)
ASU President Ross said the university is prepared to defend its decision to rename the residency hall.
“This is a historic day, and I think it’s been revolutionary across the county in terms of what has been happening with replacement of monuments and emphasis on social justice and equality right now,” Ross said. “While there is a law on the books, like many other laws, should that become an issue, we stand ready to defend our position. But with all the changes that are taking place within the state, within the country, I think this is a welcome change.”
Alabama State University Archivist Howard Robinson told the crowd at the dedication ceremony how Jo Ann Robinson came to play an important role in Montgomery and the civil rights movement. She was born in 1912 in Georgia and was the youngest of 12 children in her family. She excelled at school and earned degrees from what is now Fort Valley State University and Atlanta University.
In 1949, Robinson was recruited from a college in Texas to teach at ASU. Robinson, who was 33, was invigorated by the readiness of the Black community in Montgomery to challenge the Jim Crow system, according to the archivist Robinson. An encounter with a verbally abusive Montgomery bus driver during her first year in the city helped strengthen her resolve to be an advocate.
Robinson joined and became the president of the Women’s Political Counsel, which took its concerns about the bus system, police abuses, and other problems to city leaders. Robinson joined and became a leader at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where Rev. Martin Luther King would later become pastor and the most visible leader of the bus boycott.
The archivist Robinson said Jo Ann Robinson wrote a letter to the mayor of Montgomery in May 1954, four days after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, threatening a bus boycott.
But humiliating seating policies and abuses of the Black riders continued and led to several more arrests of Black women before Parks’ arrest on Dec. 1, 1955. That’s when Robinson printed and distributed the leaflets and was involved in the work with Gray and others to help launch the boycott.
“In response, Montgomery’s Black population demonstrated almost universal support for the boycott,” Howard Robinson said. “Robinson would continue her activism during the year-long boycott.”
Howard Robinson said Jo Ann Robinson “nurtured amongst her students a sense of assertive discontent” and was one of a dozen ASU professors forced to leave the college by the State Board of Education in 1960.
After leaving ASU, Robinson taught for a year at Grambling College in Louisiana, now Grambling State University. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she worked in the public school system until she retired in 1976, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama.
Fisk University will be the permanent home of a piece of history. Get the full story from Sydney Satterwhite at the Nashville Tennessean below.
“This is going to be one of those artifacts that will help us to understand where we’re going and where we’ve been.”
Fisk President Vann Newkirk spoke at an event to celebrate the induction of a broken civil rights plaque into a permanent exhibit in the Special Collections and Archives area of the university’s Hope and Franklin library.
The plaque was destroyed in June 2020 when over 10,000 people protested downtown in response to the killing of George Floyd. Although the event started out peaceful, violence eventually broke out.
Pieces of the broken Civil Rights plaque, due to the 2020 protests, was donated to Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, April 19, 2022 (Credit: Stephanie Amador, The Tennessean)
Some attacked the Metro Courthouse building and toppled the civil rights plaque. The pieces were then used to destroy the building’s windows, specifically in the offices of Mayor John Cooper and Deputy Mayor of Community Engagement Brenda Haywood.
Everything about Fisk’s dedication was symbolic and intentional, including the date. The event was held on April 19, 2022. On April 19, 1960, the home of Z. Alexander Looby was bombed. The bombing prompted a protest at the Metro Courthouse. There, Fisk student Diane Nash and former Mayor Ben West had an exchange in which he publicly condemned segregation in Nashville.
On April 19, 1995, the plaque was dedicated to commemorate the 1960 desegregation of Nashville. Diane Nash was in attendance to celebrate its commemoration and her role in the installment of the plaque. Now, on the same date in 2022, a dedication ceremony was held to memorialize the continued history of the plaque.
The event’s speakers included the mayor, Newkirk, and other local and university leaders. The legacy of the plaque, Fisk, Nashville’s civil rights movement, and the future of racial equality were common themes in every speech.
“I find that it’s very important that we remember the past and that these artifacts are not stored and put away, but things that we use to remember the past,” Newkirk said.
Mayor John Cooper looks over the broken Civil Rights plaque that was donated to Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, April 19, 2022 (Credit: Stephanie Amador, The Tennessean)
“While we as Nashvillians have come far, we have not come far enough. We have much work still to do,” said Napier-Looby Bar Association president I’Ashea Myles.
The university hopes the exhibit will help bring more awareness to Fisk and the instrumental role it played in the civil rights movement. Additionally, the university hopes this new artifact will help attract prospective students who want to attend a school with such a rich legacy.
According to Fisk’s assistant director of library services DeLisa Harris, this piece of history helps to directly connect Fisk to the desegregation movement. She hopes the pieces will bring more of the Nashville community to visit Fisk’s library.
For current students, having the plaque at their school is a reminder of the impactful role Fisk played in the civil rights movement.
Freshman Loveli Fowlkes and junior Emory Griffin talk about the exhibit that holds the Civil Rights plaque that was donated to Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, April 19, 2022 (Credit: Stephanie Amador, The Tennessean)
“Having this plaque here is one of those reinforcers that I’m walking the grounds as the same people who broke a lot of rules and made a lot of things happen here,” said Loveli Fowlkes, a Fisk freshman.
Deputy Mayor Haywood said she was in shock as she watched rioters destroy her office. She wondered if they realized the significance of the plaque.
“It saddened me because I remember when that plaque went up. I remember why it went up,” she said. “I remember the blood, sweat and tears that were encapsulated in that plaque and the different people like Diane Nash and John Lewis and the significance they had on my life.”
Plans for the construction of a new plaque are in the works. It is the hope of people like the deputy mayor and other local leaders that the new memorial emphasizes the importance of the plaque and gives hope for a brighter future for civil rights in Nashville.
For now, the public can visit the broken pieces at their new home in the Special Collections and Archives exhibit in Fisk’s library.
While Florida A&M University has welcomed in new athletic director Michael Smith, some at FAMU have been left puzzled by former AD Kortne Gosha’s departure. Get the full story from Jim Henry and Byron Dobson at the Tallahassee Democrat below.
Florida A&M University President Larry Robinson named Michael Smith as interim athletic director. Smith, a veteran FAMU employee and former interim athletic director in 2013, was serving as the university’s assistant Vice President, Finance and Administration.
The university said in a statement that it plans to conduct a swift national search to find a replacement.
Gosha – hired in December 2019 from the University of Miami – oversaw the day-to-day facility and event operations, grounds, custodial, information technology, access control and capital projects for the Rattlers.
A mandatory athletics staff meeting for FAMU coaches and staff was hastily scheduled Wednesday afternoon. Gosha attended and announced his resignation.
“Extremely disappointing,” said FAMU football coach Willie Simmons, who had a close working relationship with Gosha.
“Obviously, when you work closely with a guy that you believe in and see firsthand the work that’s being done and the daily improvements to this program. It’s disappointing to see things transpire the way they have. It’s tough. You put all your blood, sweat and tears into something and you don’t see the end result of it. It was tough for him. I could see the emotion.
“We all felt it too.”
Gosha also released a statement Wednesday afternoon on FAMU’s athletics website:
“My alignment and core values are very important to me, and there is no secret that we created a transformational student-athlete experience second to none that has elevated Florida Agricultural & Mechanical that will place them on a trajectory far beyond my tenure.
“I am incredibly proud of the work and the people that have done that work in such a short time. We have elevated the program and institutional reputation to a level of new credibility.”
Robinson and Gosha met earlier Wednesday prior to Gosha’s resignation announcement. Robinson also notified the Board of Trustees of Gosha’s resignation. Robinson and the university did not issue a statement or comment regarding Gosha’s decision to step down.
Robinson met with the FAMU coaches, athletic department officials and staff Thursday morning, where he also introduced Smith during the brief meeting. The floor was open for questions but none were asked, according to officials in attendance.
The FAMU athletic director’s office has had a revolving door over the past 10 years, featuring seven interim or permanent ADs.
The list includes:
Smith (2013 and 2022), Kellen Winslow (2014), Nelson Townsend (2014-15), who died from a heart attack a month after being named interim, Earl D’Wayne Robinson (2015), Milton Overton (2015-17), John Eason (2017-19) and Gosha.
Shaia Simmons, FAMU football head coach Willie Simmons and FAMU VP/AD Kortne Gosha pose with Rudy Hubbard (second from left) after he was a inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (Photo: Keith McCluney).
Earlier in the day, Simmons hail Gosha’s ‘visionary leadership’
Ironically, Simmons posted a statement Wednesday morning on Facebook in support of Gosha prior to the late afternoon news.
The post, in part, said:
“In all my years working in intercollegiate athletics, I’ve never witnessed someone do so much with so little in such a short amount of time. … Your visionary leadership matched with your genuine care for the welfare of our student-athletes makes you a generational talent as an Athletics Director!”
Simmons also thanked Gosha, saying, “I feel more confident than ever in my ability to lead under your leadership! I sincerely thank and applaud you Vice President and Director of Athletics Mr. Kortne Gosha and our young men and women appreciate you more than you can imagine!”
Additionally, Simmons’ post followed a post Tuesday evening by Col. Greg Clark, outgoing president of the FAMU National Alumni Association. Clark has been a staunch supporter of Gosha during his tenure.
The post read:
“Korte Gosha, my brother and Athletics Director at Florida A&M University, I love you, the Rattler Nation loves you and supports you!!!. You are the best Athletics Director in our school history.”
News of Gosha’s resignation was met by anger and frustration across social media from FAMU fans.
Simmons again posted a lengthy, passionate message on Facebook Thursday, in part asking fans to continue to support athletics, including financially. He also indicated fans and supporters will “soon get the answers we’re looking for and we will regain the trust and transparency” that Simmons said was present under Gosha.
Simmons also asked supporters to “put your heads together and brainstorm innovative and creative ways to do things here that give us a competitive advantage” and “challenge the obstacles we face internally and externally that make it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain talented individuals.”
Simmons, entering his fifth season, also recognized Gosha’s support. He said Gosha “fought to make it worth my while to stay” when Simmons said he was courted by other programs.
Gosha earned praise, faced challenges
Gosha is credited with directing a battery of capital projects and facility improvements.
Bragg Memorial Stadium is undergoing needed renovations that are expected to be completed by the start of the 2022 season. That list also included the renovation of the Galimore-Powell Football Fieldhouse.
Gosha also helped direct a number of other brand initiatives and FAMU’s move from the MEAC to the SWAC.
Simmons’ program last season was featured on the ‘Why Not Us’ series on ESPN+ and presented by Cricket Wireless. The athletics program – and Marching 100 – are also fitted in LeBron James gear through its unique partnership with Nike.
Gosha’s leadership, however, also faced challenges.
Two key members of his administrative team were terminated. Gosha may have violated the terms of his contract by engaging the university athletics department in a start-up digital streaming television network, according to the Rattler Nation blog.
Last February, FAMU athletics announced a multi-year partnership with Urban Edge Networks (UEN) granting the company the broadcast rights to all available FAMU sports, the Marching 100, and other university-related content.
UEN and HBCU League Pass+ had entered a FAMU branded NASCAR race car using the university’s official trademarks into the nationally televised Pennzoil 400 race in Las Vegas.
UEN also announced a similar deal with Grambling State.
According to HBCU Gameday, SWAC leadership sent a reminder stating that member institutions such as FAMU and Grambling State cannot sign national rights deals in linear or digital form.
SWAC institutions can broadcast on their own individual streaming networks, local television and regional television.
FAMU baseball coach Jamey Shouppe, meanwhile, has witnessed the multiple athletic director changes during his nine years. Shouppe’s baseball program also appeared to be in line for upgrades, including replacing the Moore-Kittles Field’s grass surface with an artificial turf.
“I like Kortne, he’s a good guy and I wish him the world of luck,” Shouppe said. “I felt like he did a lot during his time for FAMU.”
FAMU athletics over recent years has been plagued by fiscal challenges and instability.
According to USA Today’s annual review of schools’ athletics revenue and expenses, FAMU’s total revenue has hovered between just under $7 million to $12.5 million from 2005 to the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
A familiar name steps in
Michael Smith (Photo: FAMU Athletics)
Smith, meanwhile, is a familiar name within FAMU.
Robinson named him the school’s interim director of athletics in 2013.
The former Rattler football player had served as Associate Director of Athletics since 2010, primarily responsible for internal operations.
In over 20 years at FAMU, Smith has also served Florida A&M as the Director of Business and Auxiliary Services, Title IX chairperson, an auditor with FAMU’s Inspector General’s Office, as well as the Business Manager for the Division of Student Affairs.
Smith graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting at Florida A&M University in 1985.
His son, Mallex Smith, is a professional baseball player and former star at Rickards.
Tune into the Winners’ Announcement Ceremony on Tuesday, April 26th at 6 pm EST
HBCUs have some of the finest students and resources in the country. But to ensure they can maintain their cherished campuses too, The Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grant program created an impactful initiative that funds sustainable school improvements. On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, The Home Depot will host a ceremony announcing the 2022 Retool Your School winners as well as celebrate the importance of HBCUs.
Seasoned actor, Howard University alumnus, and long-time supporter of the program, Laz Alonso will host the event, which will be livestreamed on HBCU Buzz’s Facebook Page the Retool Your School website and Instagram Live @RetoolYourSchool. Joining Alonso, guest speaker, esteemed actor, and North Carolina A&T alumnus, Terrence J will talk about the importance of his HBCU experience and how it has shaped his life. DJ Stormy, an Alabama State University alumna, will be providing the music entertainment. It’s a night not to be missed.
Many HBCUs will benefit from the Retool Your School program. 59 HBCUs participated in the program this year, but a whopping 30 HBCUs will receive campus improvement grants ranging from $20,000 to $75,000, totaling $1 million in grants that will be awarded this year. One HBCU will be honored with the Campaign of the Year Award worth $45,000 for the school with the most original and creative marketing campaign to garner votes from their communities.
Since the program began in 2009, over $4.2 million dollars in campus improvement grants have been awarded to 74 HBCUs. 153 grants have been awarded to date, which will increase with this year’s winners. Including 2022, almost 54 million votes have been cast. In the 2022 contest alone, almost 10 million votes were added to the tally, a new record!
Winning schools are chosen through votes cast on the Retool Your School website and votes on Twitter and Instagram. To drive voting, schools made videos that they posted on social media, and votes were added each time supporters engaged using the school’s specific hashtag. For example, Jackson State University had the hashtag #RYSJackson. In the past, Jackson State has been able to update a lounge for commuter students, make playground and amphitheater improvements, and create an outdoor study space.
The Sept. 2 nationally televised game was announced on April 5. The guarantee is the largest ever for TSU. Contract details were obtained through a public records request by The Tennessean.
Payment of the guarantee must be made within 60 days after the game is played, according to the contract signed on March 22. TSU will have the option to purchase up to 5,000 tickets for the game.
TSU faced one FBS opponent in 2021 losing in the final game of the season at Mississippi State 55-10.
It will be the first time Notre Dame has played an FCS opponent or historically Black college and university.
“Let me just say (TSU athletics director Mikki) Allen negotiated for a bigger guarantee than we budgeted,” Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick said at a news conference to announce the game.
TSU coach Eddie George, who was at the news conference, chuckled after Swarbrick said Allen asked for more than Notre Dame was willing to pay.
“I look around here; y’all can make it happen,” George said with a smile. “Y’all are doing really well around here. It’s a drop in the bucket.”
Allen was asked if the guarantee would help pay for improvements planned at Hale Stadium including the installation of artificial turf and throughout the football program.
“We continue to make investments not only in our football program but holistically in our student-athlete development programs and in all of our facilities; to advance our programs we know that we need support,” Allen said. “This game guarantee is something that will be special but we’re also getting private funding. People in our big blue community are really buying into what we’re doing.”
Other FBS opponents TSU has faced include Middle Tennessee State (2019), Vanderbilt (2018 and 2016), Georgia State (2017) and Air Force (2011). The Tigers only win came over Georgia State 17-10.
Xavier University of Louisiana announced that it is entering the planning phase to establish a Graduate School of Health Sciences and Medical School. For decades, Xavier has consistently produced more African American students and students of color who achieve Medical Degrees and Ph.D.’s in the health sciences than any other higher education institution in the nation. Xavier’s College of Pharmacy is the oldest in Louisiana and continues to rank amongst the highest performing.
Building upon this success, Xavier University of Louisiana has continued to add innovative graduate degree programs, including a Physicians Assistant program, a master’s in Public Health program, Speech Pathology, Pharmaceutical Studies and Health Analytics that expand representation in health professions.
Dr. Reynold Verret, President of Xavier University of Louisiana, has long been a champion for addressing health disparities and underrepresentation in the medical and health sciences.
“Xavier was founded with the mission of promoting the creation of a just and humane society through education,” President Verret stated. “The establishment of graduate education programs dedicated to the preparation of more black healthcare professionals is a natural extension of our foundress’ legacy as we approach our second century of service. It is also where we are called to answer a critical need of our nation.”
The pandemic emphasized the necessity for greater diversity in the medical profession, as representation and trust are essential determinants underlying the health disparities affecting underrepresented populations. A recent Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) report noted “…gains in diversity are not shared by all groups. In particular growth of Black or African American applicants, matriculants and graduates lagged behind other groups.”[1] Underrepresented minorities still struggle to grow in numbers at all levels of the medical profession, with only incremental improvement over the past decades, including at the highest academic levels.[2] Thus, higher education must also redouble efforts to recruit, retain, and advance minorities in academic medicine.
Experts agree the way to address the physician shortage is to create new medical schools, but diverse representation requires a further step. In the last century (and since the Flexner report), there have been few new medical colleges until recently, and only one at a Historically Black College and University. Xavier University of Louisiana is examining the option to change that narrative.[3]
In 1925, Saint Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament founded Xavier to create a more just and humane society for all. Today, the institution holds true to this mission. A School of Medicine and Health Sciences at Xavier will advance that mission as the university guides and nurtures students from their undergraduate studies to their selected graduate programs. In addition to being recognized for providing a quality, affordable education for all, Xavier is poised as the catalyst for change and to address needs of the local and national community.
[2]Results of a 12 year retrospective study of diversity at the highest levels of America’s teaching institutions, published in the Journal of Surgical Research, J Surg Res 2013 Jun 15;182(2):212-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2012.06.049.
[3]Racial Bias in Flexner Report Permeates Medical Education Today, published in Medpages Today, Epub 2020 June 18. Elizabeth Hlavinka https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/medicaleducation/87171.
The Secret Service will be I’m attendance at Tennessee State University‘s upcoming commencement thanks to recently announced headliner Vice President Kamala Harris! Get the story from Keith Reed at The Root below.
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the William J. Rutter Center about maternal health crisis on Thursday, April 21, 2022, in San Francisco. (Photo: Yalonda M. James/San Franncisco Chronicle (AP))
Vice President Kamala Harris will give the commencement address at Tennessee State University on May 7, the school announced this morning. Harris will speak along with Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Randall Woodfin as some 900 students receive their degrees.
Elected officials, even up to the White House, are frequently sought as commencement speakers and presidents have delivered HBCU commencement speeches dating back to Harry Truman’s 1952 address at Howard University. Jimmy Carter spoke at Cheney State College, now University, in Pennsylvania.
Ronald Reagan spoke at Tuskegee University in 1987. In 1989, George H.W. Bush spoke at Alcorn State University and at Hampton University in 1991. Bill Clinton spoke at Morgan State in 1997 and at Grambling State University in 1999. And Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, spoke at Hampton in 2010, Morehouse College in 2013 and Howard in 2016.
Harris will be the first vice president to have also graduated from an HBCU. She graduated from Howard in 1986.
The timing of her speech at Tennessee State will be critical, according to at least one White House official, who noted that it highlights a commitment of $5.8 billion in federal funding the Biden Administration has made to Black colleges.
Harris has met with administrators at Hampton, Howard, Morehouse and Clark Atlanta University since starting her term, and the Tennessee State’s president, Dr. Glenda Glover, is vice chair of Biden’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs, a group of academics and others giving the administration input on how to support the institutions.
Funding for colleges, and student loan debt, which disproportionately impacts Black borrowers, are hot-button issues in the upcoming midterm Congressional elections. Earlier this week, Biden announced a plan that could see as many as 40,000 borrowers have their debts forgiven.
Stacey Abrams ’95 will be delivering the commencement speech at her alma mater Spelman College! Get the full story in the release below.
Captured at Private Home in Atlanta, Georgia, USA — settings: Camera: ILCE-9, focal length: 116mm, SS: 1/250, Aperture: f/4.5, ISO: 200, Flash: off — by Kevin Lowery
Spelman College recently announced the selection of its 135th Commencement speaker.
Alumna Stacey Yvonne Abrams, C ’95, politician, lawyer and author will deliver the keynote address to graduates during 2022 commencement celebrations on Sunday, May 15, 2022, at 3 p.m., in the McCamish Pavilion on the campus of GA Tech. Abrams will also receive a 2022 National Community Service Award.
Abrams served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017, serving as minority leader from 2011 to 2017. She graduated from Spelman magna cum laude with a degree in interdisciplinary studies and was named a Harry S. Truman Scholar.
In 2010, Abrams became House Democratic Leader in the Georgia General Assembly, the first woman to lead either party in the state legislature and the first Black Georgian to lead in the House of Representatives.
“Spelman College is fortunate to have a dynamic leader such as Stacey Abrams as an alumna. Her work has had a tremendous impact on our state and country and the African American community,” said Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D. “She stands as an example for Spelman students of how lead effectively while navigating complex issues, like voting rights, equity, and civil rights. We look forward to all that Abrams will share with the class of 2022.”
This year’s graduating class will include five valedictorians, a salutatorian and several high- achieving graduates from across the country.
Post-graduation plans among many seniors include graduate school and starting careers in STEM, business, social sciences, medicine and the arts.
Graduating senior Jordan Barrant, C’2022, a comparative women’s studies major with a minor in art history and curatorial studies, is headed to the Art Institute of Chicago where she will pursue a master’s degree in visual and critical studies.
As a Quarterman & Keller Social Justice Scholar, Barrant worked on research projects focused on land ownership and racial injustice tied to America’s legacy of slavery.
The Quarterman-Keller Scholars Program was the first educational initiative established by the Reparations Project, a nonprofit managed by the descendants of an enslaved coastal Georgia family and the descendants of their enslavers.
“They say at Spelman, it is all about sisterhood and that’s true,” said Barrant. “My undergraduate experience was challenging and truly uplifting. Spelman provided me with the opportunity to collaborate with some of the brightest minds, and the honor of working side by side with other future leaders of the world.”
Elizabeth Alexander, Ph.D. Honorary Degree Recipient
Dr. Alexander, president of The Mellon Foundation, is a decorated poet, educator, memoirist, scholar, and cultural advocate will receive an Honorary Degree.
Dr. Alexander is the author of Praise Song for the Day, an occasion poem delivered at the 2009 presidential inauguration of President Barack Obama. The poem is the fourth to be delivered at a United States presidential inauguration.
With more than two decades of experience leading innovative programs in education, philanthropy, and beyond, Dr. Alexander builds partnerships at Mellon to support the arts and humanities while strengthening educational institutions and cultural organizations across the world. Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Alexander served as the director of Creativity and Free Expression at the Ford Foundation, shaping Ford’s grantmaking vision in arts and culture, journalism, and documentary film.
Hana Sharif, C’2000 National Community Service Award Recipient Hana Sharif, Artistic Director, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis will receive the 2022 National Community Service Award.
Sharif began her professional career as an undergraduate student at Spelman College. From 1997–to 2003, Hana served as the co-founder and Artistic Director of Nasir Productions, a theatre dedicated to underrepresented voices challenging traditional structure.
Sharif joined the Tony Award-winning regional theatre, Hartford Stage, in 2003. During her decade-long tenure at Hartford Stage, Hana served as the associate artistic director, director of new play development, and artistic producer and launched the new play development program, expanded the community engagement and civic discourse initiatives, and developed and produced Tony, Grammy, Pulitzer, and Obie Award-winning shows.
Starting in 2012, she served as Program Manager at ArtsEmerson, a leading world theatre company based at Boston’s Emerson College. ArtsEmerson, Sharif leveraged her regional theatre experience to freelance produce for smaller theatre companies looking to expand and restructure their administrative teams. ArtsEmerson, Hana leveraged her regional theatre experience to freelance produce for smaller theatre companies looking to expand and restructure their executive teams.
Sharif was Baltimore Center Stage’s associate artistic director from 2014 to 2019 and was the architect of the innovative CS Digital program: a platform that pushes the boundaries of traditional theatre and looks at the nexus point between art and technology. Her other achievements at Baltimore Center Stage include prototyping the Mobile Unit focused on historically underserved audiences, strengthening community engagement, producing multiple world and regional premieres, and helping to guide the theatre through a multi-million dollar building renovation and rebranding effort.
Sharif became the first Black woman to lead a major regional theatre in 2018 when she was named the Augustin Family Artistic Director of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. During her tenure at The Rep, Hana has guided the organization through a strategic alignment, expanding access to underserved communities and centering equity and anti-racism as the organization’s foundational values.
Sharif holds a BA from Spelman College and an MFA from the University of Houston. She is the recipient of the 2009–10 Aetna New Voices Fellowship, EMC Arts Working Open Fellowship, and Theatre Communications Group (TCG) New Generations Fellowship. She is a founding member of The Black Theatre Commons (BTC). She serves on the board of directors for the TCG, BTC, and the Sprott Foundation.
Jackson State University just received a great hefty donation from a beloved former student! Get the story from the release below.
(Charles A. Smith/University Communications)
Jackson State University received a $50,000 donation from Joe N. Tatum, JSU alumnus and distinguished attorney, for the College of Business in order to provide students with the concrete life skills necessary to function within the business world.
“We are truly grateful for this generous donation. It is through alumni like Joe Tatum we have an opportunity to reflect on the fruits of our labor as an institution. This is the epitome of what we do: build up industry leaders who then pour back into our community as a way to say thank you,” said Thomas K. Hudson, president of JSU. “We will continue to strengthen our alumni outreach base and look forward to utilizing this financial resource to enhance the academic experience for our College of Business students.”
Tatum shared that he felt compelled to donate out of strong desire to see JSU flourish and hope to meet students’ needs through strengthened alumni outreach and consistent financial investments.
As one of thirteen children in his family to attend college, Tatum’s collegiate journey was uncharted territory, which allowed JSU to serve as the seeding ground for his promising future. Tatum went on to graduate Cum Laude, earning his bachelor’s degree in accounting. He attributes the development of his professional skill to his alma mater.
“My experience at Jackson State literally set the course for how things have played out for me. It was at Jackson State that I learned how to engage with people, how to dress and how to conduct business,” said Tatum, who currently serves as a shareholder in Jackson-based firm, Tatum and Wide, PLLC., a full-service law firm specializing in cases involving bankruptcy law.
Prior to practicing law for 25 years, Tatum established a stellar record as an accountant, starting his career working at one of the top accounting firms based out of Detroit. He then received his Juris Doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law, where he received the American Jurisprudence Award in secure transactions, was a Fredrick Douglass Moot Court Semi-Finalist, served on the Moot Court Board and has competed in several national moot court competitions.
Tatum has handled over 3,500 consumer bankruptcy cases and served as lead counsel in various personal injury and medical malpractice cases resulting in multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts at trial. Recently, Tatum obtained one of the largest verdicts in Mississippi in a premise’s liability case.
Reflecting on his JSU tenure as a student, he showed deep gratitude towards the encouraging faculty within the College of Business, more specifically former Accounting Chair Dr. Quinton Booker, who encouraged him to trust in his skillset and apply to the nation’s top-accounting firms, which led to him receiving multiple offers from all firms he applied to.
“Professor Quinton was more than a teacher that discussed solely the business aspects of society. He was truly a mentor in my life. He was a part of my support system. He spoke wisdom into me about life, achieving my goals and encouraged me to reach beyond what I believed was possible.”
With a large portion of his colleagues having attended other prestigious institutions such as Harvard and Stanford, Tatum said he took immense pride in being able to represent his HBCU.
Excited about the future of Jackson State, Tatum expressed how extremely pleased he is with the development of the institution and the increased national awareness surrounding Jackson State. It is his desire that his financial investment, along with others, will generate a seismic shift within the alumni base and encourage others to aid in building up the institution that once shaped who he has become today.
“If I can give and encourage others to, then I believe we can grow, I believe we can expand our capacity even further, and continue to drive our mission. People will come, and people will go, but our institution will always be here.”
Omarosa Manigault Newman will have her legal fees covered after a judge tossed out Donald Trump’s lawsuit against her. Get the full story from Cheryl Teh at Business Insider below.
Omarosa Manigault Newman, an ex-Donald Trump aide turned Trump critic, was awarded more than $1.3 million for legal fees and costs stemming from a 2018 lawsuit former President Trump launched against her.
The American Arbitration Association handed down the judgmenton Tuesday.
The Trump campaign sued Manigault Newman in 2018, alleging that her 368-page exposé — “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House” — amounted to the ex-aide breaking her non-disclosure agreement.
“Unhinged” was released after Manigault Newman — who first met Trump as a contestant on his reality TV show “The Apprentice” — was fired in December 2017 from her year-long stint in the Trump administration.
Manigault Newman said in 2018 that she had a “treasure trove” of unflattering videos, emails, and texts about Trump and threatened to release them if he and his team continued to dispute the claimsshe made in her book.
Tuesday’s judgment instructs the Trump campaign to pay Manigault Newman a total of $1,293,568.75 toward attorney’s fees and $17,304.73 for additional expenses , amounting to a total of $1,310,873.48. According to the filing, Manigault Newman initially asked to be awarded more than $3.4 million. The final award was based on the judge’s calculations of her lawyer’s billable hours.
“First-year law student vs. #45’s entire legal team. (David vs. Goliath) … … Now pardon me as I get back to studying for my Contract Law final exam,” Manigault Newman tweeted on Wednesday night in response to being awarded the sum.
In a statement to CNBC, Manigault Newman’s lawyer John Phillips said that the large sum of attorney fees award would hopefully “send a message that weaponized litigation will not be tolerated.” Phillips added that he hoped the ruling would “empower other lawyers to stand up and fight for the whistleblower and vocal critic against the oppressive machine.”
“We look forward to receiving a check and will donate a portion of the proceeds to groups who stand up to the suppression of speech,” Phillips told the outlet.
