FAMU is making history as the first HBCU to make game parking a whole lot less of a headache! Learn how it is now possible to reserve parking at FAMU in the recent release below.
Source: FAMU Athletics
Florida A&M Athletics has partnered with Birmingham-based parking technology Clutch! to offer reserved parking for FAMU football games, becoming the first and only HBCU in the country to incorporate and offer this experience on game day to #RattlerNation.
The Clutch! parking application will be used to purchase, transfer and redeem digital parking passes at designated lots around the Florida A&M campus. Investing in Champions members, who have renewed by the July 31 deadline, will be able to access their assigned parking passes in their ticketmaster account – alongside their tickets.
“As the first and only HBCU in the country to partner with Clutch!, we are excited to offer this experience to our fans and donors for the 2021 Football season. Rattler fans can now enjoy digital passes, cashless transactions, and contactless payments with easy transfers, integrated mapping, and turn-by-turn directions with Clutch! In a post COVID-19 world, it was imperative to FAMU Athletics’ executive staff to establish convenient precautions for our staff, students, alumni and fans – as we implement ways to enhance the fan experience, safely.”
Leading up to each home game for those who are not Investing in Champions members, Florida A&M Athletics will offer single-game parking spaces for sale by reservation via Clutch! here, to streamline the gameday parking process for fans while enhancing gameday parking management for FAMU Athletics.
Clutch! is a gameday parking app enabling sports fans to reserve parking spaces near stadiums and event venues. Fans looking for parking can search for available lots near the stadium, reserve parking in advance, and pay through the Clutch! app.
Through Clutch!, Florida A&M Athletics will access real-time game day parking data, such as arrival times and lot utilization rates. Clutch! also provides FAMU fans the convenience of digital parking passes that are easy to transfer at no additional cost. Fans can search for available parking for individual games and reserve a spot with the tap of a button here.
Source: FAMU News
QUOTE FROM Clutch! CEO Hunter Strickler:
“We could not be more excited about this new partnership with Florida A&M Athletics and helping them elevate the fan experience starting with parking. It’s also our first partnership with a HBCU school and we are honored that FAMU Athletics selected to partner with us. As we move into the fall, our goal is to help reduce the stress and uncertainity of game day parking for Rattler fans by offering advanced parking reservations and cashless transactions as fans come back onto campus in a post COVID-19 world.”
Single-game parking reservations for Florida A&M home football games are now available through Clutch!, as FAMU Athletics will offer shuttle service from select lots to the stadium on game day.
While game days in Tallahassee may look different this season in light of COVID-19 concerns, Florida A&M Athletics is taking proactive measures to mitigate risks associated with fans arriving on campus. Not only can parking passes be distributed and transferred digitally, lot attendants can also validate each pass without any person-to-person contact. Additionally, FAMU Athletics will use Clutch! to accept contactless credit card payments in lots with available spaces for those without a reserved pass.
Passes are now on sale to the general public for the 2021 football season and can be purchased online at famuathletics.com or on the Clutch! website here. You can find more information about parking for FAMU game days at famuathletics.com.
Alcorn State University double graduate Penny Jones is officially a history-maker in law enforcement. Learn about her new role as Chief of Police for the Vicksburg PD in the Alcorn State release below.
Alcornite women are dominating in their respective fields, which for the most part, is male-dominated. Penny Jones ’16, ’19, former deputy chief for the Vicksburg Police Department (VPD), is the latest example of an Alcorn alumna to achieve excellence in her field while breaking barriers.
The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen named Jones the first woman chief of police in the department’s history Tuesday, July 6, during a Swearing-In Ceremony at the Vicksburg Auditorium.
In her 22-year career with VPD, Jones has held multiple positions: deputy chief, patrol commander, domestic violence officer, senior patrol officer, narcotics officer, and criminal and crime scene investigator. She earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in liberal arts.
For Jones, her momentous appointment opens the doors for female officers to become leaders in law enforcement. She believes that the future shines bright for her woman colleagues.
“It is an amazing feeling to be a part of history,” said Jones. “There are plenty of female officers that strive to climb the ranks in their agencies. I believe that my appointment proves that they can achieve their dreams. Women are breaking glass ceilings. Anything is possible.”
In June, Vicksburg Mayor Georg Flaggs Jr. applauded Jones for her outstanding work and recommended her trailblazing appointment. The news made Jones reflect on her journey and how hard she’s worked to reach this position in her career.
“I was truly honored. I have worked hard throughout my years at our agency. I’ve been reliable and kept a positive attitude towards my job. My work spoke for itself, and others recognized it.”
Some of Jones’s goals include changing the public’s perception of police officers, encouraging community/police collaboration to mitigate crime, and creating lanes for young people to thrive and stay out of trouble.
“I hope to change the narrative on how people view the police. I also want to encourage the communities to work together as a team to combat crime. Police can’t be everywhere at the same time, but people are everywhere. We need our citizens to be our eyes and ears to help slow down crime so that we can take back our neighborhoods. I strive to propose better plans to ensure that our youth have bright futures. We expect the younger generation to look after us later in life, so we must look out for them now.”
Coming to Alcorn added to Jones’s already impressive skill set. She credits her professors for giving her more knowledge and enhancing her confidence.
“I went to Alcorn because I wanted to learn more so that I could do my job better. The professors were so helpful and pushed us to be successful. They dedicated their time to make us feel important. I feel more confident in my work because of my experience at Alcorn.”
Honoring her badge is what got Jones to the pinnacle of her career. She encourages other officers to do the same by being fair and eliminating anything that dishonors their shield.
“If you are tired of the injustices, then be the one who makes a difference. Be a person that changes the narrative about police. Expose any negativity so that changes have to be made.”
James Clark, president of South Carolina State University, has recently been chosen to represent the MEAC as chair of Presidents and Chancellors! Learn more about how Clark, a former student-athlete, will make the MEAC and athleticism of our nation’s HBCUs greater in the release below.
South Carolina State president James Clark has been selected as chair of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Presidents and Chancellors, with his two-year term having begun on July 1.
Clark takes over for Howard University president Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick.
“As a former student-athlete, I am keenly aware of the lifelong value such an experience brings to an individual in the form of team-building and leadership skills,” Clark said. “We cherish that at the MEAC, while keeping a sharp focus on winning on all the playing fields of life – especially the field of academic success. It is my hope to continue and improve upon these MEAC values.”
Clark is the 12th president in South Carolina State’s history, and he has served in that capacity since 2016. A native of Quincy, Fla. and a resident of Columbia, S.C., Clark earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), a Master of Science in Management from M.I.T., and an Honorary Doctor of Engineering and Technology from South Carolina State.
Ashley Heffernan
He’s an engineer and a pilot who has brought the intricacy of attention to detail and the critical aspect of its effect on success. He’s known for using his wealth of experience as a successful relationship builder, mentor and team motivator to develop consensus among diverse functional groups.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is in its 51st year of intercollegiate competition with the 2021-22 academic school year. Located in Norfolk, Va., the MEAC is made up of eight outstanding historically black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University.
He’s been honored by two sitting U.S. presidents, competed in the Olympics, coached at Central State University, had a track built inside a stadium built for him and more. And now, this Saturday, he’s being laid to rest. Learn about the full life of Josh Culbreath from the eyes of his son, Jahan Culbreath in a Dayton Daily News article written by Tom Archdeacon below.
Jahan Culbreath (Left) and Josh Culbreath (Right)
Jahan Culbreath pondered the question for several seconds:
With all the accomplishments of his 88-year-old father, Josh Culbreath – who died last week in hospice care in Cincinnati and will be memorialized Saturday back home in suburban Philadelphia – how should he best be remembered?
“Oh Man! I guess most of all for the love he had for everything he touched and everybody he met,” Jahan said. “He was a hard worker, loyal and committed, and he did it all with such love.”
While there was lots of love, there was also a dislike for those who would over-look, undervalue or try to pigeon-hole him or others.
For example:
As was the longstanding practice at Norristown High School in the late 1940s, the school owned the sets of track spikes the varsity runners wore on the cinder ovals back then. A younger kid trying out for the team could challenge one of the letterman for a spot, but would wear Converse sneakers – often bought at a local pawn shop – while the older runners got the spikes.
Culbreath once told me how he’d balked at that inequity and in protest ran barefoot on the cinders.
He not only made the team, but ended up the Pennsylvania high school hurdles champ and in 1951 was rated No. 2 in the nation in the 220-yard low hurdles.
While at Morgan State College, he won the first of his three straight national championships in the 400 meter hurdles at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium. His mentor then, Jahan said, was Dave Albritton, the 1936 Olympic silver medalist, Dunbar High School track coach and longtime Ohio state representative.
In 1955 – a year after that championship here – Culbreath made the U.S team that would compete in the Pan American Games in Mexico City. In preparation, the American athletes trained in Houston, where Jim Crow segregation laws were in full force.
He was not permitted to stay in the team hotel or eat in the same restaurants as the white athletes.
But once in Mexico City he would not be denied and won the gold medal in the 400 meter hurdles. At the Pan Am Games four years later in Chicago, he won gold again.
» A year after Mexico City – in 1956 – he was drafted by the Army, but joined the Marines instead.
“Dad wanted to make his own choice,” Jahan said. “He thought the Marines were the best and plus, he said, they had the nicest uniforms.”
That year he got an even more impressive uniform – the one worn by U.S. Olympians at the 1956 Games in Melbourne, Australia, where he won a bronze medal in the 400 meter hurdles. He was the first active Marine to medal at an Olympics.
Some three decades later he was the track coach at Central State and his teams – men and women – won 10 NAIA national tiles.
No Marauder then had a more impressive story than Deon Hemmings, who came from Jamaica as an unheralded athlete. Culbreath once told me he had been recruiting five other Jamaicans, but their coach insisted he also take Hemmings, just to make sure she pushed the others academically.
Culbreath switched her to the 400 hurdles – offered tough love when she wanted to quit – and she became CSU’s most celebrated track athlete ever.
She won the 1993 world championships in Toronto and then took gold in the 400 meter hurdles at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996.
She became the first Jamaican woman to win Olympic gold and the only CSU grad to do so.
She’d medal at four more world championships and win two bronze medals at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Several of the years Culbreath was the CSU head coach, Jahan served as his assistant. Later Jahan took over the program and became the school’s athletics director.
A couple years ago, Jahan – who lives in the Mason area – brought his dad from Pennsylvania to Ohio to look out for him.
Over the years his dad was enshrined in several halls of fame, including the U.S. Marines’, CSU’s and the Penn Relays Wall of Fame. He was honored by two sitting presidents and twice in the mid-1980s he appeared on The Cosby Show, which starred Bill Cosby, also a Philadelphia schoolboy athlete, who later ran track at Temple University where Culbreath got his master’s degree.
Back in the early ’90s, Crosby donated $238,000 to CSU to build a track inside McPherson. Stadium. His one stipulation was that it be named after Josh Culbreath.
“My dad inspired a lot of people from all walks of life,” Jahan said. “He inspired me. He was my best friend and my hero.
“Honestly, growing up with him was like growing up with Superman.”
A favorite son of Philly
Culbreath grew up in Norristown, Pa., in the same neighborhood as former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda and jazz musician Jimmy Smith.
Over the decades Culbreath remained a favorite son of Philadelphia and no place more so than at the Penn Relays, where he won the 400 meter hurdles three years in a row from 1953-55. Later Jahan – who became an All-American hurdler at Abilene Christian – ran there, as did many CSU athletes.
Josh and Jahan also served on the board of directors of the Friends of the Penn Relays, which supports the annual competition.
“Since my dad first competed there as a boy, there’s always been a Culbreath at the Penn Relays,” Jahan said as emotion welled up in his voice. “In 2014 my dad and I won the Family Heritage Award for the number of years we’d been going there. Combined, it was over 100.
“When you grow up with it in your back yard and you’re a track person, it becomes a focus in your life. More of our family would get together there than we did at Christmas, no kidding.”
In the mid-1980s Cosby wasn’t the polarizing figure he is now. He was Cliff Huxtable, the beloved dad on The Cosby Show and he included Culbreath in two shows as Col. Sanford B. “Tailwind” Turner, his track rival from college.
“Dad already was well-known, but appearing in that show took it all to a whole new level for him,” Jahan laughed.
At CSU the athletes eventually came to refer to Culbreath as Pop. And in 1996 he had to feel like a proud father when four of his athletes competed in the Olympics.
But that same year CSU shut down its entire athletics program for financial reasons and Culbreath went on to Morehouse College in Atlanta as the athletics director.
When CSU restarted track in 1998, Jahan took over as coach until 2011 and had significant success.
The school is now finishing work on a new track to go with the new synthetic turf field it just installed.
But amidst the changes, one thing will remain the same
The track still will be named after Josh Culbreath.
‘Pop’
As he was going through his dad’s scrapbook the other day, Jahan said he came across something he’d never seen before:
“It was a letter of congratulations – dated December 12, 1959 – from President Dwight Eisenhower.
“They’d had a special day in Norristown for my dad and Al Cantello (the Olympic javelin thrower and longtime U.S Navy coach). Eisenhower wrote a special note to Dad.”
A quarter century later President Bill Clinton – with the help of Ohio Senator John Glenn – honored Culbreath and the CSU track team in the White House Rose Garden.
At that gathering Jahan said Clinton asked his dad if it would be OK if he too called him Pop:
“How about that! The President of the United States calling you Pop. It doesn’t get any better than that!”
Between those two presidential connections, Culbreath worked for the U.S. State Department as an “international ambassador.” He went to India, Iraq and Africa to coach track teams and spread goodwill.
Jahan said his name comes from his parents’ days in India when they named him after Shah Jahon, the emperor who built the Taj Mahal.
Jahan is the youngest of the five Culbreath children – there’s also Sandra, Maliq, Camille and Khaliq, who passed away – but he’s the only one who truly immersed himself in track.
When he was a little boy, his dad made him a scaled-down set of hurdles for the backyard. Besides mentoring his track career, his dad also gave him advice on life, Jahan said:
“Every time I started a new job, even at Central State when I just moved to a different role, he’d say, ‘Look your best. Remember to wear a shirt and tie.’
“When I first started at UPS unloading trucks during college, I came in wearing a shirt and tie.”
Jahan said he appreciates all the time he had with his dad at every stage of life:
“I was his son, his athlete and his colleague. Each one was rewarding. And at the end of his life when I cared for him, I was more in a parent role. That was different, but rewarding, too. It’s a whole different part of love.”
Saturday’s Celebration of Life will be at the George Washington Memorial Park in Plymouth Meeting, a suburb of Philadelphia. It begins at 10 a.m. and Jahan said one other thing is certain:
Just how much do college rankings like that of U.S. News & World Reports matter? Recently, writer Malcolm Gladwell and Dillard University President Dr. Walter Kimbrough got together to explore the effects these rankings have on HBCUs like Dillard. Learn about the conversation that took place on Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast in the Dillard release below.
Sabree Hill/Dillard University
The “Revisionist History” podcast takes a look at the “overlooked and misunderstood.” Entering its sixth season and sticking with its theme, the wildly popular podcast is turning its attention to the often-debated U.S. News & World Report college rankings. A long time critic of the magazine’s ranking system and the podcast’s host, Malcolm Gladwell spends two episodes exploring the validity of the ranking’s methodology.
The crux of Gladwell’s argument against U.S. News’ methodology is the algorithm that is used to determine a college or university’s quality. The first installment of the series reveals how the magazine came to own the college ranking space. More interestingly, the episode introduces listeners to the small liberal arts college team that found its argument against U.S. News’ methodology by hacking the algorithm.
In his exploration, Gladwell talks about another curious element of the widely-used college ranking–the peer assessment score. He does a mock peer ranking with an admissions director from a large well-known university, and Gladwell chats with a university president who hilariously talks about his plan to influence his institution’s peer assessment score by sending his homemade hot sauce to other colleges and universities. On a more somber note, Gladwell argues that the colleges and universities that stand to benefit the least from U.S. News’ ranking systems are HBCUs.
Enter “Project Dillard.”
With Dillard’s nationally renowned concert choir providing a melodic backdrop, Gladwell introduces his expansive audience to the “Jewel of Gentilly,” President Walter Kimbrough and some of the students with whom he chatted during his April 22 visit to Dillard.
Learning moreso about how finances, such endowments and bonds, are considered, Gladwell poses a question: What would Dillard’s ranking be if its finances were comparable to that of highly ranked predominantly white universities? Gladwell also wonders how the University’s rankings would differ if the student body profile were to change.
Ultimately, Gladwell bluntly questions what “better” colleges and universities look like in U.S. News & World Report’s eyes.
The first installment of the two-part series posted July 1 and the second part posted on July 8.
Two Prairie View A&M University alumni, Ivy Walls, a former PVAMU queen, and Jeremy Peaches, are taking a very hands on approach to feeding their community with Black Farmer Boxes! Learn all about the two graduates and their experiences as farmers in the Edible Houston article by Paula Niño Kehr below.
In the historically Black community of Sunnyside, in south Houston, two young Black farmers have created what they feel could become a sustainable and equitable model to help feed and reinvigorate food desert communities.
Ivy Walls of Ivy Leaf Farms and Jeremy Peaches of Fresh Life Organics met when Walls reached out to Peaches for help with her farm. Upon realizing that they were working on similar projects and had a similar vision to help the community in Sunnyside, the pair teamed up to create Black Farmer Box, a curated food box and growers’ program that aims to feed the community, empower its members to grow food for their families and as a business, and provide market outlets and visibility to Black and other minority farmers.
Walls moved to Sunnyside in early 2020, and soon realized that there was only one major grocery store for the area’s 20,000 residents— and the quality of the groceries was subpar. “Moving from a food oasis to a food desert was very shocking for me,” said Walls, who grew up in suburban Pearland.
More than 500,000 Houstonians live in areas like Sunnyside that the government has designated as food deserts, meaning communities that have little to no access to fresh foods and where residents often face chronic illnesses and food insecurity—issues that were exacerbated by the pandemic.
Walls started giving her Sunnyside neighbors produce that she was growing for herself and her family. “I would just go around saying ‘Hey, do you want a cucumber? Hey, do you want eggplant? Hey, do you want watermelon?” And people were just saying yes,” she said.
As Walls continued to grow food, the demand continued to be there, so Ivy Leaf Farms was born. Walls sold house plants, held pop-ups and started her own seed company to fund the farm so that she wouldn’t have to charge for produce. In August—the same month she left her job in public health to tend to the farm—she received a grant from Beyoncé’s Beygood Foundation and the NAACP to keep her effort going. But one person alone can’t feed a community, so Walls and Peaches joined forces to create a system that, along with other farmers, they hope can help do that. Hence, their motto: “Stronger together, fresher together.”
“We wanted to have a sustainable, equitable food system—not only for our communities, but for African American and minority farmers because we don’t actually have the true market outlets to sell our products that traditional communities [have],” said Peaches.
Jeremy Peaches, 28, was born in rural Mississippi but moved to Houston when he was 6. He grew up in Sunnyside and started getting involved in agriculture before graduating high school. Like Walls, he went to Prairie View University, where he was “the agriculture kid.” After college, he was back at his high school, Pro-Vision, where he built the largest aquaponics facility in Houston. Since 2016, he has been building urban gardens around Houston, educating youth, consulting, growing produce at his farm in Rosharon and working on various community projects.
At his warehouse at the Shrine of the Black Madonna, Peaches displays jars of pickled turnips to exemplify how Black Farmer Box can create business opportunities. The pickles were made by Curtis Lampley, a member of Blodgett Urban Gardens in Third Ward. Lampley started making pickles as a hobby, experimenting with all types of vegetables —okra, beets, jalapeños, squash—that he grew, purchased, or got from Peaches. People loved them and it got him thinking about selling them retail. It’s an example of how, by developing products that can go in Black Farmer Box or can be sold to restaurants or grocery stores, community members like Lampley are creating an enterprise instead of looking at farming or gardening simply as a hobby.
“We’ve been talking about food deserts for 10 to 15 years,” Peaches said. “Why are they food deserts? Grocery stores go to areas where consumers have money to buy their products. When you look at food deserts, the median household income may be $20,000 to $30,000, so a grocery store is not going to come. As we look at growing more food and gardening, we need to look at it from a business perspective or from a socioeconomic perspective because that’s the only way you can change the tide and make a community vibrant again.”
By paying farmers up front or taking their products on consignment, Black Farmer Box ensures that they get paid without having to rely on selling at farmers markets, which typically limits them to selling only on weekends and requires them to have people working the markets. Farmers also get marketing from being in the box and can form a direct relationship with the consumer. They also have a backyard growers’ program through which people in the community can learn how to grow food in their own backyards. Anyone who goes through the program can then sell what they grow back to the box.
Between November and January, Walls and Peaches curated four Black Farmer Boxes. Each box contained fresh, organic produce from their respective farms and other products, such as eggs, sea moss, honey and sauces from other Black or minority farmers and entrepreneurs. The January box, for instance, contained spicy salad mix, daikon radish, carrots, cabbage, tatsoi, eggs and lemonade. Unfortunately, the winter storm that struck the Texas region in February took a toll on the crops and on the farmers, bringing the boxes to a halt.
As of April, Walls and Peaches expected to release their next box in May. Walls had also just leased an additional 2.5 acres with a grant she received from Kellogg’sto expand food production for both Ivy Leaf Farms and Fresh Life Organics. The pair also partnered with Cropswap, a California-based app that connects sustainable farms and consumers, to help with the logistics of distributing the boxes. Through the app, consumers can order, pay and select whether they want to pick up the box at a specified location or have the box delivered to them. Buyers will also have the option to donate a box. Because Walls and Peaches can hire their own delivery drivers, the partnership gives them another opportunity to create jobs in the community.
Walls and Peaches hope that Black Farmer Box can become something that can be replicated in other food desert communities, but even by joining forces, they know they alone can’t feed the entire Sunnyside community, so their goal is to bring attention to the neighborhood in hopes that it gets a grocery store. “This shouldn’t be our reality,” said Walls. “It’s silly to think that there’s only one grocery store for upwards of 20,000 people.”
In the meantime, people can support their efforts by becoming more aware of their local food desert communities and supporting the farmers there. If people buy 10% to 15% of their produce from urban farmers and gardeners, that will also go a long way.
Said Peaches: “When you donate to us, you’re not donating to Jeremy Peaches or Ivy Walls, you’re creating a job for someone like [my brother] who manages this warehouse and has his own business, his own product, his own farm within a year of doing the Black Farmer Box. When people buy his eggs, he’s going back to feed his family. Now he’s a contributor to the community.”
North Carolina A&T State University and North Carolina Central University are battling for a good cause after agreeing to have a COVID-19 vaccination contest! The two universities will have until September to try and vaccinate the most amount of people on their campuses. Learn all about the contest and what’s at stake in the WFNY News article by Chris Venzon below.
Credit: Kevin L. Dorsey
Two long-time rivals are putting aside their differences to fight a mutual enemy: COVID-19.
North Carolina A&T University and North Carolina Central University, two schools that have long competed against one another, are adding a new layer to the rivalry. From July 1 to Sept. 17, the schools have challenged each other to encourage faculty, staff and students to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The school with the most vaccinations in that time frame will be awarded a trophy at the Sept. 25 Aggie-Eagles football game.
The initiative is aimed at boosting vaccination rates at the universities as the Black demographic has lagged behind in-state vaccination rates since the vaccine became available, North Carolina health department studies show. Since May, more than 99% of new cases in North Carolina have occurred in people who are not fully vaccinated, NCDHHS officials said.
“The health, safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff is of utmost importance to us. We continue to educate our campus community about the vaccine, and were among the first constituent universities in the UNC System to establish a COVID-19 vaccine clinic for the North Carolina A&T campus and surrounding community,” said A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr.
North Carolina ranks 12th-lowest in the nation in the number of vaccines administered per capita. Less than half of North Carolinians eligible for a COVID-19 shot are fully vaccinated, despite the presence of more than 2.1 million doses waiting on shelves for residents to take, according to data from the CDC.
Hampton University is working overtime to assist entrepreneurs and other business owners through a new entrepreneur program! Learn more about how a three-year $18 million grant is helping Hampton service its community in the article below from Trevor Metcalfe at Inside Business.
A new $18 million Hampton University workforce program is designed to help entrepreneurs and existing businesses. Courtesy file photo (Hampton University / HANDOUT)
Organizers of a new $18 million workforce development program are looking to help entrepreneurs, existing businesses and anyone affected by the coronavirus pandemic — for free.
Hampton University’s Virginia Workforce Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center opened in October and has already helped 200 people. The business incubator is designed to serve Hampton Roads residents and entrepreneurs and businesses across Virginia, program executive director Kermit Crawford said.
“We have a real strong network of staff members who can work with business owners and entrepreneurs,” Crawford said.
The free 11-week-program provides everything from training and mentorship to networking and access to capital. In addition to existing businesses, the program is for anyone who has a business idea they’d like to develop, Crawford said, mentioning military spouses as a good regional example. The program also has the power to connect participants with college partners like Old Dominion University, experts from the public and private business sectors and workforce agencies.
The program aims to help remove traditional barriers to success, including child care, transportation, and certification and business license costs. Crawford said it’s not trying to replace existing incubators, either.
“What we are trying to do is enhance services that are already here,” he said.
The program is funded by a three-year, $18 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Crawford said Hampton University is providing the program on behalf of the Virginia Board of Workforce Development, which was one of 38 initial applicants. Only eight programs were funded by the grant.
Workforce development can be traced back to the beginning of Hampton University, President William Harvey said in a news release.
Program applicants must be Virginia residents interested in business who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Crawford said. For more information or to apply for the program, visit virginiaworkforce.force.com.
Congressman David Scott and others are supporting a $100 million increase in funding for HBCUs! Get the full Essence story written by Donna M. Owens below.
Congressman David Scott (D-GA) has introduced legislation in the House of Representatives aimed at permanently increasing scholarship monies for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), specifically those who attend 1890 Land Grant institutions, schools funded by the Second Morrill Act of 1890.
The bill, H.R.4252, would provide additional funding for scholarships to students at 1890 institutions.
“Just weeks ago, we in Congress heard directly from each of the nineteen presidents of the 1890 Land Grant African American Colleges and Universities,” Scott, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee shared with ESSENCE. “The college presidents shared with [us] how greatly beneficial, how much needed, and how grateful and thankful they are with the initial $80 million that started up our student scholarship program through the 2018 Farm Bill. And, they emphasized how important it is that we continue this great student scholarship program on an ongoing, permanent basis.”
Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are among the original co-sponsors of the measure. They include: CBC Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH); Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA); Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC); Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI); and Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT).
“Now with this historic legislation,” Scott added, “we in Congress are very proud to make this student scholarship program for the 1890s Colleges and Universities a permanent student scholarship program, with this increase of $100 million.”
There are 101 HBCUs nationwide, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. These public and private institutions established before 1964 have a principal mission of educating Black Americans. During the Civil War, the Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862 set aside federal lands to create colleges to “benefit the agricultural and mechanical arts.”
The Second Morrill Act of 1890 provided each state with annual funds to support these schools. It required states with racially segregated public higher education systems to provide a land-grant institution for Black students whenever a land-grant institution was established exclusively for white students.
Today, there are 19 designated 1890 Land Grant African American Colleges and Universities: Alabama A&M University, Alcorn State University, Central State University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Langston University, Lincoln University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University, South Carolina State University, Southern University System, Tennessee State University, Tuskegee University, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Virginia State University and West Virginia State University.
JEFFREY GREENBERG/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on June 16 titled “1890 Land Grant Institutions: Investing for Agricultural Resiliency, Equity, and Global Impact.”Congresswoman Alma Adams, Vice Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture noted in a statement that while 1890s Land Grant Universities are “some of our largest and most impactful Historically Black Colleges and Universities. …these institutions still face major issues regarding state matching funds and insufficient infrastructure on campus to conduct cutting edge agriculture research.”
“It is a priority of mine to make sure the 1890s continue to have the resources to unlock the potential of millions of students across the country,” she added. “All stakeholders from Congress to the private sector must continue to ensure these engines of equity – the 1890s – continue to succeed.”
Plaskett, who chairs the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research, noted that she’s proud of the work done to ensure the 2018 Farm Bill helped provide critical support for HBCU scholarships, establishing centers of excellence, and addressing issues to ensure equity between the 1890s and their 1862 counterparts, Congress must continue those efforts.
“There is more work to be done to support our students, our researchers, and our extension professionals. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the challenges associated with it, have underscored the fact that more work needs to be done to support these institutions. Our next generation of farmers deserve substantive funding to support important research initiatives,” she said in a statement. “I look forward to supporting existing farm bill provisions that will assist in the success of these agriculture programs and their students.”
The bill has not yet gone to the Senate. Sources on Capitol Hill told ESSENCE they expect that the bill will pass both the House and Senate with strong bipartisan support.
Elizabeth City State University is introducing a Board of Visitors to assist and in the ambitious mission of ECSU! Learn more about who will be included and how the new board will impact the university in the ECSU release by Robert Kelly-Goss below!
ECSU Chancellor Karrie G. Dixon (Elizabeth City State University)
Elizabeth City State University has announced the appointment of the university’s Board of Visitors. According to ECSU Chancellor Karrie G. Dixon, the Board of Visitors will include a maximum of 30 members dedicated to assisting and advising her and the Board of Trustees to advance the university’s mission. One-third of the board will be appointed over the next academic year.
“As ECSU grows, it is important to continue our efforts to expand the university’s efforts to advance its mission and priorities,” said Chancellor Dixon. “This volunteer board will work closely with ECSU senior leadership and trustees to bring more success for our students and our role in the communities we serve.”
Each member of the board will be appointed to a three-year term and is limited to a maximum of two terms. The board will meet twice a year to assist ECSU in accomplishing its mission, strategic priorities and promote its many programs to the general public as ambassadors for the university.
Credit: The University of North Carolina System
“We are excited about the energy, perspective and support these board members will bring to the university,” said Chancellor Dixon. “Their participation and active involvement on this board will assist us as we continue to forge our future.” The board currently consists of 11 members. They are:
Dr. Melvin T. Blackwell. Dr. Blackwell is a 1987 ECSU graduate and is the Senior Pastor of the Little Zion Baptist Church in Smithfield, Virginia;
Jennifer King Congleton. Ms. Congleton is a native of Winterville, North Carolina and currently serves as the administrator of chaplaincy and volunteer services for Vidant Medical Center in Greenville;
James E. Ford. Mr. Ford is an award-winning educator and the executive director of the Center for Racial Equity in Education and principal consultant at Filling the Gap Educational Consultants, LLC.;
Dr. Linda Bailey Hayden. Dr. Hayden is professor emeritus in the Department of Mathematics and director of the ECSU Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research at ECSU;
Ernie Murphrey. Mr. Murphrey is the former vice chancellor for business and finance at ECSU, and formerly served as vice president for finance for the University of North Carolina System;
Robin M. Patterson. Ms. Patterson is a 1988 ECSU graduate and is currently the manager of global mobility and relocation for Colgate-Palmolive;
Attorney D. Cole Phelps. Mr. Phelps is the founder and managing attorney of The Law Office of D. Cole Phelps, PLLC.
Wendy Pierce. Ms. Pierce is a graduate of ECSU and is currently the team coordinator of community benefit and grants for Sentara Healthcare;
Bryan Spence. Mr. Spence is an ECSU graduate and is currently a senior program manager at LinkedIn;
Taylor Sugg. Mr. Sugg is a president with Towne Bank’s Currituck and Outer Banks area branches;
Clastrola Williams. Ms. Williams has 24 years of experience in facilities and engineering and currently works as a senior manager for facilities and operations at RTI, International in Raleigh.
Over 1,000 students at Fayetteville State University can breathe easier after their university cleared over $1 million in student debt for them! Read the full story below from Fayetteville State to find out why students were chosen for the relief, and how it will help them succeed.
Source: HBCU Connect
At Fayetteville State University (FSU), leaders recently utilized pandemic funding to clear the debt of all students who attended the university at any point during the pandemic. Any student with a past due balance was cleared. Students attending the FSU from fall 2019 to spring 2021 now have zero balances.
The University utilized funding from The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III (HEERF III), part of the American Rescue Plan signed into law on March 11 that provided $39.6 billion to institutions of higher education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In alignment with the UNC System’s focus on access and affordability, we leveraged this funding to meet the needs of our students and reduce student debt. As a result, 1442 FSU students are entering into fall 2021, completely university debt-free. We paid $1,653,959 to delete all past-due debt of students,” said Carlton E. Spellman, vice chancellor for Business and Finance.
Credit: Fayetteville State University
FSU also used some of the HEERF III funds to offer free classes to 1,400 students via 30-60-90 Summer School program. The program gives undergraduate students who are falling behind an opportunity to close learning gaps by earning three to seven credits in summer school. The goal of this program is to break up the four-year journey for undergraduates into yearly targets. The university found that, if an undergrad can complete 30 credits toward graduation in an academic year, it dramatically improves their chance of graduating on time.
“Student success is one of my priorities,” said Chancellor Darrell T. Allison. “On this Independence Day weekend, it gives me no greater joy than to know we have been able to assist in our students’ financial independence by completely wiping the slate clean of their university debt.”
HBCUs are often underfunded, so when an HBCU can reach a fundraising record it’s an important milestone to celebrate. Recently, Benedict College surpassed its own goals while trying to support students during the pandemic. Get the uplifting full story from Simone Jamison at local FOX station WACH 57 below!
Fundraising during the pandemic hasn’t been an easy job. But, Benedict College is one institution going above and beyond to help keep students safe and offset the struggles of the pandemic.
Benedict College alumni set a historic record – raising over one and a half million dollars this year. It’s a milestone for the HBCU that came with unique challenges.
“As an alum and a fellow ‘HBCU’er’, I think it’s extremely important for us to develop that legacy of giving back,” said Cedelle Gates, Benedict College’s National Alumni Association president.
With students forced to take classes online – some without access to WIFI or digital technology off campus – Benedict College’s assistant vice president of alumni relations and advancement Ada Brown Belton spearheaded the campaign to cover expenses.
“For us, there is always going to be a lack of resources,” said Belton. “We have 62 clubs around the nation that was really a part of this effort. I think it does a lot to encourage our students.”
Belton says the alumni funds support endowed scholarships, sports, current operations and go to general student support – including a coronavirus emergency fund.
“This year was our 150th plus celebration year. Very important, very significant. I just considered it a privilege to be a part of this whole process,” Belton added. “We were determined to meet the goal of 1.5-million and so we are very excited about that.”
Cedelle Gates also chimed in.
“It’s extremely important in that it demonstrates our [alumni] support of a college itself, and our gratitude for the level of education that the college afforded us,” Gates said.
There are 2,140 students that attend Benedict College, as of fall semester, and with these funds, and others rolling in faculty and staff are hopeful of increasing those numbers. As well as getting more students to stay — and graduate.
Starting this Fall 2021, Talladega College will expand their academic offerings by adding a Masters of Business Administration program, among others! Get more information on what Talladega is bringing to the table for its students in the release from Talladega below.
Credit: Talladega College
We have a dual responsibility to cater to our people,” said Dr. Jonathan U. Elimimian, Dean of Business Administration for Talladega College.
Talladega College was recently approved by the Board of Trustees of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission to offer a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. The seven areas of concentration for the program are accounting, management, marketing, finance, logistics, healthcare management, and entrepreneurship, which enables graduates to control their own destiny. The program can be completed in as little as a year and is offered online or through hybrid learning.
According to Dr. Lisa Long, Provost and Vice president of Academic Affairs for Talladega College, the new program directly aligns with the College’s strategic goal of promoting student success through innovative curriculum offerings.
“One of our goals is to expand program offerings to include more postgraduate, continuing education, and online degree programs; the MBA program is inclusive of all of the aforementioned components,” added Long.
Credit: UNCF
Unlike most MBA programs, Talladega’s program only requires candidates to have a bachelor’s degree and enroll in prerequisite courses, which consists of coursework that equips students with the necessary knowledge required to successfully matriculate through the MBA program.
Course offerings for the 2021 – 2022 academic year include, but are not limited to leadership, advanced accounting, human resource management, managerial economics, and healthcare. According to Elimimian, the College has strategically recruited professors and instructors who are experts in an array of research-based business practices, which are viable to the success of the MBA program.
The College also offers a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems (MSCIS). “For a college to be able to offer a master’s degree program shows evidence of the president’s foresight and his willingness to promote and improve the institution,” said Elimimian.
“Talladega encourages scholarship and this program will put the College on the map,” he added.
The entire athletic department at Bethune-Cookman University has a legend, Reggie Theus, coming to lead the way! Not only will he coach men’s basketball, but he will head the entire athletic department, which includes golf, football, and baseball. Learn about Theus’ athletic history and how he plans to excel at B-CU below in a The Tennessee Tribune article by Ron Wynn below.
Former NBA and University of Las Vegas star Reggie Theus last week became the latest big name Black athletic personality to take over an HBCU program. Theus agreed to become both the athletic director and head basketball coach at Bethune-Cookman University, with the appointment reportedly taking effect this week. He replaces Ryan Ridder as basketball coach. Ridder left for a similar position at the University of Tennessee-Martin. Theus’ previous coaching jobs included stints at New Mexico State, Cal State Northridge, the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and G-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders. He’s also been a coach in the Big 3 and said he plans to continue coaching there for the upcoming season.
Source: TNT Tribune
But unlike the recent hirings of Deion Sanders at Jackson State and Eddie George at Tennessee State, Theus has also assumed control over the school’s entire athletic department. He will oversee football, baseball, cross country. golf, tennis, track and field for both men’s and women’s teams, as well as women’s volleyball, bowling and basketball. Most importantly, he’ll also be making a push for fundraising, Bethune-Cookman recently became a new member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
Theus was a two-time NBA All-Star as well as an All-American in college and brings tremendous credibility and expanded visibility and exposure for Bethune-Cookman, not just in basketball but across the board. There are still relatively few Black athletic directors except at HBCUs, and even fewer that have his track record.
The Theus hiring continues what’s been a welcome trend for HBCUs the past couple of years. More high profile Black former top athletes are choosing Black colleges as places to work, and their presence also provides incentive for more coverage from mainstream publications and outlets. Anticipation for this fall’s revived Southern Heritage Classic, the first matchup between teams coached by Sanders and George, is extremely high.
Source: Pinterest
Jackson State’s last games this spring all were aired on either ESPN, ESPN 2 or ESPNU rather than the streaming service ESPN +, which is where all TSU’s games were shown. It will be instructive to see whether the Tigers earn a promotion to the main broadcast channels in the wake of George’s hiring. They certainly got a huge boost in national publicity when he was hired, and the addition of former NFL head coach Hue Jackson, as well as the son of former Titans head coach Jeff Fisher, to his coaching staff has no doubt ensured far more attention and coverage, both locally and across the state, than the Tigers have gotten in quite a while.
Ultimately, how these coaches fare on the court or field will determine their fate. But the hope is that as more big name former star Black athletes embrace coaching at HBCUs perhaps they can also attract more topflight Black high school athletes to consider Black colleges as viable places to play college basketball and football.
In turn, that may also get HBCUs more exposure and coverage on mainstream outlets. Time will tell whether this proves the case, but the early results are very promising.
The progressive Virginia Union University is joining institutions like the University of Richmond, Sweet Briar College, and more with the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges! Learn more about the agreement in the VFIC release below!
Ayasha Sledge
Virginia Union University, an HBCU located in Richmond, Virginia, officially becomes the sixteenth member of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) on July 1, 2021. This new affiliation is the result of a conversation that began two years ago among VFIC board members, and it recognizes the aligned missions of Virginia Union and the other fifteen schools in the VFIC consortium: to teach a broadly pragmatic liberal arts and sciences education in environments that value and encourage ethical leadership and responsible citizenship.
“Virginia Union University is pleased to join the consortium of VFIC colleges and universities,” says Dr. Hakim J. Lucas, President and CEO of Virginia Union University. “Our priorities align closely with the VFIC’s mission, which is to provide a top-quality and affordable education as we prepare tomorrow’s global leaders. Virginia’s private colleges and universities offer a unique academic experience and are critical to the creation of a diverse and inclusive workforce.”
Virginia Union University was founded in 1865 to provide newly emancipated slaves with an opportunity for education and advancement. Today, the university offers a broad range of educational opportunities that advances liberal arts education, teaching, research, science, technology, continuing education, civic engagement, and international experiences. Virginia Union University is nourished by its African American heritage and energized by a commitment to excellence and diversity.
“It’s impossible to overstate my enthusiasm for Virginia Union’s membership to the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges,” says Gary Thomson, founder and president of Thomson Consulting and chairman of the VFIC board of directors. “While I believe Virginia Union will benefit from being part of a consortium of notable institutions, I even more firmly believe our organization will benefit from Virginia Union’s talented executive leadership, dedicated faculty and staff, as well as the engaged student body.”
With a focus on offering students “The Promise of a Limitless Future,” Virginia Union provides an intellectually challenging and spiritually enriching environment for learning, empowers students to develop strong moral values for success, and develops scholars, leaders, and lifelong learners of a global society. The university community places the highest value on innovation, spiritual formation, integrity, diversity and inclusion, and excellence.
“The future of higher education in Virginia has become all the brighter because of our new partnership with such a premier academic institution,” says Thomson. “As the current chairman of the VFIC, I know I speak for all our Trustees in welcoming Virginia Union and sharing in the excitement of our collaboration.”
Wide receiver Quaydarius Davis is heading to Jackson State University after leaving the football program at University of Kansas. Learn more about why he’s looking forward to playing at Jackson State, including his excitement to be coached by Deion Sanders, in the Top247 article by Brian Down below!
Credit: Mike Roach/247 Sports
Quaydarius Davis, a Top247 receiver in the 2021 class who signed with Kansas, is heading to Jackson State to play for coach Deion Sanders.
Davis, who prepped at Dallas Skyline and signed with Kansas in February, was released from his letter of intent with the Jayhawks in the spring.
“The coaching staff, all the people around it, there is a lot to it that makes we want to (go to Jackson State),” Davis said. “There is a lot to it.”
The 6-foot, 193-pound Davis is the No. 23 receiver in the class of 2021 industry-generated 247Sports Composite.
The chance to play for Sanders’ program was appealing to Davis.
“It’s going to be a great experience,” Davis said. “He’s a Hall of Famer. Not too many people get chance like that. He going to teach me a lot. I have to learn a lot. There is going to be a lot to it.”
Although Davis heads to Jackson State as a receiver and Sanders was an all-time great on defense, Davis figures he can pick up a ton of tips.
“I can learn a lot from him,” Davis said. “There are levels to the game. It’s like I am starting all over again, something new from high school.”
Sanders has compiled a lot of talent since arriving at Jackson State, and that appealed to Davis as well.
“They are trying to build something very big,” he said. “They are trying to do something nobody has every done. That is why Deion Sanders is the man. Prime Time. I respect him a lot. He is teaching us how to be young men and change yourself.”
Davis will be eligible for the fall. He had not visited Jackson State prior to arriving for the start of summer classes.9COMMENTS
“It is very exciting to me,” he said. “You get another opportunity and a chance to show what you got. I am very excited.”
