Christopher Brown, a 3-time coach of the year and former Athletic Director is coming to Morris College to apply over 20 years of experience in the sports industry. With his experience, the college looks forward to him not only serving as head men’s basketball coach, but an admissions counselor as well! Learn more about Brown and his qualifications in the recent release by Morris College below.
Source: Morris College
Brown comes to Morris College with over 20 years of coaching experience as an Athletic Director and a Head Basketball Coach. Most recently, he spent the past six seasons as the head coach at North Charleston High School in Charleston, SC.
Brown, a Sumter native and a graduate of Sumter High School joined Morris College in June 2021. “I would like to see Morris College become known as one of the top three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)’s in basketball. I have already recruited some of the top talent from around the country to Morris and they will be on campus in the Fall [of 2021]. This includes several kids from Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi,” said Brown.
As a coach, Brown has had an opportunity to be the coach who has coached students who became the player of the year for three consecutive years. This along with some of his other accomplishments has also lead him to earn the title of “Coach of the Year” three times in the past six years. Along with maintaining all aspects of the Division One Men’s basketball program within the policy of the institution and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIC), Brown will also be responsible for recruiting students, attending college career fairs and community events to assist with Morris College’s Enrollment Management, Records, and Financial Aid departments.
Credit: Edward Waters College
“I am excited and just looking forward to working with an already great group of admission counselors as well as excited to build a program that will be known outside of South Carolina,” said Brown. While at North Charleston High School, Brown also launched a Business 101 Mentoring Program for young men and was very active in the Charleston community.
Insert a quote from President Staggers
Brown’s quote for his past, present, and future players is “failing to prepare, is preparing to fail.”
Brown is married to Teresa Brown, has one daughter, Courtlyn Maple, a rising senior at Sumter High School, and enjoys fishing and spending time with family when he is not working. Brown earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Troy University on March 7, 2021, and officially started on June 1, 2021.
Hercy Miller, a popular basketball player at Tennessee State University, has become one of the first student-athletes to sign an endorsement deal after the NCAA lifted deal restrictions this week. This welcomed news likely is surprising to few, as Hercy’s father Master P has likely guided his tremendously as a current business mogul and former professional basketball player. A recent release by P. Miller Enterprises through EIN Newswire shares below how the multi-million dollar deal is not only benefitting Miller, but HBCUs as well.
Source: The Tennessean
Today, teen Student-Athlete Hercy Miller, son of entrepreneurial businessman Percy Miller, signs his ground-breaking endorsement deal with Web Apps America, a leading web, mobile, and augmented reality agency.
Hercy will be the brand ambassador for Web Apps America technology company that has made a commitment to shining a spotlight on tomorrow’s leaders from the HBCU School System and furthering educational initiatives in the technology sector.
Web Apps America CEO says, “Hercy is the perfect spokesman for our company. His authenticity and commitment to empowering his generation and culture is inspiring.”
“I am proud to represent a company focused on technology, which is our future. We have a suite of apps that we will be launching in the very near future targeting HBCU Students and Student Athletes covering topics from financial literacy to healthy eating to games to networking. This is a blessing. July 21st will be my first official Life Skills & Basketball Camp, which will be free to the young kids in the community. We will also be giving away Back-to-school supplies. I hope this endorsement will open up more opportunities for more NCAA student-athletes. ” added Hercy Miller.
Percy “Master P” Miller says, “I am proud of my son, he is a leader on and off the court. Working with a technology company as a student athlete is a first deal of its kind. Hercy will be able to increase the awareness of the HBCU system on a global level.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQIHpMbDJSN/
The deal was brokered by Donald Hogan of Athlete Wallet, a trail blazing digital platform that aligns student athletes with brands, and Jabari Morgan of J Morgan and Associates, a strategy development firm.
Delaware State University will be growing after taking on the daring acquisition of another college! Get the expansive story from Mark Eichmann at PBS/NPR news organization Whyy.
Credit: Wesley College
Less than a year after announcing plans to acquire Wesley College, Delaware State University has officially completed its takeover of the private liberal arts college.
“My intention is to grow our institution to about 10,000 folks over the next couple years, and this is a jump-start to that opportunity,” said DSU president Tony Allen. “There is real, and I do mean real, opportunity for us to grow the organization and to do that smartly.”
Delaware State’s enrollment topped 5,000 students for the first time in 2019, and the university had 5,027 undergrad, graduate and online students attending amid the pandemic in fall 2020.
The Wesley College acquisition gives Delaware State a bigger presence in downtown Dover, not far from DSU’s main campus along Route 13 in the state capital. DSU will inherit 50 acres, 21 buildings, and 14 academic programs. The university is also adding to its payroll 71 former Wesley faculty and staff members.
The former Wesley campus will become home to DSU’s new Wesley College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, which combines nursing, occupational therapy, social work, and other health programs from both schools. The health school will carry the Wesley name as a way to honor the school’s history and legacy.
“Our ability to provide educational opportunities, enhance cultural opportunities and economic development opportunities that drive the vitality of Kent County and Dover [is] important to us, and we believe will certainly gain great synergies from the combined entity,” Allen said.
So far, 397 former Wesley students have registered to continue their studies at DSU. With another 85 students still making their way through the registration process, nearly 80% of Wesley’s student body will carry on at Delaware State. That decision to stay in Dover was made a bit easier by drastically reduced tuition. One undergrad year at Wesley cost students $43,000, compared to about $24,000 at DSU.
“I’m very excited about what this prospect brings for more students who need an open door, just need an opportunity to change their economic trajectory for themselves, their families, and their communities,” Allen said.
The move is a first for an HBCU. Delaware State is the first historically Black college or university to go out and acquire a non-HBCU school on its own.
“This is an unprecedented landmark in the long history of HBCUs,” former DSU president Harry Williams, who now leads the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, said when the deal was announced. “I am not surprised that Delaware State University is leading the way.”
Latoya Nicole, a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, is on a mission to represent black women in all of their vibrancy. She has published multiple coloring books, including “Alma Mater,” a book representing successful HBCU students and alumni. Now, she is literally making sure they can be represented in every shade with new brown color pencils! Read the colorful story from Andrea Blackstone at Black Enterprise below.
Credit: Entrepreneurs Color Too
Entrepreneurs like Latoya Nicole are working to fill gaps where African Americans are underrepresented from product lines.
Nicole—CEO and founder of Entrepreneurs Color Too— came up with an idea to create coloring books and even coloring pencils which would appeal to Black and brown women. Nicole’s latest endeavor is launching the colored pencils representing an array of skin tones, per BlackNews.com.
The “Shades of Brown” colored pencils were requested additions to the Entrepreneurs Color Too line, according to the article. Packs of 12 limited edition colored pencils are sold exclusively on Nicole’s business website.
“We’re excited to finally launch the new colored pencils that our customers have been asking for! Representation is more important than ever, and we are proud to expand our body of work by offering skin tone colors that further represent families of color and allows for another opportunity for our customers to see themselves in arts & crafts and supplies,” Nicole remarked in the article.
Credit: Entrepreneurs Color Too
According to a previous MadameNoire feature, the entrepreneur who observed that women of color “weren’t adequately represented in the book industry” opted to found her company brand in 2018. Inspirational colored pencils and coloring books, such as an HBCU-inspired coloring book, coloring books for mothers and daughters, and a Christmas coloring book to celebrate Black and brown women.
“I want women and the young girls that look up to them to them to feel empowered. I want them to know that they are included, celebrated and represented, because representation matters,” Nicole’s said in a statement, per MadameNoire. “The idea to manufacture pencils came when I couldn’t find any Black Owned Colored pencils to recommend to my community to use with my adult coloring books. I took that as a sign that I needed to find a way to produce them. But, I knew I wanted the pencils to be encouraging and to be used as a reminder to put you first because you matter.”
BlackNews.com also reported that Nicole sold more than 25,000 coloring books, before launching the new line of skin toned colored pencils which are geared toward women of color.
“Shades of Brown” includes colors such as “Diamond, Keisha, Toya, and Ebony,” according to the product description provided on Entrepreneurs Color Too’s website. Please visit this link to find the packs of pre-sharpened colored pencils.
Southern University graduate and former employee Trayvean Scott has been tapped to lead as Grambling State University‘s new athletic director! Learn about why he’s the perfect man for the job in local Honor News Star‘s latest article below written by Cory Diaz.
Trayvean Scott was announced as Grambling State’s athletics director. Cory Diaz
Trayvean Scott will have to trade his Columbia blue and gold for black and gold.
Scott, who spent the last decade in Southern University’s athletics department, has been hired as Grambling’s athletics director. The Tigers and Jaguars are storied athletic rivals.
Grambling announced Scott’s hire Thursday afternoon. The hire is pending approval by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors. Terms of Scott’s contract were not disclosed.
“He has delineated a clear vision and a commitment to all of our sports and the coaches who guide those programs,” GSU President Rick Gallot said. “He shares our vision as well as campus’ master plan to significant investments in our athletic facilities so our student-athletes have all the tools they need to be successful.”
Scott comes to Grambling after serving as SU’s deputy athletics director and chief operating officer for the better part of 10 years. This marks Scott’s first time as an AD.
“I’m thrilled the death to be here,” Scott said. “(This position) means everything. This is my first AD job. President Gallot is so transformational and easily relatable. For me, I couldn’t think of a more perfect scenario to be a first-time AD.”
A 2005 Southern graduate, Scott played basketball for the Jaguars. He studied business administration, management and sports marketing in SU’s College of Business.
“I’ve worked in academics, compliance, I’ve raised money, I’ve done marketing. All that’s prepared a space for me where I can identify those things and have everyone’s buy-in because I’ve done it,” Scott said. “I think I can add that value to Grambling State. It’ll help us be more efficient across the board and smarter.
For the first time, GSU partnered with a search firm for its AD search, enlisting TurnkeyZRG to vet the initial pool of applicants and identify its final candidates.
Although Clinton College brings much resources and success to the Rock Hill, South Carolina neighborhood where it is nestled, not all in the community are thriving. Now, a new multi-million dollar grant is here to change that. Read about how the college will be of service to its community in the new Clinton College release below.
Clinton College receives $3.5 million to address health disparities in vulnerable areas
Rock Hill, SC (June 28, 2021) – Clinton College and the City of Rock Hill announced on Monday a $3.5 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to address the health disparities in the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods, specifically the south side of Rock Hill.
Credit: Clinton College
The Clinton Health ConNEXTion grant is a partnership between Rock Hill and Clinton College. The college will lead project management, quality improvement, and evaluation through the Clinton College Community Development Corporation (CC-CDC).
“The true outcome is to improve the quality of life and length of life,” Mayor John Gettys said. “This could change the lives of people in our communities and that’s going to happen because people stood up in the community and said we can do better than what we have in the past.”
Clinton College will focus on wellness and community health, which includes health literacy and responses to COVID-19.
“We saw what COVID-19 did to our nation and our most vulnerable citizens have taken the brunt of that,” said President McCorn. “Many of them are African Americans and people of color.”
Source: The Herald
There are three main goals of the project:
Service Provider Professional Development
Implement a Community Health Promotion Institute that supports a Health Service Provider Consortium (a collaboration among Impact York County health partners) in implementing health literacy training to enable Consortium members to implement or improve their practices that align with CLAS standards and the Healthy People 2030 objectives.
Health Promotion Partnerships
Increase the participation of community stakeholders (residents, businesses, faith-based organizations, educational institutions, civic organizations, and healthcare providers) in collaborative projects and practices that promote health literacy and healthy behavior.
PSE Health Promotion Advocacy
Increase community engagement in the planning, design, and evaluation of health improvement projects that will impact the policies, systems, environmental (PSE) resources that support residents in making their healthy choices easier and more accessible. The intent of this goal is to reach populations and uncover strategies for impact and sustainability beyond the current crisis in order to accelerate the adoption, implementation, and integration into existing infrastructures.
President McCorn said the project will not try to “reinvent the wheel.” Instead, the plan is to improve existing health services and review how they are promoted and used in everyday lives.
The Clinton Health ConNEXTion is supported by the Office of the Assistance Secretary for Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $3,875,000 with 100 percent funded by the Office of the Assistance Secretary for Health/OASH/HHS.
3 Atlanta colleges and universities have entered a productive partnership with Blackstone LaunchPad that will increase the entrepreneurship skills and development of students. Learn more about it in the PR Newswire article below.
Spelman College, along with Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College, announces a new partnership with Blackstone LaunchPad to make the development of entrepreneurial skills more accessible to students in the Atlanta University Center Consortium.
Developed with support from United Negro College Fund Inc., the largest scholarship provider for students of color, Blackstone LaunchPad’s expansion to Spelman, Morehouseand Clark Atlanta is the latest step in the Blackstone Charitable Foundation’s commitment to increase career mobility for a more diverse set of students through entrepreneurship training and skill-building.
“Spelman’s goal is to provide our students with the competitive edge they need to excel in any field,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman. “Providing access to entrepreneurial insight, training and mentoring through high caliber partnerships, Blackstone LaunchPad is an innovative program our scholars will benefit from for years to come. We are grateful for the investment in our students by Blackstone LaunchPad, which aligns with our new Center for Black Entrepreneurship, and will result in diversifying the pipeline of owners and leaders.”
The partnership is part of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation’s $40 million, five-year commitment to expand Blackstone LaunchPad from 30 to 75 colleges and universities that have a majority diverse population or serve under-resourced communities. Blackstone LaunchPad will facilitate access to a global network of mentors and advisors, deliver proven startup resources and offer unique virtual and physical convening opportunities. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in pitch competitions, fellowships and live speaker series.
“We are thrilled to be supporting these three great schools and their students through Blackstone LaunchPad,” said Amy Stursberg, executive director of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation. “This partnership is an exciting step in our broader commitment to introduce students from underrepresented communities to entrepreneurial skillsets that are applicable to all future career paths.”
The initiative began with a $5 million expansion in January 2021 to six campuses designated as Hispanic Serving Institutions in the University of Texas system that demonstrated a commitment to increasing diversity in student entrepreneurship.
“This an exciting venture that opens opportunities for our HBCU campuses and their students. We are especially pleased that Blackstone LaunchPad will now be available for students at the Atlanta Universities Consortium schools,” said UNCF President and CEO Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D. “We look forward to continuing our partnership and introducing Blackstone LaunchPad to additional HBCUs across the United States. Advancements like this enable our students to make their talents grow exponentially and open doors they could never have dreamed of even peering through previously.”
With support from partners including Future Founders, UNCF, Startup Grind and Techstars, Blackstone LaunchPad is currently available to over 900,000 students at 30 schools in the United States and Ireland.
University of the District of Columbia (UDC) student Leslie DeJesus is receiving accolades after placing second in a symposium competition with her work about substance disorders. Learn more about her and her winning work in the UDC release below.
Source: Leslie DeJesus
The University of the District of Columbia is proud to announce that Political Science student Leslie DeJesus is the 2nd place undergraduate winner of the Minority Student Research Symposium for her research poster No Papers – No Service, Treatment Access Barriers. Ms. DeJesus’s winning project focused on how immigrant Latino families with substance abuse disorders are often confronted with systemic and cultural challenges that correlate to the efficacy of treatment and rates of recidivism. From her research, Ms. DeJesus found that despite a growth in parity, there remains a lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity that creates barriers to treatment, especially for those who experience socioeconomic disparities.
The Minority Student Research Symposium was created to answer a call to action to address a lack of representation of underrepresented minority populations in biomedical research.
Currently, underrepresented minorities (URM) represent over 30% of the U.S. population but less than 9% of STEM Ph.D. members and 7% of all physicians. Diversification of the biomedical workforce will help address the critical needs the U.S. faces to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care. As part of an effort to address the shortfall, the Black Greek Leadership Consortium (BGLC) is partnering with universities across the U.S. to engage minority students studying health sciences and hosted the Minority Student Research Symposium (MSRS) on May 22, 2021.
Scholars participated in completing a research project utilizing data from the All of Us Research Program – an effort by the NIH that is inviting one million people across the U.S. to help build one of the most diverse health databases in history. By building this nationwide repository, the program hopes to ensure that medical researchers have data that properly reflects the current diversity of the U.S that can facilitate breakthroughs in precision medicine and lead to improved efficacy of current treatments.
Source: University of the District of Columbia
The scholars presented their work in a virtual poster session and developed a variety of research and professional skills while preparing for and presenting at the symposium. Among the main research topics presented included alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, chronic disease, physical disabilities, mental health and disorders, nutrition and weight status, and social determinants of health.
Leslie DeJesus is a Political Science major at the University of the District of Columbia. She will be pursuing graduate studies in a dual-degree program focused on advocating for and researching prevalent issues in underrepresented communities. Ms. DeJesus is a service-oriented individual who enjoys ethnographic studies as well as any scholarly or historical information pertaining to the Caribbean. She was born and raised in The Bronx and speaks English and Spanish fluently. Eventually, she plans to become a professor who teaches cultural and Caribbean studies.
Once again, we would like to extend our deepest congratulations to Leslie for her research in and dedication to improving the health sciences field.
Tovea Jenkins, a 2017 Johnson C. Smith University graduate, is heading to the Tokyo Olympics! According to her alma mater, the Kingston, Jamaica native stood out in the 400-meter race and won her ticket to the 2021 games by going to the 2021 Olympic Games.
Credit: Johnson C. Smith University
The 2017 NCAA Division II outdoor champion on the 4 x 400 meters relay team, ran a personal best of 50.68 as she placed fifth at the Jamaica National Championship meet on Sunday, June 27, 2021, securing her spot on the Jamaican Olympic Team.
The five-time All-American will be a part of the 4 x 400-meter relay team pool.
Jenkins is the fifth track and field Olympian from JCSU.
According to the Jamaica Gleaner, she was among the top performers in the relay for 2021. Read below to see the performance of fellow athletes.
As expected sprint queen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce heads a strong 62-member team that was named by the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) to represent the country at the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Elaine Thompson-Herah will also be looking to successfully defend her 100m and 200m titles in Tokyo, but there will be no such opportunity for 2016 Rio Olympics 110m hurdles champion, Omar McLeod, who unsurprisingly, not named to the team, after his shocking last place finish at the National Senior Championships – Jamaica’s Olympic Trials.
McLeod subsequently complained of cramps and there were calls from some fans for the second fastest man in the event this season to be included, in spite of his performance at the Trials.
New short sprint sensation, Shericka Jackson, who won a 400m bronze in Rio de Janeiro, will compete in the 100m and 200m in Tokyo, with World Championships long jump gold medallist Tajay Gayle, silver medal winners Fedrick Dacres (Discus), Shanieka Ricketts (Triple Jump) and Danniel Thomas-Dodd among the other standouts in the team.
Yohan Blake will be returning to the Olympics stage for the third time, while youngsters such as Oblique Seville, Britany Anderson, Candice McLeod and Briana Williams, will be making their first appearance at the showpiece event.
Interestingly, the JAAA’s list does not include Rasheed Broadbell, who missed the championships due to injury, but had according to his coach Stephen Francis, submitted a medical exemption, given his top three ranking at the time in the 110m hurdles.
Howard University has responded after Phylicia Rashad, new dean of the College of Fine Arts at the university, sounded off about Bill Cosby’s recent release from prison. While she has long stood by her former colleague, many have felt her tweet was triggering, and insensitive for someone holding a leadership position at Howard. Read the CNBC article by Sarah Whitten and Dan Mangan for more information below.
Peter Cramer | NBCUniversal | Getty Images
Howard University late Wednesday night disavowed a sympathetic tweet on comedian Bill Cosby and his abrupt release from prison earlier in the day by his TV wife Phylicia Rashad, the incoming dean of Howard’s fine arts college.
Howard said in a statement that Rashad’s initial tweet about the 83-year-old Cosby “lacked sensitivity towards survivors of sexual assault.”
The Washington, D.C., historically black university added that “personal positions” of her and other school leaders “do not reflect Howard University’s policies.”
Rashad had tweeted “Finally,” in capital letters and a string of exclamation marks, shortly after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby’s conviction for indecent assault of a then-Temple University employee.
“A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected,” added Rashad, who played Cosby’s wife on both the NBC sitcom “The Cosby Show,” and on CBS’s “Cosby.”
Rashad’s tweet was widely criticized as unsympathetic to the scores of women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault or harassment.
And it raised concerns online from many about how she might handle sexual assault allegations in her role as the new dean of the reestablished and renamed Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.
Rashad later followed up with a second tweet that addressed that backlash.
“I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward,” wrote Rashad.
“My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth. Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects. My heartfelt wish is for healing.”
I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward. My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth. Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects. My heartfelt wish is for healing.
“You can’t support survivors of physical assault and then cheer when a sexual predator gets off on a technicality. Very disappointing,” wrote one person in response to Rashad’s second tweet.
Howard University, in its statement on Rashad which was also tweeted, said, “Survivors of sexual assault will always be our priority.”
“While Dean Rashad has acknowledged in her follow-up tweet that victims must be heard and believed, her initial tweet lacked sensitivity towards survivors of sexual assault,” the statement said.
“We will continue to advocate for survivors fully and support their right to be heard,” the university said. “Howard will stand with survivors and challenge systems that would deny them justice. We have full confidence that our faculty and school leadership will live up to this sacred commitment.”
Linda Correia, a Washington lawyer who in 2017 sued Howard University on behalf of six then-current students at the university for failing to respond reasonably to their complaints of sexual violence, said of Rashad’s first tweet, “Well, I think the miscarriage of justice is for the victims” who testified at Cosby’s trial.
“It’s not surprising that she supported him. She’s always supported him,” said Correia, whose clients settled their lawsuit with Howard last year for undisclosed terms.
She added, “I would say that I think that any statement that is contrary to recognizing the miscarriage of justice for those women who had the courage to come forward is not what student survivors probably want to see right now.”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Cosby’s conviction cited a verbal agreement he had with a prior prosecutor that would have prevented him from being criminally charged in the case.
Wednesday’s ruling bars any retrial in the case.
Cosby was two years into a three-to-10-year prison term for indecent assault against Andrea Constand in 2004.
Nationwide, 60 women came forward to accuse the “Cosby Show” star of rape or sexual harassment. Many of the accusers have said they were drugged during these encounters.
Cosby has said his contact with Constand was consensual. He also has denied all other allegations of wrongdoing.
Student-athletes at HBCUs and around the country can rejoice after a contentious debate on student endorsement deals has been resolved. Starting tomorrow, the NCAA is giving students an unprecedented freedom to earn money for their likeness and more. Learn about the lift of the restrictions through an ESPN article written by Dan Murphy below.
Howard University’s Makur Maker (Credit: Howard University Athletics)
Every NCAA athlete in the country will be able to make money from endorsements and through a variety of other ventures starting Thursday.
The NCAA’s board of directors decided Wednesday to officially suspend the organization’s rules prohibiting athletes from selling the rights to their names, images and likenesses. The new rules represent a major shift in the association’s definition of amateurism — a shift that NCAA leaders previously believed was antithetical to the nature of college sports.
“This is an important day for college athletes since they all are now able to take advantage of name, image and likeness opportunities,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a statement. “With the variety of state laws adopted across the country, we will continue to work with Congress to develop a solution that will provide clarity on a national level. The current environment — both legal and legislative — prevents us from providing a more permanent solution and the level of detail student-athletes deserve.”
The board’s decision comes after several years of debate and just one day before laws will go into effect in more than a dozen states that will make it illegal for schools to follow the long-standing NCAA rules that have, until this week, prohibited athletes from making money.
NCAA rules that prevent schools from paying players directly remain intact. The board directed schools to make sure that payments to athletes are not expressly for their athletic achievements and to ensure that no payments are used as recruiting inducements.
The new rules will allow athletes to profit by monetizing social media accounts, signing autographs, teaching camps or lessons, starting their own businesses, and participating in advertising campaigns, among many other potential ventures. Athletes will be allowed to sign with agents or other representatives to help them acquire endorsement deals.
Some opportunities will be restricted, but the types of restrictions will vary based on state laws and policies created by individual schools. For example, some but not all state laws prohibit athletes from endorsing alcohol, tobacco or gambling products. Some but not all laws prohibit athletes from using their school’s logos or other copyright material in endorsements.
FAMU Rattler (Credit: FAMU athletics)
According to Wednesday’s rule change, schools in states that have an NIL law on the books are instructed to follow state law while determining what their athletes can do. The NCAA instructed schools located in states without an active NIL law to create and publish their own policies to provide clarity to the gray area and come up with a plan to resolve any disputes that arise.
College sports stakeholders tried for more than two years to develop more specific guidelines to help schools navigate the inevitable and considerable gray areas that will arise while trying to navigate the broad rules that shape the new, unprecedented marketplace created by these changes. Legal concerns, which were amplified by last week’s Supreme Court opinion on the NCAA’s business model, forced the rulemakers to be less detailed and prescriptive than they would have preferred.
The board of directors said Wednesday that its rule changes are intended to be temporary to make sure all athletes have some opportunity to profit from NIL as state laws start to go into effect. The board is hoping that Congress will help create a uniform national law that allows for clearer regulations for future college athlete NIL deals.
Members of Congress have proposed more than a half-dozen bills aimed at reforming college sports. Some are focused specifically on addressing a national standard for NIL deals. Others seek to add some significant changes that include giving athletes additional medical benefits, more educational opportunities and the rights to collectively bargain in the future. Disagreements among Republicans and Democrats about the scope of changes Congress should impose on the NCAA have stalled legislative efforts in Washington, D.C., in the past month.
Meanwhile, athletes around the country are preparing for new opportunities on the eve of what some in college sports say will be the industry’s most transformative summer since Title IX was enacted nearly 50 years ago. Several high-profile athletes are expected to announce new partnerships and deals starting Thursday morning.
Bill Cosby is a free man after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction for sexual assault today. Cosby, who at once held about 60 honorary degrees, was bestowed honors from many HBCUs. He also once provided the highest single donation to an HBCU with his $20 million donation to Spelman College. He has been imprisoned since 2018. Learn more about his case and why he will be walking today in the NBC News article by David K. Li below.
The court said that a prosecutor’s decision not to charge Cosby, 83, opened the door for him to speak freely in a lawsuit against him and that testimony was key in his conviction years later by another prosecutor.
Cosby was convicted on three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault in 2018 of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004, and was serving a three- to 10-year sentence. He has served nearly three years of the sentence.
The state Supreme Court said Cosby cannot be retried on the same charges.
“When an unconditional charging decision is made publicly and with the intent to induce action and reliance by the defendant, and when the defendant does so to his detriment (and in some instances upon the advice of counsel), denying the defendant the benefit of that decision is an affront to fundamental fairness,” according to the high court opinion authored by Justice David Wecht.
“For these reasons, Cosby’s convictions and judgment of sentence are vacated, and he is discharged.”
The prosecution of Cosby was one of the first major milestones of the #MeToo movement, as women came forward with their tales of unwanted sexual advances and harassment in the workplace.
Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt thanked the comedian’s legal team and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, calling Wednesday’s ruling a moment of justice for Black Americans.
“This is the justice Mr. Cosby has been fighting for,” Wyatt said in a statement. “They saw the light. He waived his Fifth Amendment right and settled out of court. He was given a deal and he had immunity. He should have never been charged.”
Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images
About two hours after the ruling was published on Wednesday, Cosby was released from the SCI Phoenix detention center about 35 miles northeast of Philadelphia, where he had been housed as inmate No. NN7687, a corrections official said.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele lamented Cosby’s release and characterized the state high court’s findings as a “procedural issue.”
“He was found guilty by a jury and now goes free on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime,” Steele said in a statement.
“I want to commend Cosby’s victim Andrea Constand for her bravery in coming forward and remaining steadfast throughout this long ordeal, as well as all of the other women who have shared similar experiences. My hope is that this decision will not dampen the reporting of sexual assaults by victims.”
The entertainer once dubbed “America’s Dad” was sent to state prison following his 2018 conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand.
She testified that Cosby assaulted her at his Pennsylvania home in 2004 after she came to him for career advice.
But Bruce Castor, the Montgomery district attorney at the time, declined to press charges against the comedian and actor, “thereby allowing Cosby to be forced to testify in a subsequent civil action,” according to the high court.
“Unable to invoke any right not to testify in the civil proceedings, Cosby relied upon the district attorney’s declination and proceeded to provide four sworn depositions. During those depositions, Cosby made several incriminating statements,” Justice Wecht wrote in a 79-page opinion, joined by Justices Debra Todd, Christine Donohue and Sallie Updyke Mundy.
“The fruits of Cosby’s reliance upon D.A. Castor’s decision — Cosby’s sworn inculpatory testimony — were then used by D.A. Castor’s successors against Cosby at Cosby’s criminal trial.”
Justice Kevin Dougherty sided with the majority and said large swaths of Cosby’s prosecution amounted to a “coercive bait-and-switch,” after Castor did not push a criminal case.
But Dougherty said vacating the conviction was not a proper remedy and argued that Cosby could be tried again, just without evidence obtained from the comedian’s civil suit deposition.
“We can order it suppressed,” wrote Dougherty, as he was joined by Chief Justice Max Baer. “And in fact this is precisely what this Court and many others have done in comparable situations.”
Justice Thomas Saylor wrote in dissent and said Castor’s decision not to prosecute Cosby was never set in stone for all following district attorneys.
Castor’s action was just “a present exercise of prosecutorial discretion by the temporary occupant of the elected office of district attorney that would in no way be binding upon his own future decision-making processes, let alone those of his successor,” Saylor wrote.
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) decried the state high court ruling.
“We are deeply disappointed in today’s ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and by the message this decision sends to the brave survivors who came forward to seek justice for what Bill Cosby did to them,” RAINN President Scott Berkowitz said in a statement. “This is not justice.”
And Christian Nunes, president of the National Organization for Women, bemoaned Cosby’s release as the result of a “technicality.”
“Today, the judicial system in America failed survivors again,” Nunes said in a statement.
“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Bill Cosby’s conviction for sexual assault not because anyone doubted his guilt of numerous crimes, but because of a prior legal agreement’s impact on the trial. Bill Cosby is free on a technicality, but the women he assaulted, who bravely came forward to bring him to justice, are suffering anew. They thought they had finally achieved some limited measure of closure — and now this.”
In a rare jailhouse interview in 2019, Cosby said he wouldn’t offer any remorse for his actions — even if that would’ve affected a parole board’s decision.
“When I come up for parole, they’re not going to hear me say that I have remorse. I was there. I don’t care what group of people come along and talk about this when they weren’t there. They don’t know,” Cosby told the news outlet BlackPressUSA.com.
Edward Waters College is no more after this morning’s rebranding announcement by president A. Zachary Faison Jr., J.D.! The new Edward Waters University will now offer advanced degrees and more, in a rebranding that you can read more about in the First Coast News article below.
Credit: Edward Waters College
Edwards Waters College is officially changing its name to Edward Waters University, exciting an auditorium full of people Wednesday.
President Dr. A. Zachary Faison made the announcement in front of students and distinguished guests at the university’s gym:
“As of June 17, 2021, and after 155 years from our humble beginnings at Brown Theological Institute in Live Oaks Florida, and later as Florida East Scientific and Divinity School, to our becoming Edward Waters Junior College and then Edward Waters College, as the 30th President and CEO of this remarkable institution, I’m proud to announce the next era of our education excellence at the State of Florida’s first […] independent institution of higher learning and first […] Historically Black College or University at the world’s destination institution of emerging eminence. We are Edward Waters University!”
As Dr. Faison made the announcement, those in attendance stood and loudly cheered as confetti and balloons fell onto the gym floor.
The university will now off an online master’s program in business administration with more master’s programs on the way.
The university was originally founded in 1866 by Reverend Charles H. Pearce, an elder in the African Methodist-Episcopal Church (AME), to help educate the newly emancipated Blacks following the Civil War. To meet the widespread illiteracy amongst Blacks in Florida, the school offered classes ranging from elementary to post-high school education in its early days.
The school officially changed its name to Edward Waters College in 1892 in honor of the third bishop of the AME Church.
The college was accredited as a junior college in 1955 and eventually become a four-year institution in 1979.
At the on-campus store, the university is already selling merchandise featuring the new logo.
While former HBCU players like Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State University), Chad “OchoCinco” Johnson (Florida A&M University), and Shannon Sharpe (Savannah State University) have dominated the NFL, there isn’t really a comprehensive history on the history of their place in the industry. To solve this, Alois Ricky Clemons, an author with multiple HBCU ties, recently just came out with a book that will open up the world of black professional football. Learn more about “Inbounds: The Evolution of Historical Black College Players in Professional Football” by Donald Hunt at The Philadelphia Tribune in the article below.
Chad Ochocinco #85 of the Cincinnati Bengals reaches for a pass during the Bengals 23-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL game at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 14, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
If you are a big fan of Black college football, there is a book that profiles and chronicles the careers of the great players from the nation’s Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The book is titled “Inbounds – The Evolution of Historical Black College Players in Professional Football by Alois Ricky Clemons.
The book recognizes the trailblazers who played at many the HBCUs prior to playing in the National Football League. Clemons’ research takes you back to the early 1900s, which was long before the modern NFL.
He has a list of all the HBCU players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The list includes names such as Jerry Rice, Michael Strahan, Walter Payton, Shannon Sharpe and others. It’s a really impressive list of Hall of Famers, which clearly illustrates the number of outstanding players who have come through the HBCU ranks over the years.
The book has some great artwork on display. John Dupree, a freelance artist from Greenville, N.C., has illustrations of several HBCU football legends. Instead of using regular photos, the artwork adds a nice touch to the book.
The most impressive part of the book is the breakdown of HBCU players in the NFL by school. Clemons has a list of players from Black colleges who made it to the NFL from each conference. The conferences include: Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).
For example, Philadelphia Eagles fans can look up defensive tackle Javon Hargrave in this book. Hargrave played his college football at South Carolina State.
Former Hall of Fame Eagles wide receiver Harold Carmichael played for Southern University. He will be enshrined on Aug. 7.
Clemons is a lecturer in Health, Human Performance and Leisure Studies department at Howard University. In addition, he served as a assistant professor of Public Relations and Journalism and Mass Communications department at North Carolina A&T.
He is the president of ARC Connections, Inc., a marketing communications agency and former host of “The Sports Insider Show” on Sirius XM Channel 141 hurvoices.com.
He started his career at Howard University as the assistant sports information director prior to being named director and later associate athletic director for marketing and promotions.
He has a vast knowledge of HBCU sports and football in particular. This is a book that every writer, broadcaster or college football fan should have in their library. You can always use it for whatever work you’re doing with HBCU football.
Texas Southern University student Megan Thee Stallion swept up the awards at the BET Awards this past weekend in major categories! Learn about how this female emcee was among the top performers in the industry in the Billboard article bu Paul Grein below.
Megan Thee Stallion was the top winner at the 2021 BET Awards, which aired June 27 on BET. She took four awards — best female hip hop artist; video of the year and best collaboration, both for “WAP,” her steamy collab with Cardi B; and the viewer’s choice award for “Savage,” her collab with Beyoncé.
This is the second year in a row that Megan has won best female hip hop artist. It’s also the second year in a row she has won the viewer’s choice award. She received that award last year for “Hot Girl Summer,” featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign.
Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for BET
Here are other artists who set records on the night.
Jazmine Sullivan took album of the year for Heaux Tales, her first studio album in six years. It’s the first R&B (as opposed to rap) album to win in this category since Beyoncé’s Lemonade (the inaugural winner in the category) four years ago. The last three winners were Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN., Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy and Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial. This award could give a boost to Sullivan’s album in the upcoming Grammy race. Sullivan has yet to win a Grammy, despite 12 nominations.
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for BET
Lil Baby took best male hip hop artist for the first time. He beat, among others, last year’s winner in the category, DaBaby, and four-time category champ Drake.
H.E.R. took best female R&B/pop artist for the first time, beating, among others, Beyoncé, a 10-time winner in the category. H.E.R. has had a historic year at top-tier awards shows. She and her collaborators D’Mile and Tiara Thomas became the first songwriters in 35 years to win the Oscar for best original song and the Grammy for song of the year in the same year, but with different songs. Lionel Richie achieved the feat in 1986.
Chris Brown took best male R&B/pop artist for a record-extending sixth time.
Silk Sonic, consisting of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, took best group on the strength of their retro soul smash “Leave the Door Open,” a No. 1 hit on both the Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. Silk Sonic beat, among others, Migos, which won in this category the last four years. Mars is a long-time BET favorite: He won best male R&B/pop artist three years in a row from 2017-19.
Mars won a second award this year for video director of the year for co-directing the “Leave the Door Open” video with Florent Dechard.
Giveon won best new artist. The R&B artist competed with five hip-hop performers so he had the advantage of being the outlier in the competition. Giveon was Grammy-nominated this past year for best R&B album for Take Time, so he won’t be eligible to compete for best new artist at the upcoming 64th annual Grammy Awards.
SZA took the HER Award for “Good Days.” The soulful ballad rose to No. 9 on the Hot 100 and No. 3 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Kirk Franklin‘s “Strong God,” a track from his 2019 album Long Live Love, won the Dr. Bobby Jones best gospel/inspirational award. It’s Franklin’s record-extending fifth win in the category.
Burna Boy, the Nigerian singer, songwriter, rapper and dancer, took best international act for the third year in a row. Bree Runway (the first name is short for Brenda), an English singer, rapper and songwriter, won best new international act.
Judas and the Black Messiah, which was Oscar-nominated for best picture, won best movie. Shaka King directed and co-wrote the film.
Andra Day won for best actress for the first time on the strength of her Oscar-nominated performance in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Day beat, among others, Viola Davis, who was also Oscar-nominated this year for best actress for her role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
The late Chadwick Boseman won best actor for the second time in four years for his Oscar-nominated performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He won in this same category at the BET Awards three years ago for the box-office smash Black Panther.
Marsai Martin, the 16-year old co-star of ABC’s Black-ish, won the YoungStars award for the third year in a row. She’s the first three-time winner in the category. Keke Palmer and Yara Shahidi (also featured on Black-ish) both won the award twice.
After a lifetime of excelling at his craft, Morehouse College graduate Samuel L. Jackson is finally going to receive his Oscar! Jackson will be one of 4 entertainers being honored at the upcoming Governors Awards ceremony. Jackson has been known for bringing his no-nonsense attitude to roles in Pulp Fiction, Snakes On A Plane, the Star Wards franchise. Learn more about Jackson and the winners below in the article by J. Kim Murphy at IGN.
Victoria Will/Invision/AP
Samuel L. Jackson is finally getting his due from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The organization announced that Jackson, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann will receive honorary Oscars at next year’s Governors Awards ceremony. The Academy also announced that Danny Glover will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
After working in film and theater during the 1970s and ’80s, Jackson broke out in the ’90s with major roles in films like Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever and Jurassic Park. After receiving a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, Jackson has appeared in over 100 films, joining projects across a wide range of scale and genre. He is considered to have the highest-grossing filmography of any actor, with a body of work that has earned over $5.6 billion at the box office in the United States and Canada.
Source: CinemaBlend
Elaine May is a celebrated writer, director, and actress. She has been nominated for two competitive Oscars, for Best Adapted Screenplay for 1978’s Heaven Can Wait and 1998’s Primary Colors. Almost a decade after rising to fame as a comedic duo with the late Mike Nichols, May became only the fourth woman to join the Directors Guild of America when she signed with Paramount to direct her 1971 debut A New Leaf.
Ullman is most well-known for her collaborations with the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, starring in films like Persona, Cries and Whispers, and The Passion of Anna. She received Oscar nominations for Best Actress for her performances in 1971’s The Emigrants and 1976’s Face to Face.
While Glover has never been nominated for a competitive Oscar, the actor has accrued a diverse body of work that spans from big blockbusters like the Lethal Weapon seriesand Predator 2 to small independent films like To Sleep with Anger and Sorry to Bother You. The Academy is recognizing Glover for his lifelong commitment to advocating for economic justice, heath care, and education access in the United States and Africa.
Glover will be the 41st recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. It was most recently presented to Tyler Perry at this year’s Oscar ceremony. David Lynch, Wes Studi, and Lina Wertmüller received honorary Oscars at the most recent Governors Awards, which was held in 2019.
