HBCU football teams are refusing to stay pinned down by COVID-19 or anything else. Read about how the best HBCU athletes and their teams are preparing to safely enter their new season in the full story from The Undefeated below.
The 17 Division I schools in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) are going back to where they had been 10 months ago: preparing for a football season.
The 2020 fall seasons that were officially postponed last summer by the COVID-19 pandemic – after spring practices were abruptly shut down in March when the virus hit the country full force – resume next month for a spring season that is unprecedented on nearly every level for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
And they begin with the same caveat applied to the start of basketball season in November, a leap of faith in the safety protocols and in the ultimate mission of the schools to keep its students, campus and community safe.
“COVID-19 is going to dictate what we do,” SWAC commissioner Charles McClelland said last week. Added MEAC commissioner Dennis Thomas, “At any point we feel that it’s not [safe], we will shut it down.’’
Courtesy of Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire
Now, some six weeks before both leagues begin play on Feb. 20, everything is on course, including the protocols for practicing and gathering required by the NCAA for controlling the spread. The leagues began practices last week. They are proceeding with preseason workouts and, eventually, games, even with the knowledge that the current wave of infections nationwide is larger than the last, and that another likely larger wave is on track for the early stages of the football season.
The projections were daunting enough to convince the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to cancel football. The SWAC and MEAC chose to plan for the spring and stay ready to change direction if conditions dictated. Both commissioners described themselves today as “cautiously optimistic.”
LEARNING FROM POWER 5 PLAY
They are also armed with knowledge of, among other factors, their own frequently-disrupted basketball seasons, and the fall football seasons just completed by the Power 5 conferences.
“We have learned from our prior experience,” Thomas said, “in March and April, through the summer and up to now. The nation has learned more from this pandemic, even about testing. You have a vaccine now. All these things have come online that will make the spike more manageable.”
McClelland pointed out what the leagues and institutions have learned from watching the last several months, and from what they’ve gleaned from NCAA medical advisers. The SWAC worked closely with Dr. Brian Hainline, the staff liaison for the NCAA’s COVID-19 medical advisory group, to be sure they were safe to play.
“Meeting, eating and greeting,” McClelland said in summarizing the areas that needed the most attention to keep the players, coaches and surrounding personnel safe. How and where the football participants have meals, hold meetings and otherwise gather are strictly monitored; other restrictions, he said, include mask requirements off the field at practice and games, and no postgame handshakes between teams.
“At any point we feel that it’s not [safe], we will shut it down.’’ – MEAC commissioner Dennis Thomas
With that, McClelland said, “We understand very clearly that we have to be nimble. We are prepared to adjust and move quickly.”
For both conferences, that includes being able to adapt when outbreaks or contact tracing happens, as they have in basketball, at their level and in the Power 5 conferences. The SWAC has a six-game schedule with a bye week built into the season and another one before the league championship game in May.
The MEAC schedule was reduced to four games for each team after two programs (Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman) canceled their football seasons due to the pandemic. But the league has flexibility to reschedule and make up games before its conference title game in April.
The MEAC title game in itself adds to the unique nature of the season: With the Celebration Bowl a casualty of the pandemic this academic year, the league was granted an automatic bid to the NCAA’s delayed playoffs this spring and will play a championship game for the first time to determine its bid.
In both leagues, as they did in basketball, the football schedules were designed to reduce travel, hotel stays, flights and other factors that are known to accelerate the infection rate.
n all, 12 FCS conferences shifted to the spring, and 11 (not including the SWAC, which will cap its season with its championship game) will get automatic bids to the reduced 16-team field. The Ohio Valley Conference is included, and member Tennessee State will play a seven-game season this spring. The Big South will also play a spring season, but Hampton chose to cancel football for the year.
Other FCS conferences playing this spring are the Big Sky, Big South, Colonial, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot League, Pioneer, Southern and Southland. A 16-team FCS playoff field will be selected on April 18, the day after the MEAC title game. The SWAC will continue its usual plan of not going to FCS playoffs because of the Celebration Bowl and play its championship game on May 1.
The regular season opens for the MEAC on Feb. 20 with North Carolina Central at South Carolina State, Norfolk State at Howard and Delaware State at Morgan playing. North Carolina State A&T plays its opener the following week at home against S.C. State. SWAC opens on Feb. 21 with Edward Waters at Jackson State. Full league play begins the next weekend with Southern at Alabama State on Feb. 26, then the other four games on Feb. 27.
‘IT’S NOT SPRING BALL’
The remaining HBCU programs themselves are now adjusting to the drastic change in their routines; instead of preparing for the upcoming fall season, they’re about to play games that count.
“It has been weird not being able to play this fall. Your body clock will kind of tell you you’re supposed to be playing,” said Alabama A&M quarterback Aqeel Glass. “It’s been hard, but it’s been a nice challenge – just trying to keep all the guys motivated, keep all the guys ready to play, making them understand that this is the season.
“It’s not spring ball like it normally is. This is a real season; we’re competing for real championships, real records, real stats, all of that.”
The coaches, meanwhile, took on the task of ushering their players through an even harsher realization.
The challenge for Alabama State head coach Donald Hill-Eley, he said, was “letting them know that they are not invincible. This thing will carry you out. We had a couple of players who tested positive – some who got sick, some didn’t. [For coaches,] it’s now being there for them.
“They say, ‘coach, I tested positive,’ and to them, on the other end of the phone it sounds like they got a death sentence.”
“We have not seen anybody that has indicated that they will not have fans. But this is all fluid.’’ – SWAC commissioner Charles McClelland
That all went on within various programs while direct contact was impossible, and phone calls and Zoom talks were the norm. “You miss the face-to-face, because I’m a personable guy,” said Prairie View A&M head coach Eric Dooley, “but you adjust.”
Part of the adjustment will be the likelihood of playing in front of limited crowds, or no crowds at all, including no bands. The SWAC and MEAC say that local laws will dictate attendance and capacity for football. Several traditional games are on the SWAC schedule, but in various locations and under different circumstances, with attendance to be determined.
“We have not seen anybody that has indicated that they will not have fans,” McClelland said. “But this is all fluid.”
Courtesy of Grambling State Athletics
The State Fair Classic in Dallas and the Magic City Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, will not be moved, but the Bayou Classic will be in Shreveport, Louisiana, instead of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Tickets are on sale for those games, for now.
“It’s the Bayou Classic. We could play it out back, on the other side of the street and in between the cows,” Southern head coach Dawson Odums said. “But it’s a different time. We’re just happy that we have a place that’s willing to let us play and give us an opportunity to continue to showcase to the world that we have something special, that it is our own.”
It’s another shift from the norm that programs and, so far, players and fans, have willingly made.
“We have to deviate from the brand … and now alter and adjust, so we can provide a safe environment for entertainment,” said Hill-Eley, whose Alabama State team plays Alabama A&M in Montgomery in the Magic City Classic. “Even though those things are our brands, those 60 minutes on the field are all that matters.”
Thus, in late January, HBCU football still expects to play in late February, the endgame of planning that began nearly a year earlier.
“I’m very pleased with how people have adapted to change since the fall,” Thomas said. “It’s the image of the aircraft carrier vs. the speedboat. The aircraft carrier can’t change direction like the speedboat can.”
A new art program has opened the eyes of students at Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College who are preparing to graduate. The AUC Art History and Curatorial Studies Collective has gifted these students with the tools and exposure to excel in the art industry. Many of them were unaware of just how fitting art studies were for them. Read about how the program has changed the lives of several student art enthusiasts in the release below.
Jordan Dantzler: a senior Art major and Curatorial Studies minor, has always been interested in the arts and knew that would be her major at Spelman College. But, she wasn’t sure what her future would look like.
A trip sponsored by the AUC Art History and Curatorial Studies Collective to visit museums in New York City changed her world view. “When I saw Black women leading in this area, it made me realize that I could do this,” Dantzler said. “I knew that I could be a curator at a museum and change the way we are seen.”
Courtesy of The AUC Art History and Curatorial Studies Collective
The AUC Art History and Curatorial Studies Collective is a new, but very strong program that has garnered national and international attention. This spring, Dantzler will join nine other students as the inaugural graduating class. Five Art History majors and five students who have other majors and minor in Curatorial Studies will graduate.
Housed at Spelman, the AUC Art History and Curatorial Studies Collective, a new programmatic initiative designed for future art historians, curators, museum professionals and those pursuing a career in the visual arts, enrolls students from Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse Collegeand Spelman College. “These are students who want to make a difference in the art world, who want to elevate art created by people of African descent,” said Collective Director Dr. Cheryl Finley.
Currently, there are 29 students in the academic program, Finley said. Of that number, nine are art history majors and 17 are curatorial studies minors. Three students are majoring in Art History and minoring in Curatorial Studies, she said.
The Collective was established in May 2015 with a $5.4 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation. Administrators spent the first year developing the curriculum, and began enrolling students in 2019, Finley said. “The Walton family are very interested in creating more diversity in the art world, increase access to arts and inspire the next generation of leaders,” she said.
Students who are drawn to the program are usually born leaders, Finley said. “They are empowered to take a seat at the table when other students would shy away,” she said.
The Collective offers interdisciplinary programs, Finley said, so students can major in art history and minor in computer science, or major in economics and minor in curatorial studies.
“Our students can go out and design the best web-based platform for selling African-American art, become scholars, become curators of history, art and manuscripts, or directors of a museum,” Finley said. “Many of the students we work with have that vision to go out and see themselves in the art industry and disrupting the status quo.”
Courtesy of Spelman College
Students are already figuring out ways to use web platforms to learn about stolen African art located across Europe, Finley said. They create new ways to keep records, using technology to return objects that were possibly acquired by nefarious means to their homelands, she said.
Junior Spelman student Tempe Stewart was originally a biochemistry major. She planned on majoring in pre-med but changed her mind during her first semester of her sophomore year. “I had to take a fine arts course, so I took an African American art class and fell in love,” Stewart said.
While taking the class, Stewart felt a deep connection to her late grandfather, renowned California artist Michael Cavanaugh Perry. “I grew up with his works in our home, and I felt a deep connection. He died when my mother was 7 years old, but I always felt like I knew him,” Stewart said.
Though she had never heard about the art history or curatorial studies programs, it took Stewart less than a week to change her major to Art History. “I met with Dr. Finley and she explained more about the major. It just felt right; this is where I’m supposed to be,” she said.
Stewart hopes to work for a nonprofit that will expose more underserved children to the art world. “They face a lot of barriers, so I want to help open the world to them and help them be empowered by these institutions,” she said. “I want to help them feel like they belong and find their place in the art world.”
The program has grown in prominence, said Finley, and is drawing attention from across the globe. “Not a week goes by without someone calling from national and international organizations asking if they can partner with us. We have to make sure that it serves our students, our program and grantors,’ she said.
Meanwhile, Dantzler and her classmates eagerly await commencement and the start of their future in the art world. “Growing up in South Carolina, I didn’t know about the different opportunities in the art world,” she said. “People love to push the starving artist narrative, but the Collective has opened up so many opportunities for me. I want others to know that they have a space in the museum world if that is what they want.”
Esports has almost seamlessly incorporated itself into the sports world. Typically known to dominate in sports like basketball and football, Historically Black Colleges and Universities have been catching on. For example, Johnson C. Smith University will be facilitating a significant virtual Esports conference this February to coincide with the Super Bowl! Get the full scoop in the story from The Esports Observer below.
Super Bowl weekend will take on a different meaning for some as Johnson C. Smith University has partnered with MetArena, a St. Petersburg-based technology company, to co-produce “the first-ever virtual HBCU Esports Conference and Career Expo to be hosted in a blockchain ecosystem.”
The 2021 ASCEND HBCU Esports Conference and Career Expo will see the HBCU’s students help run the event including planning, organization, and execution phases, including their role in moderating panel sessions, introducing speakers, and managing an HBCU Madden NFL Tournament.
Courtesy of the Esports Observer
The conference is sponsored by CodeBoxx and will take place online Feb. 5 from 9 a.m.- 3:30 p.m., two days before the 2021 NFL Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida.
The conference will include speakers from both non-profits and corporations within the esports and gaming ecosystem, including multi-media personality, host, and producer, Erin Ashley Simon; Polycade CEO Tyler Bushnell; Riot Games’ Alex Francois; Nacon Gaming Vice President Corey Rosemond; Sugar Gamers Founder and CEO Keisha Howard; and Marcus Kennedy, a senior director of Intel’s Esports and Gaming Segment.
Additionally, the event will feature a pitch competition for esports and gaming entrepreneurs, with judges such as serial entrepreneur and investor, Steve MacDonald and tech revolutionary Angel Rich, founder of the Wealth Factory, a start-up that designs and builds financial literacy and workforce development games.
GETTY
While the focus of the 2021 ASCEND HBCU Esports Conference and Career Expo is to “enable HBCU students, faculty, staff, and constituents from across the nation to ASCEND (Accessing Sources to Catalyze Esports/Gaming Needs & Address Diversity) by providing them with opportunities to gain insight into the esports and gaming industries through their interaction with industry executives,” all are welcome and invited to attend. The Latinx community is also a focus of the conference and expo as they represent a significant percentage of students enrolled at HBCUs.
In support of the conference and expo, GAME Credits will host this event in Decentraland, a virtual world where users can purchase, sell, and develop land inside a virtual environment.
From scholars to celebrities to athletes, Morgan State University has produced some of the best Black talent in the nation. Now, one of its sports greats is getting the honor of a lifetime. Read the release from MSU below to get the full story.
Morgan State alumnus, sports journalist and author, William C. Rhoden was one of a record seven men voted into the National Sports Media Association (NSMA) Hall of Fame on Monday, Jan. 11 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Joining Rhoden are fellow sportswriters, Larry Merchant, William Nack and Rick Telander and sportscasters Bill King, Jim Nantz, and Dick Stockton.
In addition, NSMA members voted Mike “Doc” Emrick as the 2020 national sportscaster of the year, and Nicole Auerbach as the 2020 national sportswriter of the year.
Among the 108 who won 2020 state sportscaster or sportswriter of the year honors, 51 are first-time winners. They include two who passed away during the year: Detroit sports talk show host Jamie Samuelsen and 100-year-old Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Courtesy of Morgan State University
A native of Chicago, Ill., Rhoden attended Morgan State University from 1968 to 1973. He was a member of the Bears’ 1968 team that beat Grambling in Yankee Stadium in the Whitney Young Classic. Rhoden also served as Morgan’s assistant sports information director while he was a student.
After graduating from Morgan with an undergraduate degree in speech communication, he worked for the Baltimore Afro-American, The Baltimore Sun and Ebony Magazine, where he became a columnist for the magazine from 1974-78. In 1983, Rhoden joined The New Times staff as a sports columnist where he wrote the popular column “Sports of The Times,” before his retirement in 2016.
In 2006, he published his first book, “Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete,” an analysis of prejudice and intolerance in American professional sports.
Rhoden is currently a writer and editor-at-large for ESPN’s The Undefeated. In addition to his work at The Undefeated, Rhoden assists the next generation of journalists as the head of a fellowship program named in his honor. The Rhoden Fellowship was established in 2017 and is sponsored by ESPN. The fellowship is a two-year program that trains aspiring African-American journalists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and provides students with the opportunity to report new stories on their campuses through the production of multimedia content.
Courtesy of Joe Faraoni/ ESPN Images
He was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Hall of Fame in 2018.
Rhoden returned to The National Treasure for the University’s 143rd Spring Commencement ceremony and received an honorary doctorate on May 18, 2019.
The NSMA will honor Rhoden, along with the rest of its Hall of Fame inductees and winners during the organization’s 61st awards weekend, tentatively set for June 26-28, 2021, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
For decades, HBCUs graduates have paved their way into politics. Yet with several significant elections of HBCU alumni within the past year, they are getting a brighter spotlight than ever. Get the whole story from Diverse Viewpoints in Higher Education below.
As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to enter the White House, he’s joined by an influx of alumni from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) ascending into government positions.
Kamala Harris – soon to be the country’s first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president – attended Howard University. Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, a Morehouse College graduate, won a tense runoff election to become Georgia’s first Black senator, aided by voter outreach from Stacey Abrams, a Spelman College alumnus. Cori Bush, the incoming Democratic representative from Ohio, graduated from Harris-Stowe State University and the new Congressional Black Caucus chair, Rep. Joyce Beatty, from Central State University.
HBCU alumni taking on leadership roles is nothing new, said Dr. Robert Palmer, department chair and associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Howard. He noted that HBCU graduates led the Civil Rights Movement, including Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks and Stokely Carmichael, among others.
Dr. Ravi K. Perry, courtesy Diverse Education
However, now, the difference is HBCU graduates are reaching high level positions within government, according to Dr. Ravi K. Perry, chair and professor of political science at Howard.
“That really allows [the newly-appointed government officials] to highlight the benefits of their education but also to use the power of their positions hopefully to genuinely invest in HBCUs,” he added. “We have been talking about that as a country for generations and we as a country have failed to invest adequately in our HBCUs.”
This wave of HBCU graduates in the political sphere shines a spotlight on the “everlasting value” of an HBCU education at a time when these institutions are sometimes dismissed as “relics of the past,” Palmer said.
“I think it is important that Black students see this in particular, because even among folks in the Black community, there are some who question the value of HBCUs,” he said. “Some feel you would get a better education attending a predominantly White institution. But I think what we see played out in the past, and what we see playing out now, are HBCUs saying, ‘We prepare students to be leaders. We have always done that, and we will continue to do that.’”
Dr. Arwin D. Smallwood, professor and chair of the Department of History and Political Science at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, emphasized that HBCUs have always been “necessary” and continue to “fulfill a needed role in American society,” adding that, historically, the majority of the Black middle class and the Black “elite” have ties to an HBCU.
“HBCUs have always been at the heart of the African American community,” he said. “They have always offered a great service to the African American community. When we look at leadership, even at the state and local level or at the national level, you have to look at the product of the HBCU and the role that those individuals have played. Not just in terms of governing and government, but also in terms of just general professions.”
The Biden administration also recognizes the importance of “cultural resonance and cultural relevance being taught as an academic pedagogy” at both the high school and college level, Perry said.
Dr. Leonard Haynes, who served as senior advisor in the office of the undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education, asserted that HBCUs were already “definitively” a priority under President Donald J. Trump before these policymakers came onto the scene.
He pointed to the president’s executive order which moved the Initiative on HBCUs from the Education Department to the White House, calling it an “outstanding opportunity.” Haynes previously worked for the department in several roles, also serving as executive director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs under President George W. Bush.
“It’s documented,” he said. “We’ve done more in the last four years than had ever been done before. We did a lot of work. We talked about accountability of results, we tried to position opportunities to adjust national priorities, we emphasized the importance of being competitive, not only at the institutional level but for the students to be competitive and to take advantage of opportunities.”
Haynes described federal student aid as “the key to success for HBCUs” and expressed hope that legislators would ensure it “flows appropriately and is used properly.” He also wants HBCUs to be encouraged to leverage discretionary funding under the Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) program, as he and his team did under the Trump administration.
“There’s an opportunity to, as we did in the last administration, emphasize the role of HBCUs in the nation and the role that they can play in addressing the priorities that are facing the nation,” he added.
Dr. Leonard Haynes, courtesy of Diverse Education
Given the current positive media and social media attention now focused on HBCUs, Palmer expects to see an uptick in enrollment at institutions like Howard. He also hopes lawmakers from HBCUs will come to their roles with a particular “sensitivity” to the funding needs of these institutions, which have been historically under-resourced.
Despite HBCUs receiving an increase in overall awareness and donations — most notably, over $500 million from author Mackenzie Scott — Perry stressed that the public and federal government must take measures to support the long-term success of the institutions.
“We still need to see significant alumni donations increasing,” he said. “We need to see the federal government engaging in resource distribution that prioritizes the education of African American students. And of course, HBCUs would be at the top of that list if they were to do so.”
For HBCU students, seeing Black representation in government positions can be “inspiring,” said Smallwood.
This political moment isn’t just good for HBCUs but also for the country, noted University of the District of Columbia President Ronald Mason Jr.
“Poor Black and Brown communities are vast reserves of human potential,” Mason told Diverse. “Higher education in general is not designed to identify and develop that potential because the system of White supremacy, by definition, is a rigged competition. Opportunity is passed from generation to generation by a select few.”
He continued: “However, HBCUs have always specialized in producing leaders from places other institutions refuse to look or cannot see. They protect and nurture the human potential that America tries to destroy. America needs talent, and HBCUs are specialists in producing it from where most of the potential resides.”
Determined House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne A. Jones will not allow HBCUs in the state of Maryland to be forgotten. For years she has been vying to get them money that was initially set aside for them, in addition to the resolution of a long-running legal battle. Get the gripping details in the story from The Baltimore Sun below!
The General Assembly is aiming to force the state to settle a long-running lawsuit by Maryland’s historically black universities, which contend that for decades, higher education policy undermined the institutions and stacked the deck in favor of historically white schools.
Courtesy of The Baltimore Sun
Legislation backed by House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne A. Jones would set aside $577 million in additional funding for the state’s four HBCUs — Coppin State and Morgan State universities in Baltimore, Bowie State University and the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore — over the next decade to resolve the lawsuit, which dates to 2006.
The General Assembly passed a nearly identical bill last year with overwhelming support. But it was derailed by a veto from Gov. Larry Hogan and the coronavirus pandemic, which forced lawmakers to end their annual legislative session nearly three weeks early.
This time, Jones and other top legislative Democrats say Hogan’s veto pen won’t stop their efforts to force a settlement. Jones told The Baltimore Sun that she hopes Hogan has a change of heart, but if there’s another veto, she expects to have plenty of votes to override it. The House passed the $577 million proposal last year 129-2, and it sailed through the Senate on a 45-0 vote.
“It’s rare for the legislature to step into ongoing litigation. However, we have now been litigating and mediating for years,” Jones told the House Appropriations Committee at a hearing Tuesday. “We have lost time for tens of thousands of students waiting for the legal process to resolve itself. We need to act now to level the playing field for all students, regardless of background or race or college they attend, and end this case for the betterment of every student.”
If lawmakers pass the bill early in this year’s 90-day session — as the speaker vows they will — state law would require Hogan to make a veto decision within six days. Assuming the pandemic doesn’t again cut the session short, that would leave plenty of time to line up votes for an override.
“We were optimistic the last time when it passed overwhelmingly and the governor vetoed it,” said Michael D. Jones, an attorney representing the universities. “But the thing that we could not have foreseen was that COVID would prevent the legislature from coming back and overriding the veto.”
The lawsuit has its origins in a 2005 state decision to launch a joint master of business administration program at Towson University and the University of Baltimore, a potential source of competition for an existing MBA program at Morgan State.
Courtesy of The Business Journals
In 2013, U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake ruled in favor of the HBCUs on a key claim: Maryland’s actions to duplicate academic programs had perpetuated segregation by allowing nearby public universities to lure away students who might otherwise have enrolled at an HBCU.
But negotiations over a settlement have failed repeatedly in the years since, despite numerous attempts at mediation and stern prodding from the courts.
In 2019, a panel of judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals again urged both sides to strike a deal, writing that battling over a potential court-imposed remedy likely would mean “endless years of acrimonious, divisive and expensive litigation that will only work to the detriment of higher education in Maryland.”
The governor’s office and the historically Black universities have remained far apart on just how much the state might have to spend.
The state initially proposed spending $50 million on marketing, on-campus multicultural centers and scholarships. Under Hogan, who took office in 2015, the state gradually upped that figure, eventually reaching what the governor’s counsel termed a “final offer” of $200 million in 2019.
Those offers have been quickly rejected by backers of the HBCUs, who note they fall well short of what a court-drafted plan might cost. The proposed court order doesn’t include a price tag, but estimates put it well above the $577 million package the General Assembly is backing.
Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which has helped represent the HBCUs in the case since 2009, said Maryland’s executive branch has “never really made a serious offer to settle the case.”
From the mouths of 46 HBCU SGA presidents: Here’s what Biden-Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign win means for HBCUs
Hope. Change. Forward.
These are the words that come to mind when the HBCU Buzz team thinks of the meaning behind a historic Biden-Harris campaign win for the 2020 presidential election. Kamala Harris, who graduated from historically black Howard University in the nation’s capital, is the first black woman, Asian American, and HBCU graduate plucked out of the U.S. Senate to win the second-highest office in the country, which is the key role of vice president.
Democratic president Joe Biden will take office in January 2020, facing an uphill battle with the new coronavirus that has become our “new normal” and ultimately brought us closer to one another as a result. He will try to bring a better sense of stability to the country.
Harris, who survived nasty remarks by former President Donald Trump, calling her a “monster” at one point, and appeared graceful compared to that of an overbearing and downright lying approach shown by former Vice President Mike Pence during their only debate, will be the first person to have talks about democracy with Biden and also the last to leave talks about the subject with him.
Prayers for Harris and Biden were held at Howard. These prayers were answered. Her sorors, the beautiful women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. carried out “Strolls to the Polls” in support of Harris, and as a call to action against voter discrimination. The idea was a great success. Indeed, things like this were needed for this incredible win.
A win that makes us all believe that honestly, and truly anything is possible. We too should join Harris and shoot for the stars and aim for the moon.
What a time to be alive!
That is, always forward, and never backward.
And who better than the student-leaders on the campus of some of the historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs to tell you the meaning of such a pivotal win? All of this coming at such a crucial moment in time of this country’s history, even with this quarantine craziness.
Here’s what 46 HBCU SGA presidents are saying about the Biden-Harris Administration:
Japhe Jelks of Alabama A&M University
For my HBCU, this victory for the Biden-Harris Administration would mean that we are getting the representation that we as African Americans deserve. Our voices were heard and we are also claiming seats at the table! It will bring forth the idea that a change is truly coming for not just the African American, but The African American woman or as we say “The Black Woman!” According to JoeBiden.com Biden and Harris are planning to “Tackle the barriers that prevent students from completing their community college degree or training credential.” Which is all the more reason it is important that take this win and actually execute this plan, because there are so many barriers where I come from and to have help with tackling those allowing my people to grow would be tremendously helpful.
Aliyah Johnson of Albany State University
A President has been chosen & with your help, your advocacy, your voice, your VOTE we have been afforded a leap in a new direction. One including proactive leadership & unity for the next 4 years. We look forward to working cohesively with new national leadership to push for advocacy regarding our UNSINKABLE institution. This is only the beginning & the task is great however we are more than equipped to make these next 4 years fruitful.
Patrick Mason of Alcorn State University
Now that Biden is stepping into his presidency, I see big changes not only for Alcorn State University but for HBCUs nationally. President Joe Biden has been vocal about an interest in black education. With Madam Vice President , Kamala Harris, and several others on his campaign being HBCU graduates it is likely he will take an active approach to supporting HBCUs like Alcorn and their reach to the black youth of America.
Ashley Robinson of Bennett College
It all mattered; we showed up and took control of our destinies. It all matters; every day is a constant progression, and we must continue writing our stories.
Kortney Wells of Bowie State University
It is amazing to witness and be a part of history. It has been made clear the power within the Black Vote and Black women. However, this is just the start. We have to continue to use our voices, our power and hold our government officials accountable. We MUST keep this momentum for midterms and primary elections and every opportunity for civic engagement to ensure that we are truly heard and engaged in the things that affect our people, this nation and generations to come.
Marquel Sanders of Claflin University
We have come this far by what was paved for us. He is able to continue a legacy that could possibly change the country that we live in. This doesn’t mean we can now put ourselves in neutral, we must continue to be able to push the agenda to save our families and our communities.
Alake Jacobs of Clark Atlanta University
I think this is a defining moment for the future of HBCUs nationwide. President Biden has continuously kept us in the conversation and the election of Kamala Harris as Vice President further shows the world our value as a people and that an HBCU education can take you anywhere.
Essence Bennett of Coppin State University
Yes, the election is over. However, our fight? Not so much. There are still social, racial, and political injustices occurring within our nation. We are on the right path, but we must continue to be agents of change for our communities and for our people.
Tess Aguiar of Delaware State University
As a graduating senior at my beloved HBCU, Delaware State University, I am grateful for my experience for I was able to acquire a culturally responsive education. Furthermore, I recognize that racism is very much still alive and present within our country. Therefore, as President of Student Government Association I am excited to support my university in this revolutionary time. While I am happy that our country has decided to take a step in the forward direction, let it be known, that there is still a lot of justice to be served, and we will hold our elected officials accountable like never before. But for now, let’s celebrate.
Traelon Tyler of Dillard University
This is a step in the right direction for the moral compass of our nation. This does not mean we have arrived, it simply means that we have decided to give our democracy a fighting chance. Now is the time to push our agenda forward until the world we hope for becomes reality.
Alliah Wright of University of the District of Columbia
This election determined what the future of many college students would look like. The results have showcased how powerful black voices are and how we can make the change we want to see. For too long, we have sat watching the system fight against, holding our leaders accountable for what they have promised, is the next step. I look forward to seeing a unified America that provides equity and inclusion for all, no matter gender, sexual orientation , immigration status, criminal records and race. The fight continues until the issues of black and brown folks are made important in this country.
Jimmy Chambers of Elizabeth City State University
While this win was a huge step in the right direction for this country, this was just a small win in the war. Please don’t forget how important local elections are as well.
Sydney Harris of Fayetteville State University
The Biden Harris win is a revolutionary change for our generation. This showed us the power of voting, unity, and the result of what happens if you don’t.
In closing, the HBCU Buzz team is reminded of a great quote from one of our beloved former presidents, who is Barack Obama, which is this: “Change is never easy, but always possible.” And thus we see that without HBCU alumni and students like you, this key Biden-Harris win would not be possible. Also, it is all the more reason to be the change that you want to see.
Kamala’s individual and personal win as the first graduate of a black college to become vice president of the United States inspires us HBCU alumni and students to shoot for the stars. We all can do better and be better. Let us make a serious effort to just do this little by little each day, playing our role, whatever that may be in life, and in so doing creating a more perfect union under what seems to be a more civil Biden-Harris leadership.
Andreas Nelson of Fisk University
Congratulations to President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris. Our generation, young Millennials and Gen Zs arose to the call in this election and we are expecting the same from the Biden-Harris administration. In order for their pledge to Historically Black Colleges and Universities to be successful “we” must be at the table and be apart of the process. When I speak of “we” I am talking about my fellow SGA presidents, SGA administrations and other student leaders. There’s a lot of work to be done and we are ready for some “Good Trouble.”
Xavier McClinton of Florida A&M University
The work doesn’t stop here! It’s great to have an HBCU alum in the White House who understands our value and role in this country, but now we have to hold them accountable for their “Lift Every Voice Plan” specifically their promise for $70B of investments into HBCUs over the next four years.
Alexander Lowe of Fort Valley State University
This election has been a first for many of us college students. I commend my peers for participating in the stake of our country. As the election winds down and we transition into this next 4 year period, I ask that we remain just as vigilant to the decisions made by our leaders. We need to be vocal and active to construct a country better for us all.
Milton Jackson of Grambling State University
This is only the beginning for us as leaders and students. We as HBCUs came and did what needed to be done. Leaders must remain humble and dedicated to their roles and student body to continue growth & more change amongst the United States of America.
Austin Sams of Hampton University
This election has been monumental for many college students. Personally, I believe that the inauguration of President-Elect Biden and Vice-President Elect Harris is a reflection of the progress that is being made in our country and the work that still needs to be done. As we transition into this next 4 years, I encourage my peers to remain vigilant of the decisions made by our elected leaders. We must remain vocal and active to build a better country and future for us all.
Rachel Howell of Howard University
Under the leadership of President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President- Elect Kamala Harris, I hope there will be more security for HBCUs and our students. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris is the perfect example of just how powerful a degree from Howard University is.
Jacori Daniels of Jackson State University
It’s time for a change in America and I feel that he will be the change we need in the positive direction!
Kirk Miller of Kentucky State University
Biden is certainly a victory from our last President and Harris is nothing less than historic but our campus will not fully thrive until we have a Senator, Attorney General, Mayor, and Councilmembers that want to change the policies and procedures that will allow our institution and community to grow to its fullest potential. Moving forward and beyond, we will be politically charged on all levels to ensure quality change. That is how we will thrive.
Jada Meads of Langston University
Having Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris the first African American woman as a Vice President will be a huge inspiration for not only the women on Langston University’s campus but for black women [in] generations to come. This is a positive step towards democracy and as the year continues we will push forward towards the future.
Sainna Christian of Lemoyne-Owen College
This feels like a signaling of imminent change; an acknowledgement that things have been grossly mishandled over the past 4 years. A Biden presidency is an opportunity for America and Americans to hopefully start the healing process. It is a chance to walk away from the bigotry and hatred that has clouded the country for the past 4 years and to walk towards unity.
Jamal Clark of Lincoln University of Pennsylvania
Growing up in a single parent household in Philadelphia, I prayed for times where our nation would be under an administration with a plan. I am confident that the Biden-Harris administration will help us prevail. I am extremely excited for what this administration will bring.
Carlee Patterson of Livingstone College
If this election here didn’t make a statement from us college students, especially HBCUs students, then I guess you will have to wait and watch our next move. This is OUR future OUR country and WE will continue to fight for it. This was just one big mystery we decided to fulfill, stay tuned!
Michael Amo of University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Today is a tremendous day for our country’s democracy. The repudiation of bias and suppression through mass voter participation signifies the importance of every vote to include that of the disenfranchised. It is with this pivotal moment, that we (my fellow students and I) must be continuously aware of how important our vigilance and integrity is necessary to continue the perpetual fight to achieve the fulfillment of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” for every citizen. We must take on the eternal fight for democracy by utilizing our right to vote in every election to ensure that our place in history is cemented.
Cameron Markell Nolan of Morehouse College
The nation has placed an immense amount of pressure on you to move towards progressiveness. Never forget those marginalized voices that echoed loud enough so that your presidency dream could become a reality.
Alex Freeman of Morgan State University
With Morgan State University being a voting center this year, our state put their trust in our HBCU. We came out, we voted and in return, we are putting our trust in you President Biden and VP Harris. We aren’t asking for more than PWIs, we simply want equity, in fundings, in rights, and in justice.
Jeremiah O’Bryant of Norfolk State University
We selected you as our leader for the next four years. As President, we must push our initiatives and continue to fight for the people who voted us in office. I am entrusting in you to move this country forward. The work starts now.
Brenda Claire Caldwell of North Carolina A&T State University
Joe Biden winning the presidency isn’t going to magically fix all of the issues plaguing our community. However, I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to work alongside his administration to better the lives of Black and brown people and elevate our Historically Black Colleges and Universities on a national level.
Shaun Coleman of North Carolina Central University
I believe the Biden-Harris win is definitely a great accomplishment in the favor of all American people. Their win was a product of the American people pushing through, together which I believe will push Biden and Harris even more to do amazing work for us as citizens and surely HBCUs.
Keilan Patterson of Philander Smith College
This was a great first step in the right direction. We will continue to push forward to advance and help implement changes all across the nation. We will also continue to thrive and excel while advocating for what is right among all HBCUs!
Alanna Gaskin of Prairie View A&M University
Today we celebrate, however tomorrow we begin to work. We will hold our elected officials accountable for their campaign promises. We ensure that the silenced are no longer silenced. This represents a step in the right direction of positive progressive change in America.
Khayree Hassan of Savannah State University
This country deserves stability. The students of this University want a president who has a plan, the motivation, and the moral aptitude that a leader must have. We believe that’s what we will get with Joe Biden as our President. Now that president-elect Biden has been named victorious, the students of Savannah State will fully be able to rely on a leader who is for the people of this nation ,and ready to move our country out of this crisis.
Javonni Ayers of South Carolina State University
Congratulations to the newly elected President and Vice President. I look forward to holding them accountable to the promises made on the campaign trail. Even more so I look forward to partnering with them to ensure college students are able to benefit from their term. Especially HBCU students.
Chandler Vidrine of Southern University
This election season was very fraught and idiosyncratic for many of us young voters, and now that President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris has succeeded this race, I am proud of the actions and initiatives we have all taken to use our voices through voting. Although we elect people into positions, it is still up to us to continue to be the change agents our nation needs. It is truly a blessing that we are all granted the rights to be that change. As an SGA President at an HBCU, it is critical that I advocate and champion for our students the best way possible to ensure that we succeed academically, socially, and thrive to greatness, and I will continue to do that no matter the circumstance.
Fana Ruth HaileSelassieof Spelman College
Indeed a victory for communities of color across the globe, the historical significance of this election should not be lost amongst us but instead encourage us to continue advocating for progressive reforms and to hold both President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris accountable in initiating these reforms.
Jamal Hairston of Talladega College
America has made a turn for the better! We must start somewhere and electing Biden Harris is going to give future generations HOPE!! America can begin to breathe.
Dominique Davis of Tennessee State University
President-Elect Joe Biden reminded us to Keep the Faith! Though I believe this victory is what our country so desperately needed, we must remember we have only scratched the surface. The fight for equity and equality does not stop here. We have to continue mobilizing & educating individuals within our communities to properly prepare for elections in the future. Now is the time to hold not only our newly elected President accountable but all elected officials accountable to ensure each individual fulfills their position and promises. Faith will carry us through these unprecedented times. As an HBCU student I’m certain that my peers across the nation believe this to be true.
Khaniya Burley of Texas Southern University
Joe Biden & Kamala Harris are the duo that is going to put this country back on track. With a President who served under the Obama administration and helped implement policies that were ultimately beneficial to the American People, and with a Diligent, Hard working VP who will make history as the First African American/Indian Female Vice President to serve this country, this country will move into being a more progressive and forward thinking Nation and ultimately mend the divide that we are currently witnessing. As a Black Woman and A Leading Female, watching this history unfold and being apart of it is truly something unforgettable. Watching my generation take this election into their own hands and exercise their right to vote gives me hope in the future. The Youth of this country really took a stand to ensure that their voices were heard this go round and we did everything in our power to inform and educate our peers on the importance of voting to get to this moment. Through a Pandemic, Racially Divided country and all the other Adversity 2020 threw at us, We prevailed. By the Grace of God, We Prevailed.
A’mon Haynes of Tougaloo College
It is so exciting to be part of such a historic moment in America’s history. I believe in a future where this will be the beginning of prosperity for more Americans, and more prosperous changes that will benefit Black people (and other minorities) are forthcoming.
Cedric Davis of Tuskegee University
Joe Biden winning the presidency is a true testament of how strong our People are when we band together to make a change. When we come together for the common good and set aside our differences, we can and will reach any goal. Possibly a very big one to be achieved once again in the eyes of morality.
Kameron Gray of Virginia State University
We have celebrated a milestone in history and I applaud each and everyone of you for executing your voting strategy. We have to continue to stay involved and apply pressure. We have to hold all elected officials responsible for the actions that were promised during the campaign. Legislation and accountability begins with us.
Zedan Martin of West Virginia State University
We have heard, seen and experienced firsthand on a plethora of occasions as the upper echelons of society sugarcoated their true intentions. With the triumphant victory of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President- elect Kamala Harris, the West Virginia State University family sends our sincerest congratulations. We will continue to hold the administration of the 46th president of the United States accountable of its promises. We will also stay true to our course in the continued fight against racial injustice.
Bobbie Newell Jr. of Virginia Union University
..this entire year we’ve seen citizens voting, protesting, fighting for the cause. The work doesn’t stop here there is more work to be done but it is a step in the right direction.
Emmanuel Ukot of Xavier University of Louisiana
Just as it was possible for an African American man to win the presidency twice supported by Joe Biden, it is now possible for Joe Biden to win the presidential election supported by the first South Asian-American senator in history and the first Black woman and Asian American to run on a major party ticket. As this is the first time that many students are voting for the first time, our campus would be ignited by the fact that our voices were heard and our votes actually shifted the direction of the country on a local, statewide, and national level.
Google’s relationships with HBCUs around the nation are in serious jeopardy. While HBCUs lead in producing Black talent in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, prejudice still permeates the hiring process for their students and alumni. With accusations piling up, HBCU leaders have arranged to meet with Google for accountability. Get the full details in the story below.
Timnit Gebru, courtesy of Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch
In December, ex-Google artificial intelligence researcher Timnit Gebru and former Google diversity recruiter April Curley both tweeted that they had been fired by the company after raising concerns about the lack of Black people working there and how those who currently work there are treated.
Google has declined to comment on Curley’s workplace allegations. Both women’s departures from the company sent shock waves through the tech world and caught the attention of HBCU administrators.
“We were not willing to stand by on this issue and let it go,” Florida A&M University president Larry Robinson told CNN Business during a pair of recent phone interviews.
“When our students have the opportunity to go into the world of work and the world of work has an opportunity to work with our talented students, it’s important they are provided an environment that is appreciative and respects who they are, their talent,” he continued. “It’s not going to be sustainable otherwise.”
Please read that shit again. It’s as egregious as it sounds. At the time of my departure, I had single handedly increased Google’s black engineering hiring from HBCUs by over 300%. Meaning- I brought in over 300 Black and Brown students from HBCUs who were hired into eng roles
The reason Google never hired an HBCU student straight out of undergrad into one of their key engineering roles is because they didn’t believe talent existed at these institutions- until I showed up.
Robinson is one of at least five HBCU presidents set to meet with Pichai and Google’s chief diversity officer Melonie Parkeron January 29. Presidents from Howard University, North Carolina A&T, Prairie View A&M and Baltimore’s Morgan State are also set to attend. The five participating schools have academic and career development relationships with Google.
Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., courtesy of Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Howard University president Wayne A.I. Frederick said the recent allegations against Google concerned him as well.
“We obviously have a relationship with Google that we want to make sure is the right kind of relationship and the right environment,” Frederick said.
The virtual meeting was arranged by Harry Williams, president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, a nonprofit that supports a network of publicly funded HBCUs and other predominantly Black institutions. Williams said he invited Pichai to the meeting in a late-December email at the behest of several HBCU presidents.
“Whenever someone says something negative that could potentially impact HBCU students, I pay attention to it,” Williams told CNN Business. “Our presidents reached out and said, ‘Let’s do a deep dive here and get some intel directly from the company.'”
Williams said the goal of the meeting is to continue a positive dialogue and engagement between Google and the HBCU community.
Google told CNN Business the work it’s doing to recruit Black talent is critical.
“We are dedicated to hiring and retaining Black+ and other underrepresented talent at Google, and we’re committed to strengthening our partnerships with HBCUs,” a Google spokesperson said via email.
The company began piloting its HBCU and Hispanic-Serving Institutions tech exchange program at Howard University in 2017 before opening it up to 11 total schools a year later. The initiative allows computer science majors from HBCUs and HSIs to spend a semester receiving coding instruction at Google’s Mountain View, California, global headquarters.
In the aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy last summer, Google committed to increasing Black representation at its senior levels and set a 2025 deadline to improve leadership representation of “underrepresented groups” by 30%. Only 3.7% of Google’s US workforce is Black, up from just 2.4% in 2014, according to the company’s 2020 diversity report, which notes that Google hired from 15 HBCUs and 39 HSIs in 2019.
Robinson said Florida A&M University graduates about 60 tech field students every year. He himself is a former Lockheed Martin nuclear chemist who says the mythical dearth of Black American STEM talent is something he constantly heard about throughout his science career.
“The reason I came to FAMU is because I got so tired of hearing the statement that, ‘We can’t find them,'” Robinson said. “We are making a huge contribution to helping [Google] find capable, qualified talented young men and women who can do the job of computer science, computer engineering.”
In October, Frederick wrote a CNN Business op-ed rebutting claims made by Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf, who apologized in September for drafting a memo to employees that said his company’s struggles to recruit Black Americans were due to “a very limited pool of Black talent.”
Frederick pointed out in his op-ed that HBCUs only represent 3% of America’s higher-ed institutions yet produce nearly 20% of bachelor’s degrees earned by African Americans and almost a quarter of all undergraduate STEM field degrees earned by Black Americans.
“There’s no doubt our students are smart enough and talented enough,” Frederick told CNN Business during a recent phone interview. “The issue, I think, is more an issue of exposure.”
The career that Shelby Ivey Christie has crafted is just as bold as the fashion she studies. As a historian she ensures Black designers are getting the credit and visibility they deserve. We are happy to announce that just like Christie, Forbes had a good eye for quality and named her to their famous 30 Under 30 list. Follow Christie’s journey from North Carolina A&T State University to Forbes in the story below!
Shelby Ivey Christie ’15, is all about creating her own lane and achieving her goals. Now that she’s been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, she’s achieved one of those goals.
Courtesy of Forbes
To make her way on the 2021 Art and Style list, Christie, a fashion and costume historian, has worked in the fashion industry for 10 years at such influential magazines as W Magazine and InStyle. She’s recently skyrocketed to social media popularity on Twitter where she engages her followers with topics of Blackness and class and culture as it relates to the history of fashion.
Christie earned her B.A. in liberal studies at A&T and is a master’s student at New York University.
Being named to the 30 Under 30 list has been a goal of mine since I was 21 and it means everything,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to leave a footprint, and this is a great cap to my progression in the industry so far.”
Her determination to pave her own way started at A&T where she began as a fashion merchandising student, left school, and came back to major in race, class and culture, adding her own twist by continuing to take fashion courses.
Courtesy of Winston Luxury Leather
Christie says going to an HBCU was pivotal for her development personally and professionally. She attributes her success thus far to her go-getter attitude, helpful faculty and starting early.
“It definitely all starts in college,” she said. “Focus on your career readiness while you are in school. You don’t have to wait for opportunities to present themselves. You can create your own opportunities. If something you want doesn’t exist, make it. Start local and always think of how you can leverage each experience.”
While at A&T, Christie started the Bombshells in Business student organization, aimed to help students at A&T with necessary experience and career readiness. Her hope is that being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list opens doors for other Aggies.
“Hopefully, this will inspire another generation of Aggies to see someone who isn’t in engineering or from the business school who was able to go into their industry and dominate it,” she said.
Alone, Kamala Harris is already a trailblazing history-maker. Yet one of the things that will make the Biden-Harris Administration stand out is the history she and Joe Biden create with other people. Their current administration is already the most diverse in U.S. history.
Tomorrow, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is going to be sworn in by a woman who made history in the Supreme Court. To take her oath, Harris will use the bibles of a famous fellow Howard University graduate and her childhood mentor. Read the story from Blavity below for the names of who Kamala chose to be a part of her big day.
The historic ceremony will make Harris the first Black person, first Asian person and the first woman to serve as vice president; as such, the former California senator wanted to mark the occasion by calling back to important figures in her life.
Harris has spoken at length about how she was inspired to join the legal profession because of Marshall’s legacy as a civil rights attorney and the first Black Supreme Court Justice. He was also a Howard University alum like Harris.
In a Twitter post in July, Harris wrote that Marshall was her “childhood hero and inspiration.”
“Our nation is stronger because of his powerful voice for civil rights and social justice,” she wrote.
My childhood hero and inspiration, Thurgood Marshall, was born on this day in 1908. Our nation is stronger because of his powerful voice for civil rights and social justice. pic.twitter.com/mPvcEOn6S9
In her memoir, Harris mentioned Marshall as well, calling him one of her greatest heroes.
“Some of my greatest heroes were lawyers: Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston, Constance Baker Motley—giants of the Civil Rights movement. I cared a lot about fairness, and I saw the law as a tool that can help make things fair,” she wrote.
“I wanted to get off on the right foot. And what better place to do that, I thought, than at Thurgood Marshall’s alma mater?” Harris added about her decision to attend Howard University.
In addition to using Marshall’s Bible, Harris will also use a Bible from Shelton, who she called a “second mother.” Harris and her sister, Maya used to go to Shelton’s home after school while their mother worked, and she often credits Shelton with helping to raise her.
Harris and Regina Shelton, courtesy of Twitter
In a piece for Bustle in 2019, Harris wrote that Shelton was “a warm and eloquent woman, originally from Louisiana” who “became a second mother to us.”
“She was one of the smartest people I’ve ever known, and she lived by the belief that you always lend a hand to those in need. The Sheltons devoted themselves to ensuring that neighborhood kids got off to the best possible start in life. Their daycare center was small but welcoming, with posters of leaders like Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman on the wall,” she wrote.
“Mrs. Shelton would bring her Bible to church every Sunday. Sitting alongside her, I was introduced to the teachings of that Bible. My earliest memories were of a loving God, a God who asked us to ‘speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves’ and to ‘defend the rights of the poor and needy.’ This is where I learned that ‘faith’ is a verb, something we must live and demonstrate through our actions,” she added.
She used Shelton’s Bible when she was sworn in as attorney general of California and when she was sworn in as the state’s senator.
The life of CNN commentator and Morehouse College alumnus Bakari Sellers was changed for the better by his HBCU experience. Sellers, now an attorney and author, has previously served as a Democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Read Sellers’ recent opinion piece from CNN below, where he shares why the legacy of HBCUs must continue to flourish.
America is struggling with a complicated set of challenges, raised up and laid bare during the Trump years. Tackling them requires a new generation of leadership that is morally grounded and invested in the plight of the communities that are incessantly ignored. Fortunately, an incoming cadre of leaders, educated and shaped by historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), are positioned as the change agents our nation needs.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is a Howard University alumna. US Sen.-elect Rev. Ralph Warnock (D-GA) is a Morehouse man. Stacey Abrams, the woman who helped make Warnock’s victory possible, is a Spelman woman. Incoming Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) graduated from Central State University. And the formidable Rep.-elect Cori Bush (D-MO) attended Harris-Stowe State University.
Courtesy of UAPB
HBCUs, which produce nearly 20% of the nation’s Black college graduates, have mastered the art of transforming young people into servant leaders for their race and the world. Now they are transforming Washington, DC — and our nation is better for it.
From the moment I stepped foot on the campus of Morehouse College, I knew I was someplace special. There was history everywhere you looked — from the ageless dorms and classrooms to the majestic statues of Black men situated across the campus. The fact that a school founded in 1867 to teach the children of former enslaved people to read and write would emerge as one of the most prestigious, private, all-male educational institutions in the nation is nothing short of a miracle.
HBCUs like Morehouse have a legacy of producing men and women who excel in every field of human endeavor imaginable. These graduates are prepared to enter the workforce with the knowledge necessary to change the world: a heightened value for education, belief in human dignity and desire to combat racial inequality. This noble mission continues to ring true today.
As a 16-year-old country boy entering college, I quickly realized that Downtown Atlanta was a stark contrast from my hometown of Denmark, South Carolina. But Morehouse offered a nurturing environment where faculty and staff looked like me and were inimitably invested in my development as a Black man.
While society might write me off for the color of my skin, my HBCU embraced me for who I was. When I doubted myself, they placed a crown above my head and challenged me to grow tall enough to wear it. My HBCU saw the best in me and others like me, producing generations of leaders who continue to see the best in others and our democracy.
Though HBCUs are under-resourced, 25% of the nation’s Black college graduates in the crucial STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics have been educated in these institutions.
HBCUs also have made a profound impact on helping countless first-generation students avoid the peril of generational poverty. Statistically, 70% of HBCU students who are federal Pell Grant-eligible go on to surpass that $50,000 family income threshold just six years after graduation. This achievement is mostly possible because HBCUs believe that every student has potential and is worth fighting for.
Courtesy of the University of Chicago
It will take time for our nation to process the violent images of White supremacists storming the US Capitol and National Guard troops mount in congressional hallways in preparation for another racially fueled attack. Our nation stands at yet another crossroads, however, we stand at this pivotal juncture on the broad shoulders of HBCU graduates and civil rights leaders like Medgar Evers (Alcorn State), Rosa Parks (Alabama State), Stokely Carmichael (Howard), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Morehouse), and countless others who helped write the story of America through their dedication to the civil rights movement.
Indeed, we must pick up where the brave men and women before us left off. And there is no better way to move forward than with HBCU grad Yogananda Pittman (Morgan State), recently named as the acting US Capitol police chief, and a host of HBCU alumni proudly serving in the Congressional Black Caucus.
Today, the American story continues to be composed by HBCU graduates and the values of service and community that are taught and exemplified in those schools. And after January 20, this transcription will take place in the White House and halls of Congress.
Alabama State University is joining the ranks of HBCUs who are revamping their golf programs. Thanks to ASU alum and businessman Alfred Seawright, the school is getting the resources it needs to bring diversity to golf. Get the full story from Golfweek.
A few Alabama State golfers were warming up when they overheard a comment from an opposing team.
“How are schools like that here and playing like that?”
For ASU’s head coach Quincy Heard, it was a familiar question. It was early March, and “here” marked the second round of the Kiawah Island Spring Classic, the largest tournament in the country hosted in South Carolina. ASU “playing like that” foreshadowed the women’s program setting a program scoring record with a 912 (+48) score for the event.
Heard — a U.S. Navy veteran turned PGA professional — and ASU, an historically Black college not known for golf, are emerging in the sport at a time when HBCU athletics are gaining relevancy. ASU is one of about 25 HBCUs to feature a golf program, per the Black College Golf Coaches’ Association. But Heard, along with longtime Hornets assistant coach Robert Clark, make Alabama State the only HBCU with two PGA professionals on staff.
“I wasn’t coming here to be second-best at anything,” Heard said after uprooting his life in Portland, Oregon, for the gig in Montgomery, his hometown.
The women’s team finished 24th at the Kiawah Classic and the men’s grouping put together its best performance of the season a week later. The pandemic shortened the Hornets’ first season under Heard, though he believes the program was establishing itself before the lockdown.
From Makur Maker and Howard to Deion Sanders and Jackson State, HBCU athletics are expanding. The interest has reached Montgomery, with NBA veteran Mo Williams heading ASU’s men’s basketball team. Local businessman Alfred Seawright noticed, donating a new team van to the golf program ahead of its 2021 season.
Nine years ago, Seawright, an ASU alum, funded the golf team’s start. Seawright, the CEO of Medical Place, has gifted a series of donations throughout the River Region and believed in the vision of Clark, then ASU’s head coach. He initially covered the cost of Clark’s salary, Seawright said.
Alfred Seawright
Last year, Clark approached Seawright again, this time about Heard. Eight years after picking up the sport, Heard was elected to the PGA’s membership committee. In 2011, Heard started a foundation for athletes in the foster-care system. Now, Heard was in line to be ASU’s new coach.
“This is one of my students,” Clark told Seawright, “… We’re gonna turn this program around.”
Seawright met Heard and was enthralled by his vision. Heard talked about national titles and bettering the lives of student-athletes. Seawright wanted to help, so he gifted a new van, which was designed by a member of the ASU athletics office and applied by a local business. The players like the 2020 Mercedes, Heard said. It’s an improvement over the hallmark rickety seats and no air-conditioning of the old van.
“I think in Montgomery were set to see a whole different level of golf,” Seawright said, “… I hope the van can make a difference. There’s nothing like having something brand new.”
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will have have a joyous journey on her way to making history. Harris’ alma matter Howard University, situated in the heart of Washington D.C., is sending its marching band talent to clear her way. Read the full story from Howard University below!
Howard University is proud to announce the Showtime Marching Band will escort Vice President Kamala Harris at the 59th presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. They will perform a special drum cadence for the parade.
“It is our esteemed honor to be involved in the historic inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris,” said Howard University President Wayne A. I. Frederick. “Throughout her career, the vice president-elect has carried her Howard education with her, ensuring that she adhere to truth and service and inspiring her to achieve unprecedented levels of excellence. It is perfectly fitting that the Showtime Marching Band, the ensemble that captures and reverberates the heartbeat of our institution, should accompany her on this last leg of her journey to the White House. It was that steady pulse of her Alma Mater’s legacy that propelled her forward, and it is that same rhythm that will carry her onward as she undoubtedly will become one of the most influential vice presidents in the history of our nation.”
Showtime Band will have the drumline, the Flashy Flag Squad, and Ooh La La dancers in the inauguration parade, representing less than one-third of the band for safety precautions.
“We are proud to unite safely as a band to represent Howard University, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and all HBCUs across the country,” said Kelvin Washington, the Howard University band director, who has been working on the perfect song for the parade since Harris was selected to join President-elect Joe Biden on the presidential ticket in August 2020. “It’s a very gracious opportunity for us, and we’re very thankful for it.”
Although there’s minimal band participation, Washington is prepared because he has participated in two inauguration parades prior. “I had the pleasure to perform as a student at Southern University in 1980 for former President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, then as associate director of the Howard University Band for former President Barack Obama and now this one would be my third,” said Washington.
This is the first time many of the band students will participate in an inauguration, and although they haven’t been together since the pandemic began, Courtney Gilliam of Dallas, Texas, a women studies graduate student and co-captain of the Flashy Flag Squad, believes they are ready.
“I think the amendments to this year’s inaugural events are appropriate for the times we are experiencing. I’ve been eager for months to see how Howard University would be included in this momentous inauguration, and it’s great to know that we’re able to safely execute traditional events and be represented as the marching band and musical heart of the vice president’s Alma Mater. As the first of many more progressive elections/inaugurations for women, it feels euphoric to be involved. I’m beyond elated to be able to participate with the Flashy Flag Squad, Ooh La La Dancers and percussion section,” said Gilliam. “Our squad has been conditioning, learning tosses and practicing dances to band music since last summer at our respective homes. So, finally hearing the heartbeat of the band, even in this small degree, is powerful for the entire band, and I’m sure the student body will be excited to see their peers help usher in our fellow Bison.”
Howard University is looking to update itself with new plans for development! Read the full story from The Architect’s Newspaper below for more details.
About midway between the Yard, the quadrangle at the heart of Howard University’s campus, and the historic nightlife strip of U Street NW stands a compact brick Georgian building. Stacks of quoins rise up from Bryant Street, stepping back to frame tall arched windows before reaching a pitched roof and a smokestack. It’s unexpectedly graceful for a power plant, testifying to the ability of its architect, Albert Cassell.
On a cold December morning, construction workers were carefully removing the large windows as part of a long-overdue renovation. The rehab of the 1936 plant is one critical part of a campaign by the historically Black university to update its 86-acre main campus. The approach the administration has taken attempts to balance preservation of the heritage buildings at its core and construction of new specialized buildings at the periphery, funded by the sale and redevelopment of the school’s other real estate.
The keystone of the effort is an update to the university’s ten-year campus plan. Periodical zoning updates are required for institutions of higher learning in the District of Columbia, but Howard is using it as a benchmark for the future of the campus, building on a tradition of placemaking by preeminent Black architects, going back to Cassell.
Courtesy Ted Eytan, Flickr
“The Cassell plan is really the foundational plan on which the modern campus is built,” said Derrek Niec-Williams, Howard’s executive director of campus planning, architecture, and development. Completed in 1932, it was one of several consequential breaks from paternalistic white governance that followed the election of Howard’s first Black president, Mordecai Wyatt Johnson. Prior to this time, the federal government gave campus projects to white architects, such as Bruce Price, Jules Henri de Sibour, and a young John Russell Pope, who designed the 1909 Freedmen’s Hospital building, just opposite the Power Plant.
Cassell went on to design a dozen or so buildings around campus, including the iconic Founders Library, whose Georgian styling evoked the roots of American history. Later in the 1930s, the university turned to the partnership of D.C. native Hilyard Robinson and Los Angeles–based Paul Revere Williams. After World War II, Robinson and Williams made the modern movement their own, using their commissions to experiment with space planning, construction, and materials. The nine buildings they delivered have functionalist exteriors but put Williams’s signature curves to work in interiors and populated key spaces with Black-centered artworks.
Cassell’s elegant references and the innovation of Robinson and Williams’s contributions spoke in a dual register. On the one hand the buildings reinforced the value of the scholarship being done inside them. On the other, they presented evidence of the quality of the Black institution to a nation that expected little of its graduates and left their work out of textbooks.
The buildings influenced design students like Melvin Mitchell, who earned his BArch from Howard before pursuing a dual career in practice and teaching. “We were just steeped in the Black excellence. This was a magnifier,” he said of a learning environment built by Black architects.
Mitchell, who went on to serve as chair of the architecture program at Morgan State, an HBCU in Baltimore, notes in his book The Crisis of the African-American Architectthat the development of Howard’s campus fostered the architecture program and Black professional networks over 40 years. These commissions begat other work for Cassell, Robinson, and Williams while keeping students and graduates employed in the profession until African American architects secured better opportunities for themselves in the 1960s.
Given this history, the latest plan emphatically preserves Cassell’s work, particularly the Yard. While the plan calls for one building at the center of campus, a new student union, it otherwise clusters studio, medical, and STEM programs in dense multidisciplinary buildings at the periphery. For example, the plan envisions a new home for the architecture and communication programs on the back side of Robinson and Williams’s arts complex, which bounds the Yard to the north.
These dense aggregations of curricular spaces signal a move away from the school’s current approach, in which academic departments are given dedicated buildings of their own. Derrek Niec-Williams said this shift has already begun, owing to an accident two winters ago, when pipes burst all across campus. The moisture subsequently froze, resulting in extensive damage to historic buildings. The first restorations, such as that of Cassell’s Frederick Douglass Hall on the east side of the Yard, are only just reaching completion.
Still, unusual combinations of programming follow a tradition begun with Robinson and Williams’s work. Their 1956 biology building, for example, is topped with a greenhouse, making the most of limited land. Now, south of the historic campus, Howard envisions a multidisciplinary health science and STEM complex, created by adding seven-story laboratory buildings to the Freedmen’s Hospital building. On the opposite side of Bryant Street, the successor to Freedmen’s Hospital, Howard University Hospital, would move to a new building, matched by a medical office building for its faculty. The new buildings will likely be topped with solar panels; the plan calls for 1.3 megawatts of capacity to be installed across old and new roofs.
Relocating the hospital and medical programs opens up a massive area the university plans on redeveloping to bring in much-needed revenue. (In September the university received a $225 million tax abatement from the District of Columbia for the new hospital construction.) This is the most controversial aspect of the initiative Niec-Williams oversees. At the height of disinvestment in D.C. in the 1980s, Howard assembled a large area of industrial land south and west of the school. Now that ground has become some of the most valuable land in D.C. In the past decade, the university has acted to capture the value through a series of ground leases, for-profit subsidiaries, and contracts with the private student housing company Provident Resources Group.
Along these lines, the university is requesting changes in D.C.’s Comprehensive Plan, which governs development citywide. The increased density will allow the administrators more flexibility to develop the western edge of campus and the old hospital site. Niec-Williams said that many of the private and university-owned projects will include space for university and affiliated programs.
Niec-Williams argues the real estate moves are in line with Howard’s history, dating back to its founding in 1867. To pay for its first buildings, university leadership subdivided much of the rural land it acquired and sold the lots to early suburbanites. Moreover, the idea of leveraging its assets is of a younger vintage, going back to the 2000s. Racial wealth disparities have hampered the university’s ability to fundraise from alumni. Most of Cassell’s and Robinson and Williams’s buildings were funded by Congress. While the federal government still funds about 30 percent of university and hospital operations, the appropriations do not cover the cost of overdue capital projects.
But inseparable from the increased land values has been the influx of wealthier, white residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. Thirty years ago students were more upwardly mobile than their neighbors but shared an understanding of the campus’s cultural significance. That isn’t the case with newer white residents, leading to ongoing conflict about the appropriate use of the ungated campus by neighbors, especially dog walkers. Niec-Williams noted an even more direct effect of the increased prices. “We cannot rely on the adjacent market to house our students,” he said. So the campus plan makes space for 70 percent of students on campus, even as the administration seeks to grow enrollment.
Administrators will be grappling with the balance between heritage, curricular goals, and the need for revenue for many years to come. At the same time, the university has gained recognition as the alma mater of the incoming vice president, Kamala Harris, and the discipline of architecture is beginning to reckon with the historical omission of practitioners such as Albert Cassell, Paul Revere Williams, and Hilyard Robinson. It is a major undertaking, Derrek Niec-Williams acknowledges. “There is still a lot of work to be done.”
Morehouse College graduate Spike Lee can add another award to his collection thanks to the American Cinematheque. However, receiving the award was a bittersweet moment. Hear more about Spike Lee’s honor with the story below from Indie Wire.
This year’s virtual annual fundraiser was hosted by “Inside Man” star Jodie Foster.
Usually the annual American Cinematheque tribute puts a bunch of Hollywood folks in black tie in a hotel ballroom to ingest rubber chicken and champagne. This year’s Spike Lee award show was a streamlined virtual affair hosted by “Inside Man” star Jodie Foster, who conducted a charming interview with Lee over the course of an evening interspersed by films clips and memories from such collaborators as actors Delroy Lindo and Angela Bassett, cinematographers Ernest Dickerson and Ellen Kuras, costume designer Ruth E. Carter, and production designer Wynn Thomas.
Courtesy of The New York Times
Brooklyn-based Lee, who is 63, has directed 25 features and documentaries plus countless commercials, collecting Emmys, BAFTAs, Cannes and critics awards along the way, including last year’s Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “BlacKkKlansman.”
“If you love what you are doing you can delay father time,” Lee said. “I’ve got some more joints to make. This award is not just for me but for all the people in front of and behind the camera. I wanted to build a body of work. The great artists I loved had a body of work. Over the years they kept working on their craft. That was the model. A lot of my films did not connect with the audience right away. Exhibit A: ‘Bamboozled.’ Exhibit B: ’25th Hour.’ But that is the great thing about DVD, Blu-rays. Sooner or later people will catch up to it. Sometimes for whatever reason it just didn’t click upon release, but I always believe the good stuff will find an audience sooner or later.”
When Foster added Ryan Coogler to the conversation, Lee told the “Black Panther” director, “when I see the next wave come up and keep this thing going it makes me happy,” he said, citing the filmmakers who came before him, Oscar Micheaux, Melvin van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis, “so things don’t start just when you show up.”
Coogler asked the director about why teaching at NYU is so important to him. Lee recalled his father, who was a freshman at Atlanta’s historic Morehouse College when Martin Luther King was a senior. His mother and grandmother attended Spelman College. “I come from a long line of teachers. My mother taught Black literature and was also a cinephile. My grandmother taught art in the Jim Crow south in Macon, Georgia and Atlanta where I was born. In 50 years my grandma never taught one white student because of Jim Crow laws. She saved her checks for her grandchildren’s education. I was the first born and had first dibs. My grandmother put me through Morehouse and NYU graduate film school.”
“We can’t skip past Brother Chadwick,” Lee said to Coogler, who hasn’t spoken publicly about Chadwick Boseman since his death. “I loved him and miss him,” Coogler said. “His talent was so potent. Even though he was only with us for a limited amount of time, he gave us so much. He gave us an infinite amount of gifts in that time.”
Lee cast Boseman in “Da 5 Bloods.” “His Stormin’ Norman, the way the brothers view him is almost mythological,” said Lee. “He was the world’s greatest soldier. You can’t cast just anybody. He played Jackie Robinson, brother number one James Brown, Thurgood Marshall, and the Black Panther. Goddamn!”
Courtesy of Looper
Foster and Lee bantered over what it’s like to film a Spike Lee joint with two cameras running. Actors on his sets have to be prepared for his run-and-gun shooting style, which he learned from another New York filmmaker, Sidney Lumet. “We get it and quit it and go home,” he said. “I have come to learn that actors do not want to spend their creative energy in their trailer. They want to be on set, want to be in front of camera.”
That was fine with Foster, who said she admired his “energy and spontaneity.”
Editors Barry Alexander Brown and Sam Pollard remembered making the adjustment from Lee’s freewheeling early films like “She’s Gotta Have It,” “School Daze,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Jungle Fever” and ‘Mo Better Blues” to the more ambitious and classical 1992 Warner Bros. feature “Malcolm X,” starring Denzel Washington as the controversial Nation of Islam leader. “Did you bring your passport?” Lee said to his star, “just in case we have to slip out of the country under the cover of darkness.” Lee added, “With the exception of ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ my first feature, it was the hardest I ever had to make, the most important, with the most riding on it.”
Producer Monty Ross said, “We wanted to prove to Hollywood that we could deliver on a big project, micromanage a budget, and deliver the kind of content that would make a difference.”
Casting directors Robi Reed and Kim Coleman were tasked by Lee with finding fresh new faces, like green “Clockers” find Mekhi Phifer, who had to improvise with Harvey Keitel. Before
his audition to play a tattooed racist in “BlacKkKlansman,” Coleman warned Finnish actor Jasper Pääkkönen, who had developed an impeccable Southern accent, not to tell Lee where he was from. He landed the part.
Of course one order of business for the Cinematheque, whose Egyptian Theatre was recently acquired by Netflix, was reminding Academy voters about Netflix’s Oscar contender, Lee’s Vietnam War drama “Da 5 Bloods.” Jonathan Majors joined four of his castmates to present the Cinematheque Award to Lee. Best Actor contender Delroy Lindo, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., and Clarke Peters were Lee veterans, while Majors and Norm Lewis were the newbies. “When you get on the train doing the work,” Lindo said, “we were all in it together. I love that world, the mission. We know what the mission is. There’s a safety and support he provides to his coworkers.”
As he presented the award, Majors praised Lee’s “compassion, guts and truth. You don’t speak through your art, you speak through your humanity.”
A Wilberforce University graduate and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. member will be filling a very important role come January 20. Rev. Silvester S. Beaman will be delivering the benediction at President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. As a longtime pastor of the largely Black church Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (BME) in Delaware, he is prepared for such an important role. The exciting news was reported by Religion News below.
Beaman, who has known the Biden family for nearly 30 years, is considered a confidant of the president-elect, and collaborated with his son Beau Biden when Beau served as Delaware’s attorney general in the mid-to-late 2000s.
“It is an extreme honor,” Beaman told Religion News Service on Thursday morning (Jan. 14), noting that Biden called him personally to extend the invitation. “Any clergy person asked to do this particular priestly function would also see it as an extreme honor.”
Courtesy of Barbara Kindred/Bethel AME Church
The pastor said he sees benedictions as “God’s final grace on worshippers” before they leave a service, and he intends to pray for healing to come to “a troubled nation.”
Beaman praised what he described as Biden’s earnest approach to faith.
“President-elect Biden has been a man who has sought after the heart of God,” he said. “You look at his life and you can see that, during the difficult times in his life, he was sustained by faith.”
He added: “It’s good to know that there will be a president who is sincerely a Christian, who sincerely seeks after the heart of God — not as a political ploy, not as political correctness, but simply as a human being.”
The pastor welcomed then-candidate Biden to his church in Wilmington last June after demonstrations erupted following the police killing of George Floyd. Biden met with Black leaders and decried racism during the event, promising those present he would set up a police oversight group in his first 100 days in office.
“The vice president came to hear from us. This is a homeboy,” Beaman said at the time.
The visit to Bethel AME drew more national attention a few months later, when President Donald Trump’s campaign created an advertisement that featured footage of Biden kneeling in front of Black leaders — including Beaman — in the church’s sanctuary. It was followed by a slide that read “Stop Joe Biden and his rioters” and an audio clip of Vice President Mike Pence saying, “You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”
Beaman told RNS at the time the ad was “overtly racist,” arguing it amounted to an “attack on the African American church” as a whole. He and several AME denominational leaders signed a letter demanding the Trump campaign issue an immediate apology and remove the ad.
Courtesy of Sherry Dorsey/Twitter
Beaman voiced additional criticism of Trump on Thursday. The pastor noted that he had prayed Thursday morning for people who stormed the U.S. Capitol last week — people he described as “perpetrating violence in the name of liberty.” He argued that the insurrectionists had been spurred by “untruths” uttered by Trump, who was using them as “pawns.”
Beaman also rejected those who equate last year’s racial justice demonstrations with the Capitol assault, saying, “It’s simply not the same.”
Also speaking during the inauguration will be the Rev. Leo O’Donovan, a Jesuit priest and former president of Georgetown University. O’Donovan, who is slated to deliver the invocation, is another longtime friend of the Bidens: He presided at the funeral Mass for Beau after he died of brain cancer in 2015.
Other dignitaries in the swearing-in ceremony include Andrea Hall, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 3920, who will say the Pledge of Allegiance; performing artist Lady Gaga, who will sing the national anthem; Amanda Gorman, the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, who will read poetry; and performing artist Jennifer Lopez, who will offer a musical number.
