Delaware State University is starting the new decade with a new president, and in his own words, he and his team are focused on making their institution “the most diverse, contemporary Historically Black College and University [HBCU] in the nation.”
Tony Allen was named Delaware State’s 12th president on January 1, 2020, succeeding Wilma Mishoe, the University’s first female chief, who retired at the end of 2019. Allen had served as Delaware State’s Executive Vice President and Provost since 2017, when he joined the institution. Prior to that, he worked at Bank of America; was an executive vice president at MBNA Bank; and the founding president of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League. He also formerly worked for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden as a speech writer and special assistant.
Currently, about 64% of Delaware State’s 5,000 students are African-American. Allen intends to enhance the University’s attraction to additional Black students, at the same time he broadens its profile to include more students from groups that are either chronically under-represented in college or poorly served by public education.
“In Delaware and across the nation,” Allen says, “we’re looking for students with a fire to succeed, regardless of the color of their skin, their country of origin, the god they worship, or the ones they choose to love.”
Allen commented, “ I continue to get asked if HBCUs are still relevant in today’s world, and my response is always, ‘If you didn’t have HBCUs like Delaware State University, you’d have to invent us.’ There are very few places that can provide a quality, affordable, four-year comprehensive education to all students, regardless of their economic circumstance. As a system, HBCUs represent the best return on value in the nation.”
NFL Network’s Steve Wyche explained on Monday during an interview on NFL.com the benefits of having an NFL HBCU Combine, citing that many black college prospects are often overlooked.
“Let’s talk about the combine that the NFL is staging for the players of historically black colleges and universities, [it] will probably be between 40 to 50 players,” Wyche said.
He continued, “They’re still compiling a list of players who will be invited to this event right now. But this is for a group of players who weren’t invited to the scouting combine or to the Senior Bowl or East-West Shrine Game.”
He went on to say that what’s interesting about the matters is the fact that the NFL plucks a lot of players from HBCUs and another fact that, historically, there are 30 players in the NFL Hall of Fame.
And even now there are many talented players coming out of these institutions that are getting a some playing time on pro football teams like South Carolina State’s Darius Leonard of the Colts and Bears running back Tarik Cohen who was a star at NCAT.
“I spoke to some people organizing this, saying, “Why is this necessary?” Wyche said.
“And they said the key here is there are so many layers from HBCU schools, which is mainly FCS and Division II schools, that aren’t probably scouted,” he continued. “So this is just another opportunity for scouts to get eyes on players like Tennessee State’s wide receiver Chris Rowland — one of the most dynamic players in college football, who got to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl but was not invited to the combine to get eyes on him.”
Chris Rowland, of course has won a lot of post-season awards last year.
“The league is trying to do something again to give everybody the opportunity to get properly evaluated and properly scouted,” Wyche said.
He also noted that the day after the NFL HBCU Combine, which takes place on March 28, there’s also a combine for international players so that scouts can get some eyes on them as well.
HBCU Texas Southern University student Megan Thee Stallion is in prime from. And her latest EP, which has arrived Friday, shows that she’s in it to win it.
Called ‘Suga,’ the EP features Atlanta drip innovator Gunna, Kehlani and Meg’s raw talent.
On “Savage,” she boats that “N***** say I taste like sugar, but ain’t s*** sweet” and keeps the same energy throughout the EP.
For a special treat to her hotties, she also released a video for “B.*.*.*.*.” on the same day.
The video is now the No. 1 trending video on YouTube.
The EP comes after the “Hot Girl Summer” rapper took her label 1501 Certified Entertainment to court, claiming that they was “instructing her distribution company “not to release or distribute any of her new music,” according to Billboard.
Karma, at least for last night, was real. After being involved in a messy disagreement with their biggest and most celebrated fan, Spike Lee, the New York Knicks experienced its lowest basketball attendance at Madison Square Garden since 2006, according to Newsweek. (Lee graduated from Morehouse College.)
The Oscar-winning writer-director and famed No. 1 Knicks fan told ESPN’s First Take earlier this week that he will not attend another Knicks home game this season. According to Lee, Madison Square Garden security wouldn’t allow him to enter the Knicks’ home court through the employees’ entrance, a ritual he has been doing for almost 30 years. The backlash has been growing as fans, former pro basketball players, TV commentators and even casual basketball fans have come out against the Knicks and Madison Square Garden after MSG released a statement essentially blaming Lee for the current mishap.
“They never said when the thing changed, so why not call me?” Lee said. “When my deposit’s due, this astronomical price for Knicks tickets, and I’m one day late, my phone is ringing off the hook.”
"Not this year … I'm done."
You won't see Spike Lee at another Knicks game this season, according to him. pic.twitter.com/jdcNLBeopC
“The idea that Spike Lee is a victim because we have repeatedly asked him to not use our employee entrance and instead use a dedicated VIP entrance—which is used by every other celebrity who enters The Garden—is laughable,” the statement from Madison Square Garden read. “It’s disappointing that Spike would create this false controversy to perpetuate drama. He is welcome to come to the Garden anytime via the VIP or general entrance; just not through our employee entrance, which is what he and [James Dolan] agreed to last night when they shook hands.”
Only 16,588 people attended Wednesday’s Knicks game at MSG, an arena that has a full capacity listed at 19,812. That was the arena’s smallest home crowd in nearly 13½ years. The Knicks, as is their won, lost to the Utah Jazz, 112-104.
Will this trend continue? The Knicks play the Oklahoma City Thunder at home tonight.
This post was written by Cedric ‘BIG CED’ Thornton, a writer at Black Enterprise, where it was originally published. It is published here with permission.
Over 40 years have passed since that historic march for voting rights, but we are still fighting for our rights. Today, 1 in 1,000 black men and boys can expect to die as a result of police violence.
Black colleges are in a protracted legal battle with the state for insufficiently funding our schools while funding other traditional state schools that duplicated our programs, right in my home state, Maryland.
We have a long way to go in addressing the issues of gender inequality, global warming and reproductive freedom. Important things like reversing Donny’s corporate tax breaks and adopting policies that enact equal pay for women in the workplace are essential to the progression of this nation.
Marijuana arrests account for more than half of drug arrests in the United States. Of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% happened for simply possessing marijuana. Research exposes significant racial bias nationwide. Despite roughly equal usage rates, Blacks are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana.
We have to stop thinking about racism simply as someone who says the N-word or does something obvious or violent. Our country is in desperate need of great leadership that understands the systematic struggles. We need a candidate that intrinsically meets every single point on our agenda.
The time is now!
The first thing I did when writing this endorsement was looking up the word endorsement. “ An act of giving one’s public approval or support to someone or something.“ Act: taking action. Public: of or concerning the people as a whole. Support: to bear all or part of the weight of.
We need an all hands on deck, LOUD and unprecedented grassroots movement to further secure our future, our children’s future and our children’s children’s future. We desperately need new anti-racist policy agenda in the White House and change on the issues affecting our daily lives and our communities.
THE TIME IS NOW!
That’s why the HBCU Buzz team and I are endorsing Senator, Bernie Sanders for president.
Bernie’s plan addresses the five central types of violence waged against black, brown and indigenous Americans to tackle physical, political, legal, economic and environmental injustices.
Bernie’s long history of fighting for social equality the and rights of African Americans isn’t new. His record goes back to the early 1960s.(YES, around the same time my mother was born, 60years ago) Keep in mind, he was arrested in college as a student leader protesting institutional segregation and racial disparities; “disparity within the disparity”.
Bernie vowed to strengthen and support our historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) by investing $10 billion to create and expand HBCU medical, dental, and teacher training graduate programs at HBCUs. He will fight to cancel 100% of institutional HBCU loan debt from the Capital Financing Program. Bernie’s plans for tuition-free colleges and canceling student debt would lift a burden off the shoulders of millions of working-class families. He is also a cosponsor of S.461, the HBCU PARTNERS Act.
Bernie pledged to legalize marijuana in the first 100 days with executive action, vacate and expunge all past marijuana-related convictions, and ensure that revenue from legal marijuana is reinvested in communities that were hit hardest by the War on Drugs.
Bernie believes healthcare is a human right, not a political matter.
Bernie wants to adopt Equal Pay for Equal Work through the Paycheck Fairness Act and fully fund Planned Parenthood, Title X, and other initiatives that protect women’s health, access to contraception, and the availability of a safe and legal abortion.
Bernie is radical, realistic, and the best candidate for the myriad of ethnic backgrounds, economic differences, and political perspectives that make America what it is. If you DO YOUR RESEARCH, you will learn that Bernie in the White House benefits all Americans and his agenda has a little something for everyone. As a Black man, entrepreneur, son of Africa and an HBCU graduate, there is a strong alignment with my stance and his plans as president.
HBCU Family, we all are familiar with Jamal Bryant, who is the pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia. He also graduated from HBCU Morehouse College in Atlanta.
Well, in a teaching session with the women of his church that streamed on YouTube on Monday, Bryant warned his members to stay away from the practice of burning sage. According to the Oxford dictionary, sage is an aromatic plant with grayish-green leaves that are used as a culinary herb, native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean.
He said he “was amazed because two saints gave me sage for my new house.”
This lead him to do his research on the practice of it and made him question sage once he discovered that it is basically a demonic New Age practice.
He continued, “I didn’t know what to do with it. I was unsure of it. And all the more, why they’d feel comfortable giving it to a pastor. Then I began to research and study it and found out that the sales of it have gone up by over 200% in the last four years and have to be constantly placed on restock in natural health stores.”
Bryant argued that when you practice burning sage, you are essentially calling upon spirits to fight off negative spirits, not calling upon the name of Jesus:
“Another word for burning sage is smudging. The thought of the Native Americans is that certain herbs carry spirits in them … and when you burn certain herbs you’re calling on those spirits to dispel evil or vexing spirits or energies from a space, from an object or person. And so it is their contention that when I am burning sage, I am then calling down a spirit or calling up a spirit to then wrestle with that energy that’s in a room, that’s in a car or in a person.”
He said “So are those who burn sage and then put it around themselves saying that they don’t want any negative energy around them or negative energy approaching them? … It is highly practiced now by the New Age movement.”
He later said that those who practice burning sage are playing the role of God because they think that calling upon spirits to cast away the bad ones, which is what He and His angels already does for us.
“They are spiritual. They just do not believe or submit to authority … They believe through the doctrine of New Age faith or New Age theology, that mortals or humanity through the right wave of devotion and meditation can ascend themselves to become a deity. So they become their own gods.
The people who believe that they are their own god, we don’t know how to approach them or even how to attack it because we have minimized demonic possession as those who are foaming around their mouth, eyes are roaming in the back of their head and they are squirming on the floor. That’s how we’ve recognized demons.”
In a piece titled “Black Millennials Leave Church for African Witchcraft,” The Atlantic’s Sigal Samuel wrote that white millennials have left the church in droves over the last decade, embracing witchcraft instead. Black millennials are now following suit:
Over the past decade, white Millennials have embraced witchcraft in droves. Now a parallel phenomenon is emerging among black Millennials. While their exact numbers are difficult to gauge, it’s clear that African American pop culture has started to reflect the trend. In the music industry alone, there’s Beyoncé’s allusion to an African goddess in Lemonade at the Grammys; Azealia Banks’s declaration that she practices brujería (a Spanish term for witchcraft); and Princess Nokia’s hit “Brujas,” in which she tells white witches, “Everything you got, you got from us.”
African American witchcraft originated in West Africa, the birthplace of Yoruba, a set of religious traditions focused on reverence for ancestors and worship of a vast pantheon of deities known as orishas. Those traditions accompanied West Africans who were brought to the Americas as slaves, and were eventually combined with Western religions, such as Catholicism, that many slaves were pushed to embrace.
By the early 19th century, Cuban Santeria, Brazilian Candomblé, Haitian Vodou, and other syncretistic faiths had emerged as a result. In cities like New Orleans, voodoo (slightly different from Haitian Vodou) and hoodoo, which also descend from West African faiths, grew popular. These practices—which often involve manipulating candles, incense, or water to achieve a desired result—may have helped give slaves some sense of power, however minimal.
It’s difficult to gauge the exact numbers of black millennials who have embraced African witchcraft. But Bryant said that those who do, in particular the ones who practice burning sage, are devaluing the anointing life of Jesus Christ.
ALBANY, Ga. – Albany State University has announced its 2020 football schedule. For ASU fans, the slate has a familiar look, as the Golden Rams will face some of the same opponents as last year, with the Golden Rams hosting four home games in 2020.
“We put together a challenging schedule for 2020. We tell our recruits, they will have the opportunity to play in a tough conference and they will have the chance to play quality opponents outside of the SIAC. This schedule makes good on that promise,” Golden Rams head football coach Gabe Giardina said.
The Golden Rams will start off the 2020 campaign in Miami Gardens, Florida for the Orange Blossom Classic against Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) on September 6th. FAMU, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), completed the 2019 season with a 9-2 record.
ASU will host its first home game of the season as they welcome the Mississippi College Choctaws to campus on September 12. The Choctaws finished the 2019 season with a 5-5 overall record.
The Golden Rams will then host two back-to-back home games with Valdosta State University Blazers coming to campus on September 19th in a non-conference matchup. Valdosta State University finished 2019 with a 10-1 record and the last time the two teams faced in 2019, the Blazers came away with the 38-3 win. ASU will next welcome the Panthers of Clark Atlanta University for its first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest and homecoming on September 26th. CAU and ASU last faced off in 2019 as the Golden Rams secured a 54-19 victory.
After the contest at CAU, the Golden Rams will hit the road as they travel to Tuskegee, Alabama for a matchup against Tuskegee University. The Golden Rams and Golden Tigers last faced off last season where the Golden Rams collected a 21-0 victory. Tuskegee finished 2019 with a 5-5 record.
On October 10th, the Golden Rams will face off against the Dragons of Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee. These two teams faced off during the 2019 season in the ASU Coliseum with the Golden Rams coming out with the 33-13 homecoming win. The Dragons completed the 2019 campaign with a 4-6 record overall and a 2-4 record in SIAC play.
Next, the Golden Rams will wrap up a three-game road stand as they travel to Columbia, South Carolina to take on Benedict College on October 17th. The Golden Rams hosted Benedict College in 2019 and secured a 7-2 contest victory over the Tigers. Benedict College finished the 2019 campaign with a 1-9 record overall and a 1-5 mark in the SIAC. After the tilt with Benedict, ASU will return home as they host Savannah State University. The Tigers finished the 2019 season finished with a 7-3 overall record and undefeated in conference play 5-0. The last time to two schools met was last season where the Tigers collected a 35-19 victory.
Albany State will then travel to face the Maroon Tigers of Morehouse College on October 31st. The contest highlights the 9th straight year that these two have faced off against each other since 2011 with the Golden Rams boasting a 9-0 record.
To wrap up the regular season, the Golden Rams will face their rival Fort Valley State University at the 31st Annual Fountain City Classic on Saturday, November 7thin Columbus, Georgia. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. The Golden Rams secured their season finale victory 42-6 over the Wildcats last season. The Wildcats finished the season with a 6-4 record overall and a 4-2 record in the SIAC.
The 2020 SIAC Championship game will take place Saturday, November 16thon the campus of the western division champion.
One could argue it’s been a victorious year for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The FUTURE Act – legislation sustaining federal funding for minority serving institutions – made a fraught, winding journey to President Donald J. Trump’s desk, where it was signed into law in December.
But on Tuesday, Dr. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), discouraged unbridled optimism.
“I cannot stand before you here today and say only that the state of HBCUs is strong or only that HBCUs remain resilient,” he said at the organization’s second annual “State of the HBCU Address” where HBCU leaders and allies gathered in Washington D.C. “As you know, those truths are only part of the story.”
He argued that the permanent annual $255 million in federal funding for minority serving institutions, with $85 million designated for HBCUs, marks progress, but it isn’t enough to solve the “HBCU paradox” – the fact that HBCUs enjoy broad bipartisan support but continue to be “woefully underfunded.”
The support that exists, though it spans party divides, is “too often a mile wide and an inch deep,” Lomax said. “Too often it creates an all too convenient gap between rhetoric and reality. It makes it easy for people to look and sound like they are HBCU boosters without having to take the hard steps and make a deep-seated commitment to eradicate decades of disparate treatment of HBCUs.”
Florida A&M University student Chrichanni Watson recently said during an interview with the conservative Breitbart News Daily that President Donald Trump is “making progress” for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), citing how he signed for these institutions to be permanently funded.
She had raving reviews about Trump, saying, “I personally think he’s making progress,” she said. “The first thing that I looked into, especially at my university, is how he recently signed for HBCU’s to be permanently funded.”
Watson said:
“That directly impacts us, as HBCU students, and that’s something that cannot be said for the last administration. I mean, you’ve got to give the man some credit.”
Of her experience with FAMU students if someone utters Trump’s name on campus, she said “all ears are shut off.”:
“They’re not receptive to it. If you’re trying to get their attention, the last thing you want to mention is the president.
This summer, I said something about this president on Twitter and my school definitely was not receptive of it. They were calling me sell out, they were saying I was brainwashed, they were saying all these things, and the tweets just would not end.”
Watson said that she had the opportunity to work in the nation’s capital with a Republican representative, her first experience with the conservative movement. This lead to her wanting to bring back the same energy at FAMU.
Georgia Rep. John Lewis surprised attendees at this year’s Bloody Sunday commemorative march in Selma, Alabama, imploring all attendees to vote, CNN reports. Attendees marched in remembrance across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the afternoon to commemorate the freedom-marchers who were clubbed and tear-gassed by state troopers as they peacefully marched over the same bridge over half a century ago on March 7, 1965. Seventeen people were hospitalized including Lewis after being injured by police while dozens more were hurt. The protest was held against the denial of civil rights to Americans based solely on the color of their skin, which prompted the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“Fifty-five years ago, a few of God’s children attempted to march … across this bridge. We were beaten, we were tear-gassed. I thought I was going to die on this bridge. But somehow and some way, God almighty helped me here,” Lewis said during his remarks on Sunday at the apex of the bridge, “We must go out and vote like we never, ever voted before.” Lewis also encouraged those attending to use their vote as “a nonviolent instrument or tool to redeem the soul of America.”
“To see hundreds and thousands of young people with their mothers, their fathers, their grandparents, great grandparents, to see Black and White people, Hispanics, and others standing together, marching together, walking together, to not forget what happened and how it happened,” he said.
“We got to make America better for all of her people. When no one is left out or left behind, because of their race, their color, because of where they grew up, or where they were born,” he added. “We’re one people, we’re one family.”
It was unclear if Lewis would be able to attend the commemorative march as he was diagnosed withstage 4 cancer back in December but a spokeswoman for the commemoration march organizers told CNN that Lewis would be at the front of the march participants—the same position he has been at previous anniversary marches.
This post was written by Roland Michel, a writer at Black Enterprise, where it was originally published. It is published here with permission.
In 1933, a Florida A&M University administrator, J.R.E.Lee Jr., who happened to be the son of the university’s president, J.R.E. Lee Sr., founded the Orange Blossom Classic (OBC) as the football team’s postseason invitational.
Each year for nearly 50 years, until 1979, the Rattlers of FAMU went head to head with their opponents. In the very first game, at a black-only ballpark in Jacksonville, FAMU defeated Howard University 9-0.
Over the years, OBC became a FAMU tradition, and the Rattlers played against various teams including Alabama A&M University),Tuskegee University, Howard University, and more.
This year, the Orange Blossom Classic returns with much anticipation, on September 6th at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, FL. Albany State University has been invited to take on the Rattlers.
Who will win the resurgence game… Will it be the Rattlers of
FAMU or the Golden Rams of Albany State walk away as the champion?
Either way, we all know sporting events in the HBCU
community are about more than what happens on the field. There will be fun,
parties, panels and more! Don’t miss the return of OBC, connecting One BIG
Community.
Get your tickets today and be sure to visit the official website and check out the OBC social media for information and updates: http://bit.ly/OBCHBCU
(HBCU Buzz) – A Republican from North Carolina, Thom Tillis, recently reiterated his support for historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, citing that the state is home to the most black colleges where he has made it his duty to be an advocate for them since he was elected to Congress. Tillis stated that he fights to ensure that these institutions receive the proper support they need to continue their standard of excellence during a bipartisan panel held at the 2020 HBCU Fly-In hosted by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) on Feb. 27. The conference gave HBCU leaders the opportunity to continue to talk about ways to empower the black youth.
In addition, the event created an open dialogue between presidents and chancellors around bettering black colleges and minority-serving institutions (MSIs), The Ripon Advance reports. “Our work last year to permanently reauthorize annual funding for HBCUs and help students pursue their academic and professional goals was a huge step,” Sen. Tillis said. “I will continue to prioritize HBCUs and produce outcomes to ensure institutions can continue to provide quality education, increase the pipeline of qualified talent, and create more innovative and inclusive industries in the 21st century, especially in STEM-related fields.”
Prairie View A&M University must have been big mad because the black college really lectured former student Megan Thee Stallion and her friends about a twerking video that had gone viral on the yard, she revealed in her cover story by Rolling Stone.
PVAMU administration was basically like “Aht aht, I told you to leave all that at home where it belongs.”
She now attends Texas Southern University and takes online courses due to her busy schedule given that she is an upcoming music artist.
Megan Thee Stallion’s twerking has become quite a fan favorite, but not everyone has always appreciated it.
On Thursday (Feb. 27), Rolling Stone dropped their cover story featuring the Houston hottie, and she revealed a funny story from her early days at Houston’s Prairie View A&M University. Back when Megan was a freshman at the school, she and her two best friends got reprimanded for their twerking videos that had gone viral on campus.
“The ladies were super uppity. They didn’t want us to wear shorts,” Megan explained while discussing a meeting she and her friends were called to. “It was fucking summertime in fucking Texas. But, you see her hips and her ass, you see why they don’t want us to wear no shorts.”
The meeting, she says, also featured their actual twerk videos playing on a screen in a room full of faculty at the school.
“I was like, ‘God damn! I’m really in trouble [for] twerking right now!’” wrote Megan, who signed a deal with Roc Nation Management last year.
In relative news and if you have been following the latest things on everything to know in regards to our favorite hot girl, you probably heard about her recently opening up about her label not allowing her to release new music because she wants to renegotiate her record deal.
The TSU student took to Instagram Live to vent about her experience with 1501 Certified Entertainment, saying at first it seemed like everything was all good and they were family. But now things have changed ever since she linked up with Roc Nation for management.
“So when I got with Roc Nation, I got management — real management — and real lawyers. They were like, ‘Do you know that this is in your contract?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, damn, that’s crazy — no, I didn’t know,” she said, talking to viewers of the Live session.
Meg said that she was young when she originally signed the deal and never thought that her label would have any issues with the renegotiations:
“I was like 20, and I didn’t know everything that was in that contract.
I wasn’t upset. I’m thinking in my head, ‘everybody cool, we all cool, we family, it’s cool, it’s nice.”
That is when the feuding begin.
She claims that she was not allowed to release new music as a result but today she just won a major battle in the situation, TMZ is reporting.
Here is what we know:
• Meg said that her label was “bullying” her and “using strong-armed tactics” but she is not going to be intimidated by them at all.
• She took a stand and took them to court, winning a major ruling in her favor.
• According to TMZ, a “district judge in Harris County Texas granted Megan a temporary restraining order which prevents her label from blocking the music she plans to drop on Friday.”
MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Saturday was an exciting day for high school students, as they got the chance to attend a college fair and get admitted on the spot.
The HBCU Awareness Foundation hosted the fair that included 28 historically black colleges and universities at the Hickory Hill Community Center. It’s part of a 6-day tour that gives students the chance to learn more about furthering their education and receiving scholarships. Over the last 5 years, the tour has helped 2,800 kids get into college.
“When the students bring their transcripts, their current transcript and on that transcript they should have their GPA and SAT score, so all these schools are looking at their transcripts and admitting them and get them information so they can get scholarships,” said Corey Allen, HBCU Awareness Foundation.
Organizers will have another fair Monday at Whitehaven High School.
More than 100 years ago, in 1909, a 16-year-old California resident named Ray Newby used a spark transmitter to play records. Newby was a college student at the time, and he used it to share news and information as well as play records. Many credit Newby as the very first DJ. This makes sense to us because who better understands the importance of lively events and spreading information that a college student? 111 years later and the craft of disc jockeying aka DJing is now more popular than ever.
DJ TM, Tre’Mon Frink
Whether famous or personally, everyone knows at least one Top HBCU DJ. Because historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have a lot of social gatherings, DJs have a critical role to play on campus. Campus is a social marketplace. The feng shui, atmosphere, and mood when campus congregates relies heavily on the music played, and the mind behind the playlist. If the DJ gets it right, attendees are having the time of their lives and are creating college memories that will last forever–and if the DJ messes up, the party isn’t legendary and people will likely leave.
This year, the Top HBCU DJ competition returned better than ever, bringing in more than 95,000 votes– more than any other year. This year’s winner is DJ TM, Tre’Mon Frink, of Winston-Salem State University. Congratulations to the Rams, on another TOP HBCU DJ!
The top 3 DJs alone brought in 73,483 votes, more than 75% of the entire competition. This is a noticeable 20% or 20,000 vote gap between the top 3 DJs and the rest of the Top 5 winners. For the first time since the competition began in 2014, we were pleased to have female DJs nominated, hailing from Howard University, Morgan State University, Tougaloo College, Savannah State University, Tuskegee University, and Norfolk State University.
DJ TM – WSSU
Tre’Mon Frink is representing Wilmington, NC and is a junior communications major, speech minor at Winston-Salem State University. Frink received a total of 28,282 votes, amounting to 29.7% of all votes cast this year. The WSSU Rams are no stranger to this competition, as they have had a TOP HBCU DJ all but one year, since the competition began in 2014. DJ TM takes home the very first, No.1 spot for the university.
“If I was one of the 2020 Top HBCU DJs I would feel accomplished. This achievement will display how my lifestyle as a professional DJ has helped continue to cultivate the culture of HBCUS.”
DJ Ojagga – NCA&TSU
Obi Nwogbo is from Raleigh, NC, by way of Nigeria at North Carolina A&T State University. Nwogbo will graduate in the fall with a degree in business administration. For the second year in a row, the NCAT Aggies place in the TOP HBCU DJ Competition. In the last competition, DJ K Grady earned the No. 1 spot, with 12,775 votes. This year, DJ Ojagga nearly doubled this number! He walks away with 23,997 votes, 25.2% of the votes cast in this year’s competition.
“If I was one of the top 2020 TOP HBCU DJs I would use my platform to highlight and push that fact that there many other different cultures“
DJ Ricoveli – Morehouse
Dre’Shawn Spearman is a junior, sociology major representing Fayetteville, NC. Ricoveli held his position at the top throughout the entire voting period, resulting in 21,204 votes, a very notable 22.3% of all votes submitted for the 2020 Top HBCU DJ. Morehouse College’s president Dr. David A. Thomas even gave DJ Ricoveli his stamp of approval, along with Killer Mike. When Diddy made an infamous visit to Morehouse, none other than Ricoveli was on the one’s and two’s.
“If I was one of the 2020 Top HBCU DJs, I would begin a campaign that highlights the significance of HBCU-campus culture. I think this contributes to a very imperative correlation between student engagement and student enrollment.”
DJ ASH B – NCCU
Ashton Burns is a graduating senior at North Carolina Central University hailing from Wilmington, NC. Burns is studying business administration with a concentration in marketing. With more than 2,277 votes, DJ AshB received 2.39% of the entire vote! DJ AshB was also nominated more than any HBCU DJ in the history of the competition, beginning in 2014. “If it’s not AshB, it’s trash, B” was regularly DM’d, every single day from Burns’ fellow NCCU eagles and colleagues.
“If I was one of the 2020 TOP HBCU DJs: it would mean everything because it was a goal I set for myself back in 2016 when I first got on campus & it would show my hard work & dedication paying off. It would also show my huge support system. It’s an honor to be able to be mentioned because of the ones who paved the way before me, I looked up to are on the TOP DJ’s list years before me.”
DJ King Kai – Clark Atlanta
Makai Riley is a senior mass media arts major at Clark Atlanta University who is holding his own for Queens, NY. Riley earned a 2.04% of the total vote, an impressive 1,941 votes, total. The Atlanta University Center, (consisting of Spelman College, Morehouse, and CAU), should be proud, as they claim 2 of the Top 5 2020 HBCU DJs.
“If I was one of the 2020 TOP HBCU DJs it would prove I followed my dream of being both a full-time student and DJ, never giving up my dream no matter how hard it got.”
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We’d like to send an honorable mention to these ladies, for paving the way and wish them a happy Women’s History Month: MorganKTA & DJ Magic – Howard University, DJ Pye – Norfolk State University, DJ Tyrite – Savannah State University, DJ Deshara – Tougaloo College and DJ Thundacat of PVAMU.
Former HBCU DJs represent the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Hampton University, Howard University, Bowie State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University (multiple), Florida A&M University (multiple), Prairie View A&M University, Winston-Salem State University (multiple), North Carolina Central University, Tennessee State University and South Carolina State University.
This year’s list featured 38 DJs, representing 27 HBCUs, and not all nominees made it to the ballot. Congratulations to all the nominees and the winners. View 2016, 2015 and 2014.
“This is an alarming statistic and Mississippi is one of the most food-insecure states in the nation,” that is what Teresa Dickerson, manager of corporate affairs for Kroger’s Delta Division, said.
Dickerson is referring to the 39 percent of student respondents reported being food insecure in the prior 30 days, according to the #RealCollege survey conducted by Temple University’s Hope Center for College.
She said “We are honored to support our HBCUs and the work they are doing to alleviate hunger through campus food pantries.”
According to WLBT.com, the donation will help to address food insecurity and celebrates Black History Month and the achievements of HBCUs.
