5 Ways To Ace The Transition From College Grad To First Job

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It can be tough for any college grad to figure out how to find their way when they start their first job, but it can be even tougher for students of color to navigate the realities of corporate America.

At the recent BE Smart Student Symposium presented by Dell Technologies, students from 10 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and four minority-serving institutions got a little help with that. Maggie Chan Jones, founder of executive coaching firm Tenshey, taught them five ways to rock their transition from student to professional.

Chan Jones knows a thing or two about excelling in corporate America despite coming from an underrepresented population. She was born and raised in Hong Kong and moved to the U.S. when she was 14. She would go on to become the first woman chief marketing officer at software company SAP and was named to Forbes‘ list of the Most Influential CMOs.

“I created my own company with the purpose to elevate more women and people of color into leadership using my experience—how I got to the C-suite in less than 20 years in my career. Because if someone like me–who didn’t really speak any English when I first came to the U.S., and I honestly don’t think I’m that smart–if I could get there, so many people can get there,” Chan Jones shares. “The question is how.”

1. BE INTENTIONAL IN CHOOSING YOUR JOBS

“Think about what you’re passionate about, what are the things that you just love doing. And that you’re also great at. Because they could be things that you’re great at, but you don’t love doing them and when you get into a job doing that, you’re going to get bored or get frustrated very quickly,” Chan Jones cautions.

“You want to start talking to people in those fields, and really learn about those things that are interesting to you,” she adds. “Spend time asking them about what is a day in the life of someone in marketing, someone in sales, someone in business development and see how does it connect with you.”

2. UNLEASH YOUR INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY

“How do you learn from every single job? And how do you learn from different scenarios?” Chan Jones asks, encouraging young professionals to adopt a growth mindset. “One of the things that I’m really passionate about is building muscles. I always tell people when I’m trying something new, even when it is hard, and especially when it is hard, I say, ‘Wow, This is great. I’m building the muscles.’”

3. BUILD YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM

“Network is, to me, my secret sauce of success. I count on so many people in my life, including—first and foremost—my friends and family because without their support, I couldn’t be moving across the country multiple times to take on new jobs. And without the support of my sponsors, my managers, my colleagues, I couldn’t have done what I was able to accomplish.”

Chan Jones challenged the students to take advantage of the opportunity to make connections with each other before they leave college life for their first job: “You’re meeting with so many people, people from different schools. Build that network, because they may be your colleagues. The next day, they may be your friends for life.”

4. TAKE RISKS AND MAKE AN IMPACT

Chan Jones spoke to the students about stepping out of their comfort zones, relaying an anecdote from her past: “One of the things I learned when I went from being a student to a professional is when you’re in a meeting, you’re supposed to speak out. And I remember one of my managers said, ‘Hey, Maggie, you have some really good ideas, but you never speak up in a meeting.’”

“So I took that with my growth mindset. I said, ‘OK, so what am I going to do about it?’ One of the ways that worked for me, and hopefully it will work for you as well, is when you do something that you feel like you’re getting out of that comfort zone, try something small first. So I told myself, every important meeting that I go to, within the first 10 minutes, I have to either make a statement or ask a question. After a couple of years, I no longer had to remind myself because that’s become a muscle memory.”

5. HAVE FUN AND BE YOURSELF

“In the early days, I was so worried because I would walk into the room and usually I was the only woman. Even today, in many cases, I could be the only person of color,” Chan Jones says. “On the early days, I would like just to fit in. Over time I realized that wait, if I really have to try that hard to change who I am as a person to fit in, guess what? That’s not my place.”

This post was written by Alisa Gumbs, a writer at Black Enterprise, where it was originally published. It is published here with permission.

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Alcorn State University Release A Statement On Arrest Of Student

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In a statement released on Friday, Alcorn State University warned all members of the ASU campus community that they are expected to adhere to university policies, rules and state laws.

“This extends to all campus events and activities,” the statement reads.

This comes after ASU Campus Police officers were alerted to potential unlawful behavior by an attendee during a football contest this past weekend.

The attendee is a ASU student, the school officials confirmed, adding, “As set forth in the student handbook, the student in question has been placed on interim suspension pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.”

Tennessee State President Raises More Than $1 Million For University

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Tennessee State University President Glenda Glover has once again raised $1 million for the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) during a 24-hour campaign this week.

Dr. Glover, who is also the International President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., led AKA HBCU Impact Day, a one-day fundraising initiative, on Sept. 16, according to a TSU press release.

The funds will provide financial assistance and fiscal sustainability and success to TSU and other four-year HBCUs across the country.

“Once again this is a historic moment for Alpha Kappa Alpha as we have raised $1 million for HBCUs for the second year in a row,” President Glover shared with excitement in a video message to sorority members.

“I want to thank everyone who contributed to this $1 million, one-day campaign. Let’s continue to support our HBCUs.”

AKA HBCU Day is part of a four-year, $10 million fundraising goal by the sorority intended to establish an endowment on each campus.

Money raised through the fundraiser will provide financial assistance to the colleges during the next three years.

In June, AKA established a $100,000 endowment at TSU, beginning with an initial contribution of $25,000.

In February, AKA gifted $1.6 million for their AKA-HBCU Endowment Fund to 32 HBCUs.

Presidents from these institutions joined Dr. Glover and sorority leadership at a special Black History Month program at the AKA International Headquarters in Chicago.

Donors can still make contributions by texting AKAHBCU to 44321, giving by mail or online at http://aka1908.com/hbcus/donate-hbcu.

Morgan State University Is Growing — By Enrolling Hispanic, White And International Students

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Reporting that Morgan State University’s enrollment is on an upswing, the Baltimore Sun’s Talia Richman wrote that the rising number of non-African American students who are attending the historically the black institution is thanks to the school’s campaign to become more diverse.

“No one expects that only Catholic students will enroll at Notre Dame, Morgan president David Wilson says, ” Richman, who covers city schools and higher education for The Baltimore Su, wrote. “So why should anyone be surprised that a historically black college or university would recruit students of other races?”

Wilson said the black institution does not deny people outside of African Americans from enrolling into the school and insists that Morgan will remain an HBCU.

“Morgan has never said to a student, ‘You can’t come here because of your race,’ unlike the traditionally white institutions in the state of Maryland,” Wilson said. “Morgan is an HBCU. It will always be an HBCU.”

The student body has grown by 15 percent since 2006, from roughly 6,700 students to 7,700, according to the Baltimore Sun. 

h/t to the Baltimore Sun

Delaware State University Aviation Program Expands With New Planes

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Delaware State University’s Aviation Program is expanding, thanks to an allocation of $3.5 million in the state budget, per WDEL.

“We’re going from 70’s or 60’s technology to now 2019, with this new aircraft.” DSU Aviation Program Director Lt. Col. (Ret.) Michael Hales said. “That’s like light years ahead of where we had been to where we want to go.”

The school’s placement rate is 100 percent, according to DSU President Dr. Wilma Mishoe.

“Everything’s at your fingertips, basically,” DSU aviation student Christian Black said. “I wish I started on my instruments with this plane first because of all of the safety features in it.”

“It’s just amazing.”

House Of Representatives Pass FUTURE Act

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On Tuesday, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 2486, the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act.

The legislation would allow historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to continue receiving $255 million of critical annual government funding  to improve academic quality and ensure their financial stability.

Additionally, the focus of the funding would be to maintain and improve various programs within high demand fields and majors such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The funding under Title III, which has been administered by the Department of Education since 2008, is set to expire at the end of September.

HBCUs represent 8.5 percent of the four-year institutions across the 21 states and territories they are located in. On average, they also enroll 24 percent of all Black undergraduates pursuing a bachelor’s degree in a college or university, graduate 26 percent of all Black bachelor’s degree recipients and award 32 percent of STEM degrees to Black students, according to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).

At the White House Initiative’s HBCUs Conference last week, President Donald J. Trump praised and acknowledged the impact of HBCUs.

“For more than 180 years, HBCUs have strengthened our country and called America to greatness,” he said. “This nation owes a profound and enduring debt of gratitude to its HBCUs.”

Advocacy organizations celebrated the passage of the legislation in the House of Representatives.

“These institutions of higher education, which serve an outsized share of the nation’s college students of color and students from low-income families, are essential to providing college access for millions of students, increasing educational attainment and providing the surest path to socioeconomic mobility,” said Denise Forte, senior vice president for partnership and engagement at The Education Trust. “We are pleased that the House of Representatives has taken this important first step toward guaranteeing that critical funding for HBCUs and MSIs will not be disrupted.”

To demonstrate their support for the FUTURE Act, UNCF launched the “Protecting Our FUTURE” campaign. Since the campaign’s establishment, there have been over 38,000 phone calls and emails to members of Congress, UNCF reported.

However, there is still more work to be done.

Now, institution leaders and representatives are urging for the FUTURE Act to be passed in the Senate.

U.S. Senator Doug Jones of Alabama encouraged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to support the legislation.

“These schools are a part of the very foundation of our higher education system but they lack many of the same financial resources that predominately white schools can count on,” Jones said. “That’s why I am calling on Senator McConnell to bring the FUTURE Act up for a vote and take the next step to give these schools the certainty they need to continue serving their students and fulfill their mission.”

Lodriguez V. Murray, vice president of public policy and government affairs at UNCF, said that he hopes that Congress will “act as a pathway for passage” and not a “roadblock.”

“A vote for this bill is a vote for low-income, first-generation college students of color and for institutions that serve a large number of these students,” Murray said. “These institutions are located across the country, touching the districts of nearly every single Member of Congress.”

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Footaction Is Looking To Empower The Next Generation Of Designers From HBCUs

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Footaction has made a big step towards inclusion in the design world. The footwear lifestyle brand has partnered with PENSOLE, a design academy partner of Foot Locker, Inc. to launch the No 1 Way Design program.The program is an unprecedented opportunity for designers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). If their submitted design is chosen for the competition, participants have the chance to win cash prizes and even have their designs in Footaction stores nationwide.

The No 1 Way program is part of Footaction’s long-standing commitment of uplifting HBCUs and introducing more visionairies to the industry. To be even more inclusive, the program is open to both current students and recent graduates of HBCUs. The looks of youth culture are constantly evolving, and these talented yet underrepresented designers can definitely bring in something fresh. And with over 85 HBCUs across the country, the competition will be fierce. 

“Footaction’s No 1 Way Design Program will create opportunity and bring talents from untapped communities to the forefront,” said Richard McLeod, Vice President of Marketing for Footaction. “We are thrilled to be working with PENSOLE Academy as we work to create opportunities for students at HBCUs, share their stories and cultivate their entrepreneurship. This program represents our long-term commitment to nurturing the next generation of talent, while offering them opportunities in design.”

PENSOLE founder D’Wayne Edwards and his accomplished roster of academy instructors will lead the competition, providing mentorship and guidance to the students throughout the process. Five finalists will be selected for a three-week PENSOLE Master Class that will support these rising stars and help bring their creative ideas to life as market-ready, apparel-focused capsule collections.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=49&v=J6PQsWfcX48

“The No 1 Way Design Program underscores the need to grow and foster diversity and creativity in our industry,” said Edwards. “We have chosen to work with HBCU students in order to celebrate the creative energy of this community and develop a platform to foster and express their individuality.”

The Master Class will have the chance to showcase its designs during New York Fashion Week in February, with cash prizes going to the top three finalists. A final winner will be selected by a panel of esteemed judges and the winning No 1 Way collection will be produced and sold in Footaction stores nationwide.

Leveling The Playing Field For Faith-Based Historically Black Colleges

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President Donald Trump at the 2019 National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference on Sept. 10 in Washington

Despite comprising only 3 percent of the nation’s four-year colleges, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have produced 80 percent of the country’s African American judges, 50 percent of its African American doctors, and 27 percent of African Americans with STEM degrees, according to the Department of Education. Until last week, the federal government excluded more than 40 HBCUs that are faith-based from a program that loans out money for campus improvements.

“This meant 40 of your faith-based institutions which had made such tremendous contributions to America were unnecessarily punished for their religious beliefs,” President Donald Trump said in a speech last week. A recent Justice Department legal opinion called the withholding of the funds from those schools discriminatory and unconstitutional, and the White House announced last week it was doing away with the rule.

The Justice Department cited the Supreme Court’s rulings in Trinity Lutheran v. Comer and Locke v. Davey—cases in which the justices found that excluding organizations or students from federal funding on religious grounds was unconstitutional. Locke v. Davey dealt with a state scholarship fund that would not pay for students to study theology, and Trinity Lutheran was about a state-funded playground resurfacing program that would not accept a religious preschool. The Justice Department said the cases “establish that the government may not deny generally available funding to a sectarian institution because of its religious character.” The legal opinion also stated that the federal government still retains “discretion to choose what activities to fund.”

In his speech announcing the change, coincided with National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, Trump called the schools “pillars of excellence,” and reiterated his commitment to make them “bigger and better and stronger than any previous administration, by far.”

HBCUs came into existence after the Civil War and prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in response to segregation in higher education that excluded or severely limited African American students. President Ronald Reagan created the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1981.

Since taking office, Trump has hosted HBCU presidents at the White House, signed a farm bill that included more than $100 million for scholarships and research at the schools, and increased investment in HBCU programs by more than 14 percent. He also relocated the federal initiative from the Education Department to the White House, something black leaders repeatedly called for during President Barack Obama’s administration.

HBCU presidents have typically courted presidential administrations regardless of their political leanings. They depend on the federal government for half of their annual revenue on average to operate. “I think it’s important to stay focused on the money and not on the message,” Austin Lane, president of Texas Southern University, told Politico. Smith said he attended the HBCU conference only to find out “if there’s money to access, where is it and how do we get it.”

But Trump’s speech to HBCU leaders also seemed directed at the wider African American community. He touted the nation’s low African American poverty and unemployment rates and told the crowd “no one has done more for you than me.” Some critics called it a campaign pitch to bolster his approval rate among African Americans, only at 10 percent according to recent polls.

HBCUs have also found their way into the 2020 Democratic presidential debates. Candidates including Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and former Vice President Joe Biden have all called for massive federal investments into the schools.

Read more here.

The Changing Face Of HBCU Leadership

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As the popularity of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) soars, credit for that surge in enrollment has typically been directed to school presidents and other top-ranking faculty and staff members on campus. But while those positions have traditionally skewed older, a closer look at the changing face of HBCU leadership revealed that trend has been decidedly reversing in favor of younger campus chiefs. 

Zachary Faison Jr., the 39-year-old president of Edward Waters College in Florida, said being closer to his students’ age and not farther from it gave him at least one benefit that many of his counterparts haven’t been able to enjoy.

“As a millennial born in the 1980s, my generation and now the post-millennials that are our current students are largely de­fined by a desire to ‘be heard’ and feel ‘understood’ in terms of their expectations from the collegiate experience,” he told the United Negro College Fund this past summer.

Faison went on to say that his relative youth shouldn’t dismiss what in some cases are decades of a head start in experience for many other HBCU leadership elder statesmen. That included Hampton University’s president William R. Harvey, the longest-tenured HBCU president who has been successfully serving in that position since 1978. (Harvey was also in his 30s when he took Hampton’s helm.) But overall, Faison said, his age places him at an advantage over his older fellow HBCU presidents that hasn’t been seen in quite a while.

“With that said, I do believe that new and innovative delivery and implementation models being offered by new, young presidents to support student success can prove to be highly effective in translating to greater student retention and enrollment outcomes,” Faison added.

Not only were HBCU presidents getting younger, but they were also increasingly women, another break in a longstanding, unofficial tradition that has made its mark especially in emerging technologies that have an increasing presence on college campuses.

“They are going to make some differences for us,” Dr. Lezli Baskerville, president of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, told Diverse Issues of Higher Education, an organization that represents HBCU presidents. “They are primed and ready to use the full force of social media to employ entrepreneurship.”

This youthful HBCU leadership movement has not taken place overnight, however. It was only five years ago when researchers studying “The Characteristics of Historically Black College and University Presidents and Their Role in Grooming the Next Generation of Leaders” concluded thatHBCUs had “a recycling of presidents at HBCUs as well as the disproportionate presence of long-term presidencies.”

But that tide seemed to be changing. And it was for the better, Faison, of Edward Waters College, said.

“In general terms, ascertaining those student desires and expectations may very well be an easier lift for a younger president and again may lead to heightened retention and enrollment outcomes assuming that the attendant cultural competencies and connectedness filter through to shape a student culture of responsiveness and receptivity to student expectations at the institution on the whole,” Faison noted.

Call The Racial Wealth Gap By Its Name

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In the sea of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates fighting to differentiate themselves, several candidates have zeroed in on policies addressing the racial wealth gap as key campaign promises. Proposed solutions run the gamut, with candidates touting baby bonds, backing direct reparations for African descendants of slaves, and indirect assistance to small business owners of color.

One long-shot tech entrepreneur has even promised a $1,000 “freedom dividend” to every American, often citing Martin Luther King Jr. on the stump as his source of policy inspiration. Voters are paying attention: More people Googled the phrase “racial wealth gap” in the previous 12 months than in any year prior. And many of those casually researching the racial wealth gap for the first time would likely find mounting evidence of a crisis that requires our immediate attention.

The wealth gap is everywhere. Activists, academics, journalists, and well-meaning pundits have raised the issue through both polite conversation and silent protest. But like the familiar wail of a car alarm in a city center, it is mostly ignored by those with the ability to drive legislative action. The most recent piece of legislation to even acknowledge the wealth gap was the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. And, of course, like any tragedy or injustice that consistently assaults our consciousness, we risk becoming numb to the horror these numbers represent.

But a significant part of the problem is how we frame the issue itself, as the phrase “wealth gap” doesn’t inspire action. A gap is an empty space. A break between two things. The absence of a thing. It is simultaneously nothing and something. We don’t fear gaps. We mind gaps. And this is the difficulty in speaking about the wealth gap.

Most importantly, the phrase “wealth gap” does not inspire shame. It does not communicate what Martin Luther King described as “the fierce urgency of now.” It does not capture the violence that poverty inflicts on those molested by its seemingly unending grope. And we can’t wait  228 years to undo the entrenched systematic oppression of people of color so ensconced in the American Dream. So, let’s call it what it is—the Pustulant Cavity of Economic Apartheid.

Now if reading or saying that fills you with disgust; that is the point. This framing effect is meant to jolt enablers or silent witnesses to economic oppression into action.

Despite what some in the public eye would have you believe, we know that we have not “solved” racism, and white supremacy is not a hoax. We know that white families hold 10 times the amount of wealth as black families, with $171,000 and $17,000 holding steady as the most cited and reliable figures for white and black family wealth respectively. We know that the accumulated wealth of the average black American descendant of a slave has not yet reached the average cost of a slave at the time the emancipation proclamation was signed.

More than 150 years later, we are still working to buy our freedom.

But for many, this will be new knowledge. A 2017 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that most white Americans severely underestimated the country’s level of racial inequality, pegging black wealth at 80% of white wealth when it’s closer to a paltry 7%.

The gap in both wealth and income between black and white Americans has daunting durability. In 1994, median black household income (by far the most significant contributor to the wealth gap) lagged white household income by about $26,000. At that time, the phrase “racial wealth gap” was not a part of public discourse around economic inequality between the races. My own quick desktop analysis of 2,636 articles from Dow Jones international news database, Factiva, found no published usage of the phrase “racial wealth gap” in any major publications that year.

By 2014, the median household income gap between blacks and whites had grown to roughly $28,000, with this growth occurring alongside a massive increase in print and digital media attention to the racial wealth gap, as so named.

Skilled communications practitioners understand the importance of being able to re-frame issues. To adequately communicate the damage man is inflicting on our environment, we have moved from discussions of “global warming” to “global heating,” and from “climate change” to the “climate emergency.” Republican operatives famously adopted the phrase “death tax” when describing taxes on inheritances. Unsurprisingly, focus group data showed more public opposition to a “death tax” than technically correct “estate taxes.” No issue screams more for this treatment more than the Pustulant Cavity of Economic Apartheid.

Like the climate emergency, a person’s inability to achieve financial security is not a passive thing. Economic disparities manifest themselves in poorer mental and physical health outcomes and typically reduce the life expectancy of those on the lower end of the economic spectrum. A 2016 study out of MIT showed the wealthiest 1% of men in the United States live an average of 14.6 years longer than the poorest 1% of men. With 36% of U.S. citizens living in poverty being either black or Hispanic, the still Pustulant Cavity of Economic Apartheid is killing us.

Much in the way The Guardian changed and communicated the new language it was using around the climate crisis, more editorial boards should adapt their editorial and style guides to suit the gravity of the racial wealth gap crisis.

Words matter. The fourth estate must embrace their role in determining the nomenclature that so often impacts policy. And if my chosen label strikes you as a little too on the nose, feel free to replace it with one of your own. As long as your choice reflects the true nature of the fight ahead. This fight requires each of us to stand up and correct names diluted by niceties when so many lives are at stake.

This is more than a gap. Call it by its name.

This post was written by Yemi Rose, a writer at Black Enterprise, where it was originally published. It is published here with permission.

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Central State, Five Other HBCUs To Start Men’s Volleyball Programs With $1 Million Grant

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Morehouse College is among six Division II schools in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) that will now offer a men’s volleyball team beginning in the 2020-21 school year.

The all-male, Atlanta-based historically black college joins Central State University, Benedict College, Paine College, Fort Valley State Universityand Kentucky State University in piloting the teams. Each university received $150,000 seed grants from USA Volleyball (USAV) and First Point Volleyball Foundation. SIAC also received a $100,000 award from both organizations.

“This is a very exciting time for the college in many, many aspects,” said Morehouse interim athletic director Javarro Edwards. “For athletics, by us being an academically driven institution for many years, athletics has always sat in the backdrop, but now we have a seat at the table. It will be fantastic.”

Morehouse will recruit 18 student-athletes and will offer three full-ride scholarships. Adding the nontraditional sport, Morehouse College president David A. Thomas said, will help attract a more diverse (especially international) student population. Its alumni primarily consist of corporate executives, diplomats, investment bankers, writers and scientists.

“We develop scholar-athletes,” Thomas said. “Volleyball represents a sport where we become even more attractive to an even broader group of individuals. It will help us to attract individuals that want to play at a high level but also want to invest deeply in their experience as scholars.

“What students often do when they’re thinking about a college is not just look at the activities that they might be attracted to but they look at the portfolio of activities a school has,” added Thomas. “From that, they make some assumptions about the school. We’re hoping this projects Morehouse as a global institution in its mindset.”

Volleyball is America’s fastest-growing team sport for boys and young men, with most competitors being female. The game’s popularity among men has soared by 22% over the past five years, according to USAV. In the NCAA, Division I and Division II programs compete together in championship tournaments. One reason the SIAC is starting with six teams is that a conference with six squads is an automatic qualifier for the season-ending NCAA tournament. That will allow SIAC schools to compete at the highest levels of the intercollegiate sport, according to Kenny Rogers, First Point Volleyball Foundation’s Director of Strategic Initiatives.

“It’s a complete misconception that we’re only a sport for affluent white girls,” said USAV CEO Jamie Davis. “Volleyball is a sport for people of all ages, races, genders and socioeconomic backgrounds. This will surely increase the participation of African American men playing volleyball and leading to new athletic and academic opportunities for young boys.”

John Speraw, head men’s volleyball coach for both UCLA and the U.S. national team, said fewer institutions provide young men the platform to play volleyball despite exponential growth in engagement and participation. Speraw, the record-breaking NCAA champion and co-founder of First Point Volleyball Foundation, began talks with SIAC and USAV last December to develop the volleyball program with Division II colleges specifically targeting young men of color. The foundation concentrates on increasing male participation in volleyball.

“Volleyball isn’t yet very well-known within African American culture and communities,” Speraw said. “Kids grow up watching basketball, and there’s a huge impact of African Americans playing successfully at the highest level in all sports. You don’t see that. Young boys [of color] probably don’t know that’s an avenue for them to take.

“We talk at USA Volleyball about the Path to the Podium. It is not outlandish to think that a young man playing in the SIAC conference in 2021 could be an Olympian in 2028 or 2032. Our work at First Point Volleyball Foundation is providing more opportunities for young people, and it is also building our pipeline for more success at the international level for Team USA for decades to come.”

First Point Volleyball Foundation has given 68 full scholarships to young men and spearheaded 17 college programs since its launch in 2016. Speraw says collaborating with Division II schools gives those interested in volleyball an opportunity to play. Sustaining the programs requires ongoing marketing, recruitment and collaboration between the universities and community partners.

“I’m so proud that we’re at a point when we’re actually going out there now doing it,” Speraw said. “It is a progressive, outside-of-the-box opportunity. It took a lot of courage, bold leadership, to actually go forward and do this. It’s an incredible first step.”

Olympic gold medalist and Morehouse alumnus Edwin Moses enrolled in the 1970s when the school had no track team. Four years after he graduated, the track and field Hall of Famer qualified for the Olympics.

“Morehouse will have to start from the bottom and grind its way to the top,” Moses said. “We slip time when it comes to recruiting men of color — Hispanic, Asian and African American — to get into the game, so we’re going to begin to make that possible. We lead in different ways, so we have to offer diverse opportunities for the mentality the kids aspire to. It will serve us and our students well to have another avenue for leadership.”

“This will serve as a new path to the podium for these young men as they strive to join our national teams,” Davis said. “There’s no reason to believe that one of them can’t join John and his team to represent Team USA and wear ‘USA’ across their chest as we compete around the globe.”

With the men’s volleyball teams in place, the plan is to begin coaching clinics and exhibition matches in Atlanta. Morehouse, the SIAC, USAV and First Point Volleyball Foundation are equally excited and confident that student participation will be organic and ongoing. Morehouse especially envisions that adding volleyball to its slate of activities will expand the pedigree it’s known to produce.

“Volleyball will help us make a contribution to the world,” Thomas said. “We should expand the areas in which African American men should show up, participate and excel, and volleyball presents one of those opportunities. This is a great moment for us.”

“Our goal is someday a man from Morehouse steps out on that court and represents Team USA,” Speraw said.

NCCU Beats ECSU For Oliver’s First Coaching Victory

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DURHAM, N.C. –Trei Oliver celebrated his first victory as a head coach at his alma mater, as North Carolina Central University cruised to a 45-7 triumph over Elizabeth City State University in the Eagles’ home-opener inside O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium on Saturday night.

NCCU amassed 391 yards of total offense, paced by rookie quarterback Davius Richard, who completed 17 of 24 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 34 yards. Running back Isaiah Tottenaccumulated 74 rushing yards, including a 43-yard touchdown run, while Jordan Freeman added 68 ground yards and a score on just five carries. Receiver Ryan McDaniel collected four catches for 74 yards, including a spectacular one-handed grab resulting in a 45-yard touchdown.

The Eagles held the visiting Vikings to just 91 total yards, recording 14 tackles for a loss with seven sacks, three fumble recoveries and an interception returned for a touchdown. Senior defensive end Darius Roysteramassed eight takedowns, including 3.0 stops in the backfield with 2.0 sacks and a forced fumble. Defensive tackle Cyrus Stanback also tallied a pair of sacks, and linebacker Jerome Foster posted four tackles with a fumble recovery and a pick-six.

NCCU (1-3) begins conference play next Saturday (Sept. 28) at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Central State Hangs On to Defeat Clark Atlanta 26-19

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ATLANTA, Georgia – The Central State University defense came up with two fourth quarter interceptions while the offense executed a crucial fourth down conversion late to propel the Marauders to a 26-19 road win over Clark Atlanta on Saturday night.

With the win, CSU improved to 2-1 overall with a 1-0 mark in SIAC play. CAU falls to 0-3 on the year with a 0-1 ledger in the SIAC.

CAU struck on its first drive with a 3-play, 62 yard drive capped off by a Charles Stafford pass to Darrell Nichols for a 29-yard score (CAU 7-0)

CSU responded on the next possession as running back Terraris Saffoldended an 87-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown to tie the game at the 9:29 mark of the first quarter (6-6)

Appearing in his first game of 2019, CSU linebacker Kailen Abramsintercepted a Stafford pass at midfield. CSU later settled for a Joshua Nunes field goal to take the lead (CSU 9-6)

In the second quarter the Marauders went on a 8-play drive spanning 72 yard touchdown drive as Saffold scored his second rushing touchdown of the half from 10-yards out to give CSU a 10-point lead with 13:39 left in the first half (CSU 16-6)

With 1:40 remaining in the half, CAU marched 52 yards to the end zone to narrow the deficit to four at halftime (CSU 16-12)

The only points of the fourth quarter came at the 14:50 mark as Nunes knocked the ball through the uprights for his second field goal of the night (CSU 26-19)

The CAU offense went 68 yards on its first possession of the fourth quarter. A pass from Stafford to Caleeb Roberson took the ball down to the 1-yard line. After failing to score on their first two attempts, the Panthers were penalized and moved back 15-yards for a personal foul. CAU opted to throw the ball on third and fourth down without success as CSU took over on down with 9:38 remaining (CSU 26-19)

Facing a short yardage situation on fourth down from their own 24-yard line, CSU opted to go for it as fullback Darius Meadors fought for two yards and a CSU first down to allow more time to run off the clock.

CAU managed to get into CSU territory again with just under five minutes to play before a heavily pressured Stafford was picked off again by Abrams to end the Panther threat (CSU 26-19)

Clark Atlanta got one more possession with 1:01 left. Stafford completed passes to Drakar and Roberson to get the Panthers down to the CSU 42-yard line. Stafford’s next pass inside the Central State 10-yard line was picked off by CSU’s Devon Cunningham to put the game away (CSU 26-19)

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Florida A&M University Ranked No.2 Public HBCU

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Florida A&M University (FAMU) maintains its ranking as the No.2 public Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

FAMU was also ranked as No.7 of all public and private HBCUs, moving the university up two slots, keeping it among the top 10 HBCUs within the nation according to the 2020 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.

In a recent statement, Dr. Larry Robinson, president of FAMU, says that these rankings reflect what the university has to offer. “These rankings are an indication of the excellent work of faculty, staff, administrators and, most importantly, our students themselves,” said Robinson. “We continue to implement innovative and time-proven strategies to ensure the success of our students in every aspect of their lives.”

FAMU ranked just below North Carolina A&T University (No.6) and just above Tuskegee University (No.8).

The university also placed higher than any other public HBCU on the list of national universities.

Indicators used to measure the academic quality of these HBCU rankings included: outcome measures, assessment by administrators at peer HBCUs, faculty resources, financial resources, student excellence and alumni giving, according to the 2020 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.

Such indicators reflect the student body, faculty, and overall atmosphere of the HBCU, aiding it to become a top pick in prospective student’s college decision making process.

Former Miss 112th FAMU, Imani Cooper believes that because students typically research schools before making a final decision, FAMU being ranked No. 2 will aid prospective students in choosing the university.

“I believe this does wonders for our university, especially considering that ranking is one of the many important factors that play into a student making their college decision,” said Cooper. “To see FAMU at the top of those lists gives great hope that our institution is at least in many students’ top 5-10 picks.”

In a statement released by FAMU, the university also recently recorded the highest GPA ever (3.58) for entering freshman in an attempt to aid the university’s four-year graduation rate, by attracting more high-achieving students.

These rankings not only provide a great impression for prospective students and their families, but it also benefits alumni of the university as well.

“As an alumna who now works full time in the education field, it is a privilege and true honor to say that I went to such an esteemed university,” said Cooper. “I can use those rankings as one of the top HBCU’s to help promote and recruit the students that I work with to attend FAMU.”

Choosing FAMU will remain a decision for prospective students and their families, however such rankings are an indication of what is in store for a student who chooses to attend FAMU.

Recent graduate, Devin Harrison, says that coming to FAMU has prepared him for the future and that he believes the university will do the same for others.

“If you want to save money, cultivate life-long friendships, and gain a quality education, attend FAMU. The diversity in people, [inclusiveness], community, and strong Alumni network is incomparable,” said Harrison.

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The WU Hires 2 New Vice Presidents

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WILBERFORCE — Wilberforce University will get a new vice president of academic affairs and a vice president of institutional advancement.

Edward Louis Hill Jr. as the vice president for academic affairs and strategic initiatives while Natalie R. Coles will become Wilberforce’s vice president of institutional advancement and chief development officer, accroding to the school. The two new hires were announced Tuesday by the university.

Hill previously served as dean of the college of education at Texas A&M University-Central Texas, according to Wilberforce. He has also served as a leader for education accreditation agencies and on a diversity commission for the University of Georgia system.

“I am committed to working collaboratively with our faculty, deans, staff, and students in shaping the university’s future direction,” Hill said in a prepared statement.

Coles has served as the area development director for the United Negro College Fund and as the chief develpment officer for Flying Horse Farms, according to the university. She is also a certified funding professional.

Wilberforce built the foundational legacy of higher education for people of color in Ohio and beyond and I consider it a great honor to serve her and our many students in pursuit of their educational dreams.” Coles said in a prepared statement.

Wilberforce University, the oldest private historically black college in the country, has suffered financial issues in recent years.

The school ran an operating deficit of more than $19 million in fiscal year 2017 and was placed on probation by the Higher Learning Commission. The HLC is a regional accrediting body and is responsible for accrediting colleges in 19 states.

The HLC is scheduled to conduct a “comprehensive evaluation” of the university on Nov. 4, according to the commission’s website.

House Backs Funding For HBCUs, But Will The Senate?

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WASHINGTON – Following a House vote Tuesday to extend $255 million in spending for minority-serving colleges and universities, advocacy groups are urging the Senate to take action before the funding expires Sept. 30.

“We’ve had over a dozen in-person Senate meetings, and there is some momentum on the Senate side,” said Lodriguez Murray, vice president for public policy and government affairs at the United Negro College Fund. “But it’s up to their leadership to make sure [historically black colleges] and other [minority-serving institutions] don’t fall off this fiscal cliff.”

Harry Williams, president of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, which supports public historically black colleges, called on the Senate “to follow the House’s lead and take swift action to prevent this critical funding from elapsing. We can’t allow these life-changing institutions of higher learning to go unfunded.”

The funding, established in 2008, is dedicated for schools that primarily educate minority students: tribal colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions, and historically black colleges and universities. Many schools use the money for STEM programs – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – and for scholarships and to improve facilities.

Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., introduced legislation, dubbed the FUTURE Act, that would pay for a two-year, $255 million extension of the funding by eliminating a subsidy for guaranty agencies. Those nonprofit and state agencies insure student loans under the old bank-based federal lending program, known as the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, and are paid by the federal government to maintain remaining accounts and collect on defaulted debt. The legislation would put an end to those account maintenance fees, redirecting the money to the schools over the next two years.

Industry lobbyists have panned the legislation for eliminating account maintenance fees they say guaranty agencies need so they can fund programs that help with loan rehabilitation and college access. The National Council of Higher Education Resources, a trade group that represents private lenders, loan servicers, debt collectors and loan guaranty agencies, wrote the House Education Committee this week opposing the bill.

Council president James Bergeron wrote: “If [the account maintenance fee] is eliminated . . . guaranty agencies will be unable to perform critical functions that assist borrowers in avoiding default and protect federal taxpayers as the federal legacy program continues to wind down its operations.”

Groups advocating for the minority-serving schools argue that providing money to colleges and universities with minimal resources is far more important than propping up a vestige of a defunct federal program.

“The optics of trying to defend an administrative payment to vestigial parts of a dead loan system at the expense of the most under-resourced colleges in this country is a bad look,” said Ben Miller, senior director for post-secondary education at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

On Tuesday evening, the House approved the chamber’s version of the bipartisan bill, sponsored by Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., and Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., on a voice vote. It is up to the Senate to move on the legislation, but Republican leadership so far is unwilling.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has not taken a position on the legislation.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has no plans to hold a vote on the bill. He prefers a long-term solution to be created through reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the federal law governing the sector, according to his spokesman, Taylor Haulsee.

Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act has endured fits and starts in a divided Congress, and there is no certainty Senate Republicans and Democrats can come to an agreement before Alexander is expected to retire in 2021. Advocates say the schools cannot afford to wait or to offset the funding if it dries up.

“The bottom line is they have no safety net,” Jones said in a speech on the Senate floor last week. “If they have no safety net, neither do the students that they serve.”

An estimated 20,000 letters and phone calls have been sent or made this month to spur Congress into action, through a joint campaign of the United Negro College Fund and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Williams, of the Marshall Fund, has urged President Trump to leverage his influence with Congress to pass the two-year extension bill.

Trump made no mention of the looming deadline in his speech at the HBCU Week Conference in Washington last week, much to the disappointment of some historically black college advocates. A White House spokesman said Tuesday the president “prioritizes supporting HBCUs, and we don’t want funding for them to be interrupted at all.”

The question is whether those sentiments will translate into legislative action in the Republican-controlled Senate.

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