The National Association of Black Journalist held its annual conference over the weekend of April 5 – April 7. Representing Alcorn State University were Mass Communication Students Ren’essa Maulseed, Jazmin Green, Majesty Ferguson, and RaShunda Veals.

The conference is dedicated to helping minority groups that educate its patrons about the world of journalism.

“The conference consisted of two days,” said Majesty Ferguson a junior mass communication student. “Both had different sessions focused on different aspects within media and journalism.”

With media and journalism being a constant within the field, one could assume that the students were in for an interesting weekend. That assumption would be correct. “I learned different ways to perfect my craft and content,” said Ferguson. “The different sessions offered at the conference showed us how to utilize tools, apps, and much more of our writing and content.”

One of the more important lessons taught there was the business aspect of media. The event also had a segment dedicated to reading and understanding contracts.

“It’s important to know what you’re signing before you end up in a contract that makes you unhappy,” said Ferguson.

Over the course of two days, students and even faculty alike were given a crash course in the philosophy of journalism. With the lessons taught during the short weekend, the participants will be looking to take those teachings and translate them at Alcorn and elsewhere.

Courtesy: Alcorn State University

HOUSTON (April 11, 2019) –Texas Southern University’s Office of Procurement is exceeding state goals while working with Historically Underutilized Businesses. As a state agency, TSU is required to have a HUB program that facilitates the continued growth and usage of HUBs.

“The TSU HUB Program has made great strides with our outreach efforts,” said Kisten Rhodes, senior buyer, and HUB coordinator. “As the HUB coordinator, it has been my goal to become more visible in the community, begin the dialogue and establish community alliances.” 

TSU has consistently ranked among the top state agencies who spend the most money with HUBs for the last several years. Tasked by the Statewide Procurement Division (SPD), the HUB Program must report the expenditures made by state agencies and institutions of higher education. By using the HUB Report, agencies can track their expenditures and utilize it as a benchmarking tool to meet or exceed their HUB utilization in each of the following categories: heavy construction, building construction, special trade construction, professional services, other services, and commodity purchasing.

Over five years, TSU has surpassed HUB spending goals in the following areas:

•    Fiscal 2018 – Specialty Trades and Commodities

•    Fiscal 2017 – Building-Construction and Commodities 

•    Fiscal 2016 – Heavy-Construction, Building-Construction, Specialty-Trades and Commodities

•    Fiscal 2015 – Commodities 

•    Fiscal 2014 – Building-Construction and Commodities 

TSU’s HUB Program is the recipient of many accolades including the 2019 Supplier Diversity Champion Award, 2018 Excellence in HUB Dedication Award and the Community Outreach Award for Career Exploration. In October of 2018, the office had its first editorial feature in Subcontractor’s USA Trade Journal, which assisted in exposure and getting the word out about how the university serves underutilized businesses.

“It is important for TSU to work with HUB vendors, not only because we are an HBCU; however, we need to continue the legacy of entrepreneurship and investment in our community,” said Rhodes, “We need to show our support to those that support us.” 

ABOUT TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

Texas Southern University (TSU) honors our designation as a special-purpose institution for urban programming and research. TSU is a comprehensive university providing higher education access to the nation’s underserved communities. TSU’s academic and research programs address critical urban issues, and prepares its diverse student population to become a force for positive change in a global society. TSU offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs and concentrations – bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and professional degrees – organized into 10 colleges and schools on a 150-acre campus nestled in the heart of Houston’s historic Third Ward. The University’s enrollment has a population of more than 9,700 undergraduate and graduate-school academic candidates. Texas Southern has been a distinguished educational pioneer since 1927, and the University has become one of the most diverse and respected institutions in Texas. TSU has positioned itself as a proactive leader in educating underserved students and many who are the first in their family to attend college.

We buy what we value. Even during those times when our resources are meager, we find a way to buy what we want. We cherish what we respect, we guard, protect and defend those people, places and things that give our lives love, meaning and purpose. We make important decisions about our lives based on how we spend our money and distribute our resources.

The Wilberforce Unite Campaign (www.wilberforceunite.com) is about much more than giving to Wilberforce University. To be sure, that is an important and essential goal, but there are other considerations. We have the capacity to build a first-rate Wilberforce University with an uncompromising commitment to excellence, high performance and innovation. We need only look back at Wilberforce’s history and the accomplishments of past Wilberforceans to look forward and imagine a future that is formidable and possible. We have but two choices; we can allow the naysayers to spew their negativity about what we cannot do, or we can collectively commit to facing our challenges together with determination and certainty and show the world what we can do. We are Wilberforce!

#WilberforceUnite

The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Pastor, and Social Justice Advocate

WILBERFORCE, Ohio – The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, a pastor, social justice advocate, author, former president of the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP, and a 2018 MacArthur Fellow, will deliver the Central State University 2019 Commencement address. Approximately 200 diplomas will be awarded during the ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 4, at the Dayton Convention Center.

Barber is a contributing op-ed writer for The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, and The Washington Post. Barber is also a 2018 MacArthur Fellow. 

Central State University is pleased to announce Barber as the Central State University 2019 Commencement feature speaker. Barber is a distinguished author and social justice advocate, has built a national grassroots movement, that crosses race, gender, age, and class lines to address poverty, inequality, and systemic racism. He is a phenomenal orator whose work and ideas inspire and motivate the nation to the greater good.

As pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina (since 1993), and president of the North Carolina conference of the NAACP (2005–2017), Barber approaches social justice through the lens of the ethical and moral treatment of people as laid out in the Christian Bible, the Reconstruction and civil rights movements of the South, and the United States Constitution.

When his work to expand voting rights, healthcare, living wages, immigrant rights, public education, and LGBTQ rights was thwarted by opposing groups and lawmakers in North Carolina, Barber began a series of “Moral Monday” rallies outside of the statehouse in Raleigh to protest laws that suppressed voter turnout, cut funding for public education, healthcare, and further disenfranchised poor white, black, First Nations, and LGBTQ communities. The Moral Mondays rallies and associated nonviolent acts of civil disobedience grew to involve tens of thousands of participants across North Carolina and spread to states across the South. The movement waged successful legal challenges to voter suppression and racial gerrymandering, winning twice at the Supreme Court.

William Barber received a B.A. (1985), from North Carolina Central University, an M.Div. (1989), from Duke University, and a D.Min. (2003), from Drew University. He has also received seven Honorary Doctorates. He is also a distinguished visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary. Barber’s publications include the co-authored books Forward Together: A Moral Message for the Nation (2014), The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement (2016), and Revive Us Again: Vision and Action in Moral Organizing (2018). He also is a contributing op-ed writer for The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, and The Washington Post. Barber is a 2018 MacArthur Fellow, 2018 Tar Heel of the Year, an Auburn Seminary Senior Fellow, and holds the Visiting Social Justice Chair at St. John’s University.

About Central State University:

Central State University, located in Wilberforce, Ohio, is a regionally accredited 1890 Land-Grant University with a 132-year tradition of preparing students from diverse backgrounds and experiences for leadership, research and service. The University, which has been named 2017 HBCU of the Year byHBCU Digest, fosters academic excellence within a nurturing environment and provides a strong liberal arts foundation and STEM-Ag curriculum leading to professional careers and advanced studies globally.

NORFOLK, Va. – CollegeInsider announced on Friday its recipients for several national coaching awards, and Norfolk State head men’s basketball coach Robert Jones beat out 24 other finalists to take home one of those honors; the organization announced that Jones has been named the winner of the 2019 Skip Prosser Award.

The award is named for former Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser, who died suddenly in 2007. It is presented annually to a Division I coach who not only achieves success on the court, but also displays moral integrity off of it.

It marks Jones’ third award this year, along with the MEAC Coach of the Year and the NABC District 15 Coach of the Year awards. This year marked the first time he was nominated for the Skip Prosser Award.

Jones was also a finalist for the Hugh Durham and Ben Jobe awards this year, presented by CollegeInsider. It marked his fourth nomination for the Ben Jobe Award, presented annually to the top minority coach in D-I basketball. It was his first nomination for the Hugh Durham Award, presented to the top mid-major coach in D-I.

The Spartans finished 22-14 overall this year, capturing the MEAC regular-season title at 14-2. They advanced to the second round of the NIT after upsetting No. 1 seed Alabama in the first round.

Courtesy: MEAC Sports