Skip Gates Jr. Gives Spelman College Largest Donation of Books Ever Made to an HBCU

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Spelman College has received the largest single donation of books given to any historically Black college or university on record.

Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr., Ph.D., the Alphonse Fletcher University professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University, donated 13 pallets of books from his personal library to the College. The books will be housed within the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, which confirms that the gift is the largest donation of books it has ever received.

“Spelman is honored to receive such a treasure from a scholar and luminary in the fields of African and African-American studies,” said Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D. “Throughout his career, Dr. Gates has been committed to ensuring that the presence of people of African descent is not overlooked in American history. This gift continues that effort and legacy, affording our students the opportunity to study their history and engage the world of the African Diaspora.”

An accounting by Woodruff Library staff of the gift approximates 14,000 volumes. A portion of the donation, 838 titles, will be kept for the library’s circulating collection; 512 titles have been selected for Woodruff’s Archives Research Center Special Collections. The ARC collections have a primary focus on the African-American experience and include significant holdings on African and Caribbean history, politics, literature and art.  The foundation of the book holdings in the library’s special collection is from the Atlanta University Trevor Arnett Library Negro Collection, established in 1925.

“These volumes from my library can have no more meaningful home than Spelman College,” said Dr. Gates. “Generations of African-American women and men have ‘made a way out of no way,’ as we all know, and binding us together and leading us have been the strongest and most brilliant Black women, who recognized and lived the importance of education as the gateway to knowledge, opportunity and empowerment.

“I have made this donation to mark the achievements of Black women of past, present, and future generations, and specifically in honor of three generations of African-American women in own family: my mother, Pauline Augusta Coleman Gates; my daughters, Liza Gates (who studied at Spelman), and her sister, Maggie Gates; and my granddaughter, Eleanor Margaret Gates-Hatley, a future Spelman graduate, no doubt!”

A few highlights from Dr. Gates’ donation include:

  • An autographed, first edition of James Baldwin’s second play, “Blues for Mister Charlie,” first produced and published in 1964. The play was dedicated to “the memory of Medgar Evers, his widow and children, and to the memory of the dead children of Birmingham.”
  • An autographed, first edition of Wole Soyinka’s “The Interpreters,” originally published in 1965. As Soyinka’s first novel, it examines post-independence Nigeria in the 1960s. Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986.
  • A first edition of Walter Mosley’s “Devil in a Blue Dress: A Novel.” The novel won a Shamus Award in 1991 and was later adapted into a movie starring Denzel Washington, Jennifer Beals and Don Cheadle.

The added value of this collection is that it will be accessible to all students and faculty of the Atlanta University Center beginning November 1, 2018.

“We are thrilled to have received this generous donation of books from the personal library of noted scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.,” said Loretta Parham, CEO and director of the Woodruff Library.  “As a library that supports an HBCU consortium, we are grateful that Dr. Gates took into consideration the impact that this type of donation would have on Atlanta University Center students. These books will expand the library’s robust collection of materials that document the African Diaspora and will contribute to student success for years to come.”

President Campbell agrees. “Each volume possesses more than narratives within their pages, but also in their creation,” she added. “Hopefully, as students engage these literary gems, they will also be impacted by the stories of the artists and their place in American history, and motivated to be change agents in their work and lives.”

About the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
The Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library serves the nation’s largest consortium of historically black colleges and universities, which includes Clark Atlanta University, the Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College and Spelman College. As the intellectual center of this prestigious academic community, the Library’s mission is to provide the highest level of information resources and services in support of student and faculty success and the cultural preservation of the Atlanta University Center. In addition to the aesthetic benefits of this state-of-the-art facility, the Library has evolved into a model repository of information resources and a front-runner in the innovative delivery of digital resources. The AUC Woodruff Library is the winner of the 2016 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award in the university category from the Association of Collegiate and Research Libraries (ACRL). Library CEO Loretta Parham was named the ACRL 2017 Academic/Research Librarian of the Year. Additional information about the AUC Woodruff Library is available at www.auctr.edu.

About Spelman College
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,100 students. Spelman is the country’s leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The College’s status is confirmed by U.S. News and World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 61 among all liberal arts colleges and No. 1 among historically Black colleges and universities. The Wall Street Journal ranked the College No. 3, nationally, in terms of student satisfaction. Outstanding alumnae include Children’s Defense Fund Founder Marian Wright Edelman, Starbucks Group President and COO Rosalind Brewer, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna President Audrey Forbes Manley, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and author Pearl Cleage. For more information, visit www.spelman.edu.

Benedict College to Eliminate Seven Majors in Latest Big Change at College

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Benedict College will phase out majors in history, mathematics and several other fields in an effort to cut down on “unproductive” disciplines in which students don’t seem to be graduating or getting jobs.

It’s just the latest big change at the historically black college in the heart of Columbia since Dr. Roslyn Artis took over as president last year.

She’s cut tuition, raised admission standards, laid off staff and sold property in an effort to make the school more competitive and efficient. She acknowledges it’s a lot of change in a short time.

“I don’t think most people knew what to expect when this tornado touched ground,” she says, but stresses that it’s all part of a plan.

Last month she announced a record breaking year in fundraising, exceeding its overall annual philanthropic goal by 32 percent, increasing alumni gifts by 18 percent and raising more than $1 million for the fourth consecutive year.

The seven majors on the chopping block — history, religion and philosophy, sociology, political science, transportation and logistics engineering, mathematics, and economics — all have “low numbers of student enrollment, low numbers graduating, and either hard-to-discern or nonexistent data as it relates to what happens to that student when they leave here,” Artis says.

In the case of religion and philosophy, she says, only five students have graduated in that major in 10 years.

Still, it’s a bit surprising for a Baptist-affiliated college to axe its religion major.

“Eliminating the major does not eliminate the discipline,” Artis says. “We will continue to have religion and philosophy classes. We have a full-time chaplain on campus. We have chapel on Thursday, we have services on Sunday. There are lots of ways to enrich and stimulate the spiritual development of our students that doesn’t require them to major in it.”

She also notes that Morris College in Sumter, another Baptist-affiliated HBCU, has “produced the lion’s share of our Baptist clergy [in South Carolina] for many, many, many years.

“Why are we competing with them? If that is a space where they are more productive, more effective, more competitive, then we let them have that space. We’re going to be focused over here on cybersecurity and biology and engineering.”

The latest changes are part of an expanded “onboarding process” and career services that the school is working to develop, aided by a $6 million United Negro College Fund “career pathways” grant it’s sharing with two other HBCUs in South Carolina.

“We’re making sure our students are choosing fields that speak to their career strengths and not just because ‘Mom was a preacher, Dad was a preacher, now I know this is what I’m supposed to do,’” says Tondaleya Jackson, executive vice president of the Career Pathways Initiative and Service Learning at Benedict. “So we’re really having some thoughtful conversations.”

Artis says the changes are part of recognizing who attends the college.

“Our students are overwhelmingly first-generation, low-wealth students for whom education is not merely a hobby,” Artis explains. “They really must acquire hard skills necessary to help them get a job. Their families are depending on them. Unfortunately, many of them will leave with some loan debt by virtue of the inability of their families to sustain them during college, and so we’re putting forth a full court press on helping students make good decisions, helping them be placed in meaningful employment.”

Benedict and its students have struggled with student debt: At one point, in 2013, the school had a student loan default rate higher than its graduation rate of 27 percent, though its default numbers have since dropped.

The seven majors won’t be immediately slashed — current students can graduate in their declared major — but starting with the current incoming class, the school won’t accept any new students in those majors.

“We’ll retain the faculty complement necessary to complete their degree profile,” Artis says. This year, at least, “No one’s losing their job.”

Artis has done some layoffs, though. In December, she eliminated 37 staff — people who may have been necessary when the school had closer to 3,000 students, but who are no longer necessary after several years of dwindling enrollment.

After selling off the school’s three off-campus housing facilities, Artis was able to cut housing staff and campus police. And fewer students means fewer employees were needed in areas like financial aid.

Those staff cuts and property sales have saved the school $3.2 million.

But more recently, Benedict made another big change that could have affected the bottom line in the other direction: lowering tuition by $5,830, from $28,630 to $22,800 a year, to make the school more competitive.

Artis says the potential $12.8 million loss in tuition is offset by the fact that Benedict also changed its payment policies, requiring students to pay at least 90 percent of their now-lower bill to begin classes.

“If you look at what we were actually collecting, and what the students could afford to pay, we actually will be in a stronger net cash position than we were last year,” she says.

At the same time, the college raised its admission standards and capped admission.

“Historically we have been a completely open enrollment institution,” Artis says. “That’s an important mission. … But what we were seeing from the data is that students who came in with less than a 2.0 grade point average out of high school were failing about seven times more than students who had at least a 2.0.”

The school launched a summer bridge program for 47 students who were on the cusp under the new, higher admission standard, requiring them to complete two courses over the summer before they could enter this fall, says Dr. Janeen Witty, vice president of academic affairs.

For Artis, all the changes are part of her strategy to ensure the school and its students have a solid future.

“I think we’re reintroducing Benedict,” she says. “Benedict has always been a part of this community, but it’s been a while since people really took a hard look at us. They know about us, but we haven’t really gotten in there and said ‘You must invest in us — not just coexist with us, but you must invest in us.’”

WATCH: Tennessee State Aristocrat of Bands Perform With Country Music Star Keith Urban

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Tennessee State University Aristocrat of Bands Marching Band performs with country music star Keith Urban during his recent performance stop in Nashville,  August 24, 2018

WATCH: PVAMU Marching Storm’s Halftime Tribute to Aretha Franklin

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Prairie View A&M Marching Storm’s halftime tribute to Franklin, the band performed a number of her all-time great songs, including “Respect,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and “Freeway of Love.” entire halftime show Saturday at Rice Stadium in Houston.

UNCF HBCU Innovation Summit Application 2018

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All expenses are paid! Travel costs including flight, lodging, and food all covered by UNCF (United Negro College Fund)

Dates: October 10-13, 2018
Conference Hotel Address: 1800 Old Bayshore Hwy, Burlingame, CA 94010

Last year 100 students attended! This year 150 HBCU students will be selected!

Main Features of the 2018 HBCU Innovation (ICE) Summit:

  • Student Tech-Empowerment Workshops
  • Silicon Valley/Bay Area HBCU Tech Trek
  • (including Google, Adobe, eBay, Pixar, Walmart Labs, & more)
  • Technical Career Fair

Instructions

You must submit a resume in one of the following formats in order to be selected to attend the 2018 Summit

  1. Visual Software Engineer Resume
  2. Undergraduate CS Internship Resume
  3. Computer Information System Resume 
  4. Electrical Engineer & Computer Science Resume – Undergraduate– Pages 6 & 7

Familiarize yourself with a few of the tech companies we are visiting & partnering with:

Use these helpful resume tips 

To ensure you are submitting the best representation of your qualifications.

Apply Here

For questions or concerns:
Courtney Duncan
Senior Manager
courtney.duncan@uncf.org
202-810-0168

FAMU Grad Andrew Gillum Makes History With Democratic Nomination for Florida Governor

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The 2018 primary election results are in and Tallahassee, HBCU Alum, Florida A&M University Alum, Mayor Andrew Gillum has narrowly secured the Democratic nomination for Florida governor.

Gillum, who was running against multi-billionaire Jeff Greene, former Congresswoman Gwen Graham, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and a list of other Democratic candidates, received 33 percent of the votes.

The race was tight with Gillum earning only about 27,000 more votes than Graham. 

If elected in November, Gillum would be the first black governor of Florida, began his run as mayor of Tallahassee in 2014, and prides himself on his record of developing a thriving innovative economy, beating the gun lobby to protect reform and defending immigrants, according to his website.

Gillum, who lives in Tallahassee with his wife and three children, said he is running for governor because he believes Florida is in need of new and creative ways to rebuild the state’s economy, revitalize public education, protect and expand healthcare access and address the crisis of climate change.

Read more about Gillum’s history and where he stand on important issues here.

Graham, the daughter of former governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, beat Republican incumbent Steve Southerland in 2014 for Florida’s 2nd Congressional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and served in Congress until 2016, when redistricting took place.

Throughout her campaign trail and debates with other candidates, Graham has focused on cleaning up Florida’s environment, specifically its dirty waterways, improving schools, abortion rights and banning the sale of military-style assault weapons.

A Democrat has not secured a win in five straight gubernatorial elections.

Read more about Gillum’s history and where he stands on important issues here.

Orlando-area businessman Chris King also showed up on the ballot as a Democratic gubernatorial candidate and focused his campaign on progressive values. Read more about King here.

The candidate who received the highest number of votes secures the nomination in Florida partisan primary elections.

Gillum will take on Republican Ron DeSantis in the November general election.

Click here to see election results statewide.

Alabama State Football Coach Donald Hill-Eley Pursuing Football Wins, Doctorate

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Donald Hill-Eley didn’t just listen to his players when they pointed to the challenges of juggling academics and football amid Morgan State’s struggles with the NCAA’s Academic Progress rate.

He has embraced the challenges himself, leading by example off the field as well.

Now coach at Alabama State, Eley went back to school in 2013 at Morgan State to pursue a doctorate in higher education and administration. He’s hoping to finish that work in December, a rare feat for a head coach in a profession that often demands marathon days of practice, meetings and film study.

“I was like, you know what? I’m going back to school as well,” Eley said. “Once we finish practice, we eat and shower. You go to class, I go to class.

“And that continued for about two years and then when I looked up I had completed all the course work for the doctorate. Now, it’s just finding the time to finish the dissertation.”

He hopes to do that and go through a review in December, not long after also finishing his first full season as the Hornets’ head coach. Eley is studying the factors behind football players choosing to attend historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Research included sending 43-item questionnaires to the teams at Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, Norfolk State and Hampton.

Perhaps the most prominent coach/PhD: Former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, who had a doctorate in educational psychology.

Alabama State players say it makes a difference to see their coach practicing what he preaches.

“Some people like to preach and they don’t show you,” offensive lineman Tytus Howard said. “But he’s actually showing you, ‘Hey man I’m taking advantage of this myself.'”

Eley squeezes in work on his dissertation when he can, whether it’s early in the morning, late at night or at his office desk when his schedule permits.

It helps that wife Kelley, a middle school teacher, is also in the late stages of doctoral work. They’re each other’s editor and sounding board.

Kelley Eley said young athletes have taken note of the fact that her coaching husband prioritizes education not just football and that “he sees being a continual learner as a path to success.”

WATCH: This Alpha Chapter AKA Tells Us Why She Denounced Her Sorority

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25 year old Laurina Rochelle, Howard University alumna and now former member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Chapter walks us through her testimony for denouncing her organization and receiving deliverance. In this youtube post she discusses her experiences that led her up to this point and the specifics as to why she believes her organization wasn’t of God.

She goes on to say;

“I’m not here to bash anyone, but just spread the truth about greek organizations.

“I love each one of the women, I had the opportunity to meet through this organization.”

“Please remember “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

“This is a spiritual battle, my war isn’t against the person, but the spirit behind it.”

We have seen mixed responses to her testimony.

” I am definitely a believer that God will remove you from a place that isn’t for you or where you aren’t suppose to be. However, that doesn’t mean that is a “bad” place just not where he wants you to be. I hope that people don’t get your testimony confessed with a reflection of an organization or something they need to take notes on and stop them from being on the destined path. ” a comment from a member of Delta Sigma Theta.

While on the other hand,

” I am proud of her for doing what she felt the Holy Spirit was telling her to do. Many refuse to speak up on the initiation processes with some of these sororities and fraternities and how conflicting it can be with your Christian faith. Great testimony Lala 🙌🏾”

In a later video she explains her undergraduate AKA process at Howard University. She explains in this post; “This is my testimony about receiving my deliverance and understanding the character of God and the nature of who He is as Abba (Father). This process reflects nothing of Christ and I will bear truth about it”. Followed by her new recent video warning greek org pastors and ministers.

CSU Drum Major Tylor Roseberry Believes It Takes True Teamwork To Keep The IMM Legacy Alive

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Deeply inspired by the legacy of Central State University’s Invincible Marching Marauders, CSU Drum Major Tylor Roseberry said on Thursday that it takes teamwork to keep that legacy alive.

“Being a student at Central State University is whatever you make it! Some people get here, and leave after a semester/year because they couldn’t find their spot on this campus. I have experienced very few unfortunate moments while attending CSU, but none of which I allowed to push me away from what I really love which is Music and the IMM,” Roseberry said of the black university and their incredible band, recalling her time spent at CSU so far.

“My time spent only as a CSU student isn’t exactly what prepared me for my new role as Drum Major,” she said. “It was my determination in the percussion section of IMM, training, working with the Alumni Drum Majors and the amazing Alumni Band Association. All of those things combined is what prepared me to achieve my goal of becoming a CSU Drum Major.”

“I don’t believe it’s up to me to keep this legacy alive, it takes true teamwork. Between the other 2 Drum Majors, myself, and the rest of leadership, we plan to uphold the standards that were held before us. We will also continue to motivate our fellow bandsmen to be the best that they can be because WE PERFORM WITH PRIDE.”

Roseberry added that she is in fact, the second female Drum Major to leave her footprints in the sand of the Invincible Marching Marauders however, she is not the Head Drum Major of this amazing organization.

Racism Is Why Black Colleges Have To Pay More For Loans Than Other Schools

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It’s expensive to be poor. And few places in higher education feel that more acutely than historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), where endowments are typically smaller and enrollments have fluctuated wildly over the past decade.

Now, to be clear, the financial misfortune of black colleges does not rest squarely on their shoulders. Born out of necessity primarily after the Civil War to educate black people who were shut out of most other colleges, the institutions have been plagued by unequal and inadequate funding ever since. HBCUs, half of which are public, draw a lion’s share of their revenue from state and federal funding. And as states tighten their belts on higher-education spending, these institutions are struggling to come up with the funds to improve their campuses by constructing new buildings or renovating ones that have started to wear down.

But there’s a way for colleges to circumvent their funding woes to pay for campus improvements: taking on debt. But even then, the legacy of racism in the treatment of black colleges is apparent.

There are a couple of steps colleges have to go through to issue bond debt. First, they have to find a bank to buy the debt. The bank will then sell the debt to public investors. The banks are the gatekeepers, and they’re essentially signing off on the fact that the loan isn’t a scam. But the banks don’t do this for free. They typically sell the debt at a slight markup as compensation for expenses and management fees—and that ultimately falls back on the college to pay off.

A forthcoming study in the Journal of Financial Economics examines the differences in these markups for HBCUs and non-HBCUs. The researchers—Casey Dougal of Drexel University, Paul Gao of Notre Dame, William Mayew of Duke University, and Christopher Parsons of the University of Washington—used a 23-year sample of 4,145 tax-exempt municipal bonds issues issued by 965 four-year, not-for-profit colleges.

They found that black colleges pay more to issue debt. “For the typical non-HBCU, 81 cents out of every $100 raised flows to banks. The average for HBCUs is 11 points higher, at 92 cents per $100 raised.” So, for a $30 million bond issuance, a black college would pay $276,000, while a non-HBCU would pay $243,000.

Now, that doesn’t definitively mean that race is the determining factor. The hard part of the analysis, Gao told me, was figuring out whether the difference could be attributed to any factors other than black colleges’ affiliation with racial minorities. So, the researchers controlled for the bond features such as the amount raised, when the bond will be paid off, and colleges’ ability to pay early. They also looked at the quality of the bank selling the bond, as well as school metrics like enrollment, alumni-giving rates, and rankings. But even after controlling for all of these factors, black colleges still paid significantly more—16 points more than non-HBCUs.

Another possible explanation, that HBCUs have bad credit and aren’t appealing to investors, also couldn’t explain the difference. The researchers controlled for credit rating, and only looked at deals with AAA-ratings—the kind where timely repayment is essentially a given—and the difference, 16 points, remained the same.

That led the researchers to conclude that there could not be any other answer: Racism was the primary driver.

Yet another finding drove home that conclusion more clearly. “If racial animus is the primary reason why HBCU-issued bonds are harder to place,” the researchers wrote, “then these frictions should be magnified in states where anti-Black racial resentment is most severe.” And sure enough, by separating out black colleges in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, the researchers found that the markup rates for HBCUs were 30 points higher than non-HBCUs in those three states, nearly triple the 11-point difference elsewhere in the country.

Black colleges have a few options to get around this. The federal government has a program—the HBCU Capital Financing Program—that provides low-cost loans to the institutions, but it has its fair share of problems. The researchers offer a handful of policy fixes: Giving incentives to out-of-state investors for buying the bonds, or, perhaps, exempting HBCU bonds from all taxes, which would make them more appetizing for potential investors.

Whether those recommendations will be taken seriously is unclear, but what isclear is that the factors driving difficulties for black people in financial markets aren’t sparing black colleges.

NSF Gives Center For The Advancement Of STEM Leadership $9 Million Grant

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The Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership has received a $9 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities – Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP).

This will be HBCU-UP’s first Broadening Participation Research Center to conduct research on the impact of HBCU leadership to advance diversity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)

The project involves four higher education partners, including the lead institution, University of the Virgin Islands, the Fielding Graduate University, North Carolina A&T State University, and the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

“As an institution with a long history of leadership in STEM disciplines, North Carolina A&T State University is truly excited about the timely creation of this new center for STEM leadership,” said Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. in a statement.

“As we and so many of our peer institutions scale up to meet the growing national demand for highly educated, well-prepared graduates in STEM professions, the work of this center will provide meaningful support for these efforts.”

With the NSF grant, the Center will examine how leadership at historically black colleges and universities has played a role in broadening the participation of African Americans in the STEM fields.

“The future of the U.S. and world economy turns on the work that is occurring in various STEM fields, and HBCUs play a critical role in attracting, developing and inspiring future leaders in this field,” said Dr. David Hall, president of the University of the Virgin Islands.

The Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership‘s administrative offices will be housed in Washington, DC on Capitol Hill and headed by the center’s executive director Orlando Taylor, who is also Fielding’s vice president for strategic initiatives and research.

A 12-Year-Old, Benjamin Coverdale, Taking College Classes At Central State University

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WILBERFORCE — She didn’t believe him.

He was having lunch the other day at the Student Center on the Central State University campus when he said a woman who worked there approached him.

“She thought I was there because I was one of the teachers’ sons, but I told her, ‘No, I’m a student,’” Benjamin Coverdale said with a faint smile. “It took a little while to convince her of that. I don’t think she’s ever seen a college student this young before.”

But if the woman still has doubts, she just needs to drop in on a couple of classes this week as CSU begins its fall semester.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon – likely sitting up in the front row as he usually does – Coverdale will be in his Water Resources Management class. Tuesday and Thursday afternoon he’ll be in a History of Africans in the U.S. class.

Meanwhile, over at Jacob Coy Middle School in Beavercreek, Coverdale has gotten some of the same disbelief the woman showed, except it’s from a few of his fellow eighth grade students.

“Some of them didn’t believe I went to college either,” he said.

The skepticism is understandable.

There may not be another student like Coverdale in the entire Miami Valley.

He’s just 12 years old.

Thanks to College Credit Plus – a program which enables junior high and high school students in Ohio who are college ready to attend college classes for free, provided they pass admission requirements – Coverdale began taking classes at CSU last school year as a seventh grader.

He took a philosophy course in the spring and then a global history class this summer.

This fall, along with his afternoon classes at CSU, he’ll spend mornings at his middle school on Dayton Xenia Road taking honors courses, including a 10th grade geometry class.

He also trains daily with the Dayton Raiders Swim Club, where, in just a year of competitive swimming, he’s become a budding talent.

This summer he made the finals in five different events at the state Junior Olympic competition at Miami University and just two weeks ago – competing against swimmers from seven states in a Central Zones Age Group Championship at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio – he medaled in the 50 butterfly event.

“He is the true definition of a student athlete,” said his mom, Dr. Tonjia Coverdale, who is the Vice President for Information Technology and the Chief Information Officer at Central State.

While Benjamin has experienced real success in both his sports and his studies – he got As in both classes a CSU last school year and, his mom said, the top mark in the entire philosophy class – the water was initially a little rougher for him in the pool.

When he, his mom and his younger sister, Anna, moved here last summer from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands — where Tonjia has been a professor at the University of Virgin Islands and then the President and CEO of Virgin Islands Next Generation Network, a telecommunications provider — Benjamin joined the much acclaimed Dayton Raiders program.

“When he came to us a year ago, I won’t use the word terrible, but he was very, very novice,” said Raiders coach Brent Peaden.

“He wanted to swim. He wanted to be Michael Phelps and he wanted to be a gold medal Olympian blah, blah, blah, but the truth is, he wasn’t very good whatsoever.

“He’s a loving and caring kid, but he had to learn to listen and work in group settings. He’s skinny, but he’s muscular and he didn’t float very well. He was heavy in the water and we focus on children’s balance.

“We told him, ‘Look, it’s going to be a long road for you, Ben. Let’s take the tortoise approach here and not try to be the hare. Slow and steady. Don’t expect any gold medals any time soon. It might be a couple of years until you see any real success.

“But he finally bought in and since February, he’s been on a trajectory where the sky’s the limit. He had top eight finishes in Ohio in the butterfly and the freestyle. Then he gets a top eight at the Zone. The whole thing has been pretty dramatic.”

Tonjia agreed: “Coach Peaden has done an amazing job with him. He told me Benjamin is the first one of his swimmers in 20 years who went from the bottom and medaled in the Zones his first season.

“It’s really been something to see.”

Always ahead of schedule

Benjamin’s always has been an ahead-of-schedule kid.

“He was born six weeks premature and weighed like four pounds,” Tonjia said. “Seeing him so small like that gave me extra determination to do everything I could to make sure he had the same type of opportunities as everybody else.

“I made sure he went to music classes at just six weeks because I read music stimulated the brain. I knew water makes you comfortable – kind of like in utero – so we started swimming lessons for him at five months.”

She started to laugh.

“He hated them!” she said. “He’d cry and scream. He wanted nothing to do with the water. That’s why everybody is so surprised now.”

From the time Benjamin was little, Tonjia said she tried to “nurture his curiosity.”

She and Greg, her husband at the time – the couple has since divorced and he lives in Delaware, though, she said. they continue to “co-parent” their two children – both have a strong appreciation of education and passed it on to their children, each of whom is now a standout in the classroom.

Tonjia had taken a similar tact growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y. She finished high school at 16 and graduated summa cum laude from Morgan State University in Baltimore. She got her MBA at Georgia State and her PhD in business administration back at Morgan State.

After working as an instructor there, she became a professor at Delaware State and the University of Virgin Islands, where she taught computer information services.

Early on she said she could tell her son was “intellectually advanced.”

Omarosa Talks About Nearly Everthing In Interview With Jamal Simmons, Including Central State And Howard

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OMG 😮 #OmarosaManigaultNewman sat down with Hill.TV correspondent #JamalSimmons to discuss her remarkable life and her extraordinary time in the White House as one of President #DonaldTrump‘s top aides. During the extensive interview #Omarosa reveals that former White House communications director #HopeHicks was a low IQ airhead who knew NOTHING about politics and was selected by #Trump solely because of her looks  😮

Virginia State Alum Wale Travels Through History With His Queen In ‘Black Bonnie’ Video: Watch

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Wale works a Bonnie-and-Clyde narrative into his progressive black love storyline in “Black Bonnie.” The Yasha Gruben-directed clip starts with a simple statement — “Beside every good man, is a great woman” — before casting Ashley Blaine Featherson (Joelle Brooks from Netflix’s Dear White People) as the title lady.

The video starts in Africa, where Wale and Featherson are waited on like king and queen. The couple trade in their indigenous, embellished garb for leather coats and berets as they fast-forward to the 1970s in America as members of the Black Panther Party. Where the first setting made them feel straight out of the Black Panther film, Wale and Featherson are depicted as icons of the political movement in the ’70s. Spray-painted black fists in the air and secret meetings to plot their revolution set the backdrop for this moment in their journey as lovers.

Wale puts his trust in her as the FBI breaks down the door of their hideout, singing, “She tell me I got you, I trust her intuition,” as she leads him out the back. Jacquees, although not present in the music video, croons over the chorus, emphasizing that being on the run doesn’t mean they can’t “still chase our dreams.” It’s a romance depicted throughout black history, telling the story of being in love while living in a life-threatening time.

Nonviolent protests turn into kids playing with water guns, as Wale travels to the ’90s and still kicks it with the same girl. As he calls her from outside her apartment to pick her up, the police pull up behind the rapper’s red Mustang convertible. From a single fist up to both hands raised in the air, Wale’s defense is the same — as it has been for African-Americans throughout the history he depicts in just four minutes.

With cassettes in his bag, the police leave the Black Clyde to his Black Bonnie. The video cuts to a collage of their historic times together — clinking gold chalices in the motherland, fighting oppression and hugging in his car — as he sees Bonnie “as his best friend, confidant and co-defender.”

In present time, Wale approaches the actress and tells her she looks familiar, a feeling she reciprocates. If the ancient love has dissipated, the modern connection is only beginning. “Clyde,” he introduces himself. “Bonnie.”

Watch the full music video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmR47_vyD2w&feature=youtu.be

NBA Legend Isiah Thomas Partners With Florida Memorial University On ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice’ Initiative

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Former NBA player Isiah Thomas will partner with Miami Gardens’ Florida Memorial University to encourage athletes, entertainers and other success stories to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The initiative will be called “Lift Ev’ry Voice,” which is named after the song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” that is often referred to as the “Black National Anthem.”

Thomas will launch the initiative on Tuesday along with FMU Interim President Dr. Jaffus Hardrick. FMU said in a statement that “Lift Ev’ry Voice” is “intended to inspire successful athletes, entertainers and other influential partners to re-commit, embrace and support Historically Black Colleges and Universities.”

Thomas, a two-time NBA champion, was drafted in 1981 by the Detroit Pistons – where remained for his 13-season career as a player. He would later become an NBA and college basketball coach, spending time at Florida International University.

FMU will also appoint a new head coach for its men’s basketball team on Tuesday.

#OntheHunt The Predator HBCU Contest

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20th Century Fox & HBCU Buzz have teamed up in the #OntheHunt HBCU Contest. (1) Lucky campuses will win a free THE Predator movie screening for their campus and watch the film before anyone else.
RULES
  • The contest will start Aug 20th and will end Sept 4th.
  • You can vote for your campus once every (5) hours.
  • The top campus with the most votes and social media posts will win!
  • Social Media posts must include the hashtag #OnTheHunt and Tag @hbcubuzz
  • After you vote, use the share buttons below get your campus engaged.

[polldaddy poll=10085933]

 

THE PREDATOR

From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black’s explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, the universe’s most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a young boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.

Good luck and stay tuned to find out who wins!