North Dakota beats Mississippi Valley State, 35-7

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GRAND FORKS, ND – The Vincent Dancy era began for Mississippi Valley State football team on Thursday night, but a slow start, an imbalance in the running attack and a couple of costly turnovers did in the Delta Devils as it dropped its season opener 35-7 against North Dakota at the indoors Alerus Center.

Facing an early 21-0 deficit, Mississippi Valley State got the board with an eight-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by a Demarcus Frazier 29-yard touchdown reception from Christopher Fowler with 1:37 remaining in the second quarter.

The Fighting Hawks, who are a Division I independent team in the FCS, responded with a third-quarter score on a 16-yard Luke Fielder touchdown from Nate Ketteringham. In the fourth quarter, junior running back James Johannesson added a seven-yard rushing touchdown with 7:50 left. The junior added 225 yards and three touchdowns through the air, completing 19 passes on just 30 attempts. Ketteringham’s 40-yard strike to Travis Toivonen capped off the opening drive of the game and gave North Dakota the lead for good.

Fowler completed 22-of-39 passes for 263 yards with one touchdown and did not throw an interception. The sophomore from Apache Junction, AZ finished with a strong quarterback rating of 121.5, but was hampered by pressure as he took seven sacks on the night. Senior wide receiver Steven McIntosh reeled in seven catches for 103 yards.

On defense, junior linebacker Tracey Thompkins made a team-leading 13 tackles.

 

Savannah State Tigers Lose to UAB in Season Opener, 52-0

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- Savannah State opened their 2018 football season with a 52-0 loss to Alabama-Birmingham in a game played at Legion Field.

The crowd of 27,124 saw the Blazers score on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Chris Woolbright returned a interception 34 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter as UAB rattled off 21 points as they took a 28-0 lead into the half.

UAB added ten more points in the third quarter as they expanded their lead to 38-0. The final quarter saw the Blazers add two more touchdowns as they took a 52-0 advantage with 3:23 remaining.

Savannah State ended the contest with 178 offensive yards while picking up 12 first downs.

The Tigers (0-1) only crossed midfield twice during the game. Their best drive took place in the final quarter when they used nine players to drive from their own 25 to the UAB 42

Rashad Saxton ran for 46 yards while Jaylen McCloud added 43 and D’vonn Gibbons had 40. Gibbons completed one of nine passes for 23 yards which was caught by D’Andre Snead.

Defensively, John Wilson had a interception while Isaiah Bennett and Mulik Simmons both had nine tackles.

The Blazers (1-0) rolled up 548 yards of offense while making 36 first downs.

Spencer Brown ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, A. J. Erdley completed 22 of 28 passes for 228 yards and Collin Lisa caught ten passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.

Kris Moll paced the defense with five tackles.

Savannah State Volleyball Drops Two Matches Friday

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MIAMI, Fla.  – Sophomore middle blocker Tyran Chenault led the Savannah State University women’s volleyball team with 13 kills in two matches as the Lady Tigers (0-4) fell to University of Delaware 3-0 (9-25, 10-25, 18-25) and to Chicago State University (18-25, 25-16, 13-25, 8-25) Friday.

Chenault also led the team with four blocks, while sophomore middle blocker Oneillia Fuller added 11 kills and three blocks and freshman setter Ashley Jordan recorded 10 kills, 18 assists and nine digs.

Junior libero Liz Domary Ortiz Munoz led the team with 26 digs, while freshman outside hitter Norian Ceballos Plaza recorded nine kills and five digs and freshman outside hitter Katelyn Atchison recorded seven kills and five digs.

Delaware State 3, Savannah State 0
Chenault and Jordan led the Lady Tigers with four kills each, while Jordan added four assists. Fuller recorded three kills, while sophomore setter Salma Mia Gonzalez Sosa led the team with 10 assists and Ortiz Munoz recorded eight digs.

Both teams started the first set scoring two points, but Delaware outscored SSU 23-7 during the rest of the set to win the set and to take a 1-0 match lead.

The Blue Hens scored seven of the first eight points to start the second frame, but the Lady Tigers scored the next three points to cut the lead to three points, 7-4.  Delaware scored nine of the next 11 points to increase the lead to 10 points, 16-6, forcing a Savannah State timeout.

After the timeout, the Lady Tigers scored the next three points to cut the lead to seven points, 16-9, but Delaware scored nine of the final 10 points to win the set and to take a 2-0 match lead.

Delaware scored 21 of the first 31 points to take an 11-point lead, 21-10, but the Lady Tigers scored the next five points to cut the lead to six points, 21-15.  Both teams scored three points each as the Blue Hens won the set and the match.

The Blue Hens were led by Cailey Bracken with eight kills, Courtnie Roberts with 28 assists and Andie Hanus with 19 digs.

Chicago State 3, Savannah State 1
Chenault led the team with nine kills and recorded a .261 hitting percentage with three blocks, while Ceballos Plaza and Fuller each recorded eight kills.  Fuller recorded two solo blocks.  Gonzalez Sosa led the team with 17 assists and added six digs, while Jordan recorded 14 assists, six kills, seven digs and two blocks and Ortiz Munoz led the team with 18 digs.

The Lady Tigers scored the first two points of the first set to take a 2-0 lead, but Chicago State scored nine of the next 11 points to take a five-point lead, 9-4.  CSU scored eight of the next 15 points to increase the lead to six points, 17-11, but Savannah State scored the next three points to cut the lead to three points, 17-14.  CSU scored eight of the final 12 points to win the set and to take a 1-0 match lead.

Savannah State scored the first four points of the second stanza, but Chicago State scored four of the next five points to cut the lead to a point, 5-4.  The Lady Tigers scored seven of the next nine points to increase the lead to six points, 12-6, but CSU scored four of the next seven points to cut the lead to five points, 15-10.

With Ortiz Munoz serving, the Lady Tigers scored the next four points to increase the lead to nine points, 19-10, in the third frame, but CSU scored four of the next five points to cut the lead to six points, 20-14.  Savannah State scored five of the final seven points to win the set and to tie the match at one.

The Lady Tigers scored four of the first nine points to take a point lead, 5-4, but Chicago State scored 21 of the final 29 points to win the set and to take a 2-1 match lead.

Chicago State scored three of the first four points in the final set to take a two-point lead, 3-1, but the Lady Tigers scored the next three points to take a point lead, 4-3.  CSU scored 21 of the final 26 points to win the set and to win the match.

The Cougars were led by Beatriz Palmieri and Lauryn Dela Cruz with 12 kills each, Ludmila Bomfim with 20 assists and Megan Klavitter with 16 digs.

The Lady Tigers continue the roadstand with a trip to Miami, Fla., for three matches this weekend.  SSU starts with host Florida International University Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Friday with the University of Delaware at 9:30 a.m. and Chicago State University at 3:30 p.m.

Savannah State then returns home to host The Citadel Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m.

Short Box Score (Match)
2017 Savannah State Volleyball
DELAWARE vs SSU (Aug 31, 2018 at Miami, Fla.)

DELAWARE def. SSU 25-9,25-10,25-18

DELAWARE (3-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Bracken, Cailey 8-6-0; Pearlman,
Bailey 7-0-0; Hayes, Julia 7-0-0; Bellinger, Maria 5-1-1;
Vukosavljevic, Sonja 2-1-3; Robertson, Brooke 2-0-0; Roberts, Courtnie
1-1-4; Underwood, Grace 1-2-2; Hanus, Andie 1-2-0; Totals 34-13-5.0.
(Assists) – Roberts, Courtnie 28. (Dig leaders) – Hanus, Andie 19;
Bellinger, Maria 3

SSU (0-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) – CHENAULT,Tyran 4-0-1; JORDAN,Ashley
4-0-0; FULLER,Oneillia 3-0-1; ATCHISON,Katelyn 2-0-0; CEBALLOS
PLAZA,Noria 1-0-0; GONZALEZ,Salma 1-1-0; BROWN,Jeilyn 1-0-0;
SCOTT,Jamese 1-0-1; Totals 17-1-2.0. (Assists) – GONZALEZ,Salma 10.
(Dig leaders) – ORTIZ MUNOZ,Liz 8; CEBALLOS PLAZA,Noria 4

Site: Miami, Fla. (Ocean Bank)
Date: Aug 31, 2018   Attend: 53   Time: 1:08
Referees:

Short Box Score (Match)
2017 Savannah State Volleyball
SSU vs CSU (Aug 31, 2018 at Miami, Fla.)

CSU def. SSU 25-18,16-25,25-13,25-8

SSU (0-4) (Kills-aces-blocks) – CHENAULT,Tyran 9-0-3; FULLER,Oneillia
8-0-2; CEBALLOS PLAZA,Noria 8-0-0; JORDAN,Ashley 6-0-2;
ATCHISON,Katelyn 5-0-0; GONZALEZ,Salma 3-2-0; MELENDEZ,Leiri 0-1-0;
ORTIZ MUNOZ,Liz 0-1-0; Totals 39-4-5.0. (Assists) – GONZALEZ,Salma 17;
JORDAN,Ashley 14. (Dig leaders) – ORTIZ MUNOZ,Liz 18; JORDAN,Ashley 7

CSU (2-4) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Dela Cruz, Lauryn 12-1-0; Palmieri,
Beatriz 12-2-0; Williams-Shephard,K. 5-0-2; Farris, Summer 5-0-3;
DeSantis, Autumn 4-0-1; Asprilla, Karen 4-0-0; Malec, Kayla 3-0-1;
Pearl, Gabby 2-0-3; Klavitter, Megan 2-3-0; Cliff, Alexandria 1-0-2;
Adams, Lacee 0-3-0; Bomfim, Ludmila 0-1-0; Totals 50-10-6.0. (Assists)
– Bomfim, Ludmila 20; Adams, Lacee 18. (Dig leaders) – Klavitter,
Megan 16; Dela Cruz, Lauryn 8; Bomfim, Ludmila 8; Palmieri, Beatriz 8

Site: Miami, Fla. (Ocean Bank)
Date: Aug 31, 2018   Attend: 37   Time: 1:19
Referees:

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Man Arrested, Charged With Murder In NCAT Party Shooting From 2016

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Police announced an arrest in the 2016 killing of two North Carolina A&T State University students, who police say were “innocent bystanders” to a fight that broke out at a party.

Lawrence Jacques Baird

Lawrence Jacques Baird, 27, of Greensboro, was arrested at his home Tuesday and charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of 21-year-old Ahmad Campbell and 19-year old Alisia Dieudonne.

He is also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, discharging a firearm into an occupied property and probation violation, according to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office.

He was given a $4 million bond during his court appearance Friday.

Dieudonne, a sophomore from Illinois, was studying computer science at NC A&T. Campbell, a junior North Carolina-native, was studying agriculture and environmental science systems.

It’s been nearly two years since Campbell and Dieudonne were shot and killed at an off-campus party on Circle Drive on Oct. 2, 2016.

Greensboro Police Chief Wayne Scott said Friday, “This case has been an extremely difficult one for our community, for the families. It has taken literally hundreds of thousands of hours of police work to reach the point that we’ve made this arrest. I think it is a point of closure for many of those involved.”

The aunt of Dieudonne was wiping away tears when FOX8 spoke with her Friday. She said this doesn’t bring her niece back but that today is a good day.

On the day of the shooting at about 2 a.m., police responded to a disturbance at a party being held at 911 Circle Drive.

Upon arrival, officers located Dieudonne and Campbell suffering from gunshot wounds. They were taken to the hospital where they were pronounced deceased.

The university released this statement Friday:

“The North Carolina A&T community is relieved to know that an arrest has been made in the murders of Ahmad Campbell and Alisha Dieudonne. Our hearts go out to the families of Alisha and Ahmad. They have suffered unimaginably over the past 22 months. This has been a painful ordeal for the A&T community, as well. We hope this arrest brings some measure of closure to all who knew Alisha and Ahmad, and we remain hopeful that justice will be delivered in this case. Finally, we offer our sincere thanks to members of the Greensboro Police Department for their diligence and commitment to this case.”

Feds Impose Aid Restrictions on Howard University

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One of the country’s most prominent historically black universities learned this month that it is now subject to one of the Education Department’s strictest forms of financial limitation.
Howard University landed on the list of institutions subject to heightened cash monitoring 2, a status that means it can receive federal funding only after it has disbursed financial aid to students. That doesn’t necessarily create a crisis for Howard, but it could generate more financial instability at an institution that has struggled in recent years with budget and financial issues.

The cash monitoring sanctions can be triggered by a number of situations, such as troubles with accreditation, late filing of financial statements or concerns about an institution’s financial responsibility.

Howard faced an embarrassing financial aid scandal last spring — the university fired six employees in its financial office for fraud, which was discovered via an internal investigation begun in 2016. Social media posts detailing the misappropriation of funds led to campus protests by students demanding answers from the university.

In a letter to university students and employees this week, Howard president Wayne Frederick indicated that the federal sanctions, which were first reported by The Washington Post, resulted from an inquiry that began after those issues became public.
In a statement, Frederick said the university has made serious reforms and improved oversight of its financial aid office.

“The university will continue to partner with Financial Aid Services, and work closely with the Department of Education, to ensure Howard students receive best in class service in the administration of financial aid,” he said. “It is important to note that we are taking all necessary measures to avoid any adverse impact to students in the processing of aid and receipt of funds. The entire cabinet and I remain focused on ensuring Howard’s future remains bright and the institution is led with transparency and accountability.”

In a letter to Howard announcing the decision this month, the Education Department said only that its action arose from “serious administrative capability issues” found in the university’s compliance audits for the 2015 through 2017 award years and in a May 2018 program review. Among those issues were a lack of internal controls and failure to make sure students were actually eligible for Title IV funds.

The department’s letter said the university would receive a more detailed outline of problems identified and be given a chance to respond. (That report has not yet been sent to Howard.)
The most recent publicly available data on cash monitoring sanctions included nearly 550 colleges, most of those subject to a less severe form of cash monitoring. Three other historically black colleges appear on the list of institutions subject to HCM2 — Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and Arkansas Baptist College for administrative capability issues, and Wiley College in Marshall, Tex., for program review findings.

While Wiley was a new addition to the list, Cheyney and Arkansas Baptist have been subject to the heightened cash monitoring sanction for multiple years.

Robert Kelchen, an assistant professor of higher education at Seton Hall University, said the sanctions should be a significant concern at Howard.

“This has the potential to cause financial stability issues or at least potentially force Howard to access a line of credit to help cover the delay in receiving federal funds,” he said.

But even though the university’s timeline for getting off heightened cash monitoring is unclear, Kelchen said Howard can still expect to be paid back by the federal government for student aid. Special federal funding Howard receives as an HBCU could also blunt the impact of the sanctions. And if the university runs into serious challenges, politics could be a factor as well.

“If Howard begins to struggle financially, I would expect members of Congress to pressure the department to help it get off HCM2 more quickly,” he said.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Leadership Donates Over $100,000 in Support of HBCUs

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(August 26, 2018 – Chicago, IL) Dr. Glenda Glover, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated™ International President announced that members of the sorority donated and pledged over $100,000 in support of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) during a mass committee planning meeting of more than 400 leaders. HBCU for Life: A Call to Action is one of the initiatives Dr. Glover has instituted to promote, market, and sustain HBCUs.

“Under my administration, I have charged all members of Alpha Kappa Alpha to recognize the important role that HBCUs have played in educating young people, and why we must keep them afloat at a time when they face funding obstacles. I am grateful that key members attending our meetings today are leading by example and have made this significant donation,” said Dr. Glover.

Recently installed as the International President of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Dr. Glover is also the President of Tennessee State University, an HBCU.

The donated funds will be earmarked for the HBCU Endowment Initiative in Alpha Kappa Alpha™ Educational Advancement Foundation.

Watch: 5TH Quarter Battle At The HBCU Dance Affair NOLA

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Dancers from Alabama State University, Alcorn State University, Jackson State University and Southern University gives us a 5th Quarter Battle at the HBCU Dance Affair NOLA 2.0

JSU Alum Cornell William Brooks Receives Harvard Kennedy School Appointment

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Cornell William Brooks, former president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), civil rights attorney, and ordained minister has joined Harvard Kennedy School as professor of the practice of public leadership and social justice. He is the first leader of a national civil rights organization to join the Kennedy School’s senior faculty.

Brooks will teach courses, advise students, and launch and direct The William Monroe Trotter Collaborative for Social Justice at the School’s Center for Public Leadership. He will also be a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School.

“We are delighted that Cornell William Brooks will bring his unique background in civil rights law, policy and activism to the Kennedy School,” said Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf. “The William Monroe Trotter Collaborative for Social Justice will be a focal point for students and faculty from across Harvard University who are interested in teaching, research, and achieving excellence in the practice of social justice. Under Cornell’s guidance—and drawing upon his experience and knowledge—we expect the collaborative to have a transformational impact on our ability to prepare students to be leaders in public service and social justice.”

The vision for the Trotter Social Justice Collaborative is that it will promote excellence in the practice of social justice by supporting applied research and the use of evidence in advocacy and activism. The collaborative will connect faculty, students, scholars, practitioners, nonprofit institutions, and institutions of faith—providing research and field-based learning opportunities to faculty and students, and providing leaders of local and national organizations with ideas, policy expertise, and best practices to maximize their impact on social justice. Thus, the collaborative will serve as a public policy and public leadership clinic for social justice. The collaborative honors the legacy of William Monroe Trotter, the first African-American Phi Beta Kappa graduate  of Harvard, founder of the Niagara Movement, founding influence of the NAACP, and a pioneering activist.

Read More via Jackson State University

Fayetteville INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine’s 2018 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award

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Fayetteville State University (FSU) received the 2018 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine for its AGORA Program, managed by FSU’s Center for Defense and Homeland Security (CDHS).  

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine is the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. The Inspiring Programs in STEM Award honors colleges and universities that encourage and assist students from underrepresented groups to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Fayetteville State University’s AGORA Program will be featured, along with 77 other recipients, in the September 2018 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

Inspiring Programs in STEM Award winners were selected based on efforts to inspire and encourage a new generation of young people to consider careers in STEM through mentoring, teaching, research, and successful programs and initiatives.

“The AGORA Project is an innovative and dynamic STEM enrichment program for underserved, underrepresented and minority high school students in grades 9 – 12” says Mr. John Bellamy, Interim Executive Director for the CDHS.  “The program serves as a Pipeline for students to learn the technical skills required for entry into institutions of higher learning for additional training and education to fill critical gaps needed in the STEM workforce. Students receive hands-on training in state-of-the-art classrooms and labs at Fayetteville State University, a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). The work that the students, mentors and instructors have put into this program over the past 4 years has been exceptional.”

NSIGHT Into Diversity magazine selected FSU’s AGORA Program because of its dynamic course content, where Master STEM Instructors deliver a host of training programs ranging from computer basics, Introduction to Python, Robotics, C++, Fundamentals in 3-D Printing, Cybersecurity basics, and more. AGORA students are comprised of a very diverse group of young men and women from underserved communities who are given the chance to excel in areas that are typically not offered in rural and impoverished school communities.

Read full via FSUNews

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.