Norfolk State University Professor Assaulted By Masked Man During Class

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on

NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — Norfolk State University Police are investigating an assault on campus.

NSU spokesperson Stan Donaldson says a professor was assaulted while he was taking attendance in class. Donaldson says a masked man barged into the classroom and pushed the professor to the ground.

13News Now has learned the professor is the Interim Dean of the Business School. A source says another student unsuccessfully ran after the suspect in hopes of tracking him down.

It happened around 5 p.m. Wednesday at Brown Hall. Police are going through surveillance videos on campus, to see if they can identify the suspect. At this time, they do not know if the suspect is a student or not.

The professor was unharmed, and police believe it was an isolated incident. The suspect was last seen wearing a white mask and dark clothing, and heading east, toward the West Cafe. Few other suspect description details were released.

It’s unclear what led to the attack.

If you know anything, you’re asked to call NSU police at 757-823-8102 or 757-823-9000.

563be31e9dc17.image

Miles College Wins 2015 SIAC Football Championship

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
rp_primary_IMG_3685MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Miles head coach Reginald Ruffin has been looking for his team to play a complete game all season long. In the most important game of the season, the Golden Bears finally delivered.

Cedric Poole returned the opening kickoff 90 yards to set up a score, running back Jamarcus Nanceran for a career-high 145 yards and two touchdowns and the defense harassed Albany State quarterback Caleb Edmonds all night en route to a 20-7 victory in the SIAC Championship Game.

The win was the sixth straight for Miles (7-4), which avenged a 29-16 loss to the Golden Rams (6-4) on Oct. 3 and secured the second league title for the Golden Bears and first since 2011.

“We stalled a little bit offensively and our defense bent but they didn’t break,” said head coach Reginald Ruffin. “We came up with the big plays when we needed to. The resiliency that these guys have. They never gave up and that’s so important.”

Miles may have received a little help from the officials early in the game. After Miles had taken a 10-0 in the first quarter 20-yard field goal and 2-yard scoring run from Nance, Edmonds broke free down the sideline on the first play of the second quarter and appeared to have scored on a 25-yard run. The officials, though, ruled he was out at the 1-yard line – a yard Albany State would never get.

After three tries to punch it in, the golden Rams settled for a field goal attempt that missed right.

“We feed off the defense. They had a tremendous effort. They just kept stopping them and kept stopping them,” Nance said. “Then, they’d come to the sideline and get us up. We just all came together as a team, which was our goal from the very beginning.”

Read full via Miles College

Delaware State University Neuroscience Program Receives $535,000 Grant

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
Harrington y Temburni 900x410Dr. Melissa Harrington and Dr. Murali Temburni have been awarded a five-year, $535,000 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to establish an undergraduate research program in neuroscience.

The summer program, offered in partnership with the DSU-headquartered Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research, will be focused on recruiting undergraduates from underrepresented groups and integrating them into a vibrant community of neuroscience researchers across the state of Delaware.

Each year, 12 undergraduate students from Delaware State University, Delaware Technical and Community College and Wesley College will spend 10 weeks over the summer carrying out neuroscience research with faculty researchers at DSU, the University of Delaware and the Nemours, A.I. duPont Hospital for Children. The students will also have the opportunity to travel to present their research at a national conference such as the Annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience or the Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM, an undergraduate research conference sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as the Delaware Neuroscience Symposium.

Dr. Harrington, the principal investigator of the grant, said that it is documented that the best way to get students excited about science and focused on becoming part of the next generation of scientific researchers is to give them hands-on experience  working in a research lab tackling a real scientific problem.

Read Full via Delaware State

NCAT 27-6 Win Over Delaware State Clinches Share of MEAC Football Title

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
YPRQGILFZBOIMZZ.20151115015106
GREENSBORO – Here they are again. Thanks to a 27-6 win over Delaware State Saturday afternoon at Aggie Stadium, No. 14 North Carolina A&T (9-1, 7-0 MEAC) clinched at least a share of the MEAC football title a week before the regular-season finale. It marks the Aggies first back-to-back MEAC title since the 1991 and ‘92 seasons.

But also like last season, the team standing in the way of the Aggies and the outright MEAC title is arch-rival N.C. Central. The Eagles (7-3, 6-1 MEAC) head into Aggie Stadium next week looking for a portion of what the Aggies already have, a piece of the MEAC championship. That’s what the Eagles did to the Aggies last season when they won 21-14 in Durham. As a result, all of N.C. A&T’s marketing pieces read #unfinishedbusiness. The Aggies hope to remove the “un” next week even though head coach Rod Broadway is not ready to have that conversation yet.

“Right now Central is the furthest thing from our mind,” said Broadway. “We have to focus on us and making us better fundamentally and execution wise.”

N.C. A&T clinched the conference title despite turning the ball over three times and fumbling on three occasions. Six minutes into the fourth quarter the Aggies found themselves ahead by only seven points, 13-6, over winless Delaware State (0-10, 0-7 MEAC) after Brycen Alleyne scored from four yards out for the Hornets. Delaware State kicker Jeremiah McGeough squibbed the ensuing kickoff in order to keep the ball away from some of the Aggies dangerous returners.

Unfortunately for him, one of those dangerous returners was playing up. Senior Tony McRae took the bouncing ball at the 25-yard line, ran through a huge opening in the wall of blockers and returned the kick 75 yards for his third career kickoff return for touchdown. The Hornets didn’t let the return deterred them as they advanced to the Aggies 30 on the next drive before Freshman quarterback Kobe Lain was stopped short two yards by Zerius Lockhart on a 4th-and-4 run.

The Aggies took over at their 28. They got a 28-yard run from junior Tarik Cohen and runs of 12 and 17 from freshman quarterback Kylil Carter during a 9-play, 72-yard drive. The nearly five-minute drive ended with a Carter 1-yard touchdown run to give the Aggies a three-touchdown lead with 1:34 remaining in the game.

We need to go back and take a closer look at this thing,” said Broadway. “We are in good shape. Here’s the thing, and I don’t mean anything negative toward (Delaware State) because I think they did a good job and were prepared. But it’s hard to get a team ready to play a 0-9 football team. It’s hard mentally. But that is on me. I didn’t have the team fully prepared as they should have been. But I’m not going to apologize for winning. We won the ball game.”

Cohen led the Aggies by finishing with 132 yards on 17 carries as he became the Aggies all-time leading rusher. He surpassed Mike Mayhew on a 28-yard run in the first quarter. Freshman quarterback Kylil Carter accounted for three Aggie touchdowns. As a runner he finished with 84 yards and a TD on 21 carries.

N.C. A&T’s defense came through again. The Hornets were held to 14 rushing and 174 yards of total offense. Saturday marked the sixth straight game an Aggies opponent has been held under 100 yards rushing. N.C. A&T, who came into the game ranked third in total defense nationally, also forced three turnovers including interceptions in the red zone by Zerius Lockhart and McRae.

“We communicated well today,” said McRae. “That was a big issue for games in the past. But (North Carolina Central) is better than Delaware State, so we have to communicate and do better.”

A win over the Eagles earns the Aggies a berth to the inaugural Celebration Bowl, which pits the MEAC champion against the champion from the SWAC at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Dec. 19. Bethune-Cookman also has a chance to claim a portion of the conference title. Not only are the Aggies back-to-back champions, but they have back-to-back 9-win seasons for the first time since putting together three straight 9-win seasons from 1990-92.

NCA&T Athletics

Posted by HBCU Editors Posted on 5656 articles

Grambling Win Over UAPB Clinches SWAC West Division Title

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on

web1_uapb-vs-grambling-7_1

PINE BLUFF, Ark. – Grambling State clinched its first Western Division Championship since 2011 with a 49-31 win at Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday afternoon. Wih a win over Southern in the Bayou Classic, GSU can be the first team with a perfect conference record since they accomplished that feat in 2008.

Johnathan Williams passed for 339 yards and four touchdowns, and Grambling State jumped out to a 35-3 lead that they would not relinquish. With the victory, GSU punched its ticket to the 2015 SWAC Football Championship in Houston, Texas at NRG Stadium on Dec. 5.

Leading 14-3 late in the first half, GSU (8-2, 8-0) forced a punt to get the ball back with just 1 second left. Rather than kneeling on it, Williams found Verlan Hunter for a 41-yard score as time expired.

Jateri Pouncey returned an interception for a 22-yard score on UAPB’s first possession of the second half, and Williams hit Hunter for nine yards 55 seconds later to build the Tigers’ lead en route to clinching the West Division title.

Hunter had 77 yards on five catches to go with his two touchdowns for Grambling State.
Brandon Duncan finished 34 of 52 for 459 yards with three TDs and three interceptions for UAPB (1-9, 0-8), adding 51 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Teammate Willie Duncan finished with a game high 14 tackles for the Golden Lions. Troy Roach led GSU with nine stops and one sack.

SWAC.org

Winston-Salem State Beats Bowie State 17-14 to Win CIAA Championship

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
527030e49077b.image

Box Score DURHAM, N.C. – Winston-Salem State’s Will Johnson (High Point, N.C.) kicked a 23-yard field goal as time expired to defeat Bowie State 17-14 in the CIAA Football Championship game on Saturday afternoon.

“This was tough loss for us today, but hopefully we’ll get a chance to see these seniors play more games this year”, said a somber Bowie State head coach Damon Wilson.

Bowie State lit up the Durham County Stadium scoreboard first when freshman quarterback Nyema Washington (Forestville, Md.) pounded in from one yard out at the 14:56 mark of the second quarter. The Christopher Palmer extra point gave the Bulldogs the 7-0 lead. Bowie State used 6:38 on a 20-play, 86 yard drive.

The Bulldogs went up 14-0 at the 1:19 mark of the second quarter on a Washington to sophomore Kerrick Pollock (Miami, Fla.) 64-yard bomb.

Winston-Salem finally got on the board with 8.2 seconds remaining before halftime on a 4-yard run by Tyree Massey (Bunnlevel, N.C.). Will Johnson (High Point, N.C.) to trim the Rams deficit to 14-7.

The Rams tied the game at 14-all at the 8:38 mark of the fourth quarter on a 20-yard pass and catch from Rod Tinsley (Charlotte, N.C.) to Reggie Wilkins (Shelby, N.C.).

The Bulldogs were led on offense by Washington with 209 passing yards, completing 19-of-34 and one touchdown but sacked six times. Graduate student Kendall Jefferson (Temple Hills, Md.) rushed for a team-high 62 yards on 18 carries and sophomore Kerrick Pollock (Miami, Fla.) was Bowie State’s top receiver with 97 yards on five receptions.

Junior Sean Copeland (Baltimore, Md.) paced the Bowie State defense with eight tackles (7 solo and 1 assisted) and senior Brian Hall (Capitol Heights, Md.) contributed seven tackles. Juniors Joshua Davis-Stokes (Baltimore, Md.) and Heleaince Gates (Philadelphia, Pa.) tallied six tackles each.

Tinsley led the Winston-Salem State offense with 175 passing yards, completing 15-of-27 and one touchdown while Massey led the Rams on the ground with 69 rushing yards. Rashan Williams (Carson, Calif.) was the Rams’ top receiver with 102 yards on five catches.

Defensively, the Rams were led by Kyrell Williamson (Kannapolis, N.C.) with eight tackles while Phillip Williamson (Durham, N.C.) along with Vernon Brandon (Raeford, N.C.) recorded seven tackles respectively.

Bowie State entered the game ranked second in the Super Region I Poll and will now await Sunday’s (11/15) 5 p.m. NCAA Playoff Field announcement.

“Just Mercy” Author to Speak at Dillard

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
Bryan Stevenson pictured. Photo: TED Talk

NEW ORLEANS – On Monday, November 23, 2015, attorney and civil rights activist Bryan Stevenson will deliver the next Justice Revius O. Ortique Jr. Lecture on Law and Society in the Georges Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Dillard’s campus. He is the recent author of the critically acclaimed New York Times best seller, Just Mercy, which was named by Time Magazine as one of the 10 Best Books of Nonfiction for 2014. The event is free and open to the public with a book signing following the lecture.

The founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, and its Executive Director for 26 years, Stevenson is a devoted advocate opposed to the establishment of the death penalty, an advocate for unlawful imprisoned children, and an ideal American citizen at the forefront of discussing racism as reflected in the Judicial System.

As an extensively established public interest lawyer, Stevenson has dedicated his career to helping the poor, the incarcerated and the condemned. Under his supervision, EJI has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill, and aiding children prosecuted as adults. He has successfully argued several cases in the United States Supreme Court, and recently won a historic ruling that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for all children 17 or younger are unconstitutional. Furthermore, Stevenson and his staff have won reversals that led to the release of over 115 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row.

Stevenson’s work fighting poverty and challenging racial discrimination in the criminal justice system has won him countless awards including the American Bar Association’s Wisdom Award for Public Service, the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant, the Olaf Palme Prize in Stockholm, Sweden for international human rights, and the National Medal of Liberty from the American Civil Liberties Union among others.

A 1985 graduate of Harvard University, with both a master’s in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government and a Doctor of Laws from Harvard Law School, Stevenson has received 14 honorary degrees including degrees from Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, and Washington University.

Seats are on a first come basis. For more information go to @DUBrainFood, visit www.dillard.edu or call 504.816.4800.

Dillard’s Marc A. Barnes Named “Outstanding Professional Fundraiser of the Year”

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
(NEW ORLEANS) – The Greater New Orleans Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) named Marc A. Barnes, vice president of advancement for Dillard University, the  “Outstanding 2015 Fundraiser of the Year.”

Barnes has served as Vice President for Institutional Advancement since February 2013. This is not his first stint with the university, having worked in Dillard’s Development Department in various positions from 2000-2009. Before his return to Dillard, Barnes served as Director of Development at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. (NOJHFF). At NOJHFF, he was responsible for the development of a major gifts fundraising operation and the launch of a major capital campaign designed to support the renovation of the Jazz & Heritage Center.  In his current role, he is responsible for all of the university’s fundraising efforts, alumni relations, marketing and communications and community outreach.

Helping to lead a fundraising campaign that yielded over $45 million dollars in four years at Dillard University highlights just one of many major financial contributions that Barnes has made over his 13 year career as a fundraiser.

A dedicated community servant, Barnes serves on the finance council at St. Peter Claver Church, where he is also a lector and co-coordinates the marriage ministry with his wife, Kiki.

He is immediate past president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Greater New Orleans Chapter and is a member of the Louisiana Advisory Council for UNCF.  He serves on the Board of Directors at St. Augustine High School and the advisory board of St. Mary’s Academy.

Barnes was one of seven individuals and organizations recognized during the 31st annual National Philanthropy Day ® Luncheon held at the Audubon Tea Room on November 12.  The theme for the day was “Change the World with a Giving Heart.” The AFP has nearly 30,000 individual and organizational members in over 230 chapters throughout the world who raise over $100 billion annually.

America’s Oldest Private Historically Black College or University, Wilberforce University, Keeps Accreditation

Posted by Tommy G. Meade Jr.
Posted on
wilberforce.jpg
Photo: Lisa Powell, Dayton Daily News

Ohio’s historically black Wilberforce University, the nation’s oldest private historically black college, once attracted some of the top black educators of the day, including sociologist, historian, and civil rights leader, and also one of the co-founders of the NAACP, W.E.B. Du Bois. Du Bois, writes Jennifer Beck at MyHero.com, was “one of the leading intellectuals of the 20th century.” Today the university continues to move forward and “promises growth” after another scare, this time there ‘was a warning that the university, about 30 miles east of Dayton, could lose accreditation, which is needed in order to offer federal grants and loans,” writes Karen Farkas at Cleveland.com.

But now Wilberforce is “fully operating under the best practices,” says school officials.

“It’s a great day at Wilberforce University,” says the university’s new President Algeania Warren Freeman, who the school board recently praised for keeping the 160-year-old black university “on the right path” and keeping the legacy and culture alive at the WU.

“As a student, it means that your degree holds weight,” Student Body President Chaz Waller explained. “It has some merit behind it even the education is still what it is– it actual has merit behind it being back by being endorsed by the Higher Learning Commission.”

Read more here.

Swastika at Bowie State Fuels Racial Tensions

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
Washington Post

Another swastika. Another campus. Another outrage.

On Thursday morning, students at historically black Bowie State University in Maryland found a swastika scrawled on a building named after a civil rights movement hero.

The swastika was spray-painted on a column at the Martin Luther King Jr. Communications Art Center, the university announced. The racist symbol was quickly removed, but not before photos — and anger — spread from the Maryland university to the Internet and beyond.

The ugly incident, which campus and county police are investigating as a possible hate crime, was only one of a number of incidents at universities across the United States, however.

At the University of Missouri, where anonymous death threats terrified minorities earlier in the week, the school suffered another setback when a sign for its black culture center was vandalized.

Howard University, another historically black institution, in D.C. was also hit with anonymous death threats as someone identifying themselves as a disgruntled Mizzou student said they were going to shoot black people.

“After all,” the person wrote, “it’s not murder if they’re black.”

Meanwhile, liberal arts colleges across the country struggled with racial tensions. On the East Coast, students at Yale and Ithaca College continued to demand administrators step down over recent incidents.

 

Homeland Security on college campuses a priority: HBCU’s Roslyn Artis appointed to advise

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
Rolling Out

The Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has announced the appointment of Florida Memorial University’s President Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis to the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC). The organization provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary and senior leadership on issues related to homeland security and the academic community.

Dr. Artis was the first woman in the history of Florida Memorial University to serve as president in 2014 and is a highly respected legal scholar.  Prior to her appointment at Florida Memorial University, she served in various roles at Mountain State University. These roles included Director of Legal Studies, Senior Academic Officer for Distance Education, Vice President of University Advancement, Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer and the university’s Provost. Before entering academia, she had a successful legal practice.

“I am honored to have been chosen by Secretary Johnson to serve on the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council,” said Dr. Artis. “The Council affords me the opportunity to contribute to the conversation around our nation’s security and the important role higher education institutions play in preparing students to fill jobs that keep our nation safe now and into the future.” read more

HSSU Receives Total of $4.7 Million from National Science Foundation Grant

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
The St. Louis American

Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) continues its focus on biology and mathematics curriculum and research with the assistance of another National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.

The most recent award of $393,965, along with two others since 2008, means that over the past seven years the university has received more than $4.7 million from NSF for various STEM projects.

The current award is for a Targeted Infusion Project called BIO-BOOST, which aims to increase the number of biology graduates by introducing meaningful research opportunities for freshmen and sophomores. The program also intends to encourage early-stage biology students to persevere in pursuit of a degree by using authentic research questions to teach foundational biology laboratory concepts in a modern biotechnology lab with state-of-the-art equipment. The project and analysis will be presented regionally and nationally; and because the activities will impact K-12 Education majors, it has the potential to engage STEM interest for generations of students. Kaviona Donaldson and Jayleen Gonzalez

BIO-BOOST, under the direction of Dr. Jana Marcette, assistant professor of biology; Dr. Diane Smoot, associate professor of computer science; Dr. Anbreen Bashir, assistant professor of biology and Dr. John MacDougal, associate professor of biology, started September 1, 2015 and continues through August 31, 2019. The NSF awards Targeted Infusion Projects (TIP) to provide support to achieve a short-term, well-defined goal to improve the quality of undergraduate STEM education at HBCUs. This is the university’s third grant under the NSF’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities-Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) program. read more

Terrence J Hosts Cultural Affirmation Panel at Clark Atlanta

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
Times Free Press

ATLANTA (AP) – Students rallied from three of the nation’s leading historically black colleges and universities to promote positive images of African-American youth.

More than 300 students from Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Spelman College gathered for “Wells Fargo Presents: My Life, My Story, #MyUntold.” The panel discussion was held Tuesday at Clark Atlanta and hosted by actor Terrence J with the hopes of using the platform to affirm positive cultural perceptions.

The Associated Press spoke with Terrence J, who attended an HBCU, and three black students who shared their personal experiences about cultural mischaracterizations. read more

Lance Gross Reflects On Time At Historically Black Howard University

Posted by Sonia Montalvo
Posted on

Wells Fargo’s campaign My Untold Stories aims to give Black Americans the opportunity to voice their own intimate narratives on what it’s like be a black American today. In an interview with The Urban Daily actor and photographer Lance Gross, a graduate of historically black Howard University, shared his story on how the black college experience is one of the reasons, if not the reason, why he has been a great success story.

Gross, who started his climb to fame with his role as Calvin Payne on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, has gone on to be successful in his own right, appearing in a plethora of different movies and shows.

Crisis, Greys Anatomy, and box office hits like Meet The Browns and Temptation, are among the long of his list of projects but before the fame, there was his black college experience.

Gross says he credits a great amount of his success and his acting chops to his time at the historic and famed black college, Howard University, in the nation’s capital.

Prior to arriving at Howard’s campus, or, his “home away from,” Gross says he was a shy kid. That changed, thanks to his intro to acting class during his undergrad tenure.

On his teacher at Howard who had helped to break him out of his shell, he sincerely admitted that he owes part of his success to her:

“Anybody who goes to an HBCU, we share a certain bond” says Gross, breaking down the family oriented space that is an HBCU.

When describing his experience at Howard he says the university is supportive and has a close knit atmosphere, and says that the professors at Howard go above and beyond for their students.

“I am so proud to be able to say that I attended and graduated from an HBCU,” said Gross.

The Economist Ranks Bowie State University Top Maryland School for Value

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
image001(BOWIE, Md.) – Bowie State University is the top school for value in Maryland among colleges offering undergraduate programs, according to a new ranking by The Economist, a newspaper that offers authoritative insights on international news, politics, and business.

Professor and students in classroom The Economist ranked Bowie State #61 out of 1,275 four-year, non-vocational schools around the nation. Former BSU students earned a median of $47,000 per year, or $6,135 more than expected, based on a formula developed by The Economist. It estimates a school’s economic value by measuring the gap between how much its former students earn and how much they might have made had they studied elsewhere.

“We are excited that The Economist has recognized Bowie State University’s excellence in preparing students to compete in a global society,” said President Mickey L. Burnim. “The ranking reaffirms that Bowie State University offers a high-quality education for one of the best values in the region.”

The Economist used data published by the U.S. Department of Education with the release of its College Scorecard, which presents information to help families and students make smart decisions about where to enroll for higher education. The College Scorecard reports the median incomes of former students who received federal financial aid – 10 years after they entered the school.

Bowie State ranks among the nation’s top comprehensive universities offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in a broad range of disciplines, with a focus on science, technology, business, nursing and teacher education.

###

ABOUT BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit the website at www.bowiestate.edu.

Posted by HBCU Editors Posted on 5656 articles

Alum Rally to Pressure Gov. Wolf to Save Cheyney

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
CHEYNEY, Pa., (CBS) — Alumni from Cheyney University, the nation’s oldest historically Black institution of higher learning, are gearing up for a rally to show

Governor Tom Wolf they’re serious about saving their beloved alma mater.

“Black lives matter, parity through equity!,” chanted members of Heeding Cheyney’s Call, a group of Cheyney University alumni and supporters. The group sued the Pennsylvania System of Higher Learning last year, renew a federal civil rights lawsuit that alleged decades of discrimination against Cheyney through inadequate funding.  They claim the deficit accumulated to roughly $100 million and the result is visible today —  Cheyney University is mired in millions of dollars in debt and a shrinking enrollment that hovers near 700.

“We had been negotiating we had been trying to work out a settlement, but we are a little disappointed,” says Coard.

HCC wants funding and other efforts from the Commonwealth that would help revive the institution.  Coard says talks stalled under the Corbett administration and are slow under Wolf.

“We haven’t gotten the reception that we expected,” he says.

So HCC is hoping to show the Governor they’re serious about saving Cheyney. They are rallying alumni and putting them on buses headed to Harrisburg on Tuesday morning. read more