North Carolina Central University (NCCU) has been selected as a top winner in The Home Depot 2015 Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grant Program, receiving a $50,000 award.
NCCU’s improvement project is designed to enhance the approach to Eagleson Residence Hall, creating a formal entryway and landscaped green space for a more functional and aesthetically appealing addition to this section of campus.
image via nccu.edu
The grant program, established in 2010, provides support for campus improvement projects at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country and has awarded $1.2 million dollars in grant money to date. NCCU won a $10,000 grant in the 2014 contest that was used for improvements to the A.E. Student Union. The Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grant Program promotes sustainability by providing special consideration to eco-friendly project proposals. Winning Retool Your School projects will break ground in the summer of 2015.
This year, The Home Depot awarded a total of $255,000 to nine accredited HBCUs in $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 grant denominations. The Retool Your School winners were chosen by a combination of online voting, social media activity and proposal reviews by a distinguished panel of judges.
“This has been one of the most exciting years for The Home Depot’s Retool Your School program thus far,” says Melissa Brown, senior manager-marketing for The Home Depot. “The HBCU community and beyond showed their unrelenting support for our HBCU’s and this program. We began with 55 HBCU’s submitting their proposals and now we have determined the winners. The Home Depot proudly congratulates all of the 2015 grant recipients.”
Rep. Karen Bass took to the House floor Wednesday for a one-minute speech, standing next to a picture of a smiling young woman. That same young woman sat in the gallery above as Bass told her story.
“Briana became an open case with child services at the age of 15 due to abuse by her father,” the California Democrat said. “Multiple placements, neglect and instability defined her foster care experience.”
image via bass.house.gov
As Bass spoke, the young woman sat leaning forward in the gallery, chin resting on her fist. “Thank you Briana for your resiliency and commitment to reforming the child welfare system,” Bass said. The young woman smiled.
Briana Smith visited Congress Wednesday along with more than 60 other foster youths as part of the fourth annual “Foster Youth Shadow Day.” The 19-year-old Los Angeles native was assigned to shadow Bass for the day, to share her story and experience the legislative process up close.
A petite woman with bright, curious eyes and hair tied into multiple braids, Smith said she was eager to participate. She learned about the event while pursuing her accounting degree at Dillard University in New Orleans, La.
“I really want to start speaking up, telling my story to help my peers engage in sharing their story,” Smith said, explaining why she wanted to attend the event.
So Smith and the other foster youth donned blue graduation stoles and dispersed throughout the congressional offices, many of which are part of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, which Bass founded in 2011.
Smith’s experience included sitting in on three meetings in which she was encouraged to participate and ask questions.
Bass said she first became involved in foster care issues during the crack cocaine crisis some 25 years ago. She became more aware of the foster care system as she delved into the issue, learning the crisis also involved drug-using mothers neglecting their children, who were then put into foster care or sent to family members.
Now, years later, she was listening to a young woman describe how her own crack-cocaine-using mother led to a spiral of abuse and neglect.
Because Smith’s mother used drugs, she was taken out of the home and went to live with her father when she was four years old. Over the next 10 years, her father physically and sexually abused her.
“He would always abuse me, which is something I never really spoke up about because it almost became the norm, it happened so often,” Smith told Bass as they sat in her Cannon office.
When she was 14, Smith and her father shared a room in a homeless shelter. Her father was battling testicular cancer and had returned from the hospital angry.
Stretching out her arms, Smith described the room they shared as roughly a third of Bass’ office.
“I would always try to go around the cabinet and sit there when he was mad and stuff. So he held a gun to my head and said, ‘You’re never telling the truth to me,’” Smith said. “So that was a rough weekend for me, and I was honestly too scared to go back home.”
She decided to tell her guidance counselor about the situation, which led to police involvement and her being reintroduced to the foster care system. She bounced around several group homes and other placements, all the while feeling abandoned.
Her father began following her and constantly phoning her social workers and foster parents, so she lost placements when the foster parents did not feel safe.
At her last placement in Compton, Calif., Smith said she enjoyed the foster home, noting, “I started to find myself and who I was.” But after a dramatic situation with her father showing up to her foster home, Smith was told she had to leave.
“And I was like, ‘Wow, it really hurts. I like it here,’” Smith said, her voice cracking. For the first time in Bass’ office, her eyes filled with tears.
ESSENCE magazine Editor-in-Chief Vanessa K. De Luca delivered the commencement address at historically black Harris-Stowe State University on Saturday, May 16.
“Harris-Stowe believes that Mrs. De Luca and her magazine represent and speak to our students’ generation regarding the social, political and civic issues of our day, including challenging and encouraging graduates of higher education institutions like ours,” said Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack, president of Harris-Stowe. “We are excited that she is coming to St. Louis and expect she will bring an inspirational message to ignite our students’ imaginations and motivate them to achieve their dreams.”
image via Vanessa K. De Luca
Checkout some great tweets from this past weekend.
Inspired this morning after hearing @Vanessa_KDeLuca speach at Harris Stowe on Saturday. Sending you a few copies of our local mag!
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Dr. Maria Thompson, a Tennessee State University graduate, and former vice president for Research and Sponsored Programs, is the new president of Coppin State University, a part of the University System of Maryland.
USM Chairman James Shea announced Thompson’s appointment recently, describing her as a “top-level academic leader.”
Dr. Maria Thompson
TSU President Glenda Glover said the TSU family is “extremely” proud to see one of its products excel to such a high profile position in the academic world.“Dr. Thompson’s earlier experience in building a research enterprise at an urban historically black institution positions her well to advance Coppin as a vital institution in Baltimore and the state,” Shea said.
“We congratulate Dr. Thompson on becoming president of Coppin State University, a sister HBCU institution,” President Glover said. “We are very proud of her outstanding achievements and demonstration of excellence. The faculty, students and staff of Coppin State are very fortunate to have one of our finest to lead that great institution.”
Thompson, whose appointment takes effect July 1, is the provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at the State University of New York at Oneonta. From August 2009-July 2011, she served as vice president for Research and Sponsored Programs at TSU. Prior to that, she served in many other research capacities at TSU.
At SUNY, Thompson was credited with oversight of accreditation reaffirmation, and academic development for more than 6,000 students. At Tennessee State, she helped to secure more than $45 million in sponsored research funding from external resources.
“I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, students and other stakeholders of Coppin State to continue the university’s commitment to preparing graduates who are analytical, socially responsible and lifelong learners,” Thompson said. “Urban higher education plays a vital role in shaping the future of local, national and global communities and I am excited about joining a campus with a rich legacy of community engagement.”
Thompson is a 1983 graduate of TSU with a Bachelor of Science degree. She holds an M.S. from The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
As if having Lil B premiere it earlier in the night (May 19) wasn’t enough of a trip, A$AP Rocky takes the honor of giving fans a taste of “LSD” before his forthcoming album, At. Long.Last.A$AP arrives next month. Trippy, wild, and a nearly six-minute mind-fuck, Rocky’s latest sets quite the tone for an album that is said to find him taking a mind-opening new direction. “Trust me, it ain’t no cheesy shit,” the rapper told Rolling Stonelast week.
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) May 20, 2015
(Photo: worldbossteam.com)
Compared to recently released tunes like “Everyday” and “M’$,” the latest record, “LSD,” is one tripped-out affair that pairs well with Rocky’s much-discussed psychedelic influences on the new LP. Much different than anything he’s ever done, the records finds the Harlem-bred slick-talker crooning mostly, before shifting into a 16 mid-song that features lines like, “I could switch up on you niggas and start shitting if I choose to / That’s when the new you become a difference since they knew you / I guess the new me is going to get some getting used to…”
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., president of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, joins PBS’s Gwen Ifill to discuss whether the country’s 107 historically black colleges and universities can survive the uncertain future.
image via myhowbook.com
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GWEN IFILL: It’s that time of year when students, their families and friends celebrate graduation, then immediately turn to worrying about their futures.
Some colleges and universities are worrying too.
Graduating students at South Carolina State University walked into the school’s stadium with all the usual pride and glee of commencement day. But mixed in with the pomp and the circumstance was a cloud of uncertainty about the future of South Carolina’s only public historically black university.
The commencement speaker, Sen. Tim Scott, didn’t hesitate to raise it.
SEN. TIM SCOTT, R-S.C.: Let me say first and foremost that, without any question, my prayers are with South Carolina State University for financial success.
GWEN IFILL: The school’s mounting financial troubles include a nearly $23 million deficit and, since 2007, a 40 percent drop in enrollment. Only months ago, state legislators briefly proposed closing the Orangeburg school for two years to balance the books.
South Carolina State is one of about 100 historically black colleges and universities in the nation, and among those struggling to survive. In Pennsylvania, Cheyney University is facing its own multimillion-dollar deficit. And Washington, D.C.’s Howard University shed 200 staff members last year and announced 84 more layoffs this spring.
Many of the schools have shed students as well, and operate without the cushion of the endowments and alumni donations that elite, predominantly white schools rely on.
State lawmakers last week turned to the worlds of finance and academia for a new interim board of trustees for South Carolina State.
Gilda Cobb-Hunter has represented Orangeburg in the Statehouse for 24 years.
GILDA COBB-HUNTER, (D) State Representative: We needed someone to recognize the importance of check and balances, accountability, transparency. There was a real systemic problem at South Carolina State, a problem that has gone on for 25 or 30 years.
GWEN IFILL: Interim president W. Franklin Evans hopes confidence in new leadership could lead to more state funding.
But he conceded that is not the only solution.
W. FRANKLIN EVANS, Interim President, South Carolina State University: We’re looking at right-sizing across the campus, even with our facilities, and making sure that we are maximizing the facilities’ use in our building and optimizing every bit that we can, so that we’re not wasting any money, wasting any resources.
GWEN IFILL: He’s also looking to build on the school’s strongest academic programs, like one in nuclear engineering.
Kenneth Lewis heads that program, the only one of its kind in South Carolina. He says it supports the kinds of students historically black universities have focused on.
What better way to announce the sequel to the hit 2011 debut album, RollingPapers than on social media?
Of course, that’s exactly what our favorite weed head Wiz Khalifa did taking to Twitter Thursday night to announce Rolling Papers 2: The Weed Album maybe in the works (!!).
[quote_box_center]From Complex: On May 21, Wiz Khalifa took to Twitter to announce that he has a new project on the way. Fans of his 2011 studio debut, Rolling Papers, will be excited to know that the upcoming album is its successor. Rolling Papers 2: The Weed Album doesn’t have a release date yet, but we definitely know that it is in the works. Khalifa also has another collaboration with Curren$y, entitled #2009, which is also on the way. He is keeping busy for sure.[/quote_box_center]
As my tenure as president of Spelman College comes to a close, I am often asked, “What is your legacy?” While that is a question better answered by others, in response, one could point to a new residence hall like the recently named Beverly Daniel Tatum Suites (an honor bestowed by the Board of Trustees for which I am deeply grateful), or the numerous campus renovations that were completed over the last 13 years. One could highlight strategic plans and the milestones of progress, like more students traveling abroad or doing undergraduate research, more faculty positions or resources to support them, or maybe new and unanticipated developments like the Wellness Revolution and a new and improved Read Hall.
Sometimes I imagine how Spelman founders Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles might answer that question. They said they were building for 100 years, and they did. Rockefeller Hall and Packard Hall were built in 1886, Giles Hall in 1895 – all more than 100 years ago, but I don’t think those buildings would be their answer. Did they anticipate that the place they created would be the source of the first women educators to build schools in the Congo like Nora Gordon, C’1888? The first Black female physicians to provide health care in Georgia like Georgia Dwelle, C’1900? The source of history-making attorneys and judges like Dovey Johnson Roundtree, C’38, and Bernette Joshua Johnson, C’64? Aviators like Janet Harmon Bragg, C’29, and military leaders like Marcelite Harris Jordan, C’64? Social justice activists like Marian Wright Edelman, C’60, and Sarah Thompson, C’2006? Pioneers in every field imaginable?
(AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
If they were here, I think Sophia Packard and Harriet Giles would say that women like these were their legacy, their gift to the future. At the end of the day, an educator’s most important legacy lies in the lives we touch. The legacy lies in what happens to the ideas shared – how are they transformed and used by others? Who is inspired by them? Who takes action because of the experience that has been provided? Who truly makes a choice to change the world?
It is the women of Spelman who are the living legacy! Where our alumnae go and what they do will be the legacy that we will all point to for years to come. When Alia Harvey Jones, C’95, was a dual degree engineering major, she did not know she would be the only woman of color producing plays on Broadway. When Roz Brewer, C’84, was doing research in the lab as a chemistry major, she had no inkling that she would one day be featured in Forbes magazine as one of the 50 most powerful women in business, as the CEO of Sam’s Club. When Laurie Cumbo, C’97, was majoring in art at Spelman, did she anticipate that she would open her own museum in Brooklyn – or one day be elected to the NY City Council?
When Kiran Ahuja, C’93, transferred to Spelman from Emory in her sophomore year, did she ever imagine that she was on her way to becoming the executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders, appointed by President Obama? When LaShonda Holmes, C’2007, was doing her community service as a Bonner Scholar, did she imagine that she would be the first Black female helicopter pilot for the Coast Guard? When Marta Sanchez, C’2000, graduated from Spelman, and went off the University of Virginia for law school, did she imagine that her passion would be advocating for victims of sexual violence, and her poetry and her artwork would be her tools? When her dream job offer at Lehman Brothers crumbled with the economy for Littane Bien-Aime, C’2009, did she know her resilience and Spelman training in international relations would lead her to success in the Foreign Service?
Somewhere at Spelman a seed was planted, an idea cultivated, an experience had –that changed a life trajectory – and that is what a Spelman education does, preparing women for those life-changing moments, creating life experiences that will open up multiple pathways of possibility – possibilities that may lie beyond our current imagination. A Spelman education can make so much possible, and women of Spelman are needed in our society now more than ever.
That is why when I am asked what accomplishment gives me the most satisfaction I always say, “increasing alumnae participation” because the growth in alumnae engagement and financial support of Spelman College has made it possible for the next generation of Spelman women to face the future with confidence.
I have said that being president of a college is like running a relay race. You get the baton from your predecessor, you run as fast as you can to make as much progress as you can, until it is your turn to pass the baton. The same can be said for the women of Spelman. Our students get the baton from the women who came before them, alumnae pass it and ask the next generation to run with it – to make their contribution, not just to this community, but to the world. And they do.
The Class of 2015 is getting ready to join the ranks of alumnae on May 17, 2015, and as they leave they have set a high bar for those who come after them. More than 70 percent of the Class of 2015 has made a gift to the College, raising more than $7,000 to support their younger sisters with emergency scholarship support. If I have a legacy to claim, I want it to be that one – that the women of Spelman have fully embraced their responsibility to support Spelman College and its future – the students who come after them – so that our living legacy will endure forever. That is a legacy we can all claim with pride! – Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D., is the president of Spelman College.
The “Gin & Juice“ rapper said he’ll be supporting the former secretary of State and Democratic candidate in her 2016 White House bid.
Snoop Dogg
“You know I like to be politically correct, but sometimes I’m politically incorrect,” Snoop Dogg said when asked about his political pick on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” on Sunday. “But I’ll say that I would love to see a woman in office because I feel like we’re at that stage in life to where we need a perspective other than the male’s train of thought.”
“And just to have a woman speaking from a global perspective as far as representing America, I’d love to see that. So I’ll be voting Ms. Clinton,” he added.
Davey Whitney, the man who coached Alcorn State to NCAA Tournament history, died Sunday at the age of 85.
Whitney led Alcorn State to a win against South Alabama in the first round of the 1980 basketball tournament, the first time a historically black college or university had won a NCAA game. Alcorn was the No. 8 seed and its loss to No. 1 seed LSU in the second round was only the second of the season.
Whitney, nicknamed “The Wiz,” won 12 Southwestern Athletic Conference championships during two separate tenures at the school, first from 1969-89 and again from 1996-2003. Alcorn State also won NCAA Tournament games in 1983 and 1984, making the dance six times. It beat Mississippi State in the 1979 NIT, as well.
But Alcorn State still fired Whitney after three-straight losing seasons, setting him off on a journey in the pro basketball minor leagues. The school named its gym after him, and then ended up rehiring him. Whitney said in interviews that what happened in 1989 gnawed on him, but he was happy to come back and still have success.
“To bring the program back to where it is right now, I’d have to say it’s satisfying,” Whitney told the Clarion-Ledger in 2000. “I’m sure a whole lot of people are surprised. I know there were a lot of people that doubted if I could do the job. In fact, there were some people who didn’t even want me here.
“We’ve had some low points, and we’ve had some high points. I just kept my mind on succeeding. There was never any doubt in my mind that we would succeed.”
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. – UPDATE: Police say Alexis Jones-Rhodes was located safe in Illinois. No foul play is suspected in her disappearance.
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Nicole Johnson is in limbo right now, fearful after last seeing her daughter Alexis Jones-Rhodes Monday morning at the family home in Decatur.
“I have no idea where my daughter is, no idea. The last time was probably that morning before graduation and that’s basically it,” said Nicole Johnson.
Alexis Jones-Rhodes has been missing since Monday.
She said the 22-year-old woman was a fashion merchandise Major at Clark-Atlanta University.
She said her daughter was headed to the commencement ceremony at Panther Stadium. DeKalb County Police said Alexis never arrived, leaving her waiting family in the audience surprised and shocked.
“It’s been awful but like I said it’s taken a lot out of me and it’s taken a lot just to stand up here,” said Ms. Johnson.
When the public reacts to the deaths of young black men in Baltimore and Ferguson and Sanford, we often hear about a “crisis” among black fathers—namely, that too many of them are absent from their children’s lives. But that “crisis” may not be real at all. A study conducted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found that black fathers are just as present—and sometimes more so—in the lives of their children than dads of other races, defying the stereotype that black fathers simply aren’t around to give their kids guidance and support.
The study provides a telling look at fatherhood among black, Latino and white men. The CDC found that a higher percentage of black fathers living with young children (up to age five) did daily activities like sharing meals, dressing their children, and reading to them than other fathers. Across the board, black dads did just as much as white and Latino dads, whether they live with or apart from their children.
It should be noted that that’s often the statistic that gets thrown around when we talk about the crisis of black fatherhood—that more black men live apart from their families than other fathers. That’s true, but as ThinkProgress notes, there’s evidence that suggests that number “stems from structural systems of inequality and poverty.”
“Showcase your talents for the world to see and help others on the same journey that you struggled to overcome.”
When you begin to change your perspective, the world is yours for the taking. Not allowing to be defined by a previous situation, Brittney S. Carter “wasn’t brought up with many resources.”
(Photo: SunniAndTheCity.com)
But her will to take control of her life, all the while helping others climb the ladder by the means of Carter’s new self-help small business, B. Carter Solutions, makes for a great modern success story others like Carter, who says she comes “from a very small, isolated town,” to be great in any field of endeavour.
This year has been quite an eventful year for Carter. The Claflin University grad and founder and owner of B. Carter Solutions launched a dope new website to match the high quality event planning/PR company last April. Now Carter can add the “Sunni and The City” Award to her list of accomplishments.
[quote_box_center]Last Wednesday, I held my 2nd Annual Sunni & The City Women’s Empowerment event at Diageo House and it was nothing short of amazing. The entire concept behind my annual event is honoring women around the DC/MD/VA area who are dedicated to serving their communities through their charity efforts. From young leaders to activists to entrepreneurs, I was truly honored to have been in the presence of such incredible women. We laughed, we cried, exchanged heartfelt stories and connected. I wanted the ladies to get to know each other and possibly collaborate on future charity projects. With such diverse group of women, magic was in the air and everyone walked away inspired.[/quote_box_center]
During the three day 2015 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Outdoor field and track meet, which hosted by North Carolina A&T University, the North Carolina Central Eagles were able to come away with a bronze medal as a show of their hard work.
Darlene Girardeau, a redshirt sophomore from Hope Mills, N.C., placed third in the women’s long jump event earning her a bronze medal. This also secured her recognition, vaulting her to Third Team All-MEAC.
(Photo: NCCUEaglePride.com)
Coming into the final round of competition, Girardeau was sitting four spots off of the podium at seventh place. She was able to leap past her competition, and into third place, posting a jump distance of 5.65 meters.
As an entire team The Eagles Women’s team came out of the meet tied for 11th place, with a total of 20 points.
The men’s team finished in 10th place for a total of 14 points, with their best performances coming from Junior hurdles runner, Kevin Vincent, who placed fifth in his heat with a time of 52.17.
Today, hundreds of students completed their undergraduate studies and became Morehouse Men and Spelman Women. It was only two years ago, during the same occasion, President Barack Obama delivered the Morehouse College commencement address. But by August of that year, Morehouse was in a state of serious financial crisis.
John S. Wilson, then the newly elected Morehouse president and former executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, announced a $2.5 million cut from the school’s operating budget and the elimination or downgrading of 75 administrative positions.
Many public HBCUs were founded under the insidious Jim Crow system intended to enable historically white institutions to avoid desegregation. HBCUs have continued to disproportionately serve many low-income and first-generation college students well into the post-civil rights era. The schools have been a vital source of black professionals, including physicians and scholars.
(Photo: Morehouse College)
While most state colleges can experience ebbs and flows of financial challenges tied to federal funding cuts in higher education, HBCUs have been particularly vulnerable in the era of austerity politics. Their situation has become grim over the last five years.
After the U.S. Department of Education made changes in 2011 to the length of time Pell Grants can be used by college students, followed by more stringent parameters attached to the Parent Plus Loan program in 2012, the damage to HBCUs had already been done. Not only were enrollment figures adversely affected, with some students forced to drop out mid-semester, but the changes may end up costing HBCUs’ limited school endowments hundreds of millions of dollars.
As punitive reforms continue to permeate U.S. education policy, the general attitude seems to be if HBCUs cannot support themselves independently, they should just be eliminated entirely. If they are to survive, the underlying sentiment is to rely on alumni giving to avoid financial disaster.
But a look at the top 10 HBCU versus endowments at historically white colleges reveals staggering differences. The top 10 HBCU endowments range from $38 million to $586 million, while the top 10 historically white college endowments range from $6 billion to $32 billion. The endowment gap between historically white colleges and universities and HBCUs has doubled in the last 20 years.
The overwhelmingly black alumni base does not have the wealth capacity to “save” HBCUs. The typical black family holds about $7,113 in net worth, more than $100,000 less than the typical white family and a mere 6 cents for every dollar of wealth held by the average white family.
ATLANTA — The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) once again led the NCAA Division II in football attendance last season. The SIAC has now led all NCAA DII conferences in football attendance for 12 consecutive seasons and for 23 of the last 25 seasons, dating back to the 1990 season.
Since 1990, the SIAC led Division II football’s average attendance 23 times, including 300,000 or more fans on 17 occasions. According to the NCAA.com website, seven SIAC schools ranked in the top 30 in attendance, led by Tuskegee (second), Albany State (fifth) and Miles (ninth) last season.
Cleve L. Abbott Memorial Alumni Stadium (Tuskegee University)
The SIAC is an NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta. The primary mission and purpose of the SIAC is “to leverage intercollegiate athletics to the benefit of our student-athletes and to advance the overarching strategic interests of SIAC member institutions.” The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Benedict College, Central State University, Claflin University, Clark Atlanta University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Paine College, Spring Hill College, Stillman College, Tuskegee University) which are located within a contiguous six-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors seven men’s and six women’s sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II.
