Students may get “blinded with science” this weekend!
FAMU is hosting its second annual STEM day. It’s a way to get students interested in pursing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. read more…
Bristow, an Irmo resident, first met the then-future hall-of-famer in 1980 when she was student-athlete at Michigan State University. Johnson had already graduated after a record-setting career for the Spartans, but a chance meeting at an East Lansing pub laid the foundation of an enduring friendship, one that would be cultivated through Johnson’s frequent visits home in the years that followed.
“He was the hometown hero and he came home often,” Bristow said. “He was very accessible. Lansing was his hometown … you could go anywhere and see him. He was so magnetic … everyone just wanted to be with him … I got really close to his family.”
More recently, Bristow saw Johnson during his visit to Eastover. The former NBA great was in town to dedicate a $250,000 media center and a gym at Webber Elementary School and quickly pulled Bristow on stage, their first meeting in 10 years. read more…
Levi Pettit, the Highland Park High School graduate seen in the SAE video leading that racist chant, said today that he is “sorry, deeply sorry … so sorry for the pain I have caused” for his participation in that video.
“I want all of you to know that directly from me,” he said, “Although not deserved, I ask for your forgiveness.”
Pettit, who actually took a few questions from the gathered media following his statement, would not discuss the events leading up to the bus ride. He would not discuss the chant or say where he learned it or who taught it to him.
“Everyone here and across the nation has seen what I’ve done,” he said when asked, repeatedly, about the chant. “I am here to apologize for what I’ve done. It’s disgusting.” read more…
Spelman College has named former New York University dean Mary Schmidt Campbell as a finalist to be its next president, according to a letter from its board of trustees posted Wednesday.
Campbell is dean emerita of the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and has an extensive background in education, the arts and public service.
If ultimately approved for the position, Campbell would replace Beverly Tatum, who retires June 30 after a dozen years at the helm of the acclaimed historically black women’s college. read more…
Southern University System President Ronald Mason has been named a finalist in the search for the University of the District of Columbia’s next president.
Mason is slated to be on the UDC campus April 3 for interviews. Two other finalists for the job will interview this week and April 10, according to the university.
Mason’s pursuit of other opportunities doesn’t come as a surprise. His contract at Southern University will run through June 30, and the system Board of Supervisors has set out on a search for a new leader, after opting not to try to renew Mason’s contract. read more…
She saw signs that advertised Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and East Carolina University, among others.
But conspicuously absent was her own alma mater, N.C. Central University, less than 10 miles from Estes Hills’ front entrance.
Also absent were the nine other historically black colleges and universities throughout the state.
Parker found this puzzling because North Carolina has the most historically black schools of any state.
That’s when Parker began to formulate an idea, brainstorming ways to raise awareness about historically black schools.
“With our district focus being equity and excellence, we can’t possibly not have a historically black college (advertised),” Parker said.
So Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week was born at Estes Hills. read more…
Southern pitcher Tyler Robinson put on a show against No. 1-ranked LSU.
His follow-up didn’t go nearly as well…
One week after he sparkled in seven innings at home, Robinson was roughed up at Jackson State, allowing four runs on five hits in the first inning alone as the Tigers erupted for an 11-5 victory.
The Jaguars had given Robinson a one-run lead after Marcus Tomlin smashed a one-out homer. read more…
The Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality at Vanderbilt Divinity School expresses its support of and admiration for Dr. Forrest Harris, our colleague and President of American Baptist College. Dr. Harris’s decision to invite Bishop Yvette Flunder, Dr. Allen Boesak, and Pastor Delman Coates to speak and preach at this year’s Garrnett-Nabrit Lecture Series at American Baptist College has provoked controversy.
American Baptist College has a history of training leaders and ministers to seek justice and engage difficult questions critically. This tradition continued with an invitation of Bishop Flunder who is both an expert in the impact of HIV in faith communities, particularly the Black Church, and as a visionary leader of faith and justice.
Understanding that human experiences of faith are complex, the Carpenter Program fosters the deepening of academic, ministerial, and communal understandings of the roles of religion, gender, and sexuality in our lives. Sexuality and gender are inextricably linked to what it means to be human, and how our cultures are structured and maintained. While many religious conflicts are debated with regularity, those over gender and sexuality are often avoided.
We stand with American Baptist College and Dr. Harris in working to develop leaders of faith who thoughtfully engage controversial issues and foster deeper discussion. This labor requires thoughtful engagement with controversial issues. American Baptist College, Dr. Harris, and those who are part of the Garrnett-Nabrit Lecture series continue to lead us in this ongoing endeavor—for that prophetic leadership, we are grateful.
Last week, the Carpenter Program, and the Divinity School, continued its In-Forming Communities of Healing programming and partnership with Dr. Marcia Mount Shoop. In the fall we connected In-Forming Healing Communities with the Living Memorial and Teach-In on racialized violence, and we are doing the same now, by partnering with S.H.A.D.E.S in support of Womanist Week, and combining with S.H.A.D.E.S and Black Seminarians to shift our programming to support ABC, Dr. Harris (and his work both at ABD and VDS, as the Director of the Kelly Miller Smith Institute), Bishop Flunder, and all those involved. Dr. Mount Shoop explains:
The criticism that Dr. Harris is receiving surfaces many of the dynamics around power, bodies, and the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and identity that are the heart of the work of the In-Forming Communities of Healing Initiative…[This] has created an opportunity for us to improvise and respond to what is happening right now in terms of power and bodies in our midst.
Last Tuesday members of the VDS community gathered for food and conversation to explore the ways that power is used to harm, condemn, and divide. We then went to American Baptist College to worship alongside our colleagues and to hear and support Bishop Flunder.
Read more here.
For the latest on HBCU news, stay tuned to The Buzz.
A Grambling State University Spokesperson and Ruston Police confirm an alleged rape involving two students on the GSU campus is under investigation.
The father of the alleged victim says his daughter was raped in a Fredrick Douglass dorm room Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Her father says she had been drinking with friends, but he suspects she was given drugs. read more…
Student maturity levels, financial aid and the variety of campus programs are the leading causes of dropouts at Savannah State University, according to an university administrator.
According to the University System of Georgia, Savannah State’s retention rate for undergraduates from 2013 through 2015 is at about 70 percent. This leaves the drop out — or stop out — rate to be 30 percent for that same time period.
In comparison with other universities in the state, such as Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University, Savannah State falls below the average retention rate of 80 percent.
“There is a freshmen cohort, the first time and full-time fall semester freshmen, and that’s what gets tracked for the purposes of retention. The people that don’t come back the second semester are the attrition, the dropouts,” said Michael Crow, director of the Department of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment. “Our rate of retention, to put the positive spin on it, is usually around 70 percent. About 70 percent of the freshmen who come here comes back the next year.” read more…
TV Ones’ hit docu-series “Unsung Hollywood” will air two “must-see” back-to-back finale episodes on Wednesday, March 25 with a lineup featuring the “game-changing films that made iconic actors of unknowns.” At 8 p.m. is an in-depth look at the career of groundbreaking action hero Richard Roundtree and the challenges he faced after finding success in his leading role in “Shaft.” The stylish crime drama featured the dynamic “Theme from Shaft,” for which Isaac Hayes won the Best Original Song Oscar.
At 9 p.m., the docu-series explores the making of the cult-classic “Baby Boy,” which featured the film debuts of Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson and “Fast & Furious” phenom, Tyrese Gibson. Through firsthand accounts and “detailed revelations” from industry insiders, family and friends, “Unsung Hollywood” read more…
The PhD Project, an award-winning program to create a more diverse corporate America, is proud to announce that Project participant, Dr. Eli Jones, has been named Dean of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University effective
July 1, 2015. Dr. Jones is the current Dean of the Sam Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas. He received his Ph.D. in Marketing from Texas A&M.
“Dr. Jones has been with The PhD Project for over 18 years, and came to us soon after receiving his PhD. His appointment is a well deserved recognition of his outstanding qualities,” said Bernard J. Milano, President of The PhD Project and the KPMG Foundation, co-founder and lead funder of The PhD Project. “There are fewer than 36 African-Americans in administrative positions at the “dean’s office” level out of over 1,200 colleges and universities that award degrees in business at non-HBCU business schools in the U.S. That is why, in 2010, The PhD Project launched Project AHEAD (Achieving Higher Education Administration Diversity) to encourage tenured minority faculty to explore positions in administration and provide them with tools and resources including webinars and providing mentors.” read more…
A Facebook video shows a Central State University police car getting pranked by what looks like a university student jumping back-first onto the car.
Watch below:
“Put em in a coffin,” which originally was made popular on the social media app Vine, is when people jumps backwards on just about any and everything that can be captured by an iPhone. (See here, and here.)
[quote_box_center]Participants say or shout “put ‘em in a coffin” before jumping – with arms crossed over the chests – backwards onto car hoods (sometimes occupied by angry motorists) or grocery and convenience store displays, fast food counters, bushes, schoolroom tables, you name it. Any fallback move qualifies.[/quote_box_center]
In the video, several other people gathered around, cheering the prankster on. No CSU police are in sight. The prankster then walks across the hood of the car and jumps back-first onto the police car.
We’re not sure if the prankster is a CSU student or not. But the video has almost 400,000 views already on Facebook with mixed reviews, “Eventually this dude will get caught…the internet is not where to post the evidence,” said one user.
Another user said, “Wonder where the cop was?”
Tell us what you think about this terrible prank by commenting below. Funny, or not really funny?
Frederick is also a great match for Howard.
Frederick, the 17th president of Howard University in Washington D.C., seems like the perfect fit for probably the most popular Black college in the country. Given a time when students constantly have their heads down at their phones, perhaps, Frederick is the man to switch up how we think of a college president today.
Frederick says that “the future is bright [for Howard],” commenting on the university at the inauguration March 6, The Hilltop reports:
[quote_box_center]“I think [the inauguration] represents another opportunity for me to make sure that I commit to giving back to Howard,” Frederick said. “I think the future is bright.”[/quote_box_center]
Frederick was destined to become president of Howard University. Jokingly called “triple alumnus” at the university, Frederick wants to start engaging students in “research grounded in solving contemporary problems — highlighting the recent event in Ferguson,” according to The Hilltop:
[quote_box_center]“We must make Howard University the go-to institution, when external events occur, particularly those related to our mission,” Frederick said. “As president, I commit to working with our faculty and the university community to ensure that we remain actively engaged in public affairs. Where there is a need to speak about justice and inequality, I will lead.”[/quote_box_center]
Read more about Wayne A.I. Frederick’s inauguration at Howard University here.
Spike Lee’s “School Daze” is an iconic film, not just for the manner in which it explores race in the late-’80s, but for its sense of style, soundtrack and classic scenes. From the big Jiggaboos vs. Wannabees dance number to the step-show showdown, School Daze is full of quotables that anyone of the old-schol hip-hop generation knows by heart. More importantly, as anyone from D.C. knows, this is the movie that gave us “Da Butt.” This Sunday, join the Good Life Collective with 2-Tone Jones on the turntables at the 14th Street NW Piola for a day party celebrating School Daze from 4 to 8 p.m. Dress in your best throwback Afrocentric HBCU gear or Greek letter paraphernalia to really set it off and be prepared to sing along to all the best scenes. read more…
Creflo Dollar’s “Project G650” campaign to get 200,000 people to donate money to fund the purchase of a private $65 million Gulfstream G650 airplane for his ministry is now defunct. His ambitious request to replace his malfunctioning 30-year-old plane prompted many to criticize the Atlanta-based televangelist.
Among them appears to be gospel musician and author Kirk Franklin, who recently penned an op-ed piece for Patheos.com in which he seemed to question Dollar’s character, as well as that of other leaders in society.
“We don’t have a shortage of greatness, we have a shortage of character. When a pastor wants people to buy him a private plane while a missionary in Somalia bathes children with sores, that’s a shortage of character,” the Grammy Award winner wrote. “When I camouflage my ‘greeds’ to look like ‘needs,’ that’s a shortage of character.”
Franklin also mentioned the recently surfaced video that shows members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon singing a racist chat.
“When young students are comfortable enough to sing racial slurs on a bus while furthering their education to someday lead a corporation that may have minorities apply for jobs, that’s a shortage of character,” he wrote. “And it’s something you can’t teach in school.”
Read more here.
