Ronald Mason Jr. Tells Us to Commit to Making Progress Everyday

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This story is a part of the series “President’s Corner” about the unique experiences, vision and leadership styles of each president at our nation’s 107 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Ronald Mason Jr. is the leader of the Southern University System  in the state of Louisiana. Its headquarters sits on the property of Southern University in Baton Rouge campus.

The System is exactly what it sounds like: a system of universities in the Louisiana state who’s earliest foundations began in 1880, and is the first of its kind among Black colleges.

With over 30 years of experience in the field Mason believes the System has the potential to make other higher education institutions think about running behind and following suite. He sits with Robert Hoggard of HBCU Buzz in this exclusive interview to talk about how the System operates, skills learned in higher education and working with the Obama administration.

Robert: What is the experience like leading the only HBCU University system? How do you balance your time overseeing five campuses?

President Mason: As a System, Southern has has the potential to be a model for higher education. We are reducing costs by centralizing business operations, expanding our community college onto the four year campuses, and creating an online college. The distance between the campuses is a challenge, especially Shreveport, but I enjoy the work as president and having good Chancellors to run the campuses helps.

Robert: You have over 30 years of experience in Higher Education. What has been the most meaningful thing that you have learned over the years?

President Mason: I have learned that you have to push but understand where people are, do the right thing in the right order, and commit to making progress every day.

Robert: In your position as a White House Board of Advisors for HBCU’s, what is your main goal? What do you want to see out of the Board because of your leadership and input?

President Mason: The PBA is supposed to be a link between the President, Corporate America and HBCUs.  I’d like to see it do more to make those linkages happen.

Robert: Both of your degrees come from Columbia and you have won the John Jay award for distinguished Alumni in 2008. How significant has Columbia been to your leadership over the years? What has Columbia taught you?

President Mason: Columbia changed my life.  When I left New Orleans to go there it was my first time on an airplane or outside of Louisiana. The seventies was a good time to be in New York.  Columbia taught me to see the world from the eyes of people with wealth and earthly power.  It also taught me the importance of the perceived value of the degree.

Here’s What to Know About the Next Attorney General Loretta Lynch

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After U.S. Attorney General and loyal friend to the president Eric Holder, the first African American to hold the position, announced his resignation a few months ago New York attorney Loretta Lynch is now said to be the nominee to replace him.

“She has spent years in the trenches as a prosecutor, aggressively fighting terrorism, financial fraud, cybercrime, all while vigorously defending civil rights,” President Barack Obama said, introducing Lynch recently at a ceremony at the White House.

Lynch will be the first Black woman to hold to U.S. Attorney General title but is no stranger to the big stage. She once oversaw a nationally headlined police brutality incident in New York much like the Rodney King case, according to The Root.

Also, Lynch says, as a toddler she saw students from North Carolina A&T State University who organized the memorable counter sit-ins in 1960.

Read more at The Root.

Howard University Theatre Department Tells the Truth About Nightingales

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Screen Shot 2014-11-13 at 8.46.21 PM(thehiltop) Against a dimmed, overhead light and a pair of prison bars suspended from the rafters above, the stage was given a stirring atmosphere. Haze crept across the set, spilling into the audience. Before long, the outside world no longer existed. The theatre was transformed into the confines of a prison, and the audience was there, during the summer of 1938.

An award-winning three-act play by Tennessee Williams, “Not about Nightingales,” tells the compelling story of a group of inmates who fight back through a hunger strike against the oppressive governance of the jail warden. Inspired by true events, Williams is able to create a despotic situation in 1938 that still holds firm for a contemporary audience.

With riveting performances from the cast and a powerful display from the design team, the Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts brought “Not about Nightingales” to life at the Ira Aldridge Theatre from November 5 to November 9.

Under the direction of Eric Ruffin, and with an all-black cast, transparent themes concerned the disparaging treatment of blacks and homosexuals and the unlawful incarceration of young black men by a dominating, white bureaucratic society. These were but a few elements that reverberated throughout the play.

Production Dramaturg, Otis Ramsey-Zoe, wrote, “The world inside the prison is not divorced from the concerns of the outside world, and those issues creep into the play, including the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, Hitler’s rise to power, Mussolini’s dictatorship and the threat of war.”

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Charles Grant, Bowie State Coach Caught on Video Body-Slamming Student

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(NBC Washington) Bowie State University fired a former NFL player from his volunteer football coach position after TMZ Sports posted video of him body-slamming a student.

University police is investigating Charles Grant. He can be heard shouting and cursing at the student before throwing him to the ground then into the bleachers as people are heard laughing in the background.

Grant is a former defensive lineman for the New Orleans Saints. He was on the team the season it won Super Bowl XLIV.

Grant previously was brought up on an involuntary manslaughter charge after a deadly shooting outside at a bar in Georgia. The charge was later dropped, and he pleaded no contest to public fighting.

In a statement, Bowie State said in part, “The Department of Athletics has zero tolerance of behavior that violates the University’s core values and jeopardizes the welfare of student-athletes.”

VIDEO – Pamela Wilson, Virginia State’s 1st Female President

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(Associated Press) Hampton University Provost Pamela Valleria Wilson Hammond has been named interim president of Virginia State University.

Hammond will lead the historically black land-grant university during a national search for a permanent president. The university announced Hammond’s appointment on Thursday in a news release. She is the first woman to serve as Virginia State’s president.

Hammond’s appointment is effective Jan. 1. She will succeed Keith T. Miller, who has announced that he is resigning, effective Dec. 31. The change in leadership comes amid concerns over declining enrollment and financial woes at the university in Ettrick.  Hammond has served as Hampton’s provost since 2009.

3 Ways Black College Students Can Save Money In College

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Saving money while attending an HBCU, or any college can be difficult to keep up with, especially when you want the best college experience your campus can offer. Of course your loans and other financial avenues cover your entire tuition including books but after you’re done with school you are stuck with possibly lifelong payment plans toward borrowed student loans.

Here are some ways to decrease student debt after college.

1. Consider a different housing plan

According to U.S. News an average four year college board price is $9,500. Ask your financial advisor for the cheapest route there is. Even if you’re in the most expensive dorm there is still hope. Consider becoming a resident aid or assistant. Most schools knock off your housing tuition or pay up to half of your board.

2. Rent Textbooks instead

If you don’t plan on keeping textbooks for research purposes, consider renting textbook online. Most are twice as cheap than buying books from your university. Amazon is a great way to buy and rent textbooks for a cheaper price than your local college book store. In doing so more of your tuition money could generate toward paying for extra fees like lab fees.

3. Take advantage of fee waivers

Some college campuses charge an arm and a leg for college ID’s, car decals, and sometimes library fees. If they seem too expensive you can negotiate a fee waiver, if applicable, with your financial advisor.

UAPB Dean: “Federal Grant Funding is Becoming More Difficult to Obtain”

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After suffering from a very bad last week the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has some great news buzzing on campus.

UPAB’s School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences, or SAFHS, has been given federal funds in the amount of $1.5 million through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) 1890 Capacity Building Grants Program that will help fund future research projects conducted by university professors, according to reports.

Dr. Edmund R. Buckner, associate dean for Research and Extension Programs at UAPB, cheered on the university’s huge success in obtaining a federal grant, something he says has been difficult to do lately, commenting, “We are very pleased that our research and Extension faculty have been successful in procuring grant funding to help conduct their work.”

“Federal grant funding is becoming more difficult to obtain. Our faculty’s success in competing for increasingly scarce funding highlights our commitment to the university and the people we serve,” Buckner said.

Last week Pine Bluff faced public scrutiny when multiple news outlets reported how the UAPB athletics program wrongly allowed more than 120 student-athletes to compete and practice while being ineligible under NCAA rules and regulations.

Read more on federal funds and UAPB’s athletics program:

In a press release UAPB Chancellor Dr. Laurence B. Alexander made a comment on his disapproval in the additional penalties smacked on by the NCAA, saying “[The university] remain disappointed even with the reduced penalties imposed by the Committee.”

Alexander added that the university may seek an appeal to the initial decision made by the NCAA to hold more penalties against the athletics program than what the university previously self-assessed and self-reported to the non-profit association.

So after being slammed by the NCAA for allowing as many as 124 ineligible athletes to compete UAPB seems to be finally back to normal.

Just another day in the week.

HBCU President Makes Controversial Remarks on Rape to Female Students

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(The Grio) A video posted to YouTube of a speech by Lincoln University President Robert R. Jennings has incited controversy over what some people believe are insensitive comments about rape.

During the speech, Jennings speaks of recent incidents on the college’s campus where women made false rape accusations against male companions who had spurned them after their sexual encounters.

In the video, Jennings is seen speaking to an all-female assembly of students at the HBCU. The speech took place in September but was posted to YouTube last week.

The entire speech lasted 26 minutes, but the posted clip lasts four minutes.

Towards the end of the clip, Jennings says: “When you allege that somebody did something of that nature to you, you go to jail. I don’t care how close they are to finishing the degree, their whole life changes overnight. Why am I saying all this, ladies? I’m saying this because, first and foremost, don’t put yourself in a situation that would cause you to be trying to explain something that really needs no explanation had you not put yourself in that situation.”

Jennings defended his speech to the Philadelphia Inquirer: “No one would ever discourage a young woman on this campus from reporting a sexual assault.”

Read more here.

Q&A With BET’s ‘106 And Park’ Guest Co-Host, JSU Student Kris Campbell

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Jackson State University student Kris Campbell recently co-host with Bow Wow on BET’s 106 & Park. The Buzz had the opportunity to interview him.

Robert: What’s going on man? How did this opportunity happen with 106?

Kris: I am honored to interview with HBCU Buzz. You all are the dopest media outlet entity to stay connected with other HBCU life. But your guess is just as good as mine. After auditioning for a couple BET gigs and and internships with BET, I guess my name was just in an email list and a previous personality video of mine was remember. All I know is that, I woke up to an email for BET NYC Casting, which I have saved in my email as a contact, stating that they were undergoing a new segment with 106 & Park called 106 Nation Fan Cohost, where a die hard 106 fan got to cohost the show along with one of the personalities. They apologized for other roles that I did not land but they believed that this opportunity would be perfect for me and then they listed time slots and asked my availability. I immediately responded and the rest was history. It really happened.

To share the same screen with him was a dream come true. It was inspiring to hear and see him handle the business of the show and nothing more than humbling to realize that I am blessed to have this experience.

Robert: What was it like hosting with Bow Wow?

Kris: Terrance J and Bow Wow are two of my role models. I have always looked up to all the male 106 hosts but these two stuck out to me. They both remind me of what I want myself to come close to being one day. I have followed Shad (Bow Wow) his entire career. From his rap game to his acting gigs to his clothing line to the rebranding of his person from Bow Wow to Shad Moss creating a more mature persona to accompany his growing career, I have looked up to him for some time now. To share the same screen with him was a dream come true. It was inspiring to hear and see him handle the business of the show and nothing more than humbling to realize that I am blessed to have this experience. He cracked a few jokes on me here and there but it was all good vibes from start to finish. At that moment, while we shared that mutual space and objective, I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It was nothing but fuel to my fire. 

Robert: What’s after JSU?

Kris: After JSU, I plan to move to NYC to attend the graduate marketing program at either NYU or Columbia. I need something to compliment my mass communication skills. Being a student entrepreneur, I know there are many things I need to learn to grow my businesses and be the stereotype shattering African American mogul that I know I am destined to be. While in New York, I plan to intern at a radio station, being my 5th internship, while pursuing an on air personality gig. I also want to grow my T-shirt line Konnor Brooklyn, as well.

Robert: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Kris: In 10 years from now, I see myself at the pinnacle of my career. Multiple businesses, movies, appearances, and more, I see it in my near future. I want to leave a mark…a legacy on Earth that will inspire people to chase their dreams. In 10 years, I see myself doing everything I said I was going to do since I could remember. I see financial stability. I see me traveling the world with my family. I see me owning night clubs in the hottest cities. I see me giving back to the community. I see a lot of things for me on down the road. lol The list goes on and on.

I’m social, intelligent, attractive, and so much more…Kappa just fit me.

Robert: Man, it hurt me to see that you’re a Kappa. I thought I almost had a friend. Why Kappa and not Sigma? Sigma is the best fraternity in all the land.

Kris: Sigma? What’s that? Any who, the reason I pledged kappa was simple. I grew up in a small town called Livingston, Al. One day our trailer got shot up while I was in it and the next day my mom split the family and moved my younger sister and I to Mobile, Al. My older brothers and dad stayed back. In Mobile, I joined The Elite Chapter of the Mobile Kappa League. Long story short, after exposing me to things I knew I would have never been exposed to if we had stayed back in Livingston, The Mobile KL changed my life. It is responsible, along with a few life lessons here and there, for the person you’re interviewing today. So I knew that if I had pledged anything, It would be Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc, because that’s all I knew. I owe myself to the bond because the men that advised the Mobile Kappa League, took a small town boy and created a man. I could never see myself straying away from their lessons. And besides, I’m one smooth brother and those other colors just don’t sit well with me. I’m social, intelligent, attractive, and so much more…Kappa just fit me.

Why AKAs and Deltas Are Upset With Tiny

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“It started way back in 1913…” Well, you know how the Greek chant performed by members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. goes.

The story goes, back in 1913 on the campus of historically black Howard University, 22 undergraduates who were originally initiated into the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. left the group and founded Delta Sigma Theta. Still today, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first Black Greek Lettered Organization founded by African American women, insists that without AKA…well, you get the point.

So you can imagine the sometimes heated rivalry between AKA and Delta in “The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be” sorority contest.

They don’t need to be upset with me it was a joke.

That’s why when photos of Tiny, the wife of the “King of the South” rapper T.I., went viral on social media people definitely had questions, comments and Illuminati convictions on why she threw the Greek signs up. Some people had nothing better to do but to favorite and retweet posts and watch as sparks fly on their Twitter timelines, who was probably first to break the shocking news.

(That would be me…)

Veronica Wells writing for Madame Noire says Tiny’s latest behavior is almost comical.

“Whether it’s ‘Weave Trip’ with her sidekick Shekinah, releasing a diss record to her own husband or permanently changing her eye color, the girl knows how to make us look,” Wells said on Tiny jumping in on a picture being taken of a few AKAs and Deltas, and throwing up both their hand signs.

“…I was looking and laughing at a couple of pictures that popped up on Twitter. Apparently, Tiny knows a few Deltas and AKAs and when they were posing for a picture, throwing up their respective Greek hand signs, Tiny didn’t want to be left out. So not only did she jump in on the picture, she threw up the hand signs too. Both of them, AKA and Delta’s,” she said.

“They don’t need to be upset with me it was a joke,” the hip hop wife said in a tweet responding to her critics.

Tiny clearly hasn’t been to a historically black college or university (HBCU) because everyone knows about Greek affairs at Black colleges. But what’s most surprising here is that Tiny’s friends who are AKAs and Delta’s seemed to allow her to throw up the signs in the photos anyway. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

What’s next for Tiny? find out on the next episode of celebrity misbehavior.

A Shot at Redemption: The CIAA Championship Game That Wasn’t

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(HBCU Gameday) November 15, 2013. A day that will live in infamy in the hearts and minds of CIAA and HBCU football fans.

It was supposed to be CIAA football’s crowning moment. It turned out to be its darkest hour.

Two nationally-ranked football teams, Winston-Salem State and Virginia State, were set to battle for the CIAA Championship in Winston-Salem. After years of taking a back seat to basketball, CIAA football was finally going to take center stage for the nation’s oldest conference made up of historically black colleges. Coming on the heels of WSSU’s national championship game appearance, it was the moment officials hoped would signify the conference’s arrival on the D2 national stage.

Only it never happened. And we may never know exactly why.

What we do know is this: The CIAA Championship Game was cancelled after an bathroom altercation at the championship banquet that left one student-athlete (Winston-Salem State quarterback Rudy Johnson) headed for the hospital while another one (Virginia State running back Lamont Britt) headed for the Forsyth County Jail.

The fight made headlines around the sports world, landing on pretty much every major website and national television news.

Read more.

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100th Woman in Congress is Retired Bennett Professor

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Student Government Association President Alexis Anderson, Retired Bennett College Professor and Congresswoman Alma Adams and President Rosalind Fuse-Hall participated in the “March to the Polls.”

(HBCU Lifestyle) We did it and there is no stopping us now,” said Congresswoman Alma Adams, the 100th woman to serve in Congress.  Adams won 75% of the vote to win the 12th Congressional District seat in Congress.

A visible and strong voice in the community and beyond, Adams served 40 years as a professor of art at Bennett College.  During that time, she spearheaded the renovation and opening of the Bennett College Steele Hall Art Gallery.  As an advocate for education, Adams created opportunities for students to receive much needed scholarship support through The North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Foundation and with The Dr. Alma S. Adams Scholarship for Outreach and Health Communications funded by the American Legacy Foundation.

As an activist and elected official, Adams created a legacy of “Bennett Belles are Voting Belles.”  As she heads to Washington, DC to complete the remainder of Mel Watt’s unexpired term and in January 2015, begin the term of the 114th Congress, we can be assured a seat and voice at the table.  During her acceptance speech, Adams said, “Effective immediately, our district has a representative who will fight for their interest with pride, integrity and tenacity.”

Read more.

Areisa Peters, Student of Oakwood University: “There’s More Than One Type of Beauty.”

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The Buzz recently interviewed Areisa Peters, a student at historically black Oakwood University on her project called “Project Chocolate” which questions the stereotypes facing young Black women and what beauty is.

Robert: Tell me more about this project that you have started called “Project Chocolate”.

Areisa: Project Chocolate was started as an initiative to promote realization; realization on a small HBCU campus that there is more than one type of beauty. There are many different types of beauty. Our Motto is: “Sisterhood, Strength, and Self-Love”

Robert: Black women are portrayed as sexual toys in the media. Tell me how this project seeks to rewrite the script that has been written in America.

Areisa: Because Black women are constantly portrayed as toys, this leaves the world to forget that we are more than sex. We are human beings, functioning, becoming doctors, lawyers, moms, artists, just to name a few. This sexualization strips us of our humanity. Project Chocolate attempts to give it back to us. Reclaim our humanity. We are beautiful multifaceted beings with other qualities that make us beautiful and “sexy”; and those qualities extend further than just our bodies. ie: Strength and genuine happiness can be extremely attractive.

Robert: What was the impetus of creating this dope project?

Areisa: What’s interesting is that I grew up in Indiana, and for a majority of my life, in certain circles, I had heard various forms of “harmless” slander. “Oh you’re so pretty for a darkskin girl” “Oh wow. Is that a wig? Your hair is so long for a darkskinned girl” “Now I wouldn’t normally date your complexion , but you’re so beautiful” and these are micro aggressions. Things that are meant to be compliments, but left me feeling worse than before. Then I came to an HBCU and realized that it really DOESNT matter. Humans are humans. People are people. And black is black. And in that realization, it came to me that I had to uplift other girls and women who might not know that their beauty is just as magnificent as our lighter skinned counterparts. The process of self acceptance can be slow. I wanted to expedite that.  A photoshoot with direction. A day of bonding an mentoring can do a lot for a freshman who didn’t realize she was stunning. That’s the idea behind Project Chocolate.

Robert: What are this misconceptions of this project?

Areisa:  I don’t want this to be seen as “anti-white” or “anti-light” . Because people have jokingly and not-so-jokingly brought that up to me. I want this to be seen as an expansion of a definition. A definition of “beauty” that has remained stagnant for years but truly, it is time for it to change.

Howard University Wins SWAC Women’s Soccer Championship

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image3Huntsville, Ala. – The Lady Bison of Howard University captures the 2014 Southwestern Athletic Conference Soccer Tournament Championship with a 2-1 victory over Prairie View A&M University at the John Hunt Soccer Complex.

Reina Mata started the match off with the first shot that was saved by Howard’s Goalkeeper of the Year Kyra Dickinson. Melissa Kalbfleisch came back at the 6:13 minute mark and launched the ball straight through Dickinson, putting the Lady Panthers up by one, recording her second goal of the year. Nia Walcott received the ball on the opposite end and attempted to give the Lady Bison their first goal of the match but was shot too wide.

Carmen Suarez took the first corner kick for Howard in the 16th minute, giving Nikanya Clark the chance to attack the ball but was unable to capitalize on the play. After taking the ball back and forth down the field for about 10 minutes, Howard got a good possession with the ball. Dytria Ruddy crossed a player, becoming wide open with the ball and connected with the net at the 24:41 minute mark, scoring her fourth goal of the season, tying the game 1-1.

Shots were limited until Prairie View’s Deborah Arguelles blasted a shot during the last nine minutes of the first half from the left side that was successfully blocked by Dickinson. Read Full SWAC 

Savannah State Students Earn Awards at NOAA Conference

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Educational Partnership Program (EPP) held its seventh Biennial Education and Science Forum October 26-29, 2014. Savannah State University (SSU) was represented by a group of ten members, led by Dionne Hoskins, Ph.D., director of NOAA-sponsored programs at SSU. The delegation included two undergraduate students – Darius Stanford and Shaneese Mackey –  six graduate students – Keya Jackson, Emma Schultz, Chelsea Parrish, Jennifer G?t, Tiffany Ward, and Sanya Compton –  and one postdoctoral fellow, Jolvan Morris, Ph.D.

This conference’s theme was “Developing a Premier Future STEM Workforce to Support Environmental Sustainability.” The forum provided an opportunity for students at NOAA-EPP funded academic institutions and NOAA scientists to showcase results of collaborative research and education projects, as well as to discuss new engagement opportunities and promote career opportunities for STEM. The goal is to educate and develop a diverse science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce.

Students had the opportunity to interact with NOAA leadership, attend skill building and networking workshops and present research that aligned with NOAA’s four long-term goals: Climate Adaptation and Mitigation, Weather-Ready Nation, Healthy Oceans and Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies. In categories that were judged, SSU brought home three awards: Best Poster Presentation by an Undergraduate Student in Healthy Oceans Category (3rd place Shaneese Mackey), Best Poster Presentation by a Graduate Student in Healthy Oceans Category (3rd place Jennifer G?t), and Best Poster Presentation by a Graduate Student in Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies Category (2nd Place Keya Jackson).

The event was jointly sponsored by NOAA and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), and was hosted by UMES’ Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC), located on the UMES’ campus in Princess Anne, Md. SSU was among the seven NOAA LMRCSC partner institutions that attended the forum.

Established in 1890, Savannah State University is the oldest public historically black college or university in Georgia and the oldest institution of higher learning in the city of Savannah.  The university’s 4,900 students select majors from 27 undergraduate and five graduate programs in three colleges — Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Business Administration and Sciences and Technology — and the School of Teacher Education.

NCAA: Arkansas Pine Bluff Allowed 124 Ineligible Players to Compete, Face Five Years of Probation

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The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is firing back on an initial choice made by a NCAA Division I Committee Infractions panel to ban the university from postseason play tied with a five year probation penalty because of inconsistencies with the university’s self-assessed findings.

Penalties include:

  • five years of probation
  • a postseason ban for the football
  • men’s and women’s basketball and baseball teams
  • a vacation of all wins in which ineligible student-athletes participated
  • and scholarship reductions for 11 of the university’s teams

The UAPB athletics program and the university, who in a press release stated that it self-imposed a number of penalties and self-reported errors to the NCAA, says it is exploring options to appeal the decision made by the Committee.

According to reports over a span of five academic years the university failed to follow certain rules on the education and training of staff members who allowed ineligible student-athletes to compete.

“No way SWAC should be a Division I league,” tweeted Troy Schulte.

On Wednesday UAPB Chancellor Dr. Laurence B. Alexander thanked the Committee for  the “attention given to the [UAPB] appeal initially assessed” but says he is displeased with the additional penalties slapped on by the Infractions panel.

“…we remain disappointed even with the reduced penalties imposed by the Committee,” said Alexander in a press release. “…[we] will take the next several days to explore whether any further appeal options should be pursued,” he said.

A report released by the NCAA revealed that Arkansas Pine-Bluff allowed more than 120 ineligible student-athletes to participate in games. If there is no appeal, UAPB will vacate wins spanning every sport from 2007-2012, including the 2010 men’s basketball SWAC championship.

“Dr. Alexander, Director of Athletics Lonza Hardy Jr., and the entire Department of Athletics staff remain committed to insuring that the eligibility certification process is in full compliance with all NCAA rules and regulations,” according to the university’s website.