Ex-Florida A&M Marching Band Member Gets One-Year Sentence for Hazing Death

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on

The marching band for Florida A&M University were suspended from playing for nearly 22 months after the 2011 hazing death.

A circuit judge in Orange County, Fla., sentenced a former member of Florida A&M University’s marching band to one year in jail for the death of a drum major during a hazing ritual.

Jessie Baskin, 22, is the first of several students to be sentenced for the crime of college hazing and causing the 2011 death of Robert Champion after a football game.

Baskin pleaded no contest to a manslaughter charge.

Champion collapsed and died after he was forced to walk the length of a bus parked outside a hotel while several bandmates kicked, punched and hit him with their instruments.

Prosecutor Jeff Ashton claimed Baskin was the most enthusiastic of the bunch, based on witness testimony, actively kicking Champion during the walk.

Baskin cried in court as friends and family begged Circuit Judge Marc Lubet for leniency on the sentence, but Lubet said Baskin needed to pay for what he did, according to WFTV-TV.

The defendant faced up to nine years in prison, but Lubet decided on a sentence of one year in jail as well as five years of probation and community service once Baskin is released, the TV station reported.

He will also pay a $3,000 fine.

Champion was a native of Decatur, Ga. His death led to the season-long suspension of the marching band, banning it from playing at games, as well as the resignation of university officials.

Source: NY Daily News

HBCU Presidents to Critics: We Are Still Very Relevant

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
HBCU Presidents Dr. Kevin D. Rome, of Lincoln University, left; Dr. William B. Bynum, of Mississippi Valley State University; and Dr. Glenda Baskin Glover say non-minority institutions should take a lesson from HBCUs on how they are coping in the face of limited resources.

In spite of fewer resources compared to the nation’s other majority institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities graduate impressive number of majors in education and in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Responding to critics who question the relevancy of HBCUs and whether they can embrace the culture of diversity they have demanded of others, a panel of HBCU presidents meeting at Tennessee State University on March 24th, said HBCUs continue to play a key role in the nation’s higher education landscape and have become more diverse in student population, faculty and staff.

“Those raising questions about the relevancy of HBCUs have no case to back their claim,” said President Glenda Baskin Glover, of TSU, in an opening statement, adding that the question should be about how HBCUs have survived with limited resources and yet produce outstanding graduates.

“How can HBCU’s become a model for other institutions by operating with limited resources and yet we have survived with a high level of performance by putting out more than 5 percent of all graduates in the nation annually? That should be the question,” Dr. Glover asserted.

Attending a three-day “Diversity and Inclusion Summit on HBCU’s,” Dr. Glover, Dr. William B. Bynum, of Mississippi Valley State University; and Dr. Kevin D. Rome, of Lincoln University Missouri, answered questions about HBCU mission, good governance, customer service, and a culture of openness that embraces all without regard to race, sexual preference or heritage.

The summit brought together participants from institutions and organizations across the country including Clark Atlanta University, Indiana University, Xavier University, Alabama A&M University, Vanderbilt University, Fisk University, and Florida A&M University.

Read more at HBCU Lifestyle

Posted by HBCU Editors Posted on 5782 articles

Why UDC Saved Its Athletics Department

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on

For more than five years, Zachary Kjeldsen worked as a high school lacrosse coach in Miami. He sent plenty of kids to college programs but had never played at that level himself, or even graduated from a four-year college. So when Kjeldsen completed his associate degree at Miami-Dade College, he decided he had to give it a shot.

“I sent enough students to college,” says Kjeldsen, now 29, “so I figured I’d go myself.”

Researching schools with NCAA Division II lacrosse programs, Kjeldsen came across the University of the District of Columbia, which in recent years has struggled to attract residents of the District, let alone students who live in Miami. Even for its division, the university wasn’t a lacrosse powerhouse; in fact, it was in the early stages of launching men’s and women’s teams, having just hired coach Scott Urick, a former Georgetown lacrosse player and assistant coach. Kjeldsen met with college lacrosse coaches from all over, but said that when he met with Urick, he became convinced that UDC was the right fit. He wanted to be part of something new.

“Within five minutes I was sold,” Kjeldsen says. “I liked his philosophy: Quality people make quality players.”

Last fall, Kjeldsen enrolled as a junior at UDC and began practicing with the team, months before the start of the season. But in November, he learned that the team’s first season might also be one of its last.

That month, the university’s interim president, James Lyons Sr., presented hisVision 2020 plan, a proposal to “right-size” the university in the face of shrinking enrollment and flagging funds. Among its measures, the plan would have phased out by 2018 the entire athletic department, which was hemorrhaging millions of dollars each year. The proposal followed the D.C. Council’s May 2012 demand that UDC make significant budgetary changes. In 2012, according to the Vision 2020 plan, the university spent more than $32,000 per student—a figure that’s about 55 percent higher than at comparable public institutions. The plan proposes to bring that figure down to $30,723 in 2020.

Students who come to UDC to play sports would be out of luck. “That was my drive coming here,” Kjelsden says. “I wanted to play.” Why else would a guy from Miami come to UDC?

The University of the District of Columbia Firebirds don’t get much attention in D.C., especially compared to the Division I programs at Georgetown University and George Washington University. But the prospect of the nation’s capital losing the sports program at its only public university was enough of a shock to make headlines in the Washington Post and education blogs, which largely weighed the merits of cutting the athletic program versus academic majors. In addition to the sports department, Lyons proposed slashing 23 academic programs with low enrollment numbers.

At the time, Lyons told the Post that he wasn’t being anti-athletic, just doing what was best for the entire university. He wrote in his Vision2020 proposal that decreasing enrollment numbers help take a large toll on the university’s finances, bringing it close to defaulting on its debts. Cutting staff and slashing underenrolled programs, he argued, would allow UDC to strengthen the programs that it still offered. In place of the NCAA athletic program, he proposed investing $1 million in a campuswide health and wellness initiative. “The University can no longer attempt to be all things to all people,” he wrote.

Students and faculty rallied against the cuts. The university hosted four public forums; Donnel Jones, the student body president and walk-on lacrosse player, says he helped encourage students to speak out against the plans. He also helped organize a packed rally in the university’s main plaza before the board voted on the proposals. The Firebirds, he says, are an integral part of student life on the largely commuter campus, giving students “something to look forward to” and a reason to stay in Van Ness outside of classes.

The proposals to cut the majors and the athletic program “came out of nowhere from the students’ perspective,” Jones says. “We had rallies, student surveys, town halls, you name it…We made sure students spoke up.”

And, in part, it worked. While the Board of Trustees voted to axe 17 majors, including sociology, economics, history, and physics, it initially delayed a decision to disband the athletic program and eventually dropped the idea altogether. On Feb. 18, the Vision 2020 plan passed, sans athletic cuts.

“Based on the Board action intercollegiate athletics continues at the University of the District of Columbia and there is no pending action to discontinue this program,” university spokesman Michael Rogers writes in an email.

The news was a relief for student-athletes like Jones and Kjelsden, but it also meant that the school had to look elsewhere to find $16 million of cuts or revenue over five years. Continue reading

Morehouse to Induct Openly Gay Minister to MLK Board of Preachers

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
Bishop Oliver C. Allen will be inducted on April 3 into the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College as the first openly gay minister who is married to a man.

Bishop Allen, who studied at Morehouse, has drawn national attention in the past; he and his husband Rashad Burgess and their daughter made Ebony Magazine’s list of America’s coolest families.

 

HBCUs Go Online with Open Educational Resources

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
Hoping to address a long-standing issue at historically black colleges and universities, Wiley College has teamed up with Lumen Learning to create a center entirely devoted to the use of open educational resources in distance learning.

The new Center for Excellence in Distance Learning at Wiley College won’t just be for the benefit of students at Wiley. Two other HBCUs, Oakwood University and Florida Memorial University, have already joined the program.

“We felt the timing was right to look at a real collaboration among HBCUs and that building a critical mass of colleges and universities would be more appropriate and get better results than working alone,” said Kim Long, the center’s director.

Other colleges and universities are also in talks to join the center, said Kim Thanos, CEO of Lumen Learning.

“It’s an open invitation,” Thanos said. “But they really have to have a deep commitment to developing effective online learning programs that keep that personal relationship in which these types of campuses really pride themselves.”

HBCUs, particularly private ones, have lagged behind other institutions in building online learning programs and embracing distance education.

According to a study released in June 2013 by Howard University’s Digital Learning Lab, only six of the 55 private universities that are designated as HBCUs offer blended and online degree programs. That number hasn’t changed since 2010.

Howard attempted to create an expansive online program last year through a partnership with Pearson. As there are about about 120 online programs offered by both public and private HBCUs, Howard’s offerings would have accounted for more than 20 percent of online HBCU programs in the United States. Continue reading

Historically Black Va. College Sees Hope in Sale

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on

LAWRENCEVILLE, Va. – (AP) — The St. Paul’s College campus and the 35 buildings on its roller-coaster grounds are for sale in hopes it can continue to educate young black men and women in this rural community.

Located in Virginia’s tobacco-growing belt, the private, liberal arts college closed in June 2013 under crushing debt and questions about its governance, and following an ill-advised foray into football years earlier.

Now the school’s 11th president presides over the largely abandoned grounds and looks ahead to the April 9 sale of a campus that has everything you’d expect of a college, except for students.

“What our ultimate goal will be is to find another college or university that will take over St. Paul’s as an educational institution,” President Millard “Pete” Stith Jr. said.

Like many of the nation’s 105 HBCUs — or historically black colleges and universities — St. Paul’s was founded after the Civil War to educate black men and women in the segregated South. Founded in 1888 by James Solomon Russell, an Episcopal priest who was born into slavery, the college was then known as St. Paul’s Normal and Industrial School. It ultimately shed its longer name but it still remains affiliated with the Episcopal Church.

While St. Paul’s collapse is an extreme example, many HBCUs are struggling. Historically, they never have had deep pocket benefactors like a University of Virginia, and black Americans suffered disproportionately during the recession the country is just now shaking off.

Marybeth Gasman, a professor of higher education at the University of Pennsylvania who has written extensively on HBCUs, fears other “itty-bitty” colleges like St. Paul’s could face a similar fate.

She pointed, however, to “really strong” HBCUs such as Spelman, Morehouse and North Carolina A&T and Paul Quinn College, a small Dallas school that was saved by an energetic president who brought in new money and ideas.

St. Paul’s is banking on the sale to breathe new life into its campus.

The campus, which is assessed at more than $12.5 million, includes dormitories, a president’s house and other residences, administration buildings, a gingerbread Victorian house that served as an arts center, and a student center that includes a four-lane bowling alley. Reflecting its blue collar origins, some of the brick buildings were constructed by students.

For a buyer committed to continuing the tradition of education here, “Just add water,” said Patrice Carroll, who is handling the sale for Sperry Van Ness/Motley’s, a brokerage and auction company.

“This is really about the spirit and legacy of the school,” Carroll said in an interview in Stith’s office on the Lawrenceville campus. “It’s not just selling land or a building.” Continue reading

Simmons College in Kentucky Named the Nation’s 107th HBCU

Posted by Tommy G. Meade Jr.
Posted on

Since no place in the United States would allow their doors to be opened to educate freed slaves, freed blacks, supporters  and the like took the obligation upon themselves to educate the freed race to read and write.

Inasmuch, that’s the story of the founding of Simmons College in Louisville, Kentucky, and several other institutions of higher education across the nation known today as historically black colleges or universities (HBCUs). Earlier this month, Simmons College learned that it has been accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE).

As a result Simmons College becomes the nation’s 107th HBCU.

[The Higher Education Act of 1965 defines an HBCU as “…any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964” with the intention of serving the black community.]

“Simply put, accreditation is value,” said Simmons College President Kevin Cosby. “It is proof that Simmons has met national standards necessary to produce graduates who are prepared to enter into selected professions.”

President Kevin Cosby: “The accreditation of Simmons College of Kentucky will have a ripple effect throughout west Louisville and the Commonwealth of Kentucky and is the most monumental achievement, by African Americans, to take place in the state in the last 100 years.”

At an event Feb. 24, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who also visited historically black Howard University in Washington last spring, delivered remarks as Simmons celebrated its major milestone.

“Simmons College has a rich history that stretches over a hundred years,” Paul said.

“…There’s no greater equalizer than education. My hope is that Simmons College continues this proud tradition.”

For an institution of higher education whose principle mission as an HBCU is to educate African-Americans, Simmons College has plenty of disadvantaged and underserved people to reach. The four-acre campus is in the heart of a population of low-income, first generational college students with limited resources to attend college.

Tommy Meade Jr. is HBCU Buzz’s Editor-in-chief. Join the discussion and comment below. 

Like ‘the Buzz’ on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Wiley College Women’s Basketball Team Advances to NAIA Fab Four

Posted by Tommy G. Meade Jr.
Posted on

Displaying final four photo.jpg

It’s not whether or not they win or lose Monday night against a worthy opponent that counts. For the women’s basketball team at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, the players and coaches recognizes that the team has already accomplished something no other HBCU has done in over a decade. The Lady Wildcats will be the first historically black college or university to play in the NAIA semifinals since 2002.

But no one wants this Cinderella story to end.

After topping last season’s 29-4 record, the 30-4 Lady Wildcats advanced to the Fab Four in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Women’s Basketball Championship, defeating Westminster College of Salt Lake City, Utah, 75-58, Saturday in Frankfort, Kentucky.  “We had a game plan coming in to the game, which was turn our defense into offense, and it proved to be effective,” said Coach Garrett-Pruitt, who is 79-17 in three seasons with the Lady Wildcats.

“We wanted to keep building on that lead, because Westminster is a very good team that had the capability of getting back into that game, and we tried our best to stick to our game plan and not let them back in,” he said.

“As everyone focuses on action in the NCAA, we wanted to share our good news in the NAIA,” Wiley College Director of Public Relations Tammy Taylor told HBCU Buzz via email.

Wiley College became the first HBCU to advance to the NAIA semifinals when former member Central State advanced to the semifinals in 2002. The team now faces the NAIA No. 1 ranked team Freed-Hardeman (Tennessee) Monday night at 7 p.m. CDT.

“I know it’s going to be a tough game,” said Coach Garrett-Pruitt. “Freed-Hardeman is a very good team, they have a historic program and great coaching, so I know that we are going to have our work cut out for us, but I believe it’s going to be a very good game.”

Every Cinderella story is meant to have a “happily ever after ending,” right?

Tommy Meade Jr. is HBCU Buzz‘s Editor-in-chief. Follow him on Twitter.

Like ‘the Buzz’ on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

FAMU Officially Signs Contract for New National TV Network

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on

532c8fe6046e8.image

Tallahassee, Fla. (WTXL) With a few signatures and lots of applause, the FAMU School of Journalism and Graphic Communication is now home to the Black Television News Channel. 

The BTNC, is the first 24 news channel geared toward an African-American audience. 

Former Congressmen Kendrick Meek and J.C. Watts were on hand to be a part of the celebration. Watts is a part of the group that is bringing the network to FAMU.

“I think the United States and the world, only gets a sliver of who the community is and what the community is all about. This channel, is a great chance to open the door and show them even more”, said Watts.

Also on hand for the signing were, State Representatives Bobby Powell, Shevrin Jones and Alan Williams, Leon County Commissioner Nick Mattox and Tallahassee Mayor John Marks, who were all instrumental in the process. Representatives for the offices of Congressman Steve Southerland and US Senator Marco Rubio were also present.

Interim FAMU President, Dr. Larry Robinson said that this opportunity was a game changer for FAMU.

Robinson said, “We’ve got the best deal possible and we got it done in a timely manner. This was really a team effort.”

Journalism Dean Ann Wead- Kimbrough, said that students will benefit the most from this partnership.

“It’s a great opportunity for Tallahassee as a whole, with more that $30 million dollars of economic impact to the community but students at FAMU will see the most benefit”, said Kimbrough.

“They will have a chance to work with high quality professional journalists daily and that will help them develop real work skills that they can use for life.”

The channel is expected to launch in 2015 to an audience of nearly 40 million households.

Hampton University Panel Discusses Gun Violence, Media

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
dp-panelists-on-gun-violence-20140321-006Nardyne Jefferies showed photos of her daughter Brishell to an audience in the Hampton University Student Center Friday morning. Each picture showed a smiling young lady coming of age.

Then, she showed a final one — her daughter’s bloodied face with a bullet wound beneath her ear as she lay lifeless.

Jefferies was a member of a panel that addressed gun violence in the black community. She was participating in the university’s annual Conference on the Black Family, with her panel moderated by ABC News chief national correspondent Byron Pitts.

The conference at Hampton University has focused on the way media has portrayed modern black families, including some of the misperceptions, inaccuracies and stereotypes frequently used in news coverage and entertainment.

“When my daughter was murdered, not only I failed her, but her community, society and everyone else,” said Jefferies, who lives in Washington, D.C. Her daughter had earlier attended a funeral when she was the unintended victim of a shooting by a group of young men armed with assault rifles similar to AK-47s. Four other young people died in the 2010 shooting.

After her daughter’s death, some news outlets made comments to her that she found insensitive and condescending after she spoke, such as “You’re so articulate,” or “You speak so well.” Jefferies said she was taken aback. “So you didn’t expect me to be able to conjugate a verb?” she said.

She said she wonders if the treatment would have been different if she had been from a richer area instead of Southwest D.C. Frequently, she said, black victims of crime are made to feel “as if they don’t matter.”

Pitts said he doesn’t like using the phrase “black-on-black crime,” which he said can be used to de-sensitize the public. News reports sometimes quickly dismiss gun crimes as “drug-related” or “gang-related” without delving into more detail, he said.

Candice Wallace, an assistant professor of social psychology at HU, said media outlets perpetuate an image of black men being universally violent. “Many times we internalize that image,” Wallace said.

There’s no disputing gun violence is a major problem permeating black communities, panelists said.

Pitts asked for a show of hands from the conference attendees if they had had a friend or loved one killed. About two-thirds of the audience of more than 300 raised their hands.

U.S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-Newport News, told attendees that it’s difficult to pass laws that curtail the proliferation of weapons because some communities have a gun culture where violence isn’t a problem.

“In some places, guns are like fishing rods. Everyone has them,” he said. “There’s not a gun violence problem in Montana, but there is in the inner cities.”

Nate Cadogan, 23, an HU graduate student from Portsmouth, Ohio, said he witnessed while growing up how gun crimes affect a community.

“Half of the people I grew up with are dead,” he said. “I feel like in society we have this principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But what you wind up with is no one can see and no one with any teeth.”

Cadogan said he was encouraged by the forum to take action in his own community to help present a positive image. “I picked up a lot of advice about the things I can do personally,” he said.

Education Opportunity for Black Students Tops GOP Agenda at CPAC Conference

Posted by Eugene Craig
Posted on

300-135 certification exam 300-135 certification exam AWS-SYSOPS test details AWS-SYSOPS test details The 300-208 study material 300-208 study material 300-208 test download son, a steady respectable SY0-401 exam dumps SY0-401 exam dumps young man, 300-208 test download SY0-401 exam dumps was amply provided for by the 300-208 study material fortune of his 300-135 certification exam mother, which 300-135 certification exam AWS-SYSOPS test details had been large, SY0-401 exam dumps and half of which devolved on 300-208 test download 300-208 study material him on 300-208 study material his 300-208 study material coming 300-208 test download of 300-135 certification exam AWS-SYSOPS test details SY0-401 exam dumps 300-135 certification exam 300-208 study material AWS-SYSOPS test details ag 300-208 study material By his own AWS-SYSOPS test details marriage, SY0-401 exam dumps 300-208 test download 300-135 certification exam SY0-401 exam dumps likewise, which happened soon afterwards, he added to his wealth.

And the 300-208 test download SY0-401 exam dumps horses AWS-SYSOPS test details 300-135 certification exam SY0-401 exam dumps shook 300-135 certification exam themselves, 300-208 study material and the AWS-SYSOPS test details dogs AWS-SYSOPS test details SY0-401 exam dumps jumped up and barked 300-208 study material the AWS-SYSOPS test details pigeons took 300-135 certification exam their heads from 300-135 certification exam under their wings, and looked AWS-SYSOPS test details about and 300-208 study material AWS-SYSOPS test details flew 300-135 certification exam 300-208 test download into the fields 300-208 study material 300-208 study material the AWS-SYSOPS test details 300-208 study material 300-135 certification exam 300-135 certification exam SY0-401 exam dumps flies on the 300-208 study material walls buzzed 300-208 test download 300-208 study material again the 300-135 certification exam 300-208 test download fire in the 300-135 certification exam 300-208 test download 300-208 test download kitchen blazed up round went the jack, and 300-208 test download round went AWS-SYSOPS test details the spit, AWS-SYSOPS test details with AWS-SYSOPS test details the goose 300-208 test download for the king s dinner upon it the 300-208 test download butler 300-208 test download SY0-401 exam dumps finished his draught SY0-401 exam dumps of ale 300-208 test download the maid went SY0-401 exam dumps on plucking the fowl and the SY0-401 exam dumps cook gave the boy the box on his ear.
Then away he free dumps Well, thought the young man, it is no hard matter to keep that advice He rode on with the princess, till at last he came to the village where he had left his two brotherpractice questions And there he heard a great noise and uproar and when he asked what was the matter, the people said, Two men are going to be hanged As he came nearer, he saw that the two men were his brothers, who had turned robbers so he said, Cannot they in any way be saved But the people said No, unless he would bestow all his money upon the rascals and buy their liberty.
Then he did not stay to think about the matter, but paid what was asked, and his brothers were given up, and went on with him towards their home And as they came to the wood where the fox first met them, it was so cool and pleasant that the two brothers said,SY0-401 exam dumps Let us sit down by the side of the river, and rest a while, to eat and drink So he said, Yes, and forgot the fox s counsel, and sat down on the side of the river and while he suspected nothing, they came behind, and threw him down the bank, and took the princess, the horse, and the bird, and went home to the king their master, and said.
Then there was great rejoicing made but the horse would not eat, the bird would not sing, and the princess wept The youngest son fell to the bottom of the river s bed luckily it was nearly dry, but his bones were almost broken, and the bank was so steep that he could find no way to get oustudy guide Then the old fox came once more, and scolded him for not following his advice otherwise no evil would have befallen him Yet, said he, I cannot leave you here, so lay hold of my tail and hold fasstudy guide Then he pulled him out of the river, and said to him, as he got upon the bank, Your brothers have set watch to kill you, if they find you in the kingdom.

If you attended the first day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) two weeks ago, you would have heard one major recurring theme: school choice and giving parents the option of where to send their kids to school. United States Senator Tim Scott (R-SC),  U.S. Congress hopeful Dan Bongino, and others led the charge to push for policies that allow for more opportunity and parental control of education.

Sen. Scott gave a personal account of how education played a major role in his life, and how after the 9th grade he was on the verge of flunking out. He would then go on to highlight how a mentor literally saved his life and his future. Bongino, a former NYPD officer and Secret Service agent now running for U.S. Congress in  MD-6, highlighted how he witnessed the despair many families in New York City suffer from with a public education system that is failing these students and their families and painting a picture of tomorrow that isn’t like the rest of the country.

Bongino would further highlight that, though when some of the people in the room think of tomorrow they may see a bright future, many of the families he interacted with as a NYPD officer vision of tomorrow was nothing more than the next day.

Both individuals urged the crowd to take action on the issue, saying that the fight to provide all children with a better future is our fight, and that we have an obligation to fight for educational opportunity for underserved families.

Sen. Scott unveiled his Creating Hope and Opportunity for Individuals and Communities through Education (CHOICE) Act and recently (Feb. 24) Bongino participated in a panel discussion on Black economic opportunity at Bowie State University hosted by the Bowie State Young Americans For Liberty Chapter, the Bulldog Chapter of Groove Phi Groove, the Rho Chapter of Alpha Nu Omega, and Black Agenda organization on campus.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuIk92S3PwE]

Eugene Craig is a Contributor to HBCU Buzz and is a senior majoring in History at Bowie State University. Craig is also  a candidate for the office of Clerk of the Court of Baltimore County. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Iowa State Too Much for NCCU in NCAA Debut

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on

SAN ANTONIO — N.C. Central introduced its men’s basketball team to America on Friday night.

The No. 14 seed Eagles ran their motion offense, found their shots and used their suffocating defense to great effect in the second round of the NCAA tournament. They held an early lead, trailed by just six at halftime, made great plays, and scared No. 3 seed Iowa State, but in the end, the Cyclones were too talented and too deep, pulling out a 93-75 victory at the AT&T Center.

The Cyclones disrupted N.C. Central’s offense during the second half, limiting senior guard Jeremy Ingram to 28 points. Meanwhile their trio of senior DeAndre Kane, junior Dustin Hoge and sophomore Georges Niang took over offensively and helped Iowa State open a 15-point lead with 10 minutes, 55 seconds remaining.

The Cyclones had five players score in double figures and shot 63 percent from the field.

“It’s extremely difficult to slow them down,” N.C. Central coach LeVelle Moton said. “You’re basically picking your poison. Those are pros out there, man, and you’ve got to decide if you’re going to double Kane and leave out some shooters and be late on rotation , or if you’re just going to play it straight up. … It’s a nightmare.”

Kane’s smooth perimeter game coupled with the hustle of Hoge and Niang inside wore the Eagles down. Once the Cyclones were moving in transition, the Eagles had little hope – and Iowa State’s lead inched to 20 points with eight minutes to go on a Niang 3-pointer from the top of the key.

The Cyclones went 9 of 17 from 3-point range.

Despite Friday’s disappointing loss, N.C. Central fans will mark this season down as one for the ages, considering the exciting run their basketball team made.

The Eagles made the NCAA tournament as a Division I team for the first time in school history. They captured the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament championship for the first time, having moved from Division II to Division I in 2011.

There were signature wins over N.C. State and Old Dominion. There was a dominating stretch of play during the MEAC regular season where the Eagles finished 15-1 and captured that title.

They were unbeaten at home (14-0) for the first time since the 1997-98 season – dispatching teams at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

The team won the second-most regular-season games (25) since John McLendon’s squad finished 26-5 in 1950-51.

“Right now it’s kind of hard for me to swallow this and give out how proud I am of our accomplishments,” N.C. Central guard Emanuel Chapman said. “But the thing I’m most proud of is that everything that we did and everything that we accomplished in our conference … we did everything together.”

Dog Dies, Two Escape from Hampton University Apartment Fire

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
20140322-110334.jpg

Hampton, Va. – Two people were forced from their home early Saturday morning after an apartment fire in Hampton.

Hampton firefighters say the fire started around 3 a.m. at an apartment on Mariners Cove Rd. Units arrived and found flames coming from the third floor balcony doorway.
We’re told the two residents smelled smoke and the smoke detector alerted them to the fire but they were not able to leave through the front door, so they had to escape from their balcony through the outside stairway.
One dog was found dead as a result of the fire.

Firefighters say the home was heavily damaged from fire, smoke and water throughout the apartment.
A fire investigator responded to the scene and determined the cause of the fire was due to ashes from incense falling into a trash can which ignited and spread to a couch.
The Red Cross was requested to assist the residents of the apartment.

6 Reasons Why Every HBCU Student Should Attend TMCF Leadership Institute

Posted by Tommy G. Meade Jr.
Posted on

photo tmcf_DSC0705_zps952939d8.jpg

“If I could describe the TMCF Leadership Institute in one word, I would say motivational,” said Tony Innouvong, a student at Alcorn State University. Several other “carefully selected” students brought together to this four-day conference has similar responses about the 2013 Leadership Institute.

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) hosts the annual, premier recruitment conference for public HBCU students that enable the future leaders of tomorrow a unique professional development experience.

Here are 6 reasons why every HBCU student should attend the TMCF Leadership Institute:

Leadership Skills

“From the first day of conference, I really felt the competition in the room,” Alabama A&M University student Oneia Baldwin said. “I need to be on my A game.” Sometimes, great leaders need to be pushed to go that extra mile, again and again and again.

Networking

According to the TMCF website, students should “come prepared and don’t forget to bring your resume!” With over 60 companies and government agencies offering job and internship opportunities, one could argue that it would be absurd to miss out on such an opportunity.

Scholarships

The average TMCF merit based scholarship award is $3,100.00 per student per semester.

Recruitment Fair

Everyone loves the Recruitment Fair. Everyone. In addition to career opportunities with over 60 recruiters, some recruiters will be interviewing and hiring on-site during the conference, which is totally awesome.

Workshops

At the Leadership Institute, TMCF gives a set of circumstances that makes it possible for students to participate in “interactive discussions and workshops designed to provide professional career strategies, skills, and guidance from experienced individuals in the corporate, education and government fields.”

Keynote Addresses

Do any of the following names ring a bell: Ime Archibong, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Pamela Jolly and Dr. William U. Latham? These are the names of leaders who watch over companies like Facebook, Wal-Mart, Torch Enterprises and Gallup. The Leadership Institute offers some of the nation’s leading public speakers inspire attendees by sharing their life stories and work experiences.

And by attending this year’s Leadership Institute, you, too can be TMCF–where education pays off.

About TMCF:

Representing nearly 300,000 students attending its 47 member-schools that include public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), medical schools and law schools, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) helps students with a clear intention and the motivation to succeed and acquire a high-quality college education at an affordable cost. 

Like ‘the Buzz’ on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Bad Girls Club And Basketball Wives: Are Reality TV Shows Negatively Impacting Our Women?

Posted by Luke Lawal Jr.
Posted on

Dear women of the world,

What is going on?!

Whether we care to admit it or not, TV permeates our lives, our habits, and our language. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air brought us a lot of cheesy Carlton dancing that we faithfully recreated, and baseball caps worn sideways and of course the intro song we’ll never forget. The Cosby Show brought us 8 years of love and laughter and Rudy’s sassy Uh-uh’s, and showed us black families are normal. What about Martin? We’ll never forget the sarcasm, the bond between friends, Martin’s love- hate relationship with Pam and Shanaynay’s overuse of Oh no, you di-int!!

TV distorts the way we perceive ourselves. Remember in the 80s when we all had shoulder pads? I know, I want to forget it too. How about those neon colors? You could be spotted from a mile away! And in the 90s we were star struck by the Wayans brothers? Doc Martens and flannel, parachute pants and LA Lights, or oversized sweaters and eyeliner anyone? The good, the bad and the ugly, we do get influenced by TV.

Aggressive reality shows inhabit the “ugly” category. What have they added to our lives? A whole lot of women-on-women cruelty, overly sexual girls, distortion of body image and poor role models.

Take Bad Girls Club, for example. It can be summarized like this, a bunch of girls living together and being paid to fight each other. There’s little reality behind Reality TV, just to clarify. The meaner the girls are to each other, the more likely it’ll be that they will be hired for another season, so if you’ve ever watched the show you already know there will be a bunch of hair pulling and throwing of punches for no reason at all. Does this empower you much?

The show is so – fortunately – bleeped, that half of the heartfelt yelled exchanges can’t be heard. But they’re easily guessed. The myriad of “biatch” that girls throw around is the least of our worries, because, surprise, that’s how girls are calling each other when they’re not even being rude.

Another show that has caught our attention – for all the wrong reasons – is Basketball Wives. Though Nicki Minaj is a fan of the show she isn’t a fan of bullying. Apparently, Miss Minaj feels that yelling and slapping isn’t the way to face any problem.

The summary of the show is, a group of women who are married, engaged, have been married or engaged, or are having affairs with basketball players, for some obscure reason, followed in their everyday pre-scripted lives. Backstabbing ensues.

Oh, they’re consenting adults all right, so they should know about consequences. But how about their audiences?The women in both shows get their hair and make-up done by professionals, step into the limelight and make it glamorous to bully, to criticize, to be backstabbing and confrontational.  With their skimpy little dresses they go around having intercourse with random partners and making promiscuity look cool. What about STDs and unwanted pregnancy? When do we get to see the consequences of reckless behavior?

The icing on the cake is that most girls from this Bad Girls Club are black women. The demeaning stereotype of bullying, loud and coarse black women. A stereotype that we can’t so easily debunk, but TV is insisting on fostering.

According to recent research, black women are ranked by the National census statistics as the most educated group by race and gender. So why are we still allowing Bad Girls Club into our homes, and into our minds?

You know what real feminism looks like? Not like this. African American women didn’t come this far to fall back. It seems today women are finding more value in their bodies, by how little she weights, how much she shops, how many people she sleeps with, how loud she yells and how good she looks. These shows are the most un-feminist approach to femininity.

Women are meant to be appreciated as wholesome, wonderful and beautiful beings. Women today can use their platforms to inspire change in the world and be a positive influence on the younger generations. But why don’t we see more of this positive change?

Kim Kardashian becoming famous just because she’s been strutting her stuff isn’t quite the role model after all, is she?

Some people argue that her life is inspirational, because she leaped to stardom out of the blue. Kim, misrepresented as a “model” and an “actress” became known after a sex tape got leaked to Vivid entertainment, who distributed the film as “Kim K Superstar”. Looks like an easy way to achieve notoriety, doesn’t it?  Maybe. But since Kimmy cannot act, cannot sing and has no evident talents, the only way to stay in the limelight is by showing her assets everywhere. I wouldn’t be able to look my mother in the eye if that was me.

So you know who Kim Kardashian is. Do you know Ursula Burns? Rosalind Brewer? They’re two of the most powerful African American women. You’ll see them from time to time in the news, making it big as CEO’s of Xerox  and SAM’s club. True, they probably won’t be in a show every Tuesday night, and for sure they won’t be giving any butt-whooping, but that’s because they’ll be doing something worthy of their time, like leading an international company.

Or how about Oprah Winfrey? She’s one of the most influential women in the United States, and you won’t catch Oprah being anything less than appropriate, because she has devoted her life to become an inspiration to all generations. You see, there are role models out there, but maybe it’s time to change the channel and let’s get to know them.

Just like The Cosby Show was a great portrayal of African American families, promoted values and had a huge dose of healthy humor, we have some modern shows to choose from that don’t base their ratings in cursing and name-calling. Tune in to OWN, Oprah’s TV network, and you’ll be spoiled for choice.

If you like to watch glamour, then the reality show Mom’s Got Game is for you. There’s no need to be throwing around curse words and pulling people’s hair, because that doesn’t even happen in real life!

Want a bit more drama? Then have your tissue ready for Iyanla: Fix My Life. And maybe there will some butt-whooping there, but it’s metaphorical and it’s the kind of whooping you’d get if you needed a reality check.

We’re not asking you to embark in a crusade against reality shows and entertainment. But we do want you to stop validating shows that are fed by your ratings and in return give you nothing of worth. Nothing at all.

Like ‘the Buzz’ on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Fire In Meridian Hall of Howard University – Letter from Andreya J. Davis

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on

photo 2Dear Bison Community:

On Saturday, March 15, 2014. I returned to the Hilltop a changed woman after, experiencing my fourth trip as a participant of Howard University’s Alternative Spring Break program. This year, I spent my week in a building sleeping on cots, and without hot running water, I woke up everyday at 6:45am with more than 20 strangers ready to teach, mentor and explore. I was experiencing one of the best weeks of my life!

The Lower Ninth Ward was the setting; the theme was some inexplicable mixture between catastrophe and communal love. We, a cast of 29 Howard University representatives were first-hand witnesses of things the media could, rather would, never tell us. We learned many lessons; the greatest being take care of your own people, protect them, nurture them and most importantly, love them.

On Tuesday, March 18, 2014, reared against the eastern sky, the Howard community was put to the test again. A fire in Meridian Hill Hall wrecked havoc on the fourth floor of the near-capacity residence hall. An angel of protection ensured that no students (potentially 93) or staff was injured. However, several have been left displaced and without housing. We are now charged to meet the needs of our fellow Bison. WE must protect them, nurture them and most importantly love them. Even when the cameras are not rolling it is our duty to serve one another even as we seek to serve the global community.

I ask that you donate as you can. Necessities include but are not limited to male and female clothing, toiletries, and residence hall necessities such as cooking/cleaning/ school supplies, and non-perishable food items. Checks can be sent to Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel CC/Memo: Meridian Hill Hall Relief

 

Material Donations can be sent to:

Carnegie Hall Office of the Dean of the Chapel 2395 6th Street NW Washington, DC 20059

In Truth and Service,

Andreya J. Davis