5 reasons to be an Iota

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The original title of this article was “5 Reasons to Go Greek,” but it did not make the cut.

Here’s 5 Reasons to be an Iota:

1. Peter Parker said it best, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Alphas have Hill Harper, the Kappas have Marc Lamont Hill and so on. But if you are an Iota, you can help carry the torch of success for those after you.

2. Youngest Frat

Iota Phi Theta is the youngest member among the “Divine 9“–which means the lesser amount of ‘old heads’ you will have to deal with when you become a part.

3. No individual can fully examine another individual’s make-up or determination 

Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries made interesting remarks on marketing recently–“Candidly, we go after the cool kids,” he said. “A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

Sometimes Black Greek Lettered Organizations can feel the same. Iota however thinks highly of the individual.

4. Women are fascinated by love stories.

5. Iota giving back for almost 50 years

Iota Phi Theta will celebrate its 50th Anniversary September 19, and as Iota continues to grow, “so will its commitment to make meaningful contributions to society in general, with particular emphasis in the African-American community.”

Tommy Meade Jr. is the Senior Editor of HBCU Buzz and a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. Alpha Mu chapter at Central State University. Follow him on Twitter @tommymeade_

About Iota Phi Theta:

Throughout America, Iota Phi Theta has come to represent excellence in all areas. The Fraternity is, and shall forever remain dedicated to its founders’ vision of “Building a Tradition, Not Resting Upon One!”

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Howard trustee says university in ‘trouble’

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A vice chairwoman of Howard University’s board of trustees recently told the board that the historically black school in Northwest Washington “is in genuine trouble” because of fiscal and management problems, according to a report published Friday.

“Howard will not be here in three years if we don’t make some crucial decisions now,” Renee Higginbotham-Brooks wrote in a letter dated April 24, which the Chronicle of Higher Education published on its Web site.

Among the concerns Higginbotham-Brooks cited were competition for students from less expensive public colleges, the possibility of a reduction in federal appropriations, expenses associated with the university’s hospital, the absence of a robust fundraising system to offset declines in tuition revenue and a university workforce that she said is too large.

Rachel Mann, a spokeswoman for Howard, said Friday afternoon that the university would refer questions about the letter to the board chairman, Addison Barry Rand, who was traveling and was unavailable for an interview.

“Spirited debate and discourse are part of the culture of higher education,” Rand, who is chief executive of AARP, said in a statement. “The board and the university’s leadership team continue to work tirelessly to address many of the tough issues facing colleges and universities like Howard.”

Higginbotham-Brooks, a Howard graduate who is a lawyer in Fort Worth, did not immediately respond to e-mail and telephone messages left with her office. She has been on the board since 1997 and vice chairwoman since 2005.

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Omega Psi Phi Fraternity to host Fatherhood Brunch and Forum

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The Brothers of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Second District will host a Inaugural Fatherhood Brunch and Forum on June 15 at Temptations Banquet Hall in Philadelphia, PA.

Free to the public, the event focuses on building healthy families and supports President Obama’s Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative.

Click here for more information

About Omega Psi Phi:

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. is the first international fraternal organization to be founded on the campus of a historically black college.

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NFL hopefuls can learn from HBCU standout Padric Scott

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Ever since he was a little boy Padric Scott wanted to be an NFL player. With hard-work, self-determination and ongoing support, the 6’1 320 pound Nose Tackle made it happen when he was picked up by the Arizona Cardinals.

Now the once feared lineman of the FAMU defense is in a new position where those after him, talented HBCU football players with the same dream, will use his record of achievement as a model for their success.

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North Carolina Central welcomes new Chancellor Debra Saunders-White

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Nicknamed the “Technology Lady,” Debra Saunders-White, the 11th and the first female chancellor at North Carolina Central University, received warm support from students, faculty and friends while on campus for Welcome week in her honor.

“A heartfelt thank you to @NCCU for the amazing welcome I received this week!” Saunders-White tweeted yesterday.

Follow the new Chancellor-elect on Twitter @DSaundersWhite

About North Carolina Central:

The mission of the North Carolina Central University is to prepare students academically and professionally to become leaders prepared to advance the consciousness of social responsibility in a diverse, global society.

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FAMU hazing defendant Shawn Turner agrees to plea in Champion’s death

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FAMU hazing defendant Shawn Turner, who claimed he was drum major Robert Champion‘s “protector” and not an attacker, agreed today to plead no contest to felony hazing in the deadly ritual.

Turner, 27, will likely receive a community-service sentence similar to those imposed on other band members who have admitted they were present at the hazing, Orange-Osceola assistant state attorney Nicole Pegues said. Prosecutors will drop the manslaughter count in the agreement, which requires Turner to provide investigators with detailed testimony about Nov. 19, 2011, hazing that killed Champion.

Turner, who has moved from Florida to North Carolina, was ordered to appear in court Friday, when Champion’s parents are expected to travel from Georgia to Orlando for the sentencing of fellow drum major Rikki Wills.

Like Wills, who pleaded no contest last month, Turner has insisted he was only trying to shield Champion from the punches, kicks and drumstick strikes on a charter bus in the Rosen Plaza hotel parking lot.

No one has acknowledged striking Champion during the ritual known as “Crossing Bus C,” but detectives estimated he absorbed 300 blows while running through a gantlet of bandmates.

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Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Opens Elementary School in Haiti

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20090908NS-ho-HAITIAID687_t607-300x200As the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding this year, they will also be celebrating an additional accomplishment: the grand opening of an elementary school in Haiti on June 15.

In collaboration with the non-profit Water and Educational International, the Delta Research and Educational Foundation established the Water and Educational International Student Collaboration for Haiti Outreach Opportunities for Learning (WEI SCHOOL) project in 2012 that seeks to provide “an adequate school facility to include clean water for school children in Haiti,” according to a statement.

A school in Chérette, a village southwest of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, was rebuilt with bigger classrooms and new technologies that will promote a “hands-on global service learning experience.” There will also be unlimited access to fresh, clean water to meet the needs of the 300 students who attend the school.

“As a former elementary school teacher, it has been my experience that providing the proper educational tools and creating a positive learning environment to school instruction … enables students to excel in and outside the classroom,” National president of Delta Sigma Theta, Cynthia M.A. Butler-McIntyre said in a statement.

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Sallie Mae To Split Into Separate Companies Within 12 Months

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Sallie Mae plans to split into two separate, publicly traded companies. The student loan giant also named John Remondi as its CEO.

Sallie Mae, formally named SLM Corp., said Wednesday that the two separate companies – an education loan management business and a consumer banking business – would help unlock value and boost its long-term growth potential.

The education loan management business would include the company’s portfolios of federally guaranteed and private education loans, as well as most related servicing and collection activities. Remondi will continue as its CEO.

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Trains, Airplanes and Hyperloops, Oh My: The Future of Travel

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Cheaper and faster than air travel, immune to weather and simply a “really fun ride,” can you picture yourself going from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes–at a cost cheaper than an air ticket or car?

Elon Musk, a South African American entrepreneur and SpaceX founder, wants to develop the next big thing in transit and believes he found the answer.

The “Hyperloop,” a possible fifth form of transportation after after planes, trains, automobiles and boats, according to Musk:

“How’d you like something that can never crash, it is immune to weather, it goes three or four times faster than the bullet train that’s being built? It goes an average speed of twice what an aircraft could do,” said Musk.

“So you would go from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes. It would cost you much less than an air ticket or car. Much less than any other mode of transport, because the fundamental energy cost is so much lower. You can also make it self powering if you put solar panels on it.”

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Jackson State to host 2013 HBCU Awards

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More than 330 of 489 students at Wilberforce University came together and threatened to leave school for nearby Central State University in order for their voices to be told.

Wilberforce students rallied at least twice during the 2013-2014 academic year, protesting against high tuition costs, mold concerns and a reduction in services including dorm space.

“[Students] came together, got withdrawals and marched to get transfer papers. If we are not heard, over 200 students will transfer,” said Brandon Harvey, a member of the student government at the time.

For their outreach and advocacy efforts in the campus community, Wilberforce is a nominee at The 2013 HBCU Awards for Best Student Government Association.

The Third Annual HBCU Awards highlights the best historically black colleges have to offer–and winning awards mean bragging rights.

“Since capturing the 2011 HBCU of the Year award, Paul Quinn College has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and several higher education publications for its work in diversity, social justice and community advocacy,” according to The HBCU Awards official website.

Jackson State University will host The 2013 HBCU Awards on June 27-29.

Competition for awards given are fierce, from Best Marching Band and Best Student Newspaper to Female President of the Year and the prestigious HBCU of the Year–you name it, The HBCU Awards have it.

Check out the nominees

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Clinton, Holder honor civil rights icon Medgar Evers 50 years after his assassination

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A week before the 50th anniversary of the civil rights icon’s death, former President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Eric Holder joined other dignitaries at Arlington National Cemetery to honor Medgar Evers where he was laid to rest.

Evers was shot in the back and killed by white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith on June 12, 1963, as he and his family carried NAACP T-shirts that read ”Jim Crow Must Go” into their home.

His widow, Myrlie Evers-Williams, spoke at the event about her husband’s sacrifice and the importance of carrying on his legacy.

“I can hear Medgar’s voice saying, ‘I thank all of you for believing in me but it’s really not necessary. Just get out there and prove that you believe in me and that you believe in my country–which is our country,’” she said.

“We pay tribute to him and he will forever life in our hearts. And may we go beyond today and do what we can to build beyond his image,” she said. “Bring in the young people. Exchange ideas. See where we can go from this point to build the kind of America that Medgar believed in. To build the kind of America that he was willing to give his life for so that we can all one day be able to say, I played my part. Thank you, Medgar Evers, for playing yours.”

Clinton spoke about how the year of Evers’ murder “was an amazing year in the course of our nation’s struggle for a more perfect union,” and praised both Medgar and Myrlie for their civil rights work.

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Lawsuit filed over Bethune-Cookman student’s death

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Courtesy Bethune-Cookman University

A wrongful death lawsuit claims Bethune-Cookman University failed to stop fraternity hazing that led to the death of a Marching Wildcat band member.

Marcus Thomas, a sophomore on a marching band scholarship, died in February 2012 when the car in which he was riding crashed into a utility pole in Daytona Beach.

In a lawsuit filed in Volusia County Circuit Court, Thomas’ mother says hazing by members of the Pi Gamma chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America subjected her son, the car’s driver and other pledges to sleep deprivation.

The lawsuit says the car’s driver fell asleep, leading to the fatal crash. Everyone else in the car survived.

The university and the then-coordinator of Greek Life “had direct knowledge of previous hazing activities occurring in student groups affiliated with BCU, including (the) fraternity, and did little or nothing to discipline the activity, thus sending a message to students that the anti-hazing policy was not enforced by the university,” according to the lawsuit.

Bethune-Cookman officials tell The Daytona Beach News-Journal said they could not comment specifically about the lawsuit.

“Bethune-Cookman University prides ourselves on having a zero tolerance on hazing and put mechanisms in place to ensure that doesn’t happen and if it does we address it to the fullest,” said Dwaun Warmack, the vice president who heads the department over students and student organizations.

 

Alpha Phi Alpha Black Ice & Old Gold Affair

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The Gamma Eta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated invites you to the biggest party of the summer.

The Black Ice & Old Gold Affair is the official party on Friday night (June 28) during the Alpha Phi Alpha National Convention in Austin, TX.

Come out and enjoy Grammy-winning DJ and Producer 9th Wonder spinning all night on one stage while the funky sounds of Funk Mob will be jamming on the other. Live from The Parish Austin on Friday, June 28, 2013, kicking off at 8 p.m.

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1 in 10 young adults lose jobs because of social media posts

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Facebook-logo-300x200Be careful what you post on Facebook or Pinterest — those pictures of you drunk at a club last weekend may cost you more than just your dignity.

A recent survey by On Device Research found that 1 in 10 people between the ages of 16 and 34 have lost job opportunities because of posts they made or posts made about them on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

“If getting a job wasn’t hard enough in this tough economic climate, young people are getting rejected from employment because of their social media profiles,” Sarah Quinn, On Device Research’s marketing manager, said in a statement.

She added that what is more troubling is that young people don’t seem to be very concerned about it. Despite the risk of losing a job opportunity, a majority of those surveyed said that the risk wasn’t enough of a deterrent to keep them off social media.

In fact, it only made them more likely to tailor the content on their Facebook and Twitter profiles to what their friends would want to read – and not their future employers.

“Better education of the impact of social media is needed to ensure young people are not making it even harder for them selves to get on the career ladder,” Quinn added.

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HBCU legend Deacon Jones on paving the way for others

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NFL Hall of Fame defensive end David “Deacon” Jones died on Monday, June 4 at the age of 74. Jones will be most remembered for his outstanding NFL career, where he made a living out of putting quarterbacks in the dirt. Sacks, a term Jones is credited with coining, were not an official statistic when he played in the 1960s, but had they been, he would currently rank third overall. And he hasn’t played in over 40 years.

Before he took the NFL by storm, Jones was another young Black athlete from the South who was not recruited by majority schools. While today, Florida, Miami and Florida State would probably be fighting for him on a daily basis, Jones probably never even thought twice about those schools. That just wasn’t a reality in the South of the 1950s. Perhaps that’s what drove him to put those quarterbacks, all of whom were white, in the ground with such furor…the fact that he could have done it in college.

“I never went to school with a Caucasian. The first time I hit one without the police coming after me was in the pros. I will never forget that. That rings in my mind every day.”

-Deacon Jones, Black College Football Hall of Fame Speech 

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In the Spotlight: HBCU Buzz Founder Luke Lawal, Jr.

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559803_10200674008122671_296228215_nName: Luke Lawal, Jr. (@LukeLawal & @HBCUBuzz)

Occupation: Founder of HBCU Buzz (www.hbcubuzz.com)

Bio: A native of the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, Luke Lawal, Jr. is a young entrepreneur who graduated from Bowie State University in May 2012 with a degree in Biochemistry.  He is also equipped with a strong marketing and branding background and is a prime force in the social nightlife scene in DC, having served in marketing capacities at LOVE Nightclub and Park at 14th; Lawal, Jr. has also done marketing for the Washington Redskins.

What inspired you to start HBCU Buzz? Why did you think it was necessary?  I got the idea after visiting an HBCU campus in Florida, just to gain some insight on how their SGA operated. When I got down there, I just loved the way FAMU’s SGA was structured. I don’t know if it was specific to the particular SGA administration or if it was part of the foundation of the University, but I was inspired by the way the SGA was operated like a business. So I when I came back to Bowie, I thought ‘wow’, why didn’t I know about this? I felt like I really needed to start touring more HBCU campuses, learn from what they are doing to improve some of the ways that we do things. The question I kept asking myself is: “Why isn’t anyone publicizing this?” It was the inspiration as to why I started HBCU Buzz. I got the idea that more of this kind of information needed to be publicized so students could know what’s happening on other campuses and take pride in their HBCUs.

What would you say has been HBCU Buzz’s biggest success so far? What does the future look like?  Our big success has definitely been the HBCU Buzz Show.  It streams weekly and can be found at https://hbcubuzz.com/show.  For the future, I simply want HBCU Buzz to be THE leading voice in all things relative to historically black colleges & universities.

Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? Work for what you want, and remain unique.  “Don’t be an imitator be an innovator, design your life and live it your way, not someone else’s way. Stand up, stand out and start living uniquely, creatively and awesomely.”

Don’t forget to follow Luke and HBCU Buzz on Twitter! @LukeLawal and @HBCUBuzz

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