Page 532 – HBCU Buzz

White Teenager Poses in a ‘African Queen’ Editorial

Posted on Feb 25, 2013

“Here we go again,” writes Laura Beck about a 16-year-old white model playing the role of a “African Queen” in an editorial. Check out Beck’s account here:

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Here we go again. Here’s 16-year-old white model Ondria Hardin; she’s doused in a very deep bronze in an editorial for Numéro magazine called “African Queen”. Ugh. Foudre makes the excellent point/sums it up with, “why hire a black model when you could just paint a white one!”

Maybe it’s because the magazine just couldn’t find a black model? Maybe there are none, and it’s just not a profession that appeals to anyone but young, tall, skinny, white girls? They’re probably the only ones who enjoy traveling around the world and getting paid tons of money to be pretty? I know, I know, modeling is much more than that — don’t listen to me, I can barely smize! — but you get the point. It appears diversity also floundered at NYC’s fashion week this year, with over 82 percent of the models being white.

However, the same agency that represents Ondria Hardin has several black women in their pool. It’s a much (MUCH) tinier pool than the amount of white models they represent, but it does exist. And if none of those women are quite right, there are about a gazillion other places to look. There’s no excuse for using a barely 16-year-old white girl in an “African Queen” spread.

It’s impossible to look at this and not ache for young women of color who want to pursue careers in modeling (and arguably, fashion by extension). When they don’t see themselves on the runway or in magazines, it could be very easy for them to think, “huh, I guess modeling isn’t for me.” Then the status quo remains, and the runways remain monotone. If jobs for “African Queen” photo spreads aren’t going to black women, what hope is there?

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News

Central State University prepares for an accreditation visit

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 25, 2013

By: Edwina Harris, public relations specialist, Central State University

WILBERFORCE, OH – Central State University will undergo a comprehensive accreditation visit from April 21-24, 2013, by a team representing the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. As part of its ongoing effort to make the accreditation process responsive to a broad range of constituents, the Commission has integrated the federally required (1998 Higher Education Act Amendments) third-party comment process into its regular accrediting processes since the 1997–1998 academic year.

The Commission requires institutions undergoing comprehensive evaluation (initial or continued candidacy or accreditation) or quality checkup visits to publish basic information about the visit in appropriate publications and invite the public to provide written comments to the Commission.

“The Commission publishes the list of upcoming comprehensive evaluations of affiliated institutions on its Web site. The Commission forwards comments from the public to the evaluation team members to include in their review of the institution. Typically, the identifying information of the commenter is intact.

Questions about submitting a comment anonymously should be directed to legalaffairs@hlcommission.org.

Please click here to view Central State University’s Self-Study Report 2013

Send mail to the Commission:

Public Comment on (insert name of college)

The Higher Learning Commission

230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500

Chicago, IL 60604-1411

Comments on institutions are due in the Commission office no later than one month before the date the visit is scheduled to begin. The Commission cannot guarantee that comments received after the due date will be considered.

Note: An individual with a specific dispute or grievance with an institution should request the separate Policy on Complaints from the Commission office. The Higher Learning Commission cannot settle disputes between institutions and individuals, whether faculty, students, or others. Complaints will not be considered as comments.

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Buzzing News

Central State University to implement major energy conservation upgrades to cut air emissions and utility costs

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 25, 2013

By: Edwina Harris, public relations specialist, Central State University

WILBERFORCE, OH- Central State University will implement major energy efficiency and conservation upgrades at a number of buildings on its main campus using $20 million in financing from the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority (OAQDA) with a project that was approved at the February OAQDA meeting. The project will help the university meet the 20 percent reduction goals for energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions targeted in House Bill 251. Under the financing package, OAQDA authorized two Air Quality Development Bonds for issuance as Series A federally tax-exempt bonds and Series B Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds (QECB) federal tax credit bonds. OAQDA is the administering authority in Ohio for QECB bond financing.

Central State University selected the Brewer-Garrett Company of Middleburg Heights to implement the project. Energy conservation installations included in the project are interior and exterior lighting, building automation, mechanical upgrades, roof and building envelope improvements and water conservation systems. The project will cut the university’s annual energy consumption by 82,979 MMBtu, or 41 percent, with annual utility savings of $1,018,976. In addition, the annual air quality benefits of the project include reductions of 7,864 tons of carbon dioxide, 34 tons of sulfur dioxide, 13 tons of nitrogen oxides and .27 pounds of mercury. The reductions are the equivalent of removing 1,499 passenger cars from the road or powering the electricity usage of 981 homes.

“Change is ‘central’ at Central State University, and this project certainly embodies that belief. We are excited to be partnering with the Brewer-Garrett Company and OAQDA on this endeavor. This relationship will move us closer to achieving the long-term goals outlined in our university’s ‘six compelling priorities.’ One of those is maintaining efficient and effective operations. This energy conservation initiative will especially support that priority,” said Dr. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, president of Central State University.

State Representative Bob Hackett (R-74) said, “I commend President Jackson-Hammond for her leadership in the important arenas of environmental stewardship and fiscal responsibility. This project is just the latest example of the ongoing commitment to excellence that is a hallmark of Central State University.”

Todd Nein, OAQDA interim executive director, said, “We are pleased that OAQDA can further its mission of fostering clean air in Ohio through the QECB program. And helping public institutions cut their energy costs is an added bonus for taxpayers.” Nein added that the QECB financing would enable the university to leverage energy-related capital projects such as roof replacements that it has had to defer because of lack of financial resources. He said the university would also realize savings through reduced or avoided maintenance costs on the new equipment for many years following the project’s implementation.

Central State University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Approximately 2,000 students are currently enrolled at the university.

For more information, please contact Dr. Gayle Colston Barge, director of University public relations at 937-376-6216, or email: gbarge@centralstate.edu

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Greeks

A heartfelt opportunity: Central State’s Iota Phi Theta chapter sponsors student for Women’s Conference

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 24, 2013

The men of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. Alpha Mu chapter is sponsoring Central State University student Jacques Anderson for the coming Women’s Conference, March 16, 2013. The 2^nd annual, one day event will take place on Central State’s main campus in Wilberforce, Ohio.

Anderson, a sophomore at the university, was nominated to attend the conference backed by the members of the fraternity because of her long history of aiding the chapter.

“She was chosen because she not only supports the chapter, but she supports everyone individually,” said Jonathan Hairston, the chapter’s graduate advisor. “In her time of need we thought it would be a disservice not to support her in being the best woman she can be.”

Coping from the recent death of her father, Kwann Blackburn, Anderson said she’s thankful for these men who’ve helped her time and time again.

“I feel lucky…and I feel privileged for the Iota members and our strong bond,” said Anderson. “This event is something that can better me as a woman. I lost hope when my father died, but I can build that back up now by having more confidence in myself.”

The Women’s Conference features founder and CEO of Black Girls Rock Beverly Bond and hopes to engage women who have “successfully created change” by providing “an exceptional platform for women to affirm that positive images of women must be embedded so that women leaders become the norm not the exception.”

The men of Iota ‘proudly’ paid for all expenses in the course of the event for Anderson. She was unanimously selected by the chapter.

“Jackie has helped the fraternity by participating in community service and sometimes working at social events, and she has, without knowledge, become a positive spokeswoman for the brothers,” Hairston said. “She is a friend turned sister.”

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News

Local cemetery rests famed African-Americans who shaped the state of Ohio

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 24, 2013

Practically next door neighbors, Wilberforce and Central State University have championed African-American success stories for years. And a local cemetery in southwest Ohio tells a story of the prominent figures who helped shape the Midwestern state.

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WILBERFORCE, Ohio — Each tombstone in Massies Creek Cemetery bears witness to a life, some cry out for equality while others whisper of education, faith, and family.

About five feet tall and covered in a mossy brown fuzz, one stone remained difficult to decipher until a local historian retrieved a toothbrush from her car and gently rubbed the marker. The strokes revealed a simple inscription: Name, birth date, death date. But the years between those dates, from 1851 to 1901, tell the story of the man laid to rest, and a winding walk from this marker to the cemetery edge and back to the front gates takes a visitor past the graves of more than a century’s worth of key African-American figures.

The gray monument marks the grave of the Rev. Samuel Mitchell, a Toledo-born president of Wilberforce University. He is among numerous nationally and regionally notable African-Americans buried alongside white community members in the Greene County cemetery located between Wilberforce and Cedarville in southwest Ohio.

Roderick Blount, who wrote his 2011 master’s thesis about this and another area cemetery, can’t walk but a few steps without stopping to marvel at a marker. Here, on a grassy slope, a pink-streaked monument designates the grave of Reverdy Ransom, an African Methodist Episcopal Church bishop. Near the back stands the elegant stone of William Scarborough, a Greek and Latin scholar, author, and another Wilberforce University president.

Hallie Q. Brown’s marker lists her achievements as teacher, elocutionist, writer, and humanitarian. The large, brick library at nearby Central State University bears her name and a historical marker outside the building chronicles her life, including her 1873 graduation from Wilberforce, and describes her “powerful, scathing speech against discrimination.”

And in the cemetery’s center towers a glossy monument to Martin Delany, son of a free black mother and enslaved father and described as the “Father of Black Nationalism.”

“Delany is definitely the most prominent person buried in that cemetery, white or black,” Blount said.

N.C. A&T’s Reginald Johnson wins Mr. HBCU pageant

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 24, 2013

Aggies flood social media timelines as Mr. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Reginald Johnson has claimed victory at the 2013 Mr. HBCU pageant.

After showcasing his oratory, talent and formal wear for A&T on February 16, Johnson has taken his Held in Jefferson City, Missouri, the Mr. HBCU pageant is in its 9th year. Johnson is the fourth Mr. A&T to participate in this pageant.

“This win does not come as a surprise for me, for I knew on last Sunday after watching him perform his talent, oratory and formal wear, that he definitely had what it took to conquer the crown,” said vice president of internal affairs, Canisha Turner. “I am proud to see that come to reality! He truly deserves this title and he is King!”

Source.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is an academic community focused on students—providing them with interdisciplinary learning opportunities, teaching them with faculty renowned for excellence, connecting them to cutting edge discoveries in research, and encouraging them to serve their communities.

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Sports

“Whatcha doin’ here, white boy?”

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 21, 2013

Former student James Reed saw a chance at a dream of his by attending Morgan State University. Reed just wanted to play basketball, but his skin color added more value, and hardships to his HBCU experience.

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Waiting for competition to resume at a regional track meet in Churubusco, Ind., last spring, the 15-year-old didn’t look much different from other teenagers on coach James Reed’s North Miami High School (Ind.) team. The boy was perhaps a year or two younger than the rest. His stocky, athletic build and longish blond hair distinguished him a tad from everybody else, and maybe – just maybe — how he viewed the world was misaligned with theirs, too.

Huddled with teammates between events, the 15-year-old noticed black girls and boys, jeans sagging off their asses, milling around. As if out of nowhere, he blurted out, “I don’t really not like black people. But I just don’t like black people when they’re sagging, when they’ve got their hat on backwards.”

Stunned, Reed grabbed the boy and hustled him a few feet from the pack. “Why’d you say that?” Reed demanded. “Why?”

The 15-year-old stood mute. But what words do speak to ignorance, which is what racist rhetoric is? Reed knew, however, that the boy wasn’t the only person in his high school of 500 students — or in his town or any similar place in rural America where the sight of black faces was rare — who embraced such myopic beliefs. In rural schools like North Miami, many teenagers look at sagging jeans as a clownish fad – same, too, with rap music. They find the profanity-laced lyrics of Trinidad James, 2 Chainz and Rick Ross impossible to dissect to their essence because the black rappers focus too much on baby-momma drama, on living the gangsta lifestyle, on making coin:

An 18-year-old white boy left behind his rural roots and headed east to play basketball in Baltimore for a black college

Black men are ‘scarce’ at HBCUs

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 21, 2013

One look at the make-up of any university campus and you’ll notice one thing: black men are scarce. Although this is almost to be expected at predominately white institutions, apparently black men are equally hard to come by at our nation’s HBCUs.

According to the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, black women outnumber black men 3-to-2 at HBCUs. Moreover, at the 100 accredited black colleges and universities, 61.5% of the attendees are women.

So what’s behind the disparity? Experts say that black men have very few role models that inspire them to pursue education, face tougher financial odds, and are less prepared for college than their female counterparts. In addition, once they make it to college it takes black men longer to graduate from college and many drop out. Only 29% of black men graduate from HBCUs in six years as opposed to 33% at all colleges and universities (57% of people graduate within six years nationally).

Many schools and organizations are working to close the gender gap in higher education. Through outreach groups that target young black boys offering tutoring and mentorship, to companies and universities that offer funding to black male students going to college, many are hoping to inspire more young black men to pursue higher education.

While black women and girls face their own sets of difficulties, the odds facing black males are steadily growing, which is leaving a generation of young black men behind.

Do HBCUs need to celebrate Black History?

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 21, 2013

Living black history and learning it are two very different propositions with two invaluable outcomes, HBCU faculty and students say. But as the nation kicks off its annual celebration of Black History month the two propositions suddenly go head to head.

Do HBCUs, given their history and mission, need to celebrate Black History month?

“We shouldn’t have to promote black history, but we all should want to,” said Dr. Edna Greene Medford, Professor and Chair of Howard University’s Department of History. “We don’t neglect other history, but we’re well aware of our role in developing American society and the global culture.”

Several professors and deans at historically black colleges and universities are opting to integrate black history into the HBCU experience, but not through remembrance of heroes and role models past. Instead, by shaping the black history figures of tomorrow. Most of their work is done out of personal obligation, and because they believe some of today’s HBCU students don’t have the kind of connection with black history that they should, a connection that extends beyond familiar names like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Harriett Tubman and Malcom X.

Dr. Medford, whose expertise focuses include Abraham Lincoln and the black American experience post-Civil War, says that the challenge of promoting black history, even on a black college campus, is in getting students to appreciate its value by understanding their role within it. One of her courses, African-American History to 1877, has in recent years struggled to attract more than 30 students at the Mecca for historically black higher education.

Read more here at Huff Post Black Voices.

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Business

Retool Your HBCU: The Home Depot Provides Campus Improvement Program

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 21, 2013

The Home Depot announces the kick-off of its fourth annual Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grant Program. The 2013 Retool Your School Grants will total $195,000 to be awarded as one $50,000 Tier I Grant, one $25,000 Campus Pride Grant for the school that receives the most votes and social media activity, and twelve $10,000 Tier II Grants. Schools are required to submit a brief description of their projects by Feb. 11, 2013 for consideration, with full proposal details due by March 11, 2013. Online voting will take place from Feb. 18 to April 15 at www.retoolyourschool.com.

The goal is to provide sustainable and lasting renovations to give new life to the campuses of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Each year, the outpour of support for the program from alumni, students, parentsand the community grows. Since the program’s inception in 2010, more than three million votes have been cast as the HBCU community bands together for their favorite and most deserving HBCU school projects.

“The Home Depot is thrilled to once again offer the Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grant available to HBCU’s,” said Melissa Brown, manager of multicultural marketing, The Home Depot. “Now in its fourth year, we’ve seen incredible growth of support and popularity of the program. It is such a rewarding program connecting with our communities and it takes school spirit to a whole new level.”

The Home Depot’s goal is to connect with the community by awarding grants for projects that will have a lasting impact. Last year, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania received the Tier I Grant of $50,000, torestore the exterior and entryway of Lincoln Hall, one of the most historic buildings of the University. The first-ever Campus Pride Grant of $25,000 was awarded to Alabama A&M University. In 2011, grand prize winner Bethune Cookman University, located in Daytona Beach, FL, received $50,000 to install automated access doors and a wheelchair ramp in its Student Center to accommodate students, faculty and staff members with disabilities. Past Retool Your Schoolproposals and projects have included recommendations for eco-friendly and sustainability upgrades.

President Obama delivering Commencement Speech at Morehouse College

Robert Hoggard

Posted on Feb 21, 2013

The Huffington Post reported that President Barrack Obama will give the commencement speech at Morehouse College May 19, 2013. It will be the POTUS’s second commencement speech at a HBCU [he visited Hampton University in 2010].

President of Morehouse John S Wilson Jr. made an announcement this weekend stating he did not ask the president to come, but was notified by the White House in January that President Obama wanted to deliver the speech.

“When I heard that President Obama was visiting I was thrilled beyond measure,” Reggie Sharpe, a graduating senior and Religious Studies major at Morehouse College said. “I feel blessed and honored that God would allow something this awesome to happen the same year I graduate. It is not a coincidence, it is definitely divine providence.”

Evidently, it is a great idea for President Obama to speak at Morehouse.

This May will go down in history as one of the days that HBCUs will receive national attention, and it will bring more awareness to the state of HBCUs.

Morehouse student Stephen Green said, “Obama’s visit makes history as the nation’s foremost socially conscious President visits the headquarters of renaissance Black men with social consciousness.”

Morehouse College helps develop men with disciplined minds who will lead lives of leadership and service. A private historically black liberal arts college for men, Morehouse realizes this mission by emphasizing the intellectual and character development of its students.

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Buzzing News

Central State to Inaugurate University’s Eighth President, Cynthia Jackson-Hammond

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 21, 2013

842993_425919307488403_147192387_o — Central State President Cynthia Jackson Hammond and Wright State President David R. Hopkins shake hands after signing a memorandum of understanding that will foster new collaboration between their schools.

Wilberforce – Central State University prepares to inaugurate President Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, Thursday, March 7, 2013. Jackson-Hammond is the eighth president of the university and the first woman to hold the position.

Located in Wilberforce, Ohio, the university will host a weeklong of events starting March 4-7 dedicated toward the inauguration of Jackson-Hammond on the main campus of Central State.

Cyril Ibe, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, said “CSU’s first female president has, so-far demonstrated that she is all for change. She’s determined to take the university to various directions of administrative and educational change.”

Since taking the office on July 1, 2012, Jackson-Hammond has embraced the university’s motto “Change is Central.”

The president recently entered into an agreement with Wright State University in Dayton that would allow Central State students to get a head start on earning a master’s degree, showing the new direction of the university.

“In the six-plus months since President Jackson-Hammond’s arrival, change across campus is evident,” Planning Committee Co-Chairs Wendy Hayes and Keith Perkins said in a press release. “One by one, students are embracing the tenets and the essence of the CSU Man and Woman.”

By Jackson-Hammond’s leadership, students now value tenets Service, Protocol and Civility as a source for guidance. She also introduced a plan to reduce the time to degree and provide a quality collegiate/academic experience for every student among other initiatives.

“Charter Day is a milestone for Central State. Calling attention to Charter Day is important and significant,” Ibe said on the importance of the event. “Students, faculty, and staff pause to reflect CSU’s long history.”

Founded in 1887, Central State University is the only predominately African American public institution of higher education in the state of Ohio.

Activities for the event can be reached here.

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Editorial

“The Eulogy” by Malik Perkins

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 20, 2013

Tragic events, an unhappy ending and the downfall of the main character is what Central State University student Malik Perkins depicts of the black man and woman today. Check out his account about the tragedy of these individuals in his piece ‘The Eulogy.’

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Typically, we view death as a tragedy. However, it is hard to find sympathy for people who died from their own foolish behavior. These two individuals knew right from wrong. They understood the challenges they needed to overcome. They had control of their own destiny, but they decided to tarnish their legacy for things lacking in substance. They failed to realize that the world would continue to exist without them. These two decided to ignore the issues that were literally destroying them, and ultimately have no one to blame for their deaths but themselves.

Frankly, I am not saddened by the deaths of these two individuals. They chose to poison their minds and under-utilize their potential. They were so easily tricked into believing that morals were no longer needed. They became obsessed with wanting to be viewed as victims when they should have desired to be advocates for change. Their sense of ambition was replaced with self-hatred. Their valor was substituted with perversity. These two individuals chose to be deprived of self-knowledge—which often leads towards self-destruction. You simply cannot love something that you do not know, and over time, their actions showed that they clearly forgot who they were.

How can anyone be surprised that the African American Man is no more? He accounted for roughly 70% of incarcerated men in the United States. He was not perceived to be a family man, nor was he perceived to be an intellectual. The African American Man chose to be simple. He frowned upon those who valued education and those who sought positive relationships. He recited song lyrics of violence even though he was one of violence’s favorite victims. He viewed sex as a sport, and did not value things such as love and family. In essence, the African American Man made it easy for us. The rest of the world no longer has to compete with great minds such as George Washington Carver or Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. Even an African American President of the United States could not motivate him to change his ways. African American Men became so efficient at slaying each other that all the rest of the world had to do was watch. Even though countless numbers of young black males were slain in concrete jungles, he found a way to turn that into entertainment. The African American Man was lacking in leadership and morality. It was only a matter of time until he died by his own hand.

The death of the African American Woman should not be a surprise to us either. She allowed herself to become a symbol of promiscuity. The video vixen became more prominent than the educated African American Woman. The psychotic reality star was more respected than the African American Woman with ambition. Shortly before her death, it was a common sight to see her dancing provocatively on YouTube or engaging in brawls on World Star. Just like with the African American Man, we no longer have to worry about great minds such as Dr. Mae Jemison or Alice Walker. She eliminated herself for us.

Read the entire piece by Perkins at Young Intellects.

Business

Business Wire and Black PR Wire to host 2013 Minority Leadership Series

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 19, 2013

In recognition of Black History Month and in celebration of their continued
partnership, Business Wire and Black PR Wire invite you to join us for our 2013 Minority Leadership Series. This two part webinar will feature news and information for the busy communications professional.

Join this dynamic panel of HBCU graduates working in newsrooms and leading pr/marketing departments from around the world. Speakers will share their top tips to help students and young professional communicators excel in our industry and maximize their collegiate and early career experiences for success, job opportunities, and leadership positions.

Our panelists represent print and digital editors, producers, reporters, anchors and pr practitioners from around the country.

Wilberforce University students to rally, again

Tommy G. Meade Jr.

Posted on Feb 19, 2013

Hundreds of students at Wilberforce University rallied against university administration a couple of months ago and threaten to leave school for nearby Central State University. Students, faculty and staff now plan for another protest during a ceremony celebrating the historically black institution’s 157 year history.

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WILBERFORCE — The faculty and student government at Wilberforce University say they plan to protest Tuesday during a ceremony aimed at highlighting the private, predominantly black university’s history.

The groups are calling for the resignation of University President Patricia Hardaway as well as the dissolution and restructuring of the university’s board of trustees, according to the Wilberforce University Faculty Association.

The faculty association released a “Call to Action” document Monday afternoon listing financial and institutional problems it claims are threatening the university’s viability.

The purpose of the protest, according to the association, is:

“To protest the inability and unwillingness of the Wilberforce University Board of Trustees and the Wilberforce University President to lead the University and successfully manage university resources that have led to a significant decline in university revenue generation, enrollment and fund-raising, to severely declining resources and facilities, and to campus-wide distress, seriously jeopardizing the financial viability and future of the university. Groups are calling for the resignation of the President and the dissolution and restructuring of the Board of Trustees.”

Media Giant FOX to Form Partnership with HBCU’s

Brittney Quarles

Posted on Feb 19, 2013

Fox today announced a transformative new partnership with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) designed to further the development of diverse voices across the company’s entertainment businesses. The FOX/HBCU Media Alliance (FHMA) will bring HBCU students, faculty and alumni together with executives from Fox’s media and entertainment businesses in an effort to build a stronger pipeline for students interested in pursuing careers in the film and television industry and advance the careers of HBCU alumni working in media and entertainment across the Fox businesses.

FOX Audience Strategy, the company’s cross-divisional unit that focuses on advocating diverse perspectives in entertainment will spearhead the initiative. Making the announcement was Nicole Bernard (pictured), Senior Vice President, and head of FOX Audience Strategy.

“As a HBCU alumnus, I know first-hand the extraordinary level of talent coming out of these schools,” said Bernard, who received her undergraduate degree at Howard University before securing her J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center. “Fox has been a strong supporter of HBCUs, but now we want to elevate those efforts by creating a robust and unprecedented resource that harnesses the talent that HBCUs produce. I am excited that we will have the opportunity through regional events, workforce initiatives and social networking platforms to not only identify, cultivate and advance the best and brightest from this vast community, but to provide an array of tangible platforms for their creative gifts.”

“It is exciting to have a major entertainment entity such as FOX do more than simply acknowledge the depth of talent that the African-American community has to offer the filmmaking and entertainment industry, but to also help nurture that talent through these new HBCU initiatives,” said Sidney A. Ribeau, Ph.D., President of Howard University. This partnership will help Howard and other HBCUs to continue their tradition of producing quality talent that creates award-winning work.”

“We are pleased to learn that FOX Audience Strategy is making a commitment to partner with HBCUs so that the organization might take advantage of the outstanding and talented students, faculty, and alumni found in our institutions,” said Dr. William R. Harvey, President of Hampton University. “I believe that Fox Entertainment and the country will be better off as a result of this initiative.”

Read the full article here

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