iPad Technology Advantage Scholarship Initiative at Jackson State

For the first time over 900 students at Jackson State University will be receiving iPad’s to help them assist with their learning this week through a partnership with the Mississippi e-Center Foundation. The program, called the iPad Technology Advantage Scholarship Initiative, will use the device in curriculum as well as monitor students learning during a thorough two-year study.

Beginning Tuesday, September 4, students lined up to receive their iPads by classification. Led by campus instructors, they registered for insurance, took part in mini workshops about various iPad policies, set-up and use and were given an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard and a protective cover. Each iPad is equipped with tons of student applications and Airwatch Safeware that will help recover any lost or stolen iPads.

According to Mississippi e-Center executive director and foundation president Dr. William McHenry, the project is the largest scholarship program in the country. The only large university to undertake a program similar to it is the Ohio State University School of Medicine.

The iPad project will be ongoing for future freshmen. In four years, every Jackson State student on campus will be equipped an iPad. read more…

U.S. Republicans Today: A Collection of 21st Century Liars and Hypocrites

Imagine if today’s Republicans were not so deceptive, conniving, and dishonest—President Barack Obama would have successfully completed a lot more work during his first term. Coming into a situation in which the country was, and still is, in financial ruin, however, Obama faced very unique oppositions as he inherited a multitude of crises, thanks to Texan George W. Bush.

With two wars, an ugly international image, a mangled U.S. budget, a globally failing U.S. dollar, a country slipping into economic depression, an economy losing nearly 700,000 jobs per month, and a healthcare system in shambles, not to mention several other problems, our 44th U.S. President clearly had a great deal on his plate in 2008.

One would be lead to believe that as Americans, Republicans and Democrats could easily get over their petty differences in order to solve the critical issues we face today. One would, too, believe that the most un-American thing anyone could do would be to wish failure and hardship on our President’s administration. It is unthinkable to suspect that leaders whom we have elected have conspired to drive the country into the ground and make our lives more stressful for the purpose of removing the 1st Black President from office, but in reality, there simply are people out there who hate the President of the United States to such an extent that they bid to ruin him.

Republican Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan lead a party of Americans who claim they want to “take their country back.” Their campaign slogan, “Keep America American,” ironically, is the same slogan used by the Ku Klux Klan in 1922. These two candidates represent a faction of Americans who believe our President is a Muslim, and who also believe our President was not legally born in the U.S., thus making him “un-American.” Moreover, Romney and Ryan represent a very large group of Americans who regularly vote against legislation aimed to help them but as a substitute, they rather choose to support the top 1% of wealthy Americans instead.

The word ‘conspire,’ which means to make secret plans jointly to commit an unlawful or harmful act or to work together to bring about a particular result, usually to someone’s detriment, directly relates to today’s U.S. Republicans. And it seems as though they are conspiring to commit acts which will prove detrimental to the United States, and Barack Obama’s presidency.

For a President, a Congress that is either unable or unwilling to cooperate on bi-partisan progression can spell disaster. And banking on the high unlikelihood of viewers who will do their own independent fact checking, Republicans will boldly lie to the American people on national television programs with a straight face, and without remorse.

The longer we let these Republican antics continue, the worse off our country will be. Comedian Chris Rock said recently, “If you vote against Obama because he can’t get stuff done, it’s like saying ‘this guy can’t cure cancer, I’m voting for cancer.” President Obama is doing all he can to move our country forward and we need to recognize the extent to which his policies and actions have positively affected our present societal circumstances.

By Julian K. Lewis

Robert Champion’s Parents Blast FAMU’s Response To Hazing Lawsuit

Florida A&M University’s insistence that it is not to blame for a drum major’s death during a hazing ritual shows school officials are not taking responsibility for the safety of students, the band member’s parents said Thursday.

Pam and Robert Champion Sr. said at a news conference in Atlanta that they were disappointed by court documents filed Monday by FAMU in response to their lawsuit against the school. The university said in its filing that 26-year-old Robert Champion, as a top leader in the band, should have refused to participate in the ritual. The school asked a judge to toss the lawsuit or at least to delay action on it until criminal charges against band members are resolved. Twelve former members have pleaded not guilty to charges of felony hazing.

“As a mother, I have to wonder what kind of people are we entrusting our students to,” Pam Champion said. “They clearly didn’t care about my son, who thought the world of this school, who would always promote it and talk it up. Robert did all the right things. The school didn’t do him right.”

Her husband called the school’s response a “slap in the face.”

“This is an opportunity for the school to say we do have problems and we’re going to fix it, but instead they’re in denial, so I say FAMU beware,” he said.

Robert Champion died in November after he was beaten by fellow members of the famed Marching 100 band aboard a charter bus parked outside an Orlando hotel. The school said in its filing that no public university or college has a duty to protect an adult student from what happens as a result of that person’s own decisions to participate in dangerous activities off campus and outside of university-sponsored events.

“FAMU is not `blaming’ anyone for this tragic loss; rather, the university has asked the court to decide the legal question of whether Florida’s taxpayers can be held financially liable to Mr. Champion’s Estate according to the facts of the case as detailed in the pleadings and exhibits of record,” Richard Mitchell, an attorney with the GrayRobinson law firm hired by FAMU, wrote in an email Thursday.

On the same day that the Champions spoke out, FAMU amended its legal filings. The new motion filed with the court removed a statement that taxpayers should not be liable for, referring to Robert Champion, “the ultimate result of his own imprudent, avoidable and tragic decision and death.” However, attorneys with FAMU did also file new evidence that showed Champion took part in a band leadership workshop where it was stressed that hazing would not be tolerated.

Chris Chestnut, a lawyer representing the Champions, said the school is refusing to address the root problem. read more…

Former UMES President Thompson joins Bowie State

Former UMES President Thelma B. Thompson has been named visiting professor of English at Bowie State University in Bowie, according to the Journal for Blacks in Higher Education.

Thompson led the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne for nine years, until 2011, then joined the historically black Lincoln University of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as consultant to Academic Affairs.

According to a Sept. 7 issue of the Journal, Thompson will serve a two-year term at Bowie, where in the 1970s she taught English and literature. She also taught in the 1970s at Howard University in Washington, City University of New York and the University of the District of Columbia. Before joining UMES, she was dean of the School of Arts and Letters and then vice president for academic affairs at Norfolk State University in Virginia. read more…

Derrick Washington gets second chance at Tuskegee

According to the Associated Press, former Missouri running back and team captain who served 120 days in prison for a sex assault is back on the field at Division II Tuskegee University in Alabama.

Derrick Washington is a starting tailback at the historically black college according to the Montgomery Advisor. He rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s most recent game, a 35-17 win over Johnson C. Smith in Atlanta.

Washington was convicted in 2011 of deviate sexual assault involving a former University of Missouri athletics tutor. He was sentenced to five years in prison but released after completing a 120-day “shock incarceration” program for first-time offenders. read more…

Shaquille O’Neal targeting HBCU’s – Binge Drinking: Be Safe and Be Smart

Shaquille O’Neal (Shaq) and The Century Council are partnering to fight binge drinking on college campuses! Shaq, who recently attended film director’s school, will work alongside college students to bring the voice of the students to life by producing student-created videos addressing the serious issue of binge drinking on campus.  The effort launched on National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week 2011 (October 16-22), with a new video message a day from Shaq addressing binge drinking, and will continue throughout 2014.

The initiative with Shaq will continue the momentum generated by our sponsorship of theNational Student Advertising Competition in 2009 which revealed hundreds of student-generated campaigns with the goal of tackling binge drinking on campus. Since the competition, we have given grants to six colleges and universities to implement their student-led campaigns on campus, three of which are complete and three more are currently in progress.

“This dangerous binge drinking on college campuses has got to stop,” says Shaq. “The best way to change this culture is to have the students address the issue face to face. I’m psyched to work on this project and firmly believe we can make a difference.” Referenced 

Morgan State Students Rally For Peace after Campus Shooting

At Morgan State University, students gathered at the “Academic Quad” in a call for peace following Wednesday’s violence. “This is more than a campus, this is our home. We sing our alma mater, ‘Fair Morgan.’ This is what we believe in, so we have to all be safe,” said rally organizer, Chinedu Nwokeafor of the student organization, X Assembly.  The campus was shut down Wednesday, after a 19-year-old man was shot inside the university’s student center. Police said the victim and the gunman apparently knew each other, but neither is a student at morgan. In response to the violence, students donned an orange “X” made out of duct-tape. Organizers said the message was simple: “Yesterday it was a local Baltimorean.

Tomorrow it could be one of us.” Those same sentiments were shared earlier today on campus, as students formed a giant prayer circle outside the Murphy Fine Arts Center. “We wanted to let you know that those wereen’t even students that happened who were apart of this incident, and that is what we’re about. We’re committed to bettering ourselves, our school and our community,” said Lance Goodwin of Alpha Nu Omega. Referenced from WBFF

 

A Story of Resiliency from American Baptist College

The statement, “It’s never too late!” is all too true for Lem Major’s life.  Majors worked the majority of his life with an eighth grade education. In the 1970’s he earned his GED, then 16 years ago he enrolled at American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee. This was his first time in the classroom since 1937. He had to go back to school with kids while he was up in age.

He failed courses in college but portrayed resilience and continued to attempt to go to school. Failing had its way with him so much that he could only enroll in spring semesters, being punished from academic setbacks. However, last May, Majors finally received his Associates degree. He said, “You gotta make it happen! You are the one that has to make it happen!”

At 83 years old, he is still encouraging others to keep fighting through times of challenge. He also says, “If you start something – if you set your mind on something – never quit and don’t get with nobody that’s not going nowhere. You won’t go nowhere neither,”

Majors now proudly owns an associate’s degree from American Baptist College, but he’s not planning any kind of career change. Next year he’ll celebrate 50 years working for Metro Development and Housing Agency in Nashville, Tennessee as a janitor.

People who are usually looked over are accepted at HBCU’s and molded into beacons of hope in a world full of hopelessness.
He was honored last Tuesday at American Baptist College’s convocation.

Black Los Angeles Honor Roll Student Sent Home for Breaking Dress Code

Deja Tunstill, eleven year old, was sent home by a teacher assistant at Mount Gleason Middle School because the color of her brown stretch pants was too close to her skin color and made her look nude. This student, who has exceptional decorum and excellent grades felt humiliated by the incident. Her mother, Yolanda Tunstill, is furious because she believes this was an act of injustice. The Los Angeles Unified School District argues that Deja Tunstill was not sent home.

The school dress code prohibits students from wearing tights, lounge-wear or sleepwear alone. Yet, the mother claims leggings compromise most of her daughter’s daily wardrobe. She said, “She wears them all the time, all the time…there has never been a problem before, not at all…until she wears the brown ones, and then it became a problem.”

The school district released a statement in a letter apologizing and explaining that the student teacher’s has been disciplined. Her mother plans to take legal action against the Los Angeles school system.

Muhammad Ali To Receive Liberty Medal In Philadelphia

Retired boxing great Muhammad Ali will visit Philadelphia to receive the Liberty Medal, an award recognizing his longtime role as a fighter outside the ring for humanitarian causes, civil rights and religious freedom.

The honor will be presented on Thursday during a ceremony at the National Constitution Center by the champ’s daughter, who is also a boxer, and two U.S. Olympic athletes. It comes with a $100,000 cash prize.

“Ali embodies the spirit of the Liberty Medal by embracing the ideals of the Constitution – freedom, self-governance, equality and empowerment – and helping to spread them across the globe,” former President Bill Clinton, the center’s chairman, said in a statement.

Since hanging up his gloves in 1981, Ali has traveled extensively on international charitable missions and devoted his time to philanthropy and social causes.

His wife Lonnie is slated to speak on his behalf at the ceremony. A 30-year battle with Parkinson’s disease has devastated the once-chiseled physique that made Ali an Olympic champion and three-time heavyweight title holder.

Other scheduled attendees include Joe Louis Barrow II, son of boxer Joe Louis; actor Terrence Howard, who played Ali in an ABC-TV biography; singer Roberta Flack, who will perform; and former basketball star Dikembe Mutombo, a Constitution Center board member and Congo native who said he was inspired by Ali’s 1974 visit to that country for the famous “Rumble in the Jungle.”

Ali’s daughter Laila will join Claressa Shields and Susan Francia in bestowing the Liberty Medal. Last month, the 17-year-old Shields became the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold in boxing. Francia is a two-time rowing gold medalist from nearby Abington, Pa. read more…

Top 20 Influential African Americans in the Fashion Industry

Fall is here. And so is New York Fashion Week. Sometimes lacking in the fashion spotlight are the African Americans who have been pioneers in this industry. So while you pack away the sun dresses and replace them with scarves and sweater, take a look at some of the most influential African Americans in the fashion world.

Here’s 10 to get you started:

Andre’ Leon Talley: Former American Editor-at-large for Vogue

Robin Givhan: A former Washington Post fashion editor who now writes for The Daily Beast, Robin Givhan is the first journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in fashion

Naomi Campbell:  Supermodel and the first black model to appear on American Vogue’s September issue

Iman: Iman is a model turned entrepreneur

Alek Wek: South Sudanese British model whose short hair cut and dark skin challenged the fashion industry when she arrived as a model

Bevy Smith: Social media maven, media director and creator of Dinner with Bevy

Felita Harris: Senior VP of Global Sales of Donna Karan International

Sam Fine: Celebrity make-up artist with clients such as Vanessa Williams, Halle Berry and Tyra Banks

Tyra Banks: Model,  entrepreneur, and mogul who hosts the reality modeling show America’s Next Top Model

Bethann Hardison: Former model who later owned her own model booking agency

Read the full article here

 

FAMU Environmental Specialist wins Energy Innovator Award

Florida A&M University (FAMU) Senior Environment Specialist Ryan Mitchell has received an Energy Innovator Award for his sustainability contributions to the university and the greater Tallahassee community.

Mitchell, who works within the FAMU Office of Environmental Health and Safety, was recognized by the nonprofit organization ReThink Energy Florida during its inaugural Energy Ball.

Mitchell is a member of the FAMU Environment and Sustainability Council and serves as an adviser for the FAMU Green Coalition. He was a major player in obtaining a $10,000 grant from the The Home Depot to create a rainwater collection system and outdoor green space at Jackson-Davis Hall. Mitchell also secured a grant from Keep America Beautiful to provide 5,000 recycling bins for campus dorms and offices.

“Ryan definitely deserves the award,” said LaRae Donnellan, a professor within the School of Journalism and Graphic Communication and co-adviser for the Green Coalition. “Through his efforts to decrease waste and lower FAMU’s energy costs, Ryan helped FAMU become the only HBCU named as a top green school by The Princeton Review in both 2011 and 2012.”

Florida Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda (D-Tallahassee), Karen Loewen of Bikeable Community, and the Community Carbon Fund led by Steve Urse, are four other Tallahassee residents who received Energy Innovator awards this year. Kim Ross, president of ReThink Energy Florida, said it is about time people like Mitchell and the other awardees get recognized for their work.

“Ryan exemplifies the type of young leader we need in this community,” said Ross. “He brings expertise and passion to the task of helping others learn to be more sustainable.” read more…

Harris-Stowe to Host the U.S. Department of Education’s “Education Drives America” Cross-Country Back-to-School Tour with U.S. S Deputy Secretary of Education Tony Miller

Harris-Stowe State University is proud to be one of many stops on the U.S. Department of Education’s third annual “Education Drives America” bus tour, which kicked off  this week in California.  As part of the effort to reinforce the message that education does in fact drive America and is an important to the government, the tour will make a stop at Harris-Stowe’s Emerson Performance Center Bank of America Theatre on Wednesday, September 19, 2012, at 12:30 p.m.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education Programs Debra Saunders-White; Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities John Silvanus Wilson Jr. and Director of the Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Center Brenda Girton-Mitchell will be on hand to discuss accelerating college access and success for African-American students. There will also be representatives from the St. Louis Public School District, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and WATCH D.O.G.S. Additional stops on the tour include Las Vegas, Reno and Elka Nevada; Salt Lake City; Rawlins, Rock Springs and Cheyenne, Wyo; Denver, Colorado Springs and Limon, Colo; Topeka and Emporia, Kan.; Columbia and Kansas City, Mo.; Mt. Vernon, Ill.; Evansville, Ind.; Lexington, Ky.; Charleston and McDowell County, W. Va and Roanoke and Richmond, Va.
Those interested in attending should register by emailing your name and organization to edpartners@ed.gov. The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Media inquiries should be directed to Courtney McCall at Harris-Stowe, whose information is listed above. read more…

More Hispanics than Blacks in College?

College enrollment has soared for Hispanic young adults in the last few years, by some measures reaching levels similar to those among young blacks, according to a study released Monday.

Among Americans ages 18 to 24 with a high school diploma or equivalent, 46 percent of Hispanics were enrolled in college last year, up from 37 percent in 2008, according to the report by the Pew Hispanic Center. The report was based on data from the Census Bureau and the Department of Education.

Black enrollment last year in the same age group stood at 45 percent, the first time the nation’s two largest minority groups were roughly even on that score in the decades that the information has been collected. Among whites, 51 percent of 18- to 24-year-old high school graduates were in college; 67 percent of Asians in that group were in college.

The number of young Hispanics enrolled in college, which surpassed black enrollment for the first time in 2010, jumped to almost 2.1 million last year, from about 1.3 million in 2008. That is partly a product of a swelling Hispanic population, as well as the increased rate of college attendance. read more…

For-Profit Colleges: Good for Black Students?

While black students are between 10 and 13 percent of the students at two- and four-year public colleges, they’re 22 percent of for-profit colleges. What’s going on?

Here’s what Tressie McMillan Cottom, a Ph.D. student in Emory University’s sociology department, told Colorlines: “We have unequal K through 12 schools that haven’t prepared everyone equally for college — and [black students] are more likely to have attended those schools. And then here we are with all this aspiration in a new, changing economic landscape, and you have traditional schools not responding to those needs. And on top of that, we incentivize for-profit schools at the federal level to serve those very people,” she said.

It seems that institutions like University of Phoenix are in some ways a perfect fit for African Americans looking to add credentials to their résumés, but they have other qualities — and incentives — that should make us look beyond the convenient diplomas they offer.

[F]or black people in particular who are looking to enter or move up in the workforce, said Tressie McMillan Cottom, a PhD student in Emory University’s sociology department, “having a credential tends to mean more than it means for other people.” Bosses’ implicit biases are powerful (PDF), and even mean that when bosses try to infer an applicant’s social background based on their name, those thought to be black are less likely to get called for interviews than people with white-sounding names. Bosses, it turns out, are more inclined to follow up with Emilys than they are with Lakishas (PDF) read more…

Parties, football game help Cleveland Classic celebrate historically black colleges: After Dark

It’s more than a game. Yeah, yeah, sports fans say that all the time. But it’s true in the case of the Cleveland Classic.

At noon Saturday, the football game features Morehouse College against Winston-Salem State University at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Tickets start at $15 and are available through ticketmaster.com.

But the second year of the Classic also rolls out events that celebrate historically black colleges and universities — not to mention a weekend of parties at Fortress.

At 9 p.m. Friday, the Warehouse District club, 1360 West Ninth St., Cleveland, will throw a bash hosted by Browns safety T.J. Ward. DJ Steph Floss and Meel will spin. $20. (Ladies free until midnight.) Saturday, Fortress hosts two bashes. The first runs from 3 to 9 p.m., with DJ Dru and DJ Knyce spinning. (Free from 3 to 4 p.m.; $20 until 9.) Then there’s the Cleveland Classic after party, at 9 p.m. ($10; complimentary cocktails 9-11 p.m.)

Call 216-298-4448. For Cleveland Classic information, go to Clevelandsports.org.

Decade of decadence

Summon the fire breather. The kinky queen. The sex kittens and the weird freaks.

Woohoo, it’s Kabarett Vulgare.

At 8 p.m. Saturday, the troupe will bring its brand of circus stunts, burlesque routines and vaudeville tricks to the Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland.

The Pittsburgh-based outfit takes its cue from the Weimar Republic. read more…