New chief of staff appointed at Tuskegee University

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Tuskegee University President Gilbert L. Rochon has appointed Shamima Amin as chief of staff, according to a news release from the university.

“Amin replaces Dr. Carlen McLin who served admirably in the role before accepting a position at the University of New Orleans as executive assistant to the president,” Rochon said in the release.

Amin, who will report directly to Rochon, has more than 15 years of executive level experience, according to the university.

Amin received her master’s degree in information and library science from Atlanta University in 1988. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. She has also attended the University of Florida and Harvard University for educational and leadership training, the release states. read more…

Republicans’ Guide to the Democratic Convention: Thursday

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Here’s everything you need to know about the speakers on the third night of the Democratic National Convention

 

Dick Durbin
You know him because: He is a U.S. senator from Illinois and assistant majority leader of the Senate.
He would like you to forget: Durbin had to apologize on the Senate floor for remarks he made comparing the techniques used at Guantanamo Bay to those used by the Nazis, the Soviets, and the Khmer Rouge.
Democrats love him because: He is the author of the original DREAM Act, his version allowing undocumented documents a path to legal status if they were brought to the United States as children, finished high school, and were attending college or serving in the military.
Republicans don’t like him because: He opposed the Iraq war, one of 23 senators voting against its authorization, and continued to be one of its most vocal critics.

John Kerry
You know him because: He is a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, the chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Democrats’ 2004 presidential nominee.
He doesn’t want you to remember: Kerry was accused of insulting troops with what he later called a “botched joke” he made in 2006: “Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
Democrats love him because: As a decorated military veteran, Foreign Relations Committee chair, and rumored to be on the list of possible replacements for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Kerry can highlight Obama’s national security and foreign policy successes.
Republicans don’t like him because: Though he initially supported it, Kerry became one of the staunchest critics of the Iraq war. It is also John Kerry who first put Obama on the national stage, tapping him as keynote speaker at 2004’s Democratic convention. read more…

Dr. Oz at Howard University

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D.C. had a visit from TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz on Wednesday, and a chance to get preventative health care.

On Howard University’s campus, Oz lead a “15 Minute Physical,” a quick series of screening tests for cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes. He hoped to reach 1,000 people with the help of University doctors, students and alumni.

“The number of people who have diabetes or pre-diabetes in Washington, D.C. is almost half the population,” said Oz.

And, while Oz thinks D.C.’s health report card needs massive improvement, he thinks the numbers can change.

“These people here today are saying to us, ‘knowledge is power,'” said Oz.

Dr. Cheryl Mason, of Howard University’s class of ’81, also came to help educate and listen to Oz.

“Medicine doesn’t cure everything and sometimes we need lifestyle changes, and just appropriate information,” said Mason.

So, is there hope for D.C? Oz says yes. read more…

SC State Budget Cuts

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About 500 fewer students are attending South Carolina State University in Orangeburg this year, leaving the university facing a $5.5 million deficit.

Vice President of Finance Eric Eaton is proposing a freeze on hiring and an across-the-board 7 percent budget cut to get the institution back on track. The school’s finance committee will consider the ideas at a meeting later this month.

Eaton says the cuts and freeze would leave the university $366,000 ahead at the end of the budget year.

He says for the next academic year, the university will pursue fund raisers and programs to boost enrollment. This year’s enrollment is the lowest in five years. more info…

Rutgers Vs. Howard: Getting To Know The Bison

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If there is one thing that might worry the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team when they face off against the Howard Bison on Saturday afternoon, it is Jamie Cunningham.

The 6’4″, 205-pound freshman quarterback came practically out of nowhere last week to engineer the Bison’s come-from-behind 30-29 victory over Morehouse College in the Second Annual AT&T Nation’s Football Classic.

Cunningham came into the game, the first of his collegiate career, off the bench for Howard, after starting quarterback Randy Liggins, Jr. was removed from the game for losing his composure after a third quarter Bison turnover.

For most college freshman, going into a game late in regulation would be intimidating enough. Cunningham rallied his team twice.

After driving 89 yards down the field, the Bison gave up the lead again on the ensuing Morehouse possession, forcing Cunningham was forced to rally the team once again; this time with less than two minutes and no timeouts remaining.

He did it and the fact that he did it not only made him the game’s MVP but helped him in being named this week’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week. He’s also, now, one of the biggest threats the Bison have in this week’s matchup with Rutgers.

It’s an offensive weapon that hasn’t gone unnoted by the Scarlet Knights.

“They do a lot of things on offense,” Rurgers coach Kyle Flood said in a press conference earlier this week. “They’re coming off a great win with a freshman quarterback. It’ll be a good challenge for our football team.”

With some experience under his belt, Cunningham has the opportunity to map out an entire game instead of just the final dregs of a fourth quarter rally. If his performance in last Saturday’s game was any indication though, the kid knows how to play football.

“This gave us an opportunity to see what would happen when we are under adversity. I mean when we get to see Jamie Cunningham play outside of practice, we did not know what to expect,” Howard coach Gary Harrell said after Saturday’s victory. “We threw him into the fire and he showed that he could handle it.”

The Bison will, in all likelihood, give Cunningham his first collegiate start against Rutgers on Saturday afternoon, throwing him from one metaphorical fire straight into another.

The freshman will, however, have a little extra help this time. read more…

Kentucky State University Administrator, Keynote Speaker for Rust College Founders’ Celebration

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Rust College is pleased to announce the return of Dr. Lorenzo L. Esters, ’98, who will serve as keynote speaker during the 146th Founders’ Convocation in November. Esters received his Bachelor of Arts in English, graduating summa *** laude, from Rust College; a Masters’ in English from Jackson State University, and his doctorate in Higher Education Administration from Morgan State University in 2007.

Dr. Esters was recently named Vice P resident for Student Success and Enrollment Management at Kentucky State University. Esters previously was vice president for the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Office for Access and the Advancement of Public Black Universities (APLU).

As vice president of Student Success and Enrollment Management, Esters will lead a new initiative at Kentucky State aimed at coordinating the university’s efforts to better support students who are largely low-income, first-generation, and who require one or more remedial courses when they enroll.

Esters told Diverse Magazine that the move “represents a wonderful opportunity for me to put the things for which I have advocated for here at APLU into action on a local campus; important things like providing access for low-income students and more effectively supporting those students to enhance retention and graduation rates at Kentucky State.” read more…

Morgan State taps lender to aid small businesses

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A new partnership between Morgan State University and a nonprofit lender aims to help small businesses get the loans they need to grow.

ECDC Enterprise Development Group, a nonprofit based in Arlington, Va., has started making monthly visits to Morgan’s Entrepreneurial Development and Assistance Center to meet with small-business owners about ECDC’s micro-lending program.

ECDC offers loans of between $500 and $50,000. The average loan is between $15,000 and $20,000, said Kevin Kelly, ECDC’s executive director.

Banks often are not interested in making such small loans, Kelly said. That makes it hard for small companies to get the capital they need to launch a new product, or buy a key piece of equipment. The nonprofit also makes larger loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration of between $50,000 and $250,000.

The program will be a help to the companies the Entrepreneurial Development & Assistance Center works with, said Omar Muhammad, its executive director.  read more…

Bill Clinton speaks at the DNC

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At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, President Clinton did a better job of bringing the crowd to its feet than the Charlotte Bobcats have ever done. As they typically do, the President’s speech went on for longer than expected, and he repeatedly went off the teleprompter to re-emphasize his points. One of those points was directed at young people, as the former President explained that we have lived in a “decade in which exploding college costs have increased the dropout rate so much that we’ve fallen to 16th in the world in the percentage of our young adults with college degrees.”

Coleman Elridge, 30, who works as an executive assistant for the governor of Kentucky, noted before the speech that he hoped the former president would talk about education. “Education was the tool that let me know I can be successful, and so many folks don’t have that opportunity … and some folks want to take that away.”

President Clinton went on to explain that through education, more young people can find jobs. “We do need more new jobs, lots of them, but there are already more than three million jobs open and unfilled in America today, mostly because the applicants don’t have the required skills,” he said.

Graduating college and getting a job is certainly something young people are concerned about. A recent study from Harvard’s Institute of Politics showed that by overwhelming numbers, young people care most about creating jobs and lowering the unemployment rate.

Benjamin Chou, 21, a senior at Rice University in Houston, Texas, hoped that Clinton would also talk about “student loan problems, student debts and college tuition costs.”

The former president tackled this head-on, spending considerable time in his speech on the topic, saying, “The president’s student-loan reform lowers the cost of federal student loans and even more important, gives students the right to repay the loans as a fixed percentage of their incomes for up to 20 years. That means no one will have to drop out of college for fear they can’t repay their debt, and no one will have to turn down a job as a teacher, a police officer or a small-town doctor because it doesn’t pay enough to make the debt payments.”

For 20-year-old Nathan Davis, a delegate from Maine studying politics and Chinese at Bates College, Clinton’s emphasis on President Obama’s student-loan reforms was particularly relevant. read more…

Romare Bearden at Bowie State

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Bowie State University presents “Bearden at Bowie,” an art exhibition of limited edition prints and other works by celebrated African-American artist Romare Bearden, running Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 – Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 at the new BSU Fine and Performing Arts Center’s Gallery of Art.

More than 30 artworks from local collectors are featured in the exhibit, including rare works from Bearden’s Odysseus series, inspired by the Greek mythological hero of Homer’s The Odyssey. Other works use watercolors, collage, and mixed media – one combines three printmaking processes.

“Romare Bearden is an iconic figure in the history of American art,” said BSU art professor Clayton Lang, who is the gallery’s director and curator. “The goal of this exhibit is to educate our students, the BSU community, and local metro area about this great artist and the value of collecting African-American art. The center cultivates and preserves African-American culture and art.”

Fall of Troy, Bearden

Bearden’s niece, Diedra Harris-Kelly, is the guest speaker for the exhibit’s opening reception Tuesday, Sept. 25 from 6-8 p.m. She is also co-director of the Bearden Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to preserve and perpetuate the artist’s legacy. Bearden’s sister-in-law, Dorothe Rohan Dow, will give opening remarks at a panel discussion on “Bearden and the Art of Collecting” Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 from 6-8 p.m., featuring local arts experts and collectors who lent works to the exhibit.

Bearden is best known for his richly textured collages, with two appearing on the covers of Fortune and Time magazines in 1968. A prolific artist with diverse interests, he designed costumes and sets for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. His works are now displayed in important public collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. Special events scheduled during the exhibit include: read more…

Gallery / Video – Nations Football Classic 2012 Howard vs Morehouse

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The Nation’s Football Classic is a black college football game held annually at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. https://hbcubuzz.com

Video by Nick Beauregard

Host Jae Murphy

Grambling State’s New West Campus

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Grambling State University officially unveiled its newly acquired West Campus Annex this morning.

University officials, alumni, community and elected officials celebrated the university’s expansion during a ribbon-cutting event at the new campus.

The 157-acre property, which will now be called Grambling State University — West Campus Annex, is 2 miles west of the main campus on Louisiana 150. It houses 47 buildings, 26 of which will be immediately usable for residential, administrative, academic and maintenance purposes.

“It isn’t everyday an institution, of any kind, can almost duplicate its size overnight at no cost whatsoever,” said GSU President Frank Pogue. “Our theme this year is enhancing the academic profile of Grambling State University and what we’re doing here today is going to make it possible for us to continue to do that.”

The property used to be Northeast Supports and Services Center, a state-run facility for the developmentally disabled, which closed at the end of 2010. The facility also was known as the Ruston State School and the Ruston Developmental Center. read more…

Bethune-Cookman Athletics Announces 2012 Hall of Fame Class

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Bethune-Cookman University announced today (September 1, 2012) its 12-member 2012 Hall of Fame Class that will be honored during festivities on campus, and in the community, on Hall of Fame Weekend, September 21-22.

The class will be honored in conjunction with the dedication ceremonies of the Larry Handfield Athletic Training Center and the Hall of Fame Football Game between Bethune-Cookman University and Tennessee State University.

“We are honored to recognize twelve outstanding Wildcats whose lives and accomplishments have made a tremendous impact on our University, community and our conference,” said Dr. Edison O. Jackson, B-CU Interim President.

B-CU Director of Athletics Lynn W. Thompson worked closely with the selection committee and was truly impressed with the class.

“This dynamic dozen are twelve of the greatest student-athletes, coaches, supporters and administrators to have ever been a part of the history of our University,” Thompson said. “Throughout the rich history of the University, many others whose contributions and achievements merit the same consideration, and future classes will reflect their names. They all truly deserve this moment of honor and recognition for the work they have done.”

 

A limited number of reservations are available for the induction dinner scheduled for 7 p.m. in the President’s Banquet Center of the Michael and Libby Smith Center for Civic Engagement on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University. Seats can be reserved by calling the B-CU Athletic Office at 386-481-2215.

 

The Hall of Fame includes former student-athletes, coaches, university administrators as well as special contributors, who have enriched the legacy of the institution through intercollegiate athletics.

 

The honorees were selected by an 11-person committee made up from a cross-section of campus constituencies, alumni and boosters.

 

The inaugural Hall of Fame class was inducted in 2000. Since its establishment, the Hall of Fame has enshrined 49 people, including the Class of 2012.

 

The 2012 B-CU Hall of Fame Inductees are as follows:

Inducted as a Student-Athletes:

 

Carl Fuller – Men’s Basketball: Along with Johnnie Allen, Fuller anchored perhaps the best basketball line-up in Bethune-Cookman history. He holds the school records for most points in a game (60), rebounds (40) and remains the all-time leading rebounder (1,685). He led the Wildcats to a 1968 SIAC tournament championship and then enjoyed a career in the American Basketball Association with the Miami Floridians.

 

Amber Jackson – Softball: Jackson guided the Lady Wildcats to three straight NCAA Regional appearances, including the 2005 Regional Championship squad that faced Texas in the Super-Regionals. She was named MEAC Player of the Year in all three of her seasons at Bethune-Cookman and also earned All-American honors. She left B-CU as the career leader in virtually every offensive category, and upon her graduation she transferred to the University of Maryland for graduate school with one year of eligibility left, and earned All-ACC honors there. She went on to a successful professional softball career and now is an assistant softball coach at the University of Maryland.

 

Willie Jackson – Football: Jackson was a three-year starter at free safety and was the captain of one of the most successful football teams in Wildcat history. Known as a ferocious hitter, this free safety earned All-SIAC honors in 1973, when he led the team with four interceptions. In 1974, he followed it up with another superb season and was named to the Pittsburgh Courier All-American Team. Jackson was a consensus choice of the coaches of his era as one of the greatest leaders to have ever captained a Bethune-Cookman football team.

 

Erma Jones – Women’s Basketball: The greatest scorer in Bethune-Cookman women’s history, Jones is the only player, male or female, to score over 2,000 points (2,095) in the past 30 years. She averaged over 20.0 points a game in all four of her years as a Lady Wildcat and played a key role in both the program’s transition to an NCAA membership and a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship.

 

Jeff Parker – Football – In just two seasons, the Seabreeze High School product registered 125 receptions for 1,765 yards while leading the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Parker led the conference in receptions in 1990 with 58 and broke the Wildcats’ single season record with 67 catches in 1991. He received first-team All-MEAC honors in each of those seasons. He capped his career by receiving first team All-America honors in 1991. He played a year in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and later became a staple in the Orlando Predators’ line-up for four seasons before moving on to coaching, where he served as an assistant at Bethune-Cookman, Norfolk State and is presently assistant head coach and passing game coordinator at Tennessee State.

 

Wallace Raspberry – Football: Alongside such legends as Andy Hinson, Mike Ardis, Raymon Thornton and Jack “Cy” McClairen, Raspberry led Bethune-Cookman to its great 1952 season that included the first modern victory over Florida A&M. His tackle for a safety in the game assured the Wildcats of the historic win over the Rattlers. A standout running back and defensive back, Raspberry’s career concluded with two touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 54-0 rout of Albany State in the 1952 Tropical Bowl.

 

Inducted as Coaches:

 

Charles Wesley Moore – Football: The son of former Bethune Cookman president Dr. Richard V. Moore, Charles went 27-6-1 in his three seasons at the helm of the Wildcats, with a career winning percentage of 80%, and was the first coach to beat Florida A&M in consecutive seasons (1973 and 1974). His 1973 and 1975 teams won SIAC championships and his 1974 team won Bethune-Cookman’s last post-season victory by downing Langston in the Azalea Bowl. His 1975 team was ranked number one in the Jet Magazine National Football Poll and finished with a 10-1 record.

 

Laura Watten – Softball: Watten established Bethune-Cookman as a softball power, registering 322 wins and five consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships while beating the likes of Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida in a spectacular 2005 season in which Bethune-Cookman received an at-large bid to the NCAA regional and beat Florida and USF to win the Gainesville Regional championship. That same year Watten led the Wildcats to the first-ever NCAA Super Regional Tournament appearance for any HBCU and was named the 2005 NFCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year winner.

 

She is currently Head Coach at the University of Maryland and has led the Terps to three straight NCAA Regional Tournament appearances.

 

Inducted as Humanitarians – Supporters of Athletics

 

Samuel Berry: In 1969, President Richard V. Moore hired this young upstart director of bands to develop an exciting music program and marching band, and during the next ten years Samuel Berry created and perfected a sound and style of performance that laid the groundwork for what is today the Marching Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman University. His dynamic leadership and professional creativity allowed the Marching Men of B-CC to become a household name in college band circles. He passed away in 1980 and will be inducted posthumously.

 

Dr. Everett Abney: A 1959 Bethune-Cookman graduate, Abney was an outstanding basketball player for the Wildcats, and after graduation he began a career in secondary education in Clermont, Florida. Dr. Abney later served as a principal for the Dade County Public School System and was honored for his leadership as principal at Northwestern High School. Eventually,  he went on to serve as the North Central Area Superintendent. He later moved to the Broward County School System where he wound up his career as an Area Superintendent. During the course of his time in south Florida, Dr. Abney worked behind the scenes recruiting students for Bethune-Cookman and also serving in various leadership capacities in countless alumni and educational events benefitting B-CU, such as the South Florida Classic and promotional games in Miami’s Orange Bowl.

 

Inducted for Special Lifetime Achievement

 

Dr. James E. Huger: Recognized as one of Daytona Beach’s most prominent Civil Rights leaders, Dr. Huger worked alongside Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his extensive career that saw him serve as Daytona Beach’s Director of Development and eventually the city’s first African-American City Commissioner and Volusia County’s first African-American County Councilman. As college business manager under Dr. Richard V. Moore, Huger helped develop the fiscal road map which led to the expansion and future success of the Bethune-Cookman Department of Athletics.

 

Walt Frazier: Frazier was  leader of the Wildcat offense as center on “Cy” McClairen’s football team in the mid 1960’s and upon graduation he began his coaching career. He served as offensive line coach at Bethune-Cookman in the 1980’s and later made his mark at Carol City High School, where his teams won three Class 6A State Championships in 1996, 1997 and 2003, and were State Runners-Up in 1989. The 1997 team went 15-0, his only undefeated season, and was ranked fifth in the nation by USA Today. With a career record of 212-111, Frazier was named one of the 12 greatest coaches in state history by the Florida High School Activities Association.

Bulldogs Edge Assumption 24-20 in Football Season Opener

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After Assumption edged ahead by a 20-17 margin with 33.8 seconds remaining, Bowie State scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from redshirt sophomore Jared Johnston to senior Douglas McNeil, III with 5.7 seconds left to rally for a 24-20 win over the Hounds on Saturday afternoon in the season opener for both teams.

“The guys persevered and battled back from 14 points down with a new quarterback and I feel pretty good about this win”, said Bowie State head coach Damon Wilson.

On the first Bowie State possession of the game, senior Sonny Dillinger (Naples, Fla./St. John Neumann) recovered a fumble at the 17-yard line and set the Hounds up in great field position. Assumption made the Bulldogs play on the next play as junior Bobby Jordan (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) found senior tight end Sean Daigle (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) for the 17-yard touchdown and the early 7-0 lead with 11:57 left in the first.

The Hounds added to that lead almost eight minutes later as senior Nick Bolio (Charlton, Mass./Shepherd Hill) capped off an 11-play, 64-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown and the 14-0 advantage. The Bulldogs cut that advantage in half with 1:59 left in the second quarter as Johnston found senior Reginald McIntyre in the left corner of the end zone from 22 yards out. On the ensuing kickoff, Assumption’s Darius Daniels (Clearwater, Fla./Tarpon) returned the kick from inside the end zone for what appeared to be a 100-yard kickoff return for touchdown. That play negated by a holding penalty however and the game went into the half at 14-7. The Hounds had six penalties for 112 in the opening half.

The Bulldogs tied the game on the opening drive of the second half, tying the score on a one-yard touchdown lob to McNeil with 10:39 left in the third. The drive was kept alive by yet another Assumption penalty after the Hounds stopped the Bulldogs on a third down and goal play. Read Full

HBCU Presidents and Social Media

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America’s black colleges are short on financial resources; they have been since their creation in the late 1800s. However, they are not short on human resources. It is their human resources that have helped them survive over time. Today’s proliferation of social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube) requires little financial resources with which to be a full participant. Participation does, however, require human resources.

In August of 2011, the Pew Internet and American Life Project published the results of a survey titled The Digital Revolution and Higher Education. Pew interviewed 1,055 college and university presidents throughout the country and found that not only were these higher education leaders quicker than the general public in terms of their willingness to adopt new technologies (e.g., tablets and smart phones), but over 50 percent of them were active on Facebook and Twitter. In fact, 18 percent of the presidents used Facebook daily. Of note, college presidents in the South were significantly more likely to use Facebook than those on the East Coast (55 percent vs. 38 percent). HBCUs are mainly located in the South.

In the past two years, there have been many books published related to leadership and organizational transformation through social media. Three of the most prominent are The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective and Powerful Ways to Use Social Media (Aaker et al, 2010), Open Leadership: How Social Technology can Transform the Way You Lead (Li, 2010), and The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations Through Social Media (Bingham & Conner, 2010). Many people are talking about the ways that leaders, including college presidents, can use social media to seem more approachable, understand their constituent base more fully, communicate to larger audiences, and help people to understand how their institutions contribute to society and beyond. HBCU president Walter Kimbrough even penned an essay titled, “How One President Uses Social Media.”

With all of the attention on social media and the Pew report on college presidents’ use of it, I wondered if HBCU presidents, other than Walter Kimbrough (the Hip Hop president of Dillard University) were using social media venues for expression. I found that 14 out of the 105 HBCU presidents use Facebook, and 13 out of the 105 use Twitter. HBCU presidents’ use of social media is below the average use for college presidents overall.

There are valid reasons why college presidents do not use social media. Some presidents feel like they will not have the time, other are worried that they will not be able to control the conversation once it starts, still others are concerned about the legal ramifications of a cyber misstep, and finally, there are those that do not believe being active on social media has an impact (for a great overview of the risks and advantages of college presidents using social media, please see Michael Stoner’s work).

From my perspective, HBCUs, having limited financial resources but robust human resources, should fully capitalize on social media in all ways possible. Unlike historically white institutions (HWIs), HBCUs are constantly under attack — their very existence is often called into question. Social media offers the presidents of HBCUs a great opportunity to take control of their destiny and their story. With little time and energy, a president can tell the story of his or her institution on a daily basis, push an agenda, and cultivate the engagement of students and alumni as well as prospective funders. The investment is small but the potential pay off is big. Considering how often posts and tweets are reposted and retweeted, HBCU presidents have the potential to reach far beyond their traditional audience. read more…

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Oklahoma 56, Florida A&M 3

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On the heels of a slow albeit successful start to the 2012 season, the fifth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners are expected to have an easier time of it in week two as they entertain FCS foe Florida A&M this Saturday.

Florida A&M, which calls the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference of the Football Championship Subdivision home, is coming off a 17-14 loss at Tennessee State in its season opener.

The competition level spikes considerably for the Rattlers this week, who haven’t appeared in the FCS playoffs since 2001 and went 7-4 overall and 5-3 in conference last season.

Oklahoma started slow in last week’s season opener at UTEP, but still managed to prevail in a 24-7 final. It was the 12th win in 13 season openers for the Sooners under current head coach Bob Stoops, and this week the team will try to add to its impressive 63-3 record against unranked foes at home, which includes a 31-1 mark against such opponents outside of the Big 12 Conference.

OU is 7-3 all-time against teams from the FCS, 3-0 under Stoops with all the three games being incredibly lopsided as the Sooners own a 170-2 scoring differential in those contests.

Despite the lackluster showing in the season opener, Stoops was pleased with the outcome, “Obviously, we had some inconsistencies, but still I feel positive with my team when we get a win, any time.”

This game marks the first meeting between Florida A&M and Oklahoma on the football field.

The Rattlers generated just 272 yards of total offense last week against Tennessee State, committed two turnovers and were penalized nine times for a loss of 70 yards. Conversely, the Tigers produced 401 yards, 263 of which came through the air, but were flagged an unbelievable 20 times for a loss of 178 yards.

FAMU’s top performers last week include RB Eddie Rocker (13 carries for 90 yards) and WR Travis Harvey (six receptions for 52 yards and one TD). QB Damien Fleming went just 15-of-30 for 119 yards with a TD and an INT, and all of the team’s pass attempts averaged just 4.3 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Rattlers posted four sacks and came up with a pair of turnovers. Linebacker Brandon Hepburn led the way with 10 tackles, which included 3.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.

Like all defenses, FAMU’s hopes to get off the field quickly against most foes, although ideally it would be due to forcing a three-and-out scenario. Unfortunately, that still may be the case against Oklahoma, but more because the Sooners expect to score almost at will.

Oklahoma’s Heisman-hopeful, QB Landry Jones went 21-of-36 for 222 yards and two TDs in last week’s win at UTEP, hitting WR Kenny Stills six times for 121 yards and a score. The Sooners’ rushing attack had trouble finding its footing early, but wound up posting 205 yards with RB Damien Williams accounting for more than half of those with 104 yards and a TD on only nine carries.

Still, the Sooners averaged just shy of six yards per offensive play. They did have to punt eight times however as they went just 5-of-16 on third-down conversion attempts. read more…