Grambling State University receives $100,962 for summer learning camps

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Grambling State University will again host the LA GEAR UP summer learning camps with week I which July 8-14.

Week II activities will be held from July 15-21. The focus of the LA GEAR UP (Louisiana Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) camps is to help students develop and enhance academic and leadership skills needed to promote success in planning and completing their post secondary education.

According to the overall program goals, this initiative focuses on providing stimulating experiences in math, science, technology, and/or English/language arts; expand career goals and aspirations; provide information about college that includes early planning and financial support services; and combine learning with fun.

Grambling professors Loretta Walton Jaggers and Nanthailia McJamerson serve as co-principle investigators for the LA GEAR UP Summer Learning Camp grant, which totaled $100,962.

The grant is funded by the Louisiana Board of Regents to implement the two, one-week summer camps at Grambling State University. This is the seventh consecutive year that Jaggers and McJamerson have been funded to implement the LA GEAR UP summer learning camps.

In 2005 Jaggers and McJamerson submitted a proposal that requested funds to implement a one-week program at a cost of $37,000.

Since then another week has been added and the program has been funded more than $100,000 each year.

During May students, parents, teachers and administrators from LA GEAR UP schools from across Louisiana attended a statewide conference in Baton Rouge. Read Full

Howard University’s Engineers Without Borders expand water access in Kenya

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The Howard University chapter of Engineers Without Borders traveled to Choimim, Kenya to expand the rainwater harvesting system and install water filters in the rural community located in the Rift Valley region. The volunteers have been working there for the last two weeks with Build the Village Kenya, a local NGO based in Choimim. Choimim is home to about 1,000 families with roughly seven people per household. Below, student install a 2,600 gallon tank that helps bring thousands of gallons of harvested water to the community. Read Full

Grambling could suffer from proposed budget cuts

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Imagine a sawmill owner doing something that had not much to do with his core, primary business.

Imagine that guy deciding that, for the good of the community, he wanted to do something big, something that would have lasting impact.

Imagine a white man helping black farmers and others who had struggled to keep a small academic institution going from 1901 into the 1940s and deciding to donate land to the North Louisiana Agricultural and Industrial School, a school for African-Americans in the area with a focus on rural teacher education.

The white sawmill owner was P.G. Grambling, and the school — Grambling State University — carries his name today.

Grambling needs white, black and brown champions today like no other time. Facing the fifth of a series of significant budget cuts in the last few years, the university cannot stave off excruciating budget cuts without help from northeastern Louisiana businesses.

Helping Grambling get through this difficult period might not seem as important and as urgent as other matters unless and until the university is facing closure or merging, real options once cuts are so deep that it cannot adequately balance tuition costs with quality instruction.

Many businesses are faced with making tough decisions, but not many strong business leaders are willing to sacrifice their core business missions for the sake of a one-time cut so painful customers don’t recognize the company they have come to know.

Imagine Grambling being forced to go back to the days before P.G. Grambling when it was the Colored Industrial and Agricultural School offering certificates, not degrees. Imagine Grambling being nothing more than the North Louisiana Agricultural and Industrial School or the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute, a junior college offering two-year certificates and diplomas.

Imagine Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee Institute and the man who sent Charles P. Adams to help organize what became Grambling being disappointed that all that became Grambling being dismantled.

JCSU forum part of Democratic convention

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Hollywood and Washington intersected at Johnson C. Smith University on Tuesday to encourage young adults to become politically active.
Political leaders joined Emmy Award-winner Alfre Woodard to announce an interactive forum titled “UFuture – A Summit for Innovative Young Thinkers” during the Democratic National Convention in September.

The forum, sponsored by JCSU and the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute, will be held on Sept. 4 at Biddle Hall. Woodard and actor Hill Harper will host.

Organizers expect 450 students and educators from surrounding colleges to interact with national, regional and local officials during the DNC.
Woodard highlighted people as the foundation of UFuture. She also said that instead of young people only using social media skills, she said they also need to stand up and speak up.

“Change ain’t easy. It ain’t magic,” she said. “We need your young hand, your feet to get the word out to young people that it’s not only a process, but it’s the way of life.”

Also on hand for the announcement were N.C. Sen. Malcolm Graham, U.S. Rep. Melvin Watt (D–N.C.) and JCSU President Ronald Carter.

“Politics is a selfish sport – really politics is about self interest,” said Watt, who represents the 12th congressional district that includes Charlotte. He is also co-chair of the CBC Institute.

When it comes to young people getting involved in politics, he encouraged them to make sure they know the value of their self-interest.

“Think of this as a selfish thing,” Watt said. “What is your interest in politics?” Full Article 

Current New York Jets, Former Hampton University football player gets plea deal in on-campus assault

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A New York Jets football player who was charged with malicious wounding while he was a student at Hampton University two years ago signed off on a plea agreement Monday that reduces the charge to a misdemeanor and allows him to avoid deportation.

Kenrick A. Ellis, 24, a second-year nose tackle with the Jets and a former all-conference player at HU, was charged in April 2010 with an on-campus attack that left a fellow student unconscious. That student, Dennis Eley, had his jaw and nose broken and several teeth knocked out, according to the prosecutor on the case.

The altercation followed a dispute a day earlier between Eley and Ellis’ girlfriend, according to a summary of facts read at the hearing by the prosecutor. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy McMullen said the assault took place after Ellis spotted Eley on campus and asked him to come talk to him. In the ensuing altercation, she said, he “got behind Eley and put his arm across his throat.”

Under the felony malicious wounding charge, Ellis faced up to 20 years in prison and deportation if convicted.

In the plea agreement, approved Monday by Hampton Circuit Judge Bonnie L. Jones, Ellis was convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery. He was sentenced to 179 days — 90 to serve and 89 suspended.

Because of a jail policy to award one day off for every day of good behavior, that means Ellis could get out after 45 days. The fact that he wasn’t convicted of a felony, and got less than 12 months on the misdemeanor, means the Jamaica native won’t face deportation.

“There was a lot of competing evidence in this case, and there are two sides to every story,” said Ellis’ attorney, Tim Clancy, who left the hearing with Ellis’ agent, Drew Smith. “Our contention was that it was mutual combat, and that my client won.”

Clancy said Ellis’ immigration status was the “primary reason” he agreed to the plea deal. “Obviously the risks to him were much greater than the normal defendant,” Clancy said.

Ellis entered an Alford plea, a form of a guilty plea in which he maintains his innocence but acknowledges that enough evidence exists to convict him.

He will report to the Hampton City Jail on June 15, with the agreement saying that the “manner and time of incarceration” would be addressed separately. Clancy said he would ask Jones to allow Ellis’ time to be split, with the majority of time being served in June and July, before the Jets’ training camp, and the rest served next March, after the NFL season. Read Full Article 

Band mates say FAMU victim volunteered to be hazed

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Robert Champion was known for his opposition to the hazing rampant in the Florida A&M University marching band, but he was vying to be lead drum major and wanted the respect he could earn by enduring a brutal ritual known as “crossing over.” With chances for initiation ending with the football season, fellow band members say, Champion agreed to run through a bus lined with people kicking and beating him with drumsticks, mallets and fists.

The decision would be fatal.

Interviews with defendants in Champion’s killing and other band members released Wednesday paint the most detailed picture yet of what happened the night he died last November. They also offer some insight into why Champion, whose parents and friends say he was a vocal opponent of hazing, finally relented and got aboard “Bus C,” the band’s notorious venue for hazing after its performances during FAMU football games.

Champion was seeking the top position in the famed marching band, leading dozens who had already endured the hazing ritual. The Marching 100 has performed at Super Bowls and presidential inauguration parades, and some felt the leadership position had to be earned.

“It’s a respect thing, you know,” defendant Jonathan Boyce told detectives. “Well, he was wanting to do it all … all season.”

What awaited him was a punishing scrum in which about 15 people pushed, struck, kicked and grabbed at participants as they tried to wade down the aisle from the bus’s driver seat to touch the back wall, according to the interviews. One witness said bigger band members waited at the back to make the final few steps the most difficult. Several others who went through it said the ordeal leaves participants dizzy and breathless at a minimum.

After finishing the ordeal, Champion vomited and complained of trouble breathing. He soon fell unconscious and couldn’t be revived. An autopsy concluded Champion suffered blunt trauma blows to his body and died from shock caused by severe bleeding.

Thirteen band members have been charged with causing Champion’s death on Nov. 19. Eleven defendants face a count of third-degree felony hazing, and two others have been charged with misdemeanors. The team has been suspended at least until next year, and its director resigned earlier this month.

Champion’s death illustrated how ingrained hazing was in the band, although previous hazing incidents were well-documented at the school in lawsuits and arrests. Two band members received serious kidney injuries during hazing beatings several years ago, and another member suffered a broken thigh bone just weeks before Champion’s death.

Still, nobody is forced to endure the hazing on Bus C. It is voluntary, another defendant, Caleb Jackson, told detectives.

“If you go to that bus that’s saying that you wanted to do it,” Jackson said. “It’s not anybody saying, ‘Yeah you go and come on this bus,’ especially with it being a drum major and a strong mind …. If you came to the bus they mean you made up in your mind that’s what you wanted to do.”

Champion’s parents, Pam and Robert Sr., said they are having a hard time believing that their son volunteered to be hazed.

“He was murdered on that bus, and no one signs up for that,” Pam Champion said.

Champion was gay, but his parents said earlier this year that they didn’t think his sexual orientation had anything to do with the hazing. Manual and electronic searches of the documents turned up no references to his sexual orientation.

After performing at the season’s final football game against rival Bethune-Cookman University on Nov. 19, Champion rode in a stretch limo with band director Julian White and other drum majors back to their Orlando hotel.

Even though band members are required to sign a pledge promising not to participate in hazing, initiations were planned that night for Champion and two other band members aboard Bus C. Along with “crossing over,” the bus was also known for “the hot seat,” which involved getting kicked and beaten with drumsticks and bass drum mallets while covered with a blanket.

Boyce, who was back at a hotel room, said that people on the bus were sending him texts to ask if Champion was going to participate. Boyce said Champion told him he intended to go through with it.

Ryan Dean, a drummer who rode on Bus C regularly, said he was surprised when Champion told him he planned to participate.

“Earlier that weekend, I talked to him and he said ‘I will see you guys on the bus.’ I was going, like, ‘why?'” said Dean, who is a defendant. “He said it so nonchalantly, I thought that was weird and out of character for him because he never approved of anything like that.”

Dean, who said he had been hazed previously, said there always pressure to submit.

“If you want to be somebody, you do it,” Dean said.

Drum major Keon Hollis, who was hazed immediately before Champion, said the bus usually carried the percussion section, whose respect is considered crucial because it’s the largest. Hollis said he was kicked, punched and struck with straps. Another band member, Lissette Sanchez, also was hazed before Champion.

Boyce said he was in a female band member’s hotel room when someone called to say Champion was on the bus. By the time Boyce got there, Champion was in the back, getting kicked and punched, said Boyce. He said he and another defendant, Shawn Turner, tried to shield Champion from the blows and pull him to the back of the bus to end the ritual quickly.

Champion seemed fine immediately afterward, Hollis said, only saying he was thirsty. Hollis said he gave Champion something to drink.

Soon after, Champion began panicking, saying he couldn’t breathe or see, even though his eyes were wide open, Boyce said.

Champion collapsed and later died.

“The only reason why I think he died is like he didn’t have enough time to breathe or whatever,” Sanchez told detectives. “‘Cause I know when I finished, like I almost had a panic attack.”

Associated Press writers Kelli Kennedy, Curt Anderson, Suzette Laboy, Christine Armario Laura Wides and Jennifer Kay in Miami; Gary Fineout and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee; Matt Sedensky in West Palm Beach; Mitch Stacy in Tampa and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report. Referenced from Google.

Prosecutors release evidence in FAMU hazing death of drum major Robert Champion

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Prosecutors today released hundreds of pages of evidence in the hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion.

The evidence includes the probable-cause affidavit, which was used to issue warrants for the arrests of 11 fellow band members accused of participating in the hazing ritual after which Champion collapsed and died.

The documents were released as a result of the discovery process, which requires prosecutors to turn over evidence to defense lawyers.

Champion, 26, who was in line to become the lead drum major for FAMU’s famed Marching 100, was pummeled to death Nov. 19 during a hazing ritual on a band bus that was parked outside the Rosen Plaza hotel in Orlando, State Attorney Lawson Lamar said..

The medical examiner concluded Champion died of hemorrhagic shock caused by blunt-force trauma.

Eleven band members, including fellow drum majors Jonathan Boyce, Shawn Turner and Rikki Wills, are charged with felony hazing resulting in Champion’s death. If convicted, they could be sentenced to five years in prison.

The iconic marching band, a moneymaker for FAMU, Florida’s largest historically black university, had performed that afternoon during halftime of the 66thFlorida Classic, a football game played annually at the Citrus Bowl.

Champion’s death also has led to the suspension of the band for the 2012-13 school year; the sudden retirement of band director Dr. Julian White, 71, who insisted he tried in vain to stop hazing; and a notice filed by a lawyer for Champion’s parents that the family plans to sue the university.

Christopher Chestnut, the parents’ lawyer, said university leaders have been unwilling or unable to stop hazing despite repeated complaints from parents and costly incidents in which band members were paddled so violently they suffered kidney injuries.

In addition to the retirement of White, who led the band from 1998 until this month, FAMU recently dismissed two music professors who were at a Kappa Kappa Psi band fraternity party where hazing occurred in 2010.

Enrollment at FAMU has sagged in wake of the tragedy, but officials have blamed the economy.

The band totaled more than 450 members last fall, included more than 100 people who were not eligible because they were not enrolled in a required band course. About 60 of those ineligible band members traveled to Orlando aboard band buses for the annual football game, which is a major fundraiser for the school.

Two are among those charged in Champion’s death.Referenced from Orlando

United Methodists have long worked to fund black colleges

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Thanks to Tennessean writer Julie Hubbard for the excellent series on historically black colleges. In the early 1970s, most small black colleges were losing students to racially integrated state institutions. Their endowments were low. Their pools of affluent alumni were small. Through the initiative of the Nashville-based United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, a church-wide Black College Fund was created to ensure that the 11 historically black schools related to the denomination were solvent, well-managed, and fully accredited.

All United Methodist congregations contribute to the Black College Fund, which has produced more than $294 million since its creation in 1972. The recently approved goal for the Fund during the next four year is $42.1 million.

United Methodists can be justly proud of these institutions, including one here in our own community: Meharry Medical College. The others are: Dillard University, New Orleans; Philander Smith College, Little Rock; Bennett College for Women, Greensboro, N.C.; Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Claflin University, Orangeburg, S.C.; Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta; Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas; Paine College, Augusta, Ga.; Rust College, Holy Springs, Miss.; and Wiley College, Marshall, Texas.

Tom McAnally

3 Finalists at South Carolina State for Interim President

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South Carolina State University released the names Monday of its three finalists for the position of interim president.

The candidates are Dr. Ivan W. Banks, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania; Dr. Leonard McIntyre, an associate professor in S.C. State’s Department of Educational Leadership and director of the Textbooks and Learning Materials Program, and Dr. Cynthia Warrick, a senior fellow at the Howard University School of Pharmacy, Center for Minority Health Services Research.

Trustees will interview the three finalists on Wednesday.

Dr. Rita Teal has been serving as acting president at the university following Dr. George Cooper’s March 30 resignation.

Dr. Ivan W. Banks

Banks is the chief academic officer in his current position at Cheyney. He oversees the implementation of academics and the student life mission, and supervises the deans of numerous schools including the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education and the Keystone Honors Academy.

Banks says his experience has provided him with the leadership skills needed to guide the university through the special challenges it’s facing.

Problems present a chance for an organization to look at itself and make changes, he said.

“It has been my experience that challenges bring with them opportunities to re-examine policies and practices,” Banks said. “Re-examination is the foundation for positive change and growth needed to reassure the key constituents that the university remains committed to preparing competent graduates who work and live productively in a dynamic, global society.”

Banks says he feels secure in his ability to, “address any new challenges relative to access and attainment, affordability, accountability and competitiveness in terms of program rigor and student success.”

He has been involved in the field of education since 1977, when he began teaching social studies on the high school level. In 1981, he became a teaching associate at the University of Kentucky. Between 1981 and 2008, when he was hired at Cheyney, Banks worked as an associate professor, professor and dean at various colleges and universities, including West Georgia College, the University of Kentucky and New Jersey City University.

Banks earned his doctorate in instructional design and educational technology at the University of Kentucky, his master’s degree in education at John Carroll University and his bachelor’s degree in history and sociology at Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Leonard A. McIntyre

McIntyre says he’s “confident that my educational preparation, coupled with my background of experiences, have more than adequately positioned me with the skill set to provide the leadership needed to move S.C. State University forward.”

The interim presidency is not new to McIntyre. He held the position from December 2007, when the board of trustees ousted President Dr. Andrew Hugine, until July 2008, when Dr. George Cooper took over as president.

McIntyre was in the running for the position again in 2010, when the board voted not to renew Cooper’s contract, but lost out to Greenville judge Merl Code. However, Code failed to become interim president when several new members joined the S.C. State board and decided to keep Cooper.

McIntyre has been involved in the field of education for 30 years at various levels.

He worked in the public school system as superintendent in Hampton and Allendale counties before becoming state deputy superintendent of education. He moved to Felton Laboratory School on the university campus in 1998 as special school district superintendent.

In 2005, he became dean of the College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences/director of TLMP. Since 2005, he has served in various capacities at the university.

He currently oversees a $13 million grant awarded to the university to develop, print and distribute at least 2.3 million textbooks and other educational learning materials for Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania by Aug. 31, 2012.

McIntyre earned his doctorate in educational administration from Iowa State University, a master’s of arts in Spanish literature/reading specialist from Tulane University and his bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Loyola University.

Dr. Cynthia Warrick

Warrick’s duties as a senior fellow at Howard University include mentoring junior faculty and graduate students, establishing research teams, monitoring research program announcements and participating in accreditation peer review on the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Periodic Review.

Warrick is also involved in federal grant study sections and special emphasis panels that include various National Institutes of Health programs.

Before her appointment at Howard University in 2009, Warrick worked as an assistant professor, adjunct professor and associate professor at several universities, including George Mason University in Virginia, the Texas Southern University College of Pharmacy and the Florida A&M School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

She was a tenured full professor of pharmacy and dean and chief research officer at Elizabeth City State University from 2006 until 2009.

Warrick earned her doctorate in environmental science and public policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.; a master’s degree in public policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Howard University.

The T&D was unable to contact Warrick on Monday.

Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.

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High school dropout emerges as Claflin grad, future law student

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Jerrell Cleveland will be among several hundred students who will graduate from Claflin University at the Commencement Convocation on Saturday. However, his path to graduation is far and away unlike those taken by any of his colleagues.

In fact, this will be Cleveland’s first commencement of any kind. He never did officially graduate high school.

His walk to the stage to receive his degree in sociology and criminal justice from President Dr. Henry N. Tisdale has truly been a long journey.

It will be paved through the lessons his parents, Gerald and Daisy, taught him from an early age and through the encouragement of his wife, Priscilla, a Claflin graduate who now works as a junior procurement specialist at the university. The memory of his late sister, Tangela, will also weigh heavily on Cleveland’s mind as he ascends to the next step in his future.

“This is nothing short of amazing. I have never worn a cap and gown before,” Cleveland said. “My degree really belongs to my parents because of the example they’ve led. I can’t wait to shake the president’s hand and get that diploma.”

This fall, Cleveland will pursue a Juris Doctor degree from the Charlotte School of Law. To truly grasp his transformation from high school dropout to law school student, the story must begin in 1987.

It was the year Tangela was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that attacks the brain and spinal cord. Read more: 

Black male students focus of Gwinnett initiatives

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Devin Boone doesn’t necessarily have the grades for college, just the desire.

But that will get him in the door of historically black Florida Memorial University this fall.

Under a partnership between Miami-based FMU and Boone’s soon-to-be-alma mater, South Gwinnett High School, the university guarantees admission to young black males from the Snellville high school, regardless of their grades or SAT scores.

It’s the newest of two initiatives in Gwinnett, the state’s largest school system, aimed at improving the academic prospects of young black males.

The other is a mentoring program that pairs adult males with middle school students. The interaction has been a life-saver for Jamar Tindall, says his mother, Capricia Kegler of Suwanee.

“If it wasn’t for this program, I don’t know what I would have done,” Kegler said. “It’s turned around his attitude about life and his grades.”

The academic struggles of young black men have been well-documented. In 2010, three high-profile national research studies found that less than half of black male students graduate from high school in four years. Black male students are three times more likely than their white peers to be suspended or expelled, according to the studies.

The college program

Teresa Wilburn, director of the college and career center at South Gwinnett High School, said Boone and nine other SGH seniors have been accepted to Florida Memorial for the fall.

All had recommendations from a teacher, counselor or community leader and had written essays on topics such as leadership, character, motivation and tenacity.

For some, who are what Wilburn calls “late bloomers,” the guaranteed acceptance provides “a second change to go to college.”

“They are very talented and smart. Just for whatever reason, in their freshman or sophomore year, they were having a tough time,” Wilburn said.

Boone and classmates Philip Love and Brandon Dacres are enthusiastic about their prospects at Florida Memorial.

Love, who played football at South Gwinnett for four years, had been thinking of going straight into the Army until he heard of the “good opportunity” the school offered. He hopes to major in business.

But college had been a childhood dream for Boone and a long-time expectation for Dacres.

“I goofed off like every freshman, but I got my act together,” Dacres said. “I realized college was what I wanted. This year, I made the honor roll.”

Bethune sees hike in band tryouts because of FAMU scandal

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Florida A&M University’s longtime rival, Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, has seen a 10 percent to 20 percent uptick in the number of students wanting to try out for its marching band — a direct result, says the band director, of the FAMU hazing scandal.

Director Donovan Wells, whose Marching Wildcats compete each year against FAMU’s Marching 100 during the Florida Classic halftime show in Orlando, said many students wanting to join his band are high school students who probably decided to audition for Bethune-Cookman because of uncertainties about FAMU’s band. Tryouts for high school students and college transfer students are from January-May. Referenced from Orlando

ASU’s men’s basketball adds six players to incoming class

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MONTGOMERY, AL –

Alabama State University men’s basketball coach Lewis Jackson has announced the addition of six players to the 2012-13 Hornet basketball team headlined by local standout Tony Armstrong from Carver High School, and in-state star Billy Ingram from Sumter Central.

Armstrong averaged 14 points and 12 rebounds for the 6A State Champion Wolverines.  The 6′-5″, 185 pound forward showed his versatility with 21 double-doubles over the course of the season.

“We are excited to get a player like Tony Armstrong into our program,” Jackson said.  “He is coming to us from the 6A State Champions and can do a lot of things.  He is a kid who has played on the highest level of basketball and understands what his role has been on the teams he has played on under Coach James Jackson.  He can score and he can rebound and we are really excited to get someone of his talent because I believe with all of the things he can do, his upside is tremendous.”

Ingram (Bellamy, Ala.) stands 6′-6″ and led Sumter in scoring at 23 points per game.  Like Armstrong, he is a strong rebounder averaging 12 boards a game.

“Billy is another player who can do a lot of things,” Jackson added.  “He is a great scorer and is not afraid to get in and work for rebounds.  He is another player from here in the state of Alabama we are truly excited about joining our program.”

The coaching staff was able to reach into the talent-rich area of Chicago to land 6′-2″ point guard Terrell “Tre” Green from Simeon Career Academy.  Green averaged 15 points and eight assists per contest in leading Simeon to a pair of state championships.  Following his career at SCA, he spent a season at ABCD Prep located in Dallas.

ASU also signed an international talent in Umut Akkepenek. At 6′-5″, the Istanbul, Turkey native can play either a guard or forward position.  He averaged 19 points per game in his final season at Impact Academy in Sarasota, Fla.

The Hornets were looking for some size in the lane and have found Eric Tucker from Omaha, Neb.  He stands 6′-10″ and weighs 245 pounds.  He played at Ralston High School, but spent his first two years of college playing at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Neb.  He averaged seven points and six rebounds per game, but he also averaged three blocks per outing, which was 10th in the nation among the Junior College (JUCO) ranks.

Robert “Bobby” Brown is from nearby Douglasville, Ga.  He could add some excitement to the floor as he brings with him a 42″ vertical jump to go along with his 6′-7″ frame.  Like Akkepenek, he can play either at guard or forward and averaged 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots per game at Lithia Springs High School. Read Full

Oprah urges Spelman grads to strive for excellence

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Oprah Winfrey, who created a media and philanthropic empire, urged more than 550 graduates at the historically black college for women to strive for excellence and make service the focus of their lives. And she told them to remember the sacrifices of generations of ancestors whose blood and hard work paved the way for their accomplishments.

“Never forget that you did not do this by yourself,” Winfrey told the graduates and their families at Spelman’s 125thcommencement ceremony. “You come here today trailing the breath of the ancestors and of the angels.”

It was a banner day for two Atlanta historically black colleges. Earlier Sunday, more than 500 men graduated from Morehouse College.

At the Georgia International Convention Center, Winfrey cited three keys to success.

First, she urged graduates to know themselves and what they want. “My answer is, I am God’s child,” Winfrey said.

“You must have some kind of vision for your life, even if you don’t have a plan,” she said.

Winfrey also told graduates to find a way to serve and to always do the right thing.

“Do the right thing, even when other people think it may not be,” she said.

Winfrey parlayed an early career in local broadcasting into the highest-rated talk show in television history, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Later she founded her own studio and cable network. Read More

The downward trend of HBCU players in NFL Draft

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When Charles Dickens wrote “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” for “A Tale of Two Cities,” black college football probably was not on his mind.
Yet those famous words seem fitting when describing the state of the game in regards to the 2012 NFL Draft. From a statistical standpoint, the continued downward trend of players chosen from Historically Black Colleges and Universities reached another low point with only one selection in the seven rounds.
Truly, it’s a far cry from the 1960s and 1970s when both the AFL and NFL saw HBCUs as fertile ground for hungry, unheralded talent who eventually contributed mightily to success of championship teams like Kansas City, Oakland and Pittsburgh, just to name a few.
South Carolina State was among those schools which figured prominently among NFL scouts. At one time, the school was as prolific in producing draft picks who became All-Pros like Barney Chavous and Harry Carson as its in-state Division I counterparts.
Following the 1996 season, however, the number of S.C. State players in the pro ranks began to decline steadily. Over the next 14 seasons, draft selections became even rarer with the notable exception of tight end Arthur Love in 2001 and the only opportunities available came through free agency.
Recently, S.C. State has experienced a revival in NFL prominence. With safety Christian Thompson just so happening to be the lone HBCU player drafted (fourth round by the Baltimore Ravens), it marked the first time since the 1990s a Bulldog was selected three years in a row (Phillip Adams in 2010 and Johnny Culbreath last year).
Add the addition of three rookie free agent signings with Marshall McFadden (Pittsburgh), Donovan Richard (Jacksonville) and Dominique Ellis (Kansas City) and S.C. State currently has its highest number of NFL players (8) on team rosters in recent memory.
From an HBCU football standpoint, this would count as “the best of times” right now in terms of NFL interest. S.C. State head coach Buddy Pough, who was teammates with Carson and Donnie Shell, takes a more cautionary view.
“I guess a little bit of an honor and also a little bit of a sign of the times, too,” he said. “There’s just not that many spots available anymore and there’s just so many programs, so many top-notch programs around the country that the competition is really key for those few opportunities that you have to move on to the next level.”
Pough acknowledged he was surprised by how high Thompson went not because he did not see him as worthy, but due to the low level of respect HBCU players receive from scouts. With the increased number of S.C. State players in the NFL, Pough is hoping they use this opportunity to open more doors. Read more:

Provost of Baltimore’s Coppin State University Named First Female President of Central State University

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Coppin State University Provost Dr. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond will become the first female president of Central State University, the Ohio school has announced.

Only the eighth president in the historically Black university’s history, Jackson-Hammond follows in the footsteps of current president John W. Garland, who announced his retirement last year.

“I am extremely thrilled and honored to be named the next president of Central State University. This institution has a 125-year history of academic excellence and transforming the lives of students,” Jackson-Hammond told HBCU Digest.

“I look forward to joining the campus community of administrators, faculty, staff, alumni, and students to continue this great legacy and lead the University toward meeting the needs of an ever-changing society and a global future.”

Located in Wilberforce, Ohio, Central State University includes a student body of approximately 2,800.

Jackson-Hammond earned her bachelor’s degree from Grambling State University prior to receiving a Masters of Education from University of Louisiana, Monroe. Jackson-Hammond returned to Grambling State University to earn Ph.D. in education.

As provost and vice president of academic affairs at Coppin State University, Jackson-Hammond was responsible for reforming the General Education curriculum, creating the Center for Undergraduate Research, and furthering the development of the First-year Experience Program.

After having topped an impressive list of 51 national candidates, Jackson-Hammond will officially take office July 1.

“We are very excited about our selection,” Gary Dowdell, chair of the Central State University Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “Dr. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond has a demonstrated leadership background and comes to Central State University at a time when we are poised to make great strides in building for the future.”

Jackson-Hammond is married to Dr. James Eric Hammond Sr., and has three children, James Eric Jr., Christopher Adam, and Erin Jenea.