Michael Eric Dyson Leads Obama Summit at Clark Atlanta University

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The Democratic National Committee and Obama for America hosted an HBCU Summit to encourage young adults to head to the polls in November in support of President Barack Obama.

The event took place on February 21, in the Henderson Student Center of Clark Atlanta University, one of the prestigious institutions in the Atlanta University Center, which also includes Morehouse College, Spelman College and Morris Brown College. Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson was joined by entertainers  such as Janelle Monae and Keshia Knight-Pulliam in an electrifying mobilization effort targeting students who were so instrumental to Obama’s historic 2008 win.

Don’t forget to send us your pictures showing your support for President Obama. Go to www.hbcubuzz.com/OBAMA for more information on how HBCUs can help President Obama’s reelection campaign.

(NewsOne)

FAMU Alumnus Maurice Allen to Appear on the Golf Channel

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Growing up in Pine Hills, Fla., Florida A&M University (FAMU) alumnus Maurice Allen’s father always encouraged him to play golf. For Allen, he says it was not in his plans, but the naturally talented 28-year old made his mark in the golf world his own way.

“A friend bet me that I wasn’t athletic enough to hit the golf ball a certain distance,” he said. “With my seven iron (club), I hit the ball 230 yards.”

In January 2010, Allen broke a world record for swing speed — swinging his club 161 miles per hour.  On, Feb. 16, Allen broke his own record. The feat was filmed for the Golf Channel.

“My dad was there and he’s a big golfer,’ Allen said. “I think it meant more to him than it did to me. He was very happy about it.”

Allen, who earned his degree in biology in 2010, will be featured on the Golf Channel in August for his record. The disciplined athlete has traveled throughout Europe, Central America, the Bahamas and all around the United States for various competitions.

 

Allen cites God and his parents for being his driving forces.

“Everything I’m doing now is because of the people who came before me,” he said.

Allen was an All-American on the Men’s Track Team. He ran in the Olympic Trials in 2004.

He is a member of the Minority Golf Club; YMCA in Tangelo Park in Orlando, Fla., the OMYGA (youth golf group in Orlando), and First Tee in Orlando. He says the best part about his profession is being able to speak to kids and letting them know they can make a difference.

He said, “I tell them to ‘Follow your gut. Don’t tell people your dreams because they may try to wake you up.”

Delta Sigma Theta Hosts Greek Health Olympics Program at Johnson C. Smith University

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Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Charlotte Alumnae Chapter will host its first Sorority Greek Health Olympics March 17.
The competition starts at 10 a.m. at Johnson C. Smith University’s Erwin Belk Complex as part of the sorority’s annual Sisterhood Month activities.

“This event is a great opportunity for Delta members and other Greek sorority members to exercise in a competitive, yet fun environment,” said Melody Harris, second vice president of the Charlotte Chapter and co-chair of Membership Services.
Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sigma Gamma Rho and Zeta Phi Beta will compete in several events. Some, like sprints and power walking, are Olympic-themed; others, like beanbag toss, tug-of-war, obstacle course, and four legged race are for fun. The sororities will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in addition to bragging rights.

Harris said the idea of a Sorority Olympics was borrowed from another Delta chapter who successfully held such an event, and “to promote healthy living and to bond with our Greek sisters. “What better time to do so than Sisterhood Month?”

Sisterhood Month activities conclude with the annual Sisters on the Square event to promote sisterhood and solidarity. During this hour-long event, all four sororities will collect donations to benefit women in the community.

(Charlotte Post)

Possible Outbreak of Norovirus at Howard University

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The D.C. Department of Health is investigating a possible outbreak of Norovirus at Howard University.

Officials from the school say they reported “a number of cases of gastrointestinal illnesses among our students” to the health department. “Additionally, we have notified our students, faculty and staff to take precautions to prevent contracting this illness.”

Noroviruses are a group of related viruses that cause acute gastroenteritis in humans,according to the Centers for Disease Control. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. The illness is spread from person to person, through contaminated food or water, and by touching contaminated surfaces.

About 85 similar cases were reported by students at The George Washington University between Feb. 13 and 16.

(NBC)

Alabama A&M to Retire Robert Mathis’ Jersey

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Alabama A&M will retire the college jersey of Indianapolis Colts defensive end Robert Mathis in a ceremony on March 3.

Mathis’ No. 55 will be retired at halftime of Alabama A&M’s annual spring game. Mathis, who turns 31 on Sunday, was a four-year starter at the Southwestern Athletic Conference school. As a senior in 2002, he set a Division I-AA (now FCS) single-season record with 20 sacks.

In nine seasons with the Colts, he is a four-time Pro Bowl selection and has collected at least 9.5 sacks seven times. He was a member of the Colts’ Super Bowl XLI championship squad.

(The Chicago Tribune)

Stony The Road We Trod: Saving Our Maryland HBCUs from A Prejudice System

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There is a battle going on today. A battle that doesn’t obtain headlines on CNN or MSNBC. A battle that does not get much attention in our own communities, but will carry such a grand significance to our HBCUs future. The battle is happening in Maryland. The battle is for the future of Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Morgan State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

The battle is taking place in the courtrooms, as the HBCU ‘Equality’ lawsuit enters into its sixth year (but some of us never heard about it until last December). Former Morgan State University president Earl S. Richardson’s testimony in the case revealed the depth of hypocrisy in Maryland’s higher education system. The Afro has more on the proceedings in the lawsuit:

“Earl S. Richardson envisioned a plan that would have allowed both his predominantly Black Morgan State University in Baltimore and largely White Towson University 15 miles away to jointly offer a high-quality MBA program that would have the additional benefit of making their universities more racially diverse.

“Morgan proposed a three-plus-two program that would be a collaborative effort between Morgan State and Towson State. What we said is that students in their third year and their fourth year of Towson could begin to take courses in the MBA program at Morgan that could then be used to satisfy part of the requirements for the baccalaureate at Towson, as well as go toward the MBA at Morgan, and they would end up in five years with both the baccalaureate and the master’s degree or the MBA,” said Richardson, who returned to the stand as a rebuttal witness.

Instead, Towson proposed a program that would add the University of Baltimore to the mix and ultimately grant Towson the ability to award MBA degrees, state authorization that Morgan and Bowie State University had at the time. After Morgan rejected that proposal, the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) approved a MBA program in 2005 operated jointly by Towson and the University of Baltimore.”

Once Towson took this course of action, Morgan’s white MBA enrollment dropped significantly from 50%…to 2. This action was defined by the lawsuit as “the unnecessary duplication of HBCU academic programs by geographically proximate TWIs [traditionally White institutions].”

What the four HBCUs are fighting for is economic equality. The facts are there right in front of us: the traditionally white institutions are receiving far more state funding than the historically black universities. This is not something new; surely the University of Arkansas receives more state funding than the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff.

The Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education Inc. is fighting for their universities, fighting for the economic lifeline so these HBCUs can still stand and still compete with their contemporaries. More importantly, they are fighting against segregation and discrimination. There efforts are to be applauded, and duplicated- for the continued success of our HBCUs.

Hampton University Awarded the Educational Institutional Award

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Hampton University is awarded the prestigious Educational Institutional Award because of their role in the off-track evaluation of participants at the 2011 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine hosted by Langley Speedway.

Both the Sports Managements School and Scripps School of Journalism and Communications participated in key initiatives. Professor Ralph Charlton and his sport management students organized a car show which enhanced awareness for Revolution Racing and the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program while promoting and advertising the Combine in the greater Hampton citywide. They also provided facilities to evaluate driver fitness.

Professor William “Chris” Leonard’s 43 students from the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications received real-world experience by staging a series of media exercises across multiple campus facilities which covered one-on-one interviews, live group press conferences, at-track coverage and news packages which ran on Air America.

North Carolina Central to Cut Several Degree Programs

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With just a whiff of dissent, the N.C. Central University Board of Trustees  voted Wednesday to eliminate five degree programs at the school.

The  elimination of degrees for a Master of Arts in sociology and for Bachelor of  Arts degrees in sociology, public administration. French and art with a  concentration in teacher education now goes to the UNC system’s Board of  Governors for final approval.

The ending of degree-granting in those  disciplines is part of a comprehensive streamlining of academic programs  designed, said Chancellor Charlie Nelms, to enhance NCCU’s “quality, efficiency  and effectiveness.”

The board unanimously approved all the  recommendations, except for the elimination of the masters in sociology and the  bachelors in public administration, where trustee Carlton Thornton voted no.

“I thought that both programs had a lot of potential,” Thornton said.

“They could become signature programs for us. And these were the two  programs that both had a lot of advocates, a lot of people supporting them. I  got a lot of emails about them and heard from a lot of  people.”

University officials expected that some of the advocates might  come to the board meeting and want to speak about the academic restructuring.
The site of the meeting was switched from a conference room in the  school’s Jones Building to a much larger auditorium in the School of Education,  and microphones were placed in the aisles for potential speakers.

But  the recommendations — which also included merging the mathematics and physics  departments, English and modern foreign languages, environmental sciences and  geography, and computer information with computer science, and moving the dance  program to the theater department — sailed through quickly, with no comments  from the audience.

Read more:  The Herald-Sun – NCCU approves cutting five degree programs

Judge Glenda Hatchett Will Visit Grambling State University

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Judge Glenda Hatchett will be speaking at Grambling State University next week in honor of Black History Month.

Hatchett, a best-selling author and presiding judge of the television program “Judge Hatchett,” will be the guest lecturer at GSU’s Black History Convocation, which takes place at 11 a.m. Monday in the T. H. Harris Auditorium.

Hatchett became Georgia’s first African-American chief presiding judge of a state court and the department head of one of the largest juvenile court systems in the country.

Courtesy of the News Star

Smithsonian Breaking Ground on Black History Museum

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The Smithsonian Institution will officially begin construction Wednesday on a new museum dedicated to African-American culture and heritage — a complex committed to the celebration and study one of the central components of the American story.

The projected Smithsonian Black Museum.

The nation’s first black commander in chief, President Barack Obama, was to deliver remarks at the 10 a.m. groundbreaking ceremony for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

First lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush were also scheduled to attend.

Construction of the Smithsonian’s 19th museum — to be located on the National Mall — is expected to last three years. The museum is slated to open in 2015.

Read more at CNN.

SIAC Baseball: Week #2 Player of the Week Honors Announced

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Claflin University outfielder Randolph Brown and pitcher Darryl White have been named SIAC Baseball East Division Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Miles College outfielder Julius Fain has been named SIAC Baseball West Division Player of the Week while Miles College pitcher Justin Bartley has been named SIAC Baseball West Division Pitcher of the Week.

Brown, a native of Seabrook, SC, went 5-for-7 at the plate, including a home run and two doubles, with a .714 batting average and a 1.428 slugging percentage in two games. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior scored three runs with three RBIs and a .714 on-base percentage while helping the Panthers to a 2-0 record, sweeping Davis & Elkins, 3-0 and 7-3, on Saturday.

White, a native of Walterboro, SC, pitched a complete game shutout in a 3-0 win over Davis & Elkins. The 6-0, 195-pound junior also struck out five batters while walking none.

Fain, a native of Murfreesboro, TN, went 4-for-5 at the plate in two games, including a pair of doubles, with a .800 batting average and a 1.200 slugging percentage. The 6-foot, 175-pound outfielder scored two runs and drove in four runs with one stolen base, helping the Golden Bears, who is currently ranked eighth in the South Region by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), move to 6-0 on the season with a pair of wins over Tougaloo College, 16-6 and 3-1, on Friday.

Bartley, a native of Oak Grove, AL, pitched a complete game in a 3-1 win over Tougaloo College while giving up no earned runs. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound freshman also struck out four batters to pick up his first win as a Golden Bear.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to Launch Music Themed Cable Network?

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Sean “Diddy” Combs has had his hands in music, film, reality TV, fragrances, clothing, restaurants, liquor and headphones. Now, the multi-hyphenate rapper-entrepreneur is looking to further expand his brand (and his wallet) by launching a music-themed cable network, according to a report in Broadcasting & Cable.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs. (The Inquisitr.)

Combs is hoping to roll out the music-themed network, Revolt, on December 12, 2012.

For the venture, Combs is reported to have aligned with former MTV programming chief Andy Schuon to develop the network that will be aimed at African American audiences. It is being reported that Comcast will distribute Revolt.

In April, the cable provider announced that it would solicit proposals for “independent channels” as a commitment to the Federal Communications Commission to help launch minority-owned networks. It plans to launch 10 over the next eight years, with four being majority African American-owned, two being majority Hispanic-owned and two being operated by American Latino programmers.

But what would a Diddy-backed network look like?

No stranger to TV, he’s previously launched a handful of branded series for MTV, including three successful incarnations of “Making the Band,” a spinoff, “Making His Band,” and “P. Diddy’s Starmaker.” (The latter two lasted only a single season each.) He also looked for an assistant in an “Apprentice”-style reality competition for VH1 called “I Want to Work for Diddy.”

He’s also guest-starred on shows such as “Entourage,” “CSI: Miami” and “Hawaii Five-0″; led the cast of a television adaptation of “A Raisin in the Sun”; and played a memorable role in the Russell Brand comedy “Get Him to the Greek.”

A Combs representative said the rapper had no comment on the deal.

Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.

Alabama A&M Seeking to Dismiss Lawsuit By Former Professor

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Attorneys for Alabama A&M University are scheduled to be in court Wednesday afternoon to argue for the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a former professor fired last year.

Regina Colston sued Alabama A&M President Andrew Hugine and the board of trustees on Nov. 30, 2011, that she was wrongfully terminated in June 2011. Colston said in her lawsuit that she was fired because she was critical of the school’s administration and the trustees.

Alabama A&M filed a motion last month to have the lawsuit dismissed and the two sides will appear before Madison County Circuit Judge Karen Hall on Wednesday to argue the motion.

The school’s response — filed by AAMU General Counsel Angela Debro, AAMU Board of Trustees attorney Rod Steakley and Huntsville private attorney Christopher Smith — cited past cases in saying Colston did not properly establish in her lawsuit violation of her First Amendment rights.

Courtesy of Alabama Live.

Paine College College first HBCU in Georgia with Mobile Presence

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Paine College has launched a mobile version of its website for fast and convenient access on handheld devices. The site can be found at m.paine.edu. Paine College is the first HBCU in the state of Georgia to launch a full-featured mobile site for handheld devices. The new Paine College Mobile site is also accessible to devices like the iPad, Kindle Fire and other notebook devices.

According to a survey conducted Noel-Levitz and the National Research Center for College & University Admissions, 52 percent of prospective college students said they had viewed a school’s website on a mobile device in 2011—more than double the percentage from 2010. And 48 percent of those students said the mobile site experiencebettered their view of the campus.

“The movement that Paine College is making towards the future can only be described as progressive,” said Dr. George C. Bradley, Paine College President. “Students and constituents have an expectation of this type of innovation. We’re stepping up to provide it here at Paine.”

Currently, the new mobile site exhibits information about admissions, a calendar, faculty/staff directory, campus news, athletics and more. You can also stay connected with links to Paine College’s social networking sites.

“Paine College’s mobile presence is extremely important as we evolve and continue to market our institution to technologically savvy generations. According to statistics amobile site is imperative to keep Colleges and Universities competitive,” said Natasha Carter, Director of Communications and Marketing.

Site developers Webflex Consulting, LLC expect to see additional features added to the site over time.

SIAC Softball: Week #2 Player of the Week Honors Announced

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Claflin University centerfielder Laporschia Carter and pitcher Katie Bormann have been named SIAC Softball East Division Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.

Carter, a native of Chester, SC, went 4-for-4 in two games last week, finishing with a 1.000 batting average and a 1.000 slugging percentage. The 5-foot-6 junior scored four runs and also drove in another three with a 1.000 fielding percentage on defense while helping the Lady Panthers to two wins over Edward Waters, 10-1 and 11-1.

Bormann, a native of Irmo, SC, went 1-0 for the week with a strikeout in four innings pitched. The 5-foot-5 junior gave up no walks or runs during her time on the mound against Edward Waters this weekend.