Michael Livingston II was born in Washington, D.C. and currently resides in Laurel, Maryland. Livingston joined HBCUBuzz.com as the “In Reality” columnist shortly after graduating from Virginia Union University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. While attending Virginia Union University, Livingston became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the Honda Campus All Stars, and the HIV/AIDS Peer Educators. He was the Co-Editor of the university’s 2011 literary magazine, VUU Voices. He was the editor of an independent student newsletter and wrote for the school’s newspaper, motivating him to pursue a career in journalism. Livingston’s goal as Editor in Chief is to help establish HBCUBuzz.com as the #1 source for news, commentary and events for the Black college student community.
VIDEO – Atlanta Football Classic 2011 – FAMU vs Southern
Bank America Atlanta Football Classic FAMU vs Southern University Uploaded by RoundupRussy on Sep 27, 2011
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Representatives from Google made a visit to Hampton University on the evening of Sept. 28. With a lot of anticipation, HU students filled every seat in the auditorium in the Science and Technology building. The Google representatives opened the information session with a series of trivia questions about what it is like to work at their company. Students who answered the questions correctly won a series of prizes, ranging from typical give-aways to electronic tablets.
However, the fun was not over yet. The Google representatives surprised the students by bringing in boxed meals for everyone in the room. They later collected the resumes of those who were interested in positions, and then opened the floor for questions and comments.
Article Referenced from Hampton University
VIDEO – BET Black College Tour at Jackson State University 2011
BET Black College Tour stops by Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss.
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The theme of this year’s conference was “Impacting Tomorrow’s Workforce Transition.”
The conference, hosted by the Roy G. Perry College of Engineering, takes place annually and its purpose is to aid businesses in their efforts to diversify the workforce for the 21st century and beyond.
Engineering professionals, military personnel and leaders from top corporations were brought together to develop strategies that will encourage the engineering profession among minority students.
Conference speakers were Lloyd W. Howell, Jr., executive vice president, Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., 2011 Black Engineer of the Year and the Council of Engineering Deans. Howell encouraged participants to keep championing the cause, so that other students may be impacted and encouraged to pursue engineering said.
Article Referenced from Prairie
VIDEO – Design team allows first look inside Huntington Hall FVSU
Huntington Hall is the stately brick, Georgian-style structure (circa 1720 -1840). The architecture of the Fort Valley State University’s oldest building mimics period designs created by King George I of Britain.
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G.I. Jobs, a magazine for military personnel transitioning into civilian life, has awarded Fort Valley State University the designation of “military friendly school.” The 2012 publication honors the top 20 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that assist America’s service members, veterans and students.
FVSU met the selection criteria for the second year in a row because of its student veterans organization on campus, a full-time military staff and because it accepts military credit.
“This recognition could only be achieved through hard work, dedication, and commitment from service members, their supporting command staff, and our institution,” said Eric Shaw, FVSU’s Military Resource Center director. Shaw meets regularly with the Robins Air Force Base education services’ staff.
G.I. Jobs contains a survey to help student veterans find a university that meets their needs. “Results indicate that Fort Valley State makes the transition from the military to college easy for veterans,” said Dr. Anna Holloway, dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Extended Education, where the Military Resource Center is housed.
“Scores for CLEP tests in subjects like English and History that service members take free while on active duty are accepted, for example, and military credits are accepted as recommended by the American Council on Education Guide in accordance with the requirements for respective college majors,” Holloway added.
Read Full Article at FVSU
Elizabeth City State University’s Community Music School (CMS) is in its fifth week and organizers say they are encouraged by the progress. Seven teachers from local school systems and an instructor from Virginia are leading the 22 students enrolled. The students are taking applied lessons in piano, voice, guitar, percussion and strings.
CMS students range in age from 6 to 60-plus, with the largest number enrolled in piano. Most also are entry-level students who are enthused about the private lessons, which are held in the practice rooms at the Mickey L. Burnim Fine Arts Center on the ECSU campus.
The Community Music School is a community outreach effort of the ECSU Music Department. The department received professional accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Music in 2007. In order to satisfy NASM’s recommendations and to be consistent with long-term expansion of community outreach initiatives, the department agreed to begin a community music school.
CMS Director Rae Newson said the students arrive each week eager for their one-on-one lessons, which are held between 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
CMS students can select a 30 minute session or an hour long session.
“It’s good to enroll elementary aged students while their interest is high and they are willing to learn. Their minds and hearts are open for a new challenge when they are young,” Newson said.
She said she is pleased with how the program is progressing.”We realize that some parents needed more time to save money for these lessons. There are so many expenses related to the start of school in September that it wasn’t convenient for them to enroll last August,” when the program originally was slated to start.
Read Full Article at ECSU
The Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded Delaware State University a $500,000 grant to fund the establishment of a DSU Center for Economic Development and Trade on campus.
The new Center – which will be based in the University’s College of Business – will take a long-term strategic view of economic forces and will focus on providing state and local governments and other public and non-public organizations with timely economic information and reliable analysis.
DSU President Harry L. Williams said that the U.S. Department of Commerce grant will financially empower University to apply its intellectual resources to promote the economic well-being of the state of Delaware.
“This will be another way that the University will be able to work to fulfill its Vision Statement goal of invigorating the economy of Delaware by providing valuable information that will help guide entities in the state toward making sound and prudent economic decisions,” Dr. Williams said.
The grant was written by Dr. Michael Casson, the dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research, and Dr. Nanda Viswanathan, associate professor of management. Dr. Casson said the DSU Center for Economic Development and Trade will serve the people of Delaware by improving their understanding of the state’s economy while supporting Delaware’s efforts to make the First State the first choice of the global business community.
“To this end, the University Center for Economic Development and Trade will develop, and ultimately highlight through its First State Updates, State economy models and analyses, economic data banks, workforce development initiatives and international trade strategies for small to mid-sized enterprises,” said Dr. Casson, who is also an associate professor of economics. “The University Center will leverage the expertise available at DSU to equip the public and decision makers with timely information and reliable analyses necessary for efficient and thoughtful discussions surrounding public-policy issues.”
Read Full Article at DSU
Dr. Scott Jackson Dantley, associate vice president of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning and Professor of Science for Coppin State University, was hand selected by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) in conjunction with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to conduct a feasibility study for 25 Saudi Colleges of Education. He will also lead the science sub-division of the review. The engagement model of quality assurance was created by NAFEO at the request of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
As a noted accreditation evaluator with an extensive background in science education, Dr. Dantley will provide insight into the accreditation process and recommend, if necessary, improvements. He served as key evaluator for the College of Education’s state grant to conduct a review of a new developed Principal’s Institute to produce 25 new principals for the State of Maryland.
The first-time study will gauge the readiness of the Saudi colleges to meet the National Commission of Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA); local standards, and international standards set by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The NCAAA standards include “institutional context, quality of learning and teaching, support for student learning, supporting infrastructure and community contributions,” according to the NCAAA website.
Read Full article at Afro.com
Clark Atlanta University will mark National Domestic Violence Awareness Month with “The Call to True Beauty 2011,” the university’s annual advocacy, education and prevention campaign against dating violence and domestic violence. The series runs Oct. 16-21 and is sponsored by Avon Products and Verizon Wireless.
“Although our campus is not overrun with incidences of dating and domestic violence, even one case is too many,” said Joseph H. Silver Sr., Clark Atlanta’s provost and vice president for academic affairs.
This year’s campaign launches publicly with an Oct. 1 rally from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mitchell St. Plaza of Atlanta City Hall, including a live remote broadcast from The Jazz of the City, 91.9FM WCLK.
“Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton”, a biography about the late great NFL running back written by Sports Illustrated columnist Jeff Pearlman is scheduled to arrive in bookstores across the county October 4th. This biography tells a somber and gloomy story about the NFL Hall of Fame veteran, a story filled with drugs, infidelity and suicide.
Walter Payton was a starting running back at Jackson State University where he began to build his legacy. Nicknamed ‘Sweetness’, Payton broke the NCAA record for rushing touchdowns and amassed over 3,500 yards while attending Jackson State. In his thirteen years in the NFL, all with the Chicago Bears, Payton rushed for 16,726 yards and helped the Bears win Super Bowl XX in 1985. He was a two time NFL MVP in 1977 and 1985.
Payton was selected to enter the JSU Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1993. He died at age 45 due to bile duct cancer in 1999, and in the same year the NFL named its Man of the Year Award after Payton.
Claiming it to be the ‘definitive biography’ of Payton, Pearlman states that Payton abused drugs like Vicodin, Tylenol and nitrous oxide, a.k.a. laughing gas, attempted suicide and cheated on his wife for several years. The book says both Payton’s wife and his mistress stayed in the same hotel the weekend he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. The Payton family released this statement:
“Walter, like all of us, wasn’t perfect. The challenges he faced were well known to those of us who loved and lived with him. He was a great father to Jarrett and Brittney and held a special place in the football world and the Chicago community. Recent disclosures – some true, some untrue – do not change this. I’m saddened that anyone would attempt to profit from these stories, many told by people with little credibility.”
Fayetteville State University officials told state lawmakers Wednesday how state budget cuts have hurt the school, but they also talked about the effect of declining federal funds.
FSU administrators and trustees talked with lawmakers from Cumberland County during a breakfast meeting in the school’s library.
Emily Dickens, FSU’s director of government relations, said school officials know state lawmakers don’t vote on federal programs, but a positive letter from one of them to a congressman or congresswoman would help the school.
Chancellor James Anderson said the school has gotten support from elected officials on the state and federal level.
“We’re going to rely on you to take our message back and be a voice for us,” he said.
FSU lost about $8.2 million in state funds this year, forcing the school to cut the equivalent of about 90 positions. More than 30 adjunct faculty members and 27 other staff members lost their jobs.
The university has the equivalent of 52 fewer faculty positions, and students have fewer course options. FSU is offering 1,192 course selections this fall, 65 fewer than last year and more than 250 fewer than 2007.
The school’s budget is $68 million, about $12 million less than three years ago.
FSU officials told lawmakers about the school’s priorities and strong points. They asked legislators to consider the effect of cuts on public school systems.
Read Full Article at FayObserver.com
Take a bite into one of Sequoyah Burden’s decadent red velvet cupcakes and you’ll soon discover why the Claflin University senior is making quite a splash with her new bakery in Holly Hill.
A penchant for baking red velvet isn’t Burden’s only culinary forte. In fact, she can make a cake using just about any design or recipe. The menu at Sequoyah’s Sweets is littered with cupcakes like “Oh Oh Oreo”, a chocolate cake covered with Oreo butter cream, or “Bubble Yum”, a sweet yellow cake with bubble gum frosting.
Since the bakery opened this summer, Burden has gotten and fulfilled requests that are not on the menu. For example, a customer wanted to surprise her hunting enthusiast son with a cake featuring the deer logo of the major outdoor supplier Browning. Burden didn’t know of the company but the customer sent a picture of the Browning logo and she made the cake.
The fledging business started in the kitchen of Burden’s mother, Harriette Glenn. “I come from a family of cooks,” Burden said. “During the holidays, I would always be the one to help mom in the kitchen. But I didn’t want to cook. I wanted to bake.”
And bake she did.
Her grandmother, Harriete Brothers, gave her recipe for the red velvet cupcake. She noted it was a struggle initially to replicate the delicious nature of her elder’s red velvet rendition. But Burden eventually nailed it down. It was an accomplishment that signaled to her this could become a lucrative hobby.
Read Full Article at Claflin
“There are so many people who have given their all for us,” says Myrlie Evers, former Alcorn student and renowned Civil Rights activist. “Bodies in front of trucks, washed by fire hoses, chased by dogs, and fired on by bullets. We must remember our history and make sure this generation is prepared to stand up and take the same just stand.”
Alcorn students, alumni, employees, local elected officials, state legislators, visitors from Chamberlain Hunt Academy, former classmates and family members of Medgar Wiley Evers ’52 gathered in the Oakland Memorial Chapel for Founders Day 2011 Convocation where his wife Myrlie Evers delivered the convocation address.
Alcorn President M. Christopher Brown II presided over the convocation and Executive Vice President and Provost Samuel L. White delivered the summons to convocation. “We are gathered here today in honor of founding principles of Alcorn and to celebrate 140 years of greatness,” proclaimed Dr. Brown. “For the greatest knowledge is not just learned in text books and the classroom, but is enhanced by knowledge inherited from our ancestors and how we transform that knowledge into service.”
President Brown presented the highest award granted by the University to an individual whose life exhibits tenacity, fortitude, and excellence, the Hiram R. Revels Achievement Award, was accepted by Dr. Rudolph E. Water Sr. and he received a standing ovation. The Revels Achievement Award pays tribute to the superior achievements of an individual in their chosen field/industry of endeavor or their lived example.
Mr. James Charles Evers, brother of Medgar Wiley Evers, was honored with the Levi J. Rowan Heritage Award that is bestowed upon a son or daughter of the University in recognition of exceptional merit. The recipient of the award must be acclaimed for a special and outstanding service to the institution; or who, by personal achievement, has brought great honor and distinction to the University. His daughter Patricia Evers accepted the award on his behalf.
The Alcorn Bravery Award was presented to Mrs. Myrlie Evers. This award is granted to an outstanding individual who may be singled out for their records of service as public servants or agents for social change. The Alcorn Bravery Award recognizes an abiding concern for the welfare of others, exemplifying the spirit of an individual whose efforts inspire society through their work or actions toward the promotion of peace, humanitarianism, social or scientific progress and/or human understanding.
The recipient of the Oakland Memorial Chapel Award that recognizes corporate and/or non-profit entities that consistently demonstrate exemplary support to civic, collegiate, or charitable institutions in order to advance the aims and ideas of higher education, was Dr. Hank Bounds, commissioner, Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning.
Presidential Citation for Excellence was awarded to Mr. Jake Ayers Sr. (posthumously) and to Mr. Stephen LaTreal McNair (posthumously). This citation celebrates the accomplishment of individuals whose actions enrich the reputation and stature of Alcorn State University. It is reserved for alumni and friends whose dedication and commitment have impacted the institutional history.
During the convocation, Mrs. Evers spoke to the audience about how determined Medgar was to make a difference in the lives of others and how she met Medgar on Alcorn’s campus in front of the Old President’s Home on her first day. “Medgar was so intelligent, bright and insightful. He was very mature and knew what he wanted in life,” shared Mrs. Evers. “He ran around this campus interrupting dances and other fun activities encouraging students to stand up and register to vote.”
Mrs. Evers thanked the students who were in attendance today, “You give me hope, strength and I see the future in you. Medgar was right – once we achieved our rights it would be even more difficult to keep them.”
“Stepping onto the campus of my parents’ electric connection, it is just overwhelming and much appreciated,” said Reena Denise Evers, daughter of Medgar and Myrlie Evers, accepting the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters presented in memory of her father. Dr. Norris Allen Edney was also recognized for his dedication and service to the University during his tenure as interim president.
“We came here to reflect on our past, celebrate our present, but most importantly, focus on our future,” said Dr. Alpha Morris ’52, chairperson for the Department of Social Sciences and Medgar Wiley Evers’ classmate, referring to the founding of Alcorn. “As we look back 140 years, I say a miracle happened in southwest Mississippi in 1871…a seed that was planted developed into a premier land-grant university.”
Percy Norwood, president of the Alcorn State University National Alumni Association brought greetings from Alcornites around the world.
“As students we feel that it is important to be here today, be a part of Alcorn’s history and pay a tribute to the founders of the University and Medgar Wiley Evers, a fellow Alcornite and a hero,” shared Laterra Wilson-Fleming, a senior majoring in elementary education.
Earlier today, Mrs. Evers also participated in the official Ribbon Cutting and Dedication Ceremony of the Medgar Wiley Evers Heritage Village, a state-of-the-art student housing complex that includes four residence halls and an amenities building that opened to students in 2010. The complex was named by students in honor of Evers’ courage, leadership and service.
Mrs. Evers’ words echoed throughout the Chapel, “When the challenges come, because there will be many roadblocks. Don’t give up – remember, perseverance is a part of your being. It took more than 30 years to bring Medgar’s killer to justice and that justice led to 18 more civil rights cases being brought to justice.”
Read full article at Alcorn
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Alabama State opens October at home when the Hornets host Alcorn State Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Cramton Bowl.
“I think these guys have put in the work this week,” head coach Reggie Barlow said of his team’s preparation. “Friday is really a jog-through day for us. Spirits are good and they have good energy. Guys seem to be pretty relaxed. We’ll meet later tonight and get them ready for tomorrow.”
The Hornets have started strong this season with a 3-1 record to begin the 2011 season. The September schedule had Alabama State on the road three times and ASU will play just its second home game Saturday night.
“We’ve been gone for a while, to only have one home game to start after traveling to Mississippi (twice) and Michigan,” Barlow said. “It’s going to be good for us to be back at home. We know our fans will come out, support us and give us good energy and hopefully our guys will feed off of that.”
The Hornets sit in first place in SWAC play with a 3-0 record, with two wins against Eastern Division foes. A win over the Braves (1-3 overall, 1-3 SWAC) would give Alabama State a 4-0 mark in the conference for the first time since the 2005 season and more importantly a 3-0 record against the East.
Read Full Article at Al