Bowie State University football player, Joshua Pryor has reportedly signed a deal with the Washington Commanders.
According to DC News Now, shortly after the NFL draft on Saturday, a source confirmed that Pryor is staying local, signing an undrafted free agent deal with the Washington Commanders.
Pryor is indeed an impressive draft prospect, posting 32 sacks and 77 tackles for a loss during his time with the Bulldogs.
He is a captain as a defensive lineman for Bowie State and graduated in December with a degree in communications.
The Baltimore native told WBAL-TV that it has been his dream to play in the NFL since he was playing little league at five years old.
When he found out about getting a chance to get picked in the NFL Draft, he said he wasn’t nervous, but instead, “ready. “This has been my goal for quite some time now,” Pryor said.
“It’s kind of like surreal. I don’t think it’s fully hit me yet. I’m still trying to take it day by day. Trying to maximize my time, trying to be the best I can be,” Pryor said about being in the NFL draft.
Pryor credits Bowie State’s head football coach, Kyle Jackson for getting him back on the field after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jackson spoke highly about Pryor and his chances of getting drafted.
“He’s not called monster for no reason. The things he does on the field is the reason why he’s getting the accolades off the field,” Jackson said. “The energy he brought, the aura he had defensively inspired his teammates. He’s still like a walking inspiration to those guys.”
With his new deal, Pryor will have a chance to make it onto the Commanders roster.
Trigger Warning: This Article Will Discuss Sexual Assault
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. During this month, people strive to raise awareness about sexual violence, how to prevent it, and how to support those who are affected by it.
Sexual assault is defined as “illegal sexual contact that usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent.” It can take many forms including rape, unwanted sexual contact of any other form, sexual exploitation, sexual coercion, and sexual harassment.
Sexual violence can happen anywhere and to women and men of all ages but is an alarmingly common crime on college campuses.
Statistics About Sexual Assault on College Campuses
Black women at HBCUs are most likely to experience physically forced sexual assault (use or threats of physical force) than their white PWI counterparts who primarily experience sexual assault while incapacitated (under the influence due to the use of drugs and/or alcohol).
The majority of sexual assaults occur during the months of September (the first few weeks of a school year is called the red zone, most freshmen are sexually assaulted at this time), October (Homecoming and related events), and March (Spring Break).
First and second-year students are most likely to be sexually victimized.
In 90% of sexual assaults that occur at HBCUs, the survivor knows their attacker.
Of those who experience incapacitated sexual assault, only a small percentage (fewer than 5%) of survivors report being drugged without their consent.
Why Does Sexual Assault on College Campuses Go Underreported?
According to RAINN, most college-age survivors do not report sexual violence on campus. Only about 20% of female college students report sexual assaults to authorities.
Many students who experience sexual violence on campus are hesitant to report it to officials for many reasons, such as worrying that they won’t be believed, fearing retaliation, or not wanting to rehash a traumatic experience. Thus, official reports downplay its occurrence.
According to the American Association of University Women, despite numerous studies showing that rape is common on campuses, 89% of colleges and universities reported zero incidents of rape.
Like women, male survivors report sexual assault at low rates, potentially due to shame, humiliation, or the stigma surrounding men being vulnerable.
Some students may feel a lack of support from campus police that prevents them from reporting. According to the HBCU Campus Sexual Assault Study, 10% of physically forced sexual assault survivors and 3% of incapacitated sexual assault survivors report to law enforcement, usually through campus police. Fewer than 20% of HBCU survivors report to crisis or health centers, and of those who do, nearly 75% report to centers not affiliated with their school. Fewer than half of survivors were satisfied with law enforcement’s handling of cases and 36% of physically forced and 69% of incapacitated sexual assault survivors regretted reporting to law enforcement.
How Does Experiencing Sexual Assault Affect Students?
Sexual assault can have serious mental and physical negative effects on college students. This includes sexually transmitted infections, sexual health problems, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, chronic illness, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
These conditions can negatively impact a student’s self-esteem, ability to maintain relationships with friends and family, and desire to attend social events or club activities.
The effects of sexual violence can also impact a student’s academic performance, as a recent study found that, sexual assault was associated with more academic problems including lower grade point average, dropping out of university, and self-regulated learning problems.
How Can We Address College Sexual Assault?
Sexual assault is never the victim’s fault, and support and help are available.
After experiencing sexual violence, it is important to get somewhere safe away from the perpetrator, document what happened, and seek medical attention.
Survivors who go straight to the hospital can get help from local authorities to file a report. They can also call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) so a trained representative can provide assistance and direction.
There are many support groups for sexual assault survivors, some even on campus. Survivors may also seek counseling through campus health services or the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
Survivors can also take legal action if they feel comfortable coming forward with the experience. By law, colleges and universities that receive Title IX funding must respond to reports of sexual violence immediately and if they don’t follow through, students can take legal action. Coming forward may be scary for survivors but can create awareness for other students and encourage them to tell their story as well, and hold the perpetrator accountable.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, consider the resources below:
National Sexual Assault Online Hotline — Call 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) RAINN runs this secure and anonymous crisis support phone line and chat system. The resource is dedicated to assisting sexual assault survivors, along with their spouses or partners, family members, and friends.
National Domestic Violence Hotline — Call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) If you’re unsure how to get away from an abusive partner, call this free, confidential hotline. You can also chat online or text START to 88788.
AAUW’s Campus Sexual Assault Tool Kit AAUW created this resource to help faculty and campus staff lead student discussions around sexual violence prevention.
Safe Horizon A national violence prevention network, Safe Horizon offers hotlines dedicated to crisis support, as well as connections to community programs, counseling centers, and other resources.
RAINN Student Activism RAINN provides an array of resources for students interested in getting involved and making a difference on their campuses to help combat sexual violence.
On Wednesday, Edward Waters University officially introduced Cabral Huff as its new men’s basketball head coach.
Huff previously served as the Head Men’s Basketball coach and Athletic Booster Club Coordinator at Voorhees University for the past three seasons. Under his leadership, Voorhees won the Continental Athletic Conference championship in 2020-21, qualifying for the NAIA tournament. The team finished 14-14 in 2022-23.
Before his time at Voorhees, Huff coached high school basketball in Atlanta and also coached at the college level at programs including Division 1 Georgia Southern.
At EWU, Huff replaces interim head coach Howard White Jr. and will be the Tigers’ fourth coach since 2017-18.
University president A. Zachary Faison said EWU is aiming for SIAC honors as well as contending for an NCAA Division II national title.
In the 2022-23 season, the Tigers finished 10-19 but with Huff as the new coach, Faison is hoping to quickly turn things around.
“[The key factors were] his passion for developing student-athletes, and his record of winning,” Faison said. “We wanted someone that was a demonstrated winner.”
According to the Florida Times-Union, Huff promised to bring up-tempo, intense basketball, and a commitment to Edward Waters through what he calls the “four Vitamin E’s”: energy, effort, enthusiasm, and execution.
“We’re going to be playing fast,” Huff said. “We’re going to dictate offensively, dictate defensively, what we’re trying to do. We don’t want teams to think it’s easy.”
Huff spoke about his goals for the program, including wanting to empower the players.
“I want to establish a program of excellence on and off the court by being one percent better daily, building better people which in turn produces better student-athletes while building trust amongst the players, the entire Edward Waters faculty & staff and the Jacksonville community. These things will help us in our quest to compete not just in the SIAC and a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament, but in life” Huff said.
Huff also said that he plans to focus on recruiting players in a six-hour radius around Jacksonville, from Charlotte to Atlanta to Mobile and down to Miami.
“We want to find them. Sign them. Recruit them. Develop them. And graduate them,” Huff said.
Fisk University recently unveiled the doors to the new Roland G. Parrish Center for Career Planning and Development, the first new building to be added to the campus in half a century.
On Saturday, Fisk University opened the doors to the new Roland G. Parrish Center for Career Planning and Development, the first new building to be added to the campus in half a century.
The new building was funded and named after Roland G. Parrish, a Dallas, TX philanthropist and businessman who donated a historic $3 million, one of the largest gifts in the university’s history.
“Fisk is a winning team. To me, it’s the same positive vibe you get from an athletic team being successful. Here we have a mix of an educational institution and business-savvy individuals who’ve come together to create a win-win situation for the university,” Parrish said.
The Roland Parrish Career Planning and Development Center
Nashville Mayor John Cooper described the building as a “launch pad” at the unveiling ceremony.
The 10,605 square feet, two-story building aims to provide HBCU students with better career opportunities, as well as the proper guidance, resources, and skills that are essential to entering the job market.
According to Fisk Interim President Frank Sims, the new career center is the first of many additions coming to campus.
Sims revealed that the university is currently working on a new 300-bed dormitory, slated to open in 2025, as well as a new science building and container dorms which are opening in June.
“We’re really pleased about this because this is exactly what our students deserve and everything we do here we do it thinking about what’s best for our students,” said Sims. “I invite all of you to come back to Fisk University in three to five years and I think you’re gonna be even more amazed than you are today at the things we’re doing to revitalize this campus.”
Lionsgate’s new horror-comedy film, The Blackening puts a unique spin on the horror genre, bringing about laughs, screams and relatability for the Black movie goer.
If you ever wondered how a horror movie would play out with an all-Black cast, then look no further — from director Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like a Man, Barbershop), comes The Blackening.
This new horror-comedy is centered around seven Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer.
The film stars Dewayne Perkins (“The Upshaws,” “Saved by the Bell”), Grace Byers (“Harlem,” Empire”), Jermaine Fowler (“Coming 2 America,” “Judas and the Black Messiah”), Melvin Gregg (“Snowfall” “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”), Jay Pharoah (“SNL., “Resort to Love”), Yvonne Orji (“Insecure.” “Vacation Friends”), X Mayo (“Swarm,” “American Auto”), and Sinqua Walls (“Power,” “American Soul”).
Perkins (The Amber Ruffin Show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), co-wrote the screenplay alongside Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem).
“We can’t all die first,” reads the tagline for The Blackening, responding to the horror genre cliche of killing the black character off first. According to the official synopsis for the film, The Blackening “skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?”
In what plays out like a mix of Jumanji and Saw, this cabin getaway horror-comedy follows the group of friends as their vacation takes a killer turn when they find an ominous-looking board game titled The Blackening.
They discover one of their friends is kidnapped by a killer and in order to save them and get out alive they are forced to play the game. In a terrifying video, the killer demands that they sacrifice the “blackest” person in order to spare the rest.
The Blackening isbased on a 2018 short film of the same name by the comedy sketch group 3Peat — also starring and written by Dewayne Perkins.
In an interview with Collider, Perkins said the movie seeks to turn horror genre tropes on its head.
“The intent was to take tropes and then expand them to force the audience to realize tropes are also human beings.”
– Dewayne Perkins on The Blackening
My character is a ‘gay best friend,’ which is a trope that is in movies,” Perkins said. “Usually, [gay best friends are] regulated to the side to be a person who gives humor, or they are part of a joke. So being able to take these tropes and find exactly what makes them complex, what gives them depth, and then forcing that in the movie so that when you start watching it, you see what has been in horror movies before and then the goal of the movie is to constantly break down your assumptions of these characters by constantly forcing depth.”
Today is Earth Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of the environmental movement and raise awareness about various environmental issues.
Certain environmental issues disproportionately affect people of color due to systematic racism.
This Earth Day, HBCU Buzz is highlighting these issues by raising awareness about environmental racism and food deserts.
Sixth Annual HBCU Climate Change Conference (Credit: Dr. Robert Bullard, Father of Environmental Justice)
Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism where environmental hazards have a larger impact on groups that are discriminated against based on race.
Minorities are disproportionately faced with health hazards through policies and practices that force them to live in proximity to sources of toxic waste such as sewage works, mines, landfills, power stations, major roads, polluting industries, and areas with poorer air quality.
According to Ben Crump Law, environmental racism has a lasting and systemic effect on minority groups, causing birth defects, long-term illnesses, and poverty. “Unfortunately, these effects are deeply integrated into communities and can take generations to fix.”
Environmental racism can also take the form of a lack of readily available nutritious, high-quality, affordable food, known as food deserts.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food deserts as “parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas.”
Food deserts affect low-income, urban areas where a significant number of people live farther than a mile away from the nearest grocery store, as well as low-income, rural areas where people live more than 10 miles away from the nearest grocery store.
These communities are left with limited access to healthy foods and are instead subjected to fast-food outlets or chain drug stores.
Many historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are a part of these communities that are impacted by food deserts.
An analysis by POLITICO showed that a majority of 1890 land-grant universities are located in low-income, rural areas, most of which are at least four miles from the nearest grocery store.
The 1890 land-grant institutions are HBCUs named for the year they were incorporated into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s land-grant program.
According to POLITICO, “1890 schools are particularly isolated along the Black Belt, a region in the South named for the color of its super-rich soil.” The news source found that Alabama A&M University is almost five miles from the nearest grocery store and so is Alcorn State University.
Tuskegee University is perhaps the most prominent HBCU located in a food desert.
“There is a huge issue of food insecurity at Tuskegee,” said Rev. Audrey Rodgers, director of Tuskegee’s Methodist-sponsored Wesley Foundation, which runs a community garden close to campus. “Students know that if you live in Macon County, you live in a food desert.”
HBCU students are prompted to leave town to shop for healthier, fresh produce options, as some university on-campus cafeterias are not accommodating for students who work late or take evening classes.
Food deserts may also negatively impact HBCU enrollment, for the lack of viable food options around campus could make it hard to attract and maintain students.
Despite the effects of environmental racism, HBCUs are continuing to fight for environmental justice.
Many schools have implemented food pantries for students to address food insecurity and collaborated with community gardens. Alumni have also made monetary donations and foodstuffs to help students.
HBCUs have also come together to fight environmental racism and advocate for climate change through the HBCU Climate Change Consortium.
“The Consortium was conceived to help raise awareness about the disproportionate impact of climate change on marginalized communities to develop HBCU students leaders, scientists, and advocates on issues related to environmental and climate justice policies, community resilience, adaptation, and other major climate change topics—especially in vulnerable communities in the southern United States where the vast majority of HBCUs are located and where more billion-dollar disasters occur than the rest of the country combined,” according to the website.
While the fight to end environmental racism is a long one, there are plenty of ways to get involved. This includes calling your lawmakers and getting in touch with a local environmental legislator, spreading awareness, and getting involved with environmental justice groups.
Morgan State University has partnered with the PNC Foundation to launch a new business hub designed to provide the Black community with the resources and education needed for pursuing entrepreneurship.
Morgan State University has partnered with the PNC Foundation to launch a new business hub designed to provide the Black community with the resources and education needed for pursuing entrepreneurship.
According to CBS News, the center will help students of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality.
Dr. Mary Foster, a business professor at Morgan State University, highlighted the significance of educating Black students about entrepreneurship.
“There are many rich resources already out there, so we want to not reinvent the wheel, not duplicate things. We want to create new things that are needed to help reduce those disparities for Black entrepreneurs” Foster said.
Cierra Jones, a West Baltimore native, and owner of Noble Gems Community Health Services, recently completed a program as part of the collaboration. She reflected on the invaluable experience of being apart of the program.
“It’s deeper than a Google search, it’s deeper than what you can find in a dictionary or encyclopedia, right, or even a newspaper, but it’s about having access directly handed to you or having those direct relationships with the most important people that can bring you those resources and direct you to the right opportunity,” Jones told CBS News.
Morgan State along with its HBCU partners and the PNC foundation will hold an inaugural conference for Black entrepreneurship, June 14-16th in Washington, DC.
Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) has received a $2.5 commitment from the Texas A&M University System for the development of the university’s new National Center for Infrastructure Transformation.
The HBCU has now received a $2.5 commitment from the Texas A&M University System for the development of the university’s new National Center for Infrastructure Transformation.
PVAMU will lead the National Center for Infrastructure Transformation as part of a consortium that includes several members of The Texas A&M University System, including Texas A&M University, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. Other partnering institutions include Arizona State University, Michigan State University, Rutgers University, and Blinn College.
The commitment was announced by Texas A&M University System Chancellor, John Sharp during a special ceremony Monday at the Willie A Tempton, Sr. Memorial Student Center on the PVAMU’s campus.
“This historic first for Prairie View A&M University shows the power of its partnership with the A&M System, which made this success possible,” said Sharp. “Prairie View A&M University’s alliance with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Texas A&M University is an example of how this kind of collaboration makes it possible for us to compete against the best research institutions in the country and win.”
Prairie View’s National Center for Infrastructure Transformation (NCIT) will receive $4 million per year for the next five years and is one of only five awarded national-tier centers.
Its focus will be on practical research to improve the durability and resilience of the nation’s transportation infrastructure for the next century.
“This National Transportation Center will display to the World Prairie View A&M University’s long-held transportation research expertise, and the combined research capacity and capability of the Texas A&M University System,” said Michael McFrazier, the president of Prairie View A&M University.
The Texas Southern University Women’s Golf Team won their second-consecutive SWAC Women’s Golf Title at the Refuge Golf Course in Flowood, Mississippi, on Wednesday, Apr. 20.
This win marks the third overall title for the program, the second consecutive title, and the first for head coach Willie Shankle.
“I am extremely proud of the ladies. Even though they had some highs and lows, they came together when it mattered most,” said Shankle.
Texas Southern started off strong and ended up winning the title by 21 strokes.
Sophomore Dili Sitanonth finished first on the leaderboard and was awarded low medalist after posting a total of 228 (75-75-78). Teammate Ashlie Hobbs finished one stroke and placed second following her 2-over final round with a 229 (78-77-74) total.
Junior Lyla Vaughn (86-77-79) and sophomore Miniess Siame (79-79-84) received All SWAC Second Team Honors for their T-10th finish on 242. First-team accolades went to Sitanonh and Hobbs. Second-team recognition went to Vaugh and Siame.
“The season is not over yet but we are looking forward to finishing strong,” Shankle said.
Authorities report that two Howard University students were carjacked at gunpoint early Wednesday outside a residence hall.
According to Fox 5, officers responded to the Howard Plaza Towers in the 2200 block of 9th Street northwest D.C. around 2:30 a.m.
Police say multiple suspects were involved and that a white Toyota Camry was used by some of the carjackers to flee the area. Investigators say the carjackers stole the student’s black Infiniti with Pennsylvania tags, but there were no injuries reported.
A lookout has been issued for two males wearing ski masks and dressed in all black. Anyone with information is asked to contact the HU Department of Public Safety (DPS) at 202-806-1100 or D.C. police.
The incident at Howard adds to the multiple carjackings that have been reported over the last few days in the D.C. region.
Fox 5 multiple carjacking incidents that happened on Tuesday across the area in Silver Spring, the MGM National Harbor, and near the University of Maryland.
Rapper Lil Durk has teamed up with Howard University to fund the education of two students from his hometown, Chicago, attending the university.
On Friday, the rapper announced The Durk Banks Endowment Fund, in collaboration with Howard, Amazon Music’s Rotation, and his Neighborhood Heroes foundation.
The scholarship will award two students from Chicago with $50,000 to fund their freshman tuition at Howard University.
“Change the narrative,” Lil Durk told Billboard. “It’s stuff we never got a chance to do, or somebody never did for us. A lot of people don’t do it as far as the music era that we’re in. In my age range, it’s more toward, ‘Let’s go feed them turkeys; let’s go feed them meals.’ My team came together, where we turned it up a notch. I wanted to come up with something that was different and impactful.”
“For me to boost them up and get them to the next level, it was like a no-brainer,” Lil Durk added. “And this scholarship was a super-no-brainer for me. For me and my team, having my own scholarship is like a Grammy.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrCXak6OFiU/
The rapper presented the scholarship to the recipients on Friday during Howard University’s Springfest 2023, which he headlined. During his performance, he brought the students up on stage to congratulate them.
According to Billboard, Durk also spent $100,000 on an all-expenses-paid trip for a group of 20 high schoolers to visit Howard University last week. They stayed on campus and were paired with a Howard student mentor.
Lil Durk said that he feels like it’s his “responsibility” to reach back to and help the youth, “especially those that are growing up in my community,” he added. “These kids have to be our biggest investment as they’re our future leaders. They are destined for greatness and I’m encouraging others to join my team’s efforts to help pave their way,” Durk said.
She is returning to school to study business and cites her family as the inspiration.
“I’m a businesswoman now and I desire to continue to sharpen my sword and better my craft,” Fantasia said. “I want to break generational curses. When it comes to my family, my girls, my children, I want to show them that no matter what she’s been through, you can always get back and go after it again, and that’s what I am doing.”
Fantasiais mom to son Dallas Xavier, 11, and daughter Zion Quari, 19, and recently welcomed her youngest daughter Keziah in May 2021 with her husband Kendall Taylor.
The American Idol alum received her GED in 2010 after dropping out of high school as a teenager. She is now hoping to serve as an inspiration to others and show that is never too late to achieve your goals.
“I want to be the example, I want to use my platform, my social media, to show people — men, women, Black, white, young, old — that if you have a dream, it doesn’t have to have a timeline. It doesn’t have to look a certain way and, in fact, looks better when it has a bunch of bruises and scars because that means you fought for it.”
In an Instagram post, The honorary Sigma Gamma Rho member thanked her Sorors for connecting her with the staff at Central State and even teased a homecoming appearance in October.
“My grandmother used to tell me anything worth having is worth fighting for and I want other people to see that if you just stay in the ring, you’ll get to where you’re going,” Fantasia remarked about her decision to return to school.
Winfrey will serve as the speaker for the undergraduate ceremony, while United States Congressman Bennie G. Thompson will address the graduate students.
“To have Ms. Winfrey as our speaker will be a life-changing moment for graduates and the University. She is someone who has walked the TSU campus as a student, sat in some of the same classrooms, and knows first-hand the value of a TSU education,” said TSU President Glenda Glover. “Ms. Winfrey and Congressman Thompson are trailblazers, history makers, and HBCU graduates, adding to the excitement and anticipation for both commencement ceremonies.”
Before she became the mogul that she is today, Winfrey was a student at Tennessee State University.
She attended TSU on a full scholarship, majoring in communications, and graduated from the HBCU in 1986.
While at TSU, Winfrey worked at what is now known as WTVF-TV where she was the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor.
She became a household name in 1986 with the premiere of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which made her the first Black woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show. The iconic show ran for 25 years and remains the highest-rated talk show in American television history. It also racked up 47 Daytime Emmy Awards. The show helped Winfrey become the first Black female billionaire and one of the most influential people in the world.
In addition to her media empire, Winfrey is a dedicated philanthropist and has contributed more than $200 million toward providing education for academically gifted girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. She is also a founding donor of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The media mogul’s Morehouse Scholars Program has assisted over 600 men in graduating from college, and in 2020, she donated over $20 million in vital COVID-19 relief support to cities around the country, including Nashville.
Winfrey will come home to TSU to speak at the undergraduate commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 6 at 8 a.m. CDT, in Hale Stadium.
The undergraduate ceremony will take place on Friday, May 5 at 5 p.m. CDT, in the Gentry Center Complex.
Morgan State University demolishes “spite wall” built more than 80 years ago to separate Black students from the area’s predominantly white neighborhood.
On Tuesday, a wall built more than 80 years ago to separate Black students from the area’s predominantly white neighborhood was torn down at Morgan State University.
The wall — known as the “spite wall” — was located in Northeast Baltimore at the old Northwood Plaza shopping center and has long been a symbol of racism within the community.
“In 1939, the neighbors started building what was labeled a “spite” wall, a hate wall, to prevent Morgan State students from simply walking across the street into the all-white neighborhood and to shop at an all-white shopping center here,” David Wilson, President of Morgan State University explained.
A wall built decades ago to separate Black students from the area’s white community was torn down on April 11, 2023 at Morgan State University. (Credit: Paul Newson/The Baltimore Banner)
The removal of the wall is being celebrated by both the HBCU and the local community.
“We are definitely excited and finally glad to see this wall come down. It’s held us apart from each other for years, unnecessarily, so we are glad to see our homes be embraced by Morgan State,” said Bridgette Neal, president of the Hillen Road Improvement Association.
Wilson said the university has made a pledge to keep a portion of the spite wall on Hillen Road. He said he has asked the School of Architecture and Planning to make sure that it is preserved and never forgotten.
According to WBALTV, Morgan’s School of Architecture and Planning will use what’s left of the wall as a teaching and learning tool for students.
“Our Morgan wall will basically go the perimeter of the site, leaving wide openings to get into the shopping center, and just continuing to give a sense of place and a sense of security,” said Kim McCalla, the vice president of design and construction management at the school.
The portion of the “spite” wall that will remain up will become a university park at some point, to serve as a reminder of what happened.
On Monday, West Virginia State University announced the opening of a new center coming to Capitol Street in downtown Charleston.
The new center, WVSU Downtown, will be a social and academic hub taking over the first and lower floor of the Kanawha Banking and Trust Building.
WVSU President Ericke Cage announced the development of the new center during the university’s inauguration week celebrations. “It’s an important day for West Virginia State University but also for the City of Charleston,” Cage said.
West Virginia State University President Ericke Cage announcing plans for WVSU Downtown
According to Cage, WVSU has been working on finding a space in the area for about six months, as having a presence in Charleston has been been a long-term goal for the university.
The downtown center will have academic space for programs like cybersecurity and will also have extension programs, like support for grand families.
“We really wanted to find a space that would connect us to downtown Charleston, a space that had history and prominence, and this facility checks all those boxes,” Cage said.
According to WCHS, the gathering space will be a big component of the center. It will be used to connect alumni with the community, “hoping to open their doors for events like ArtWalk, FestivALL, and the Regatta to show off student work and increase visibility for the university.
The university announced plans today for WVSU Downtown, a new center to be located at 107 Capitol St. in the heart of downtown Charleston. President Ericke Cage was joined by Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin in making the announcement at the future site of the center. pic.twitter.com/iSoeueOnwc
— West Virginia State University (@WVStateU) April 10, 2023
Charleston Mayor Amy Goodwin says WVSU Downtown will bring the university and the community together.
“West Virginia State University has always been a great player, but it does make a difference having this physical presence – having logos on the door – having people come and go,” she said. “The synergy that it’s going to bring to the city and the university is monumental.”
Mark Kelley, who chairs the WVSU Board of Governors, said that the opening of the center signifies that the university is “moving forward in a positive direction.”
“I believe this is the next evolution of the West Virginia State University story, an opportunity for us to continue to advance our mission of transforming lives through education and improving our community,” Cage told Metro News.
Renovation work on the inside of the building will begin soon and the downtown center is expected to open up in the fall.
Jordan Buck will serve as the 2023-2024 SGA president at Alcorn State.
“It feels great to be a representative for my fellow student body. I campaigned all week, introducing myself and my platform to the student body. I hope that my delivery was received. I have many goals for the campus, but my main goal is to ensure the students…that their voice, questions, and concerns matter!,” said Buck.
Buck is an agriculture business management major and served as the junior class president.
According to Because Of Them We Can, Buck hopes to “continue her previous initiatives while also improving student engagements, healthy food options, providing monthly newsletters, collaborating with other HBCUs, implementing mental health days on campus and collaborating with campus safety to ensure safe and effective emergency plans.”
She credits her time as the junior class president for preparing her to run for SGA president.
“Serving as junior class president has truly prepared me for this position. I am not perfect, and things may not always go as planned, but I will strive to lead selflessly and to the best of my ability,” Buck said.
As the newly-elected SGA president, Buck wants to set an example for other young women interested in leadership.
“It has been a while [since the last woman president], but I am dedicated and prepared. I have no doubts about my capabilities, but hearing ‘2023-2023 SGA President Elect’ behind my name is an amazing feeling” Buck said.
“My goal is to always lead by example and shine an inspirational light on myself, the student body, and the campus of Alcorn State University. Hopefully, the next female SGA president is inspired enough to know she does not have to wait ten-plus years to run for this position,” Buck continued.
