HBCU Times Magazine

2 0 2 0 FA L L I S S U E

MAYOR

KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS BIDEN-HARRIS PLEDGE $70 BILLION TO HBCUs AND MSIs OP-ED BY SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS BENJAMIN CRUMP: THE VOICE OF JUSTICE RICK WADE: VP OF U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DR. MICHAEL SORRELL: I AM THEIR FATHER TOO CHADWICK BOSEMAN TRIBUTE

Uncharted TERRITORY

HBCUs:

Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) Program at the Langston University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (LU-RRTC) on Research and Capacity Building for Minority Entities PROJECT OVERVIEW:

The Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) Project at the Langston University (historically Black college/university [HBCU]) Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (LU-RRTC) on Research and Capacity Building represents a collaborative effort between the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston ([ICI] Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution), North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University ([NCA&T] HBCU), South Carolina State University ([SCSU] HBCU), and Jackson State University ([JSU] HBCU). The Project implements a Peer-to-Peer Multiple Mentor Model to help post-doctoral fellows navigate institutional context and cross-fertilize their independent research project and research grant proposal through exchanges with a primary mentor and a scientific panel of mentors comprised of content experts, multicultural specialists, methodologists, and statisticians.

The ARRT Program works in concert with the LU-RRTC drawing upon the center’s extensive minority-serving institution research capacity building expertise, collaborative networks, resources, and interventions (e.g., methodology and grant writing web-based trainings, communities of practice, strategic planning, sponsored programs office and institutional review board technical assistance and consultation), offer courses, webinars, and implement peer mentoring as an innovative strategy to holistically address the fellows’ research skill building needs.

INVITATION TO APPLY:

We invite individuals who have earned a doctorate from a minority-serving institution (i.e., HBCU, Hispanic serving institution, or American Indian tribal college) or traditionally White institution (TWI) and current doctoral candidates (must graduate before beginning fellowship) at minority-serving institutions or TWIs interested in employment research to apply to participate in the post-doctoral fellowship. Minority-serving institution based faculty members who have earned doctorates are also eligible to apply (i.e., 80% research supplements through subcontract for such faculty in residence at their employing minority-serving institution are optional). We strongly encourage individuals with disabilities to apply. We are particularly interested in recruiting candidates who have a strong desire to obtain an academic faculty position or research position at a minority-serving institution upon completion of the fellowship program.

PARTICIPATION INCENTIVES:

• Salary and benefits package- Annual salary with full health benefits • Peer-to-Peer multiple research mentorship opportunity with scientific panel mentors • Financial research agenda start-up package- i.e., study participant honorariums/fellow research travel • Peer reviewed publications • Present research findings at national rehabilitation related conferences If you have any questions regarding the Langston University Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training Program (LU-ARRT), please contact | HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue Director at Dr. Corey L.2Moore, Principal Investigator/Training (405) 530-7531 or email: capacitybuildingrrtc@langston.edu.

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (LU-RRTC) on Research and Capacity Building for Minority Entities The MISSION of the Langston University RRTC is to improve minority entities’ (e.g., historically Black colleges/universities [HBCUs], Hispanic-serving institutions [HSIs], and American Indian tribal colleges/universities [AITCUs]) disability and rehabilitation research capacity and infrastructure by conducting a programmatic line of research examining experiences and outcomes of persons from traditionally underserved racial and ethnic populations and communities and capacity-building efforts.

LU-RRTC TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

The LU-RRTC serves as a national resource center for minority entities (MEs) seeking to develop their research infrastructure (RI), and to enhance their capacity to engage in disability and rehabilitation research.

To this end, the RRTC initiates dissemination, training and technical assistance (TA) activities to develop strong RIs within MEs for the conduct of research, preparation, submission, and management of NIDRR funded research grant projects. TA services are provided as a part of LU-RRTC interventions for research project participants and to ME and SVRA requestors around the country. The quality, intensity, and duration of TA vary by system (i.e., ME or SVRA) and the readiness of TA recipients.

Minority Entity TA Areas- • Faculty Scholar Role & Function Balance Consultation (e.g., teaching/service/research balance)• Sponsored Programs Office Operations Consultation • Research Infrastructure Strategic Planning • Institutional Review Board (IRB) Operation Consultation • NIDRR Research Proposal Development Mentorship • NIDRR Research Project Management Consultation • Manuscript for Peer Reviewed Publication Development Mentorship • NIDRR Request for Comment (RFC) or Request for Proposal (RFP) Interpretation Consultation • NIDRR Expert Panel Application Development Consultation • Data Management and Analysis Software and Related Technology Support Consultation State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (SVRA) TA Areas- • SVRA Policy Consultation to Improve Outcomes for Persons from Traditionally Underserved Communities • SVRA Rehabilitation Practitioner Consultation or Training to Improve Outcomes for Persons from Traditionally Underserved Communities LU-RRTC PEER-TO-PEER MENTOR RESEARCH TEAM ACADEMY

The LU-RRTC Peer-to-Peer Mentor Research Team Academy represents a collaborative effort between Langston University and the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

The Academy mentors Fellows to conduct research that addresses the rehabilitation needs of persons with disabilities from traditionally underserved backgrounds and communities. Ultimately, the program builds Fellows’ scholarly self-efficacy and research skills by providing them with state-of-the-science knowledge of scientifically valid measurement strategies and methodologies, and direct hands-on experience in the conduct of research and grant proposal development.

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 3

HBCU DR. DAVID STATEN Face masks have become like car keys, ensuring you have one before leaving the house. Kitchens have been turned into classrooms, dining room tables into work spaces, and virtual meetings, classes, and even celebrations have become the primary method of interaction. Although adjusting to the new normal the coronavirus pandemic has created hasn’t been easy, we have all taken the necessary steps to adapt to the circumstances and support those around us in any way possible.

In addition to promoting safety measures during this time, our goal is to spread awareness about the impact of such unforeseen times on our communities and institutions of higher learning.

This fall issue, we’re getting real about the implications of this pandemic. Paine College alumna and current First and SecondYear Programs Director at Fort Valley State University, Ala’Torya Cranford, reminds us exactly what makes HBCUs so special, from academics, to that undeniable family dynamic permeating through the campuses. Addressing students, faculty, and alumni, Cranford stresses the importance of maintaining HBCU culture and values during COVID-19. Additionally, current representative for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Rick Wade, steps into the conversation on COVID-19, specifically sharing ways for Black-owned businesses to thrive post-pandemic.

He emphasizes the need to extract valuable talent from HBCUs to combat current issues in today’s society via partnerships with government entities and private sectors.

Undoubtedly, HBCUs, a hub for Black scholars and future leaders, are shaken by recent events displaying acts of anti-Black racism.

While our communities have stood strong, organizing protests and fundraisers, and demanding fundamental change to protect our lives, we still have a long road ahead. This issue features an incredibly necessary piece on civil rights attorney, Benjamin Crump. Currently representing the families of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, Crump is no stranger to the ins and outs of high profile cases of police brutality. In addition to discussing the hardships faced by the families, Crump explains his efforts to bring female victims of police brutality to the forefront.

Representing the family of Breonna Taylor, whose killers have

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EDITOR’S MESSAGE yet to be brought up on charges, Crump uses this tragic case to explain the disrespect and neglect of Black women in America.

Further diving into the impact of anti-Black racism, the article, “I am Their Father Too” by Paul Quinn College president, Dr. Michael Sorrell, contains a truly eye-opening message. Briefly separating from his status as president, Dr. Sorrell shares his perspective as a Black father in the midst of such tragic times in America. He poses questions on how he must teach his children to exist in a society filled with discrimination and shares values he hopes to instill within them.

Finally, you are in for a very special treat as our mission to amplify the groundbreaking accomplishments of Black women is manifested in this very issue! First up, NASCAR tire changer and Norfolk State alum, Brehanna Daniels, is the first African American woman to work a pit stop in a NASCAR race.

Brehanna talks about the struggles of learning a new skill and the Drive for Diversity program which specifically seeks out talented student-athletes from HBCUs. Now the Black girl magic doesn’t end there, this issue’s cover story places the spotlight on no other than, Atlanta mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms. In the interview, Mayor Bottoms reflects on her journey to becoming mayor of Atlanta, and her mission to lead with not only her head but her heart as well. She shares details on current projects in hopes of developing a better Atlanta for all its residents, including criminal justice reform and an affordable housing plan. Mayor Bottoms also delivers some true gems, explaining the historical responsibility of African Americans to uplift their communities and the value of hard work and capitalizing off one’s own individual talents.

As you can see, plans may be delayed or altered, but the work has yet to stop. Yes, adjustments and flexibility are necessary, but so is a spirit of creativity and hopefulness. We are sure, these stories will encourage you to seek out opportunities for advancement and lean into the uncertainty of the current times. So, stay inside, stay safe and enjoy this issue of HBCU Times!

2020 Fall

WH AT’S INSIDE

C ONTE NTS

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B I D EN - HA R R I S PLEDGE $ 7 0 B I LLI ON TO HB CU s A N D MSIs

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H B CU s : U N CHA RTER ED TER R I TORY

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B E N JA M I N CR U M P: THE VOI CE OF SOCI A L JU STI CE

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R I C K WA DE: STR ATEGI CA L A LLI A N CES WI TH HB CU s

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I AM THEI R FATHER TOO

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F O C U SI N G ON WHAT HB CU s DO B EST I N THE A GE OF C O VID-19

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NAIDA R U THER F OR D: TR I PLE GLA SS CEI LI N G SHATTERE R

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L E SLI E F OSTER : B U I LDI N G ON HOWA R D U N I VER SI TY’S LE G AC Y

OF PR ODU CI N G EX CEPTI ON A L JOU R N A LI STS

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C O VER STORY MAYOR K EI SHA LA N CE B OTTOM S:

TR A N SF OR M ATI ON A L LEA DER

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UN CF F EATU R E

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T M CF F EATU R E

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T H E HER I TA GE F OU N DATI ON

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D R . DEE B ELL WI LLI A M S

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C O VI D- 1 9 CA M PU S CLOSU R ES F OR HB CU s COU LD DEE P E N

F I N A N CI A L HA R DSHI PS

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S E R VA N T LEA DER SHI P, CR I SI S M A N A GEM EN T A N D POST

PA N DEM I C R EA LI TI ES

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C H ADWI CK B OSEM A N TR I B U TE

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P O WER A LU M N I

R EN ÉE HU TCHI N S

F R EDN ESHA J. SA N DER S

JESU LON GI B B S- B R OWN

R A N SOM M I LLER , I I I

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 5

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HBCU

CREDITS

EDITOR AND CO-CEO Dr. David Staten CO-CEO Dr. Bridget Hollis Staten ART DIRECTOR Mia Salley ASSOCIATE EDITORS Amori Washington Octavia Robinson Dr. Regina Bush CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ericka Blount Danois Ashley Elliott Kimberlei Davis Keith Harriston Lodriguez Murray Walter Hudson Dr. Michael J. Sorrell Dr. Marybeth Gasman Olanma Mang Dr. Harry Williams Ala’Torya Cranford Dr. Tammy E.Smithers Dr. Rodney Washington Dr. Jesulon Gibbs-Brown Dr. Renée Hutchins Frednesha J. Sanders Ransom Miller, III Senator Kamala Harris MODELS Sierra Cunningham Megan Rivers Ala’Torya Cranford LOGO DESIGNER Designs by Mia, LC PUBLISHER Georgetown Times

CREATIVE CONSULTANTS Ebony Hillsman Estervina Rogers Paula Lyles Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell Dr. Demarcus Bush Dr. Corey Phillips Dr. Carlton Watson CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS City of Atlanta/Mayor’s Office of Communications Thurgood Marshall College Fund Terrell Maxwell of Maxwell Photography Yolanda Rouse Willie Bretz Photography Dynah Banks Rolondo Davis United States Chamber of Commerce Benjamin Crump Lawrence Jackson Paul Quinn College Heritage Foundation Meharry Medical College Howard University Florida A&M University Additional photos provided by the authors and interviewees.

ADVERTISING MANAGER Melvin Hart

HBCU Times Inc, LLC Follow Us On:

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hbcu_times8892 @HBCU_Times www.hbcutimes.com HBCU Times inspired by Ethel & Jordan Staten

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 7

BIDEN-HARRIS PLEDGE $70 BILLION TO HBCUs AND MSIs OP-ED BY SENATOR KAMALA D. HARRIS

Like most students at Howard University, my favorite place to hang out was the Yard. It’s a wide open space in the heart of the campus—alive with music, dance, deep discussions, lively debates, and laughter. On any given day, you might spot a group of undergraduates dressed up in suits, running off to internships on Capitol Hill, or medical students in their white coats, heading back to the lab. It is a vibrant home for everyone, enriched by faces, accents and minds from around our country and the globe.

For alumni like me, the Yard represents more than nostalgia.

It remains a glimpse into the breadth and brilliance of young

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Black people as they begin to understand their own power and potential in the world. This is the essence—and importance—of the HBCU experience. Every signal that we students received at Howard told us that we could be anything. We could come as we were and leave as the people we aspired to be. We didn’t need to be singled out as exceptional—because that part was already understood. There was an implicit assumption, and acceptance, of our abilities and potential. And we all knew there was an expectation that we would apply our work ethic, our talents and our commitment to make the world a better place.

It’s no wonder that HBCUs like Howard University have always played an outsized role in contributing to the success of Black Americans—and America itself. HBCUs make up only a small percentage of our country’s institutions of higher education, but their graduates comprise 40 percent of Black engineers, half of all Black lawyers, and 80 percent of Black judges. HBCUs also produce 25 percent of Black graduates in STEM. And Xavier University of Louisiana leads the nation in producing Black graduates who go on to finish medical school.

If we are going to deal with the racial health disparities that are causing Black communities to disproportionately suffer in the COVID-19 pandemic, then we need more Black doctors, nurses, and medical professionals. If we are going to ensure that the economy of the future benefits all people, then we need more Black start-ups, small business owners, and CEOs. If we are going to build the technology of the future to reflect our values of fairness and equality, then we need more Black software engineers, data scientists, designers, and coders.

And yet, despite their proud tradition and unique track record of success, HBCUs are chronically underfunded, neglected by our state and federal governments, and lack the endowments that elite, predominantly white institutions enjoy. For instance, between 2002 and 2011, Howard University produced almost the same number of Black undergraduates who went on to get PhDs in STEM fields as Stanford, Harvard, Yale and MIT combined—four schools who enjoy tens of billions of dollars in endowment funds that Howard currently lacks. As a result, from crumbling infrastructure to a lack of financing, HBCUs face enormous challenges—challenges that pose an existential threat to many of these institutions.

And in every single one of these areas, HBCUs can lead the way.

At the same time, Black students disproportionately face an uphill battle when it comes to financing a higher education. Because of the systemic racial wealth gap that reverberates through generations, white families have ten times the wealth that Black families do—which means Black students are forced to take on more debt to pay for higher education. As a result, the average black student graduates with $23,000 in debt, compared to the average white student who graduates about $16,000 in debt.

For generations, HBCUs have invested so much in students like me—but America hasn’t invested nearly enough in HBCUs. And our nation simply cannot afford to squander this uniquely vital resource.

At a time when America is reckoning with how systemic racism hurts all of us, it is more important than ever that every field reflects the diversity of our country. If we are going to ensure equal justice under law, we need more Black lawyers, judges, prosecutors and lawmakers working in our criminal legal system.

Joe Biden and I understand that. We understand the essential role that HBCUs have played throughout our history, and the role they can play in securing America’s future. That’s why, if elected, we will invest more than $70 billion in HBCUs and minority-serving institutions (MSIs), including grants to lower student costs, improve student retention, and increase graduation rates. This funding will not only help modernize existing HBCU facilities—it will also build new ones. Our plan calls for creating 200 new centers of excellence to engage more students who are underrepresented in fields critical to our nation’s future— including tackling climate change, addressing inequality, and fighting health disparities.

We will also make college affordable for all Americans by doubling Pell grants, reducing monthly student loan payments for people on income-based repayment plans, and offering free tuition for students at community colleges. And we will forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from private HBCUs and MSIs and public colleges for those with incomes up to $125,000.

The history of HBCUs, as institutions where formerly enslaved people could get an education and build new lives, is rooted in a quintessentially American form of optimism. It’s a belief that we can move forward, together, unburdened by what has been, and knowing what can be. That’s the legacy I inherited at Howard, both in the lecture halls and on the Yard—and it’s the birthright we must leave for the next generation of HBCU students, and for all our children.

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HBCUs: UNCHARTED TERRITORY

BY ALA’TORYA V. CRANFORD

College is A Different World that has you asking What’s Happening Now but created Good Times! One could be Living Single or have plans to meet their Fresh Prince. Bonds are being formed Between the Brothers and females become Girlfriends.

Also, your professors didn’t mind offering you One on One assistance, when needed. Best believe from the classroom to the yard there was no Half & Half, it was All of Us! We were taught to keep the business In the House and remain a Proud Family whether from South Central, 227, The Boondocks or just of Different Strokes, we knew that Family Matters and understood everything was Black-ish!!!!

This picture of the black college experience pulls a little from each of these known black sitcoms, especially A Different World.

The black college experience expresses a culture and language that is understood no matter where you attended or graduated from. The culture is an automatic connection whether you were at a small, large, private or public institution. Rival football and basketball games allowed us to freely represent our institution with chants, cheer competitions and band battles and once it ends, it allows us to reunite, hug and catch up. A black college homecoming is the time of the year where you can be welcomed and considered HONORARY just because you are there sharing in the moment and they acknowledge that, you too, have graduated from a Historically Black College or University. A forever bond, whether you know each other or not.

HBCUs, uncharted territory, are spaces of the unknown to many even when there is a legacy. The journey of academia and engagement is different for every student and each graduate has a different memory to share. We love to say, live by and I personally support the statement, “Attending an HBCU is an experience like no other.” The experience teaches the student beyond the classroom. You can learn life skills and Latin, chemistry and critical thinking, psychology and perseverance, calculus and courage, trigonometry and teamwork in one sitting whether the class was fifty minutes, ninety minutes or three hours.

At an HBCU you come across professors that become campus moms, father figures, aunties, big brothers/sisters, mentors and more. Most importantly, attending a Historically Black College or University, it’s your first teacher and your first glimpse of selfactualization.

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HBCUs, uncharted territory, in the season of COVID–19 look different, feel different and operate differently from technology infrastructure to missing campus culture. In this time, institutions across the board are having zoom meetings daily to discuss and solidify contingency plans, the what ifs and maybes. What does the path forward in this season of uncertainty consist of ? How do faculty and administrators ensure student success, retention and persistence? How can students and alumni continue the campus culture, virtually and/or taking into consideration the necessary precautions like social distancing? How do we bring the HBCU experience, rich history and legacy through bandwidth? These are all open-ended questions with continued working documents.

Although administration may have a plan in place to cater to the what ifs, they must all be in position to make the necessary adjustments as time continues and COVID-19 may progress.

Every member of the institution and stakeholder plays a part.

Budgets are being cut in some fashion, methods of instruction are being modified, students are having to balance old norms after adapting to a new one, creativity to engage is being pushed, collaborations are increased, and communication and consistency are a must. The ultimate discussion is whether to return to campus or not in August 2020 and if so, what new practices need to be in place from living, to dining, to classroom instruction. Outside of these for sure known areas, there are many entities that play a role from the student to the president.

“ATTENDING AN HBCU IS AN EXPERIENCE LIKE NO OTHER.” So, the HBCU experience to include its legacy and culture, virtually, is slowly becoming a new norm. We must continue to enlighten and engage while embracing the current state and preparing for an unknown space. Institutions must continue to create the culture outside of the remote classroom and to teach students about having pride in self, teaching them how to think; not what to think, and continue to give students the skills necessary to solve problems beyond the syllabus. The Historically Black College and/or University experience can still thrive whether on-campus, hybrid or completely online. Each party has to work a little harder regardless of the chosen decision. The path forward in an uncharted territory is honestly unknown in the season of COVID, however we can celebrate the many institutions that have made the necessary adjustments quickly to continue to serve, educate and uplift our student and educators.

Ala’Torya V. Cranford, is a native of Hartsville, South Carolina and a graduate of Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology in Darlington, South Carolina. Ala’Torya attended Paine College and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. She holds a Masters degree in Higher Education with a concentration in College Teaching and Learning and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Urban Higher Education from the Jackson State University.

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BENJAMIN CRUMP:

THE VOICE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

BY OLANMA HAZEL MANG

In the movement against police brutality and racial inequity, Benjamin Crump has become a recurring voice at the counsel table. To the families of people killed by police, he is more than just an attorney. He is a friend, a guide, and an advocate.

The civil rights attorney has been a part of many high-profile cases involving police brutality where the victims are Black Americans. He gained recognition while representing the family of Trayvon Martin, who was killed by a neighborhood watch captain in 2012.

Today, he represents the families of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed while jogging by a father-son duo in Georgia; Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police officers executing a no-knock search warrant in Kentucky; and George Floyd, who was killed

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by a Minneapolis police officer in Minnesota.

“What happens when you are involved in these matters, you literally take on many roles,” Crump told HBCU Times in an interview. “When you have such a tragic situation, people are pressed into different avenues that they’re not normally thrust into.”

One of those roles is being a very vocal campaigner for the victims’ families. He frequently attends rallies, marches with protesters, and speaks at news conferences and interviews where he calls for legal action against the police officers involved in these cases.

However, the focus of the discourse on racial injustice is usually on the male victims, with more punitive and legal action pursued

on their behalf. Crump wants to bring female victims of police brutality to the forefront.

So far, the perpetrators in the Arbery case have been charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. The police officer who killed Floyd is facing a second-degree murder charge, and his colleagues involved in the killing were also charged with

Taylor to be one of disrespect, unprotect and neglect.”

As of July 3, the officers involved with the killing of Breonna Taylor have still not been charged.

But the many hashtag movements that pop up will only be shortlived if laws and policies don’t change, the lawyer said. “I think what we have to have on the local level, state level and federal level, we have to have transparency,” he explained.

“Transparency plus accountability equals trust, and if we can’t have transparency plus accountability, this bridge of mistrust between minority communities and law enforcement is going to keep getting wider and wider.”

For the families, the road to justice can be very unforgiving and jarring, especially on a public stage.

Floyd’s death, along with Taylor’s and Arbery’s, sparked an outcry that echoed throughout the globe and ignited protests across many countries. But with this outcry came scrutiny of the victims and their families.

aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.

“But we have no charges for our sister, Breonna Taylor,” Crump said. “And that is why we’ve got to keep fighting. Every interview I do, I say we’ve got to give our sisters the same attention and the same recognition that we give our brothers that are executed by police.”

Taylor, who was an EMT, is part of a growing list of female victims of police violence for whom justice has not yet been meted out. She was killed after police shot her at least eight times in her home in the early hours of March 13. According to the Louisville Metro Police Department, the officers were executing the no-knock search warrant as part of a narcotics investigation.

Movements like #SayHerName aim to highlight the oftenoverlooked stories of female victims of police brutality like Atatiana Jefferson, Pamela Turner, Sandra Bland, among many others.

Crump said it is important to include Black women in the fight for justice as they are often an underrepresented, unprotected, and neglected demographic.

“We’ve got to fight for our Black sisters. We’ve got to say their names because their lives matter just as much as Black brothers’ lives matter,” he said. “We cannot let the legacy of Breonna

When Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in 2014, the New York Times ran a story that said the teenager was “no angel,” a move their editor later decried. More recently, a now-deleted WAVE3 News article harped on Taylor’s work termination from a job she held four years ago, and a Minneapolis police union president recently came under fire for a letter to his membership where he spoke about Floyd’s “violent criminal history.” Floyd had previously served time in prison for theft and armed robbery in 2009.

“They like to assassinate our person and then they assassinate our character, and so that’s what often happens when they kill Black people in America and the police are trying to escape accountability,” Crump said. Part of his job, he said, is to help the victim’s family set up foundations or trusts to keep up their legacy and to protect their name.

Crump himself is no stranger to criticism. Many on Twitter have accused him of race baiting and only pursuing these highprofile cases for publicity. But the attorney has said publicity plays an important role in pursuing civil cases of this manner.

It is because of public attention Arbery’s killers were finally arrested and charged two months later, even though the police had already seen the video of the murder before it went public, Crump explained.

Nevertheless, the core of what Crump does is a desire to be a voice for those who have none, whether it be a fatherly voice of instruction like he was for Quincy Floyd at his father’s funeral, or a voice of advocacy pushing civil rights cases to the limelight.

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 13

RICK WADE:

STRATEGICAL ALLIANCES WITH HBCUs

BY ERICKA BLOUNT DANOIS Growing up in Lancaster, South Carolina, Rick Wade’s faith was the cornerstone of his value system. Growing up in the early 1960s he got his first taste of racial discrimination when he ran for Vice President of the student body in high school in 1979.

“I had to run as ‘Vice President black’ on the student ballot against the candidate ‘Vice President white,’” he remembers.

As a child he remembers the “Colored Only” signs and having to go to the balcony in the segregated movie theater. He would be chastised by his mother and secretaries when he went to play on the “Whites Only” side in dentists and doctors offices.

Still, he didn’t find it to be a huge transition making the leap from segregated schools early on in his childhood to integrated schools in middle school. Growing up in a poor section of Lancaster, his neighborhood was integrated with white children that he played with.

“Our commonality was that we were poor,” he said.

When he started in integrated schools in middle school, he didn’t recall any negative experiences.

“The white teachers supported me, they saw something in me,” he recalls. “It was the system of society, societal laws, that was the problem.”

After running for “Vice President black” the next year in high school he ran for president. This time he ran as just “President” and won, even with a predominantly white student body. It would be the catalyst that would propel him into a lifetime of leadership.

He started his political career as a page in the House of Representatives in South Carolina when he was an undergraduate student at the University of South Carolina.

After graduating from college, he went back to his alma mater at the University of South Carolina to work in the admissions office and the president’s office. He would go on to be the chief of staff for the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina and the South Carolina State Director of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services.

He went back to school, now committed to a life of service, this time to Harvard University for a master’s in public administration.

This led him to Washington, D.C. as the interim Secretary of Commerce for the Obama administration.

He would eventually become a representative for the U.S. Department of Commerce on the task force for HBCUs, focusing on how the administration could engage HBCUs around issues of business, entrepreneurship, innovation and international trade.

In a post-COVID-19 world, Wade thinks that both the private sector and HBCUs will benefit from partnering with each other.

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“Most of the 2.6 million black businesses in this country are sole proprietorship with one or two employees and in the service industry - retail, barbershops, food, beauty salons,” he said.

“COVID will disproportionately devastate them.”

Five years ago, the foundation of leadership and the values he connected with his faith were shaken when Dylann Roof stepped inside Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, to murder parishioners and pastors in cold blood.

For black businesses to survive and thrive post-COVID, entrepreneurs have to plan for the short and long term, he says.

“It rocked my whole foundation and opened up these wounds from the past,” said Wade. “I couldn’t understand of all places, the idea that someone would shoot people that were just gathered to pray, on this racist manifesto that black people had done something bad to white people.”

“Brick and mortar is not as significant now that we use technology to reach out to customers,” said Wade. “What are the industries that will emerge from COVID-19 – health, access to healthcare.

How can we create companies that deal with the vast disparities in healthcare – heart disease, cardiovascular disease? How can we solve these problems?”

Wade has ideas around partnerships that have existed for centuries in the black community. Having barbers and churches – trusted partners in the black community – work in tandem and in proximity - to state agencies, social services, prescription services.

In terms of access to care, some HBCUs have already begun those partnerships. Howard University Hospital, for instance, is expanding into Southeast Washington, D.C. to make sure vulnerable communities have access to quality healthcare. The city offered $300 million to build the new hospital campus.

For him he resolved to fight harder after bearing witness to this depravity.

“We have so much work to do in our country if we are going to get to a place of racial equality. Racism undermines our ability to be whole as a country,” said Wade.

In Wade’s role now as the Vice President of Strategic Alliance and Outreach at the Chamber of Commerce he is representing the voice of business owners on Capitol Hill and in Congress and working to have an inclusive economy of business.

Wade’s ideas all go back to mining talent at HBCUs.

His first initiative was to capitalize on the proximity Howard University had to the Chamber of Commerce. He created NextGen business partnership, an internship program that exposed Howard students to new careers and has now expanded to other HBCUs to include a faculty fellowship program.

“HBCUs are so critical as the largest pipeline for nurses, doctors – people that can practice medicine in a culturally sensitive way,” said Wade.

“We need HBCUs now more than ever,” Wade said. “But we have to rethink things to make sure that the work we’re doing is aligned with the challenges that exist in the 21st century.”

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 15

I AM THEIR FATHER TOO

BY DR. MICHAEL J. SORRELL There are times when I look into the eyes of my two beautiful Black children and wish that we could stay in that moment forever. It is then that we shut out the outside world, pull each other close and revel in knowing that for that instant, we are where we should be, and they are safe. I love those moments for the peace of mind and spirit that they bring.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have a life filled with such simplicity, to exist in a time and space where one’s concerns are unburdened by the color of their skin or their gender. When I began writing this piece, I was working to process yet another spate of deaths of unarmed Black people in this country. This week brought us George Floyd in Minnesota. Earlier in the month, it was Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and in March, Breonna Taylor lost her life in Kentucky. As the father of a 10-year old son and a five-year old daughter, every killing reminds me of the reality of that for us, life will be no crystal stair. Our lives will continue to be one where we will wear the mask and seek guidance from both versions of Martin and Malcolm. It is through this lens, that of a father not a college president, that I wrote this column. Please understand that it does not negate the love and responsibility that I feel every day to be a great steward of the faith that our students and their families place in me. Rather, this Op-Ed is the simple acknowledgement that beyond my calling lies two people for whom I am not “Prez,” but rather “Daddy.” This article is about that part of my being.

16 | HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue

As someone who is tasked with raising Black children, my task is daunting. How do I raise them to be aware without becoming bitter? How do I teach them to be fearless in a society where a great many people wish to harm them for things that they have never done nor will do?

How do I teach both of them to be just when there seems to be so little justice around them? How do I instill strength in minds, bodies, and souls knowing the burden that this strength will bring? How do I model the benefits of patience when I have none left myself ?

We live in a world where I will never feel comfortable allowing either of them to ride their bikes without riding with them or driving behind them in my car or knowing that the only place that I am likely to feel comfortable allowing them to run free is on the campus of Paul Quinn College.

But here’s the thing, my parents and grandparents never painted a picture of fairness to me. I was raised on the stories of midnight marauders who terrorized their southern years. I know what it is like to be called out of your name and harassed by those sworn to protect you and I know that they will too.

That is the reality of my race. That is the reality of my life. I am not shielded from this reality by my degrees or my profession.

“AS SOMEONE WHO IS TASKED WITH RAISING BLACK CHILDREN, MY TASK IS DAUNTING. HOW DO I RAISE THEM TO BE AWARE WITHOUT BECOMING BITTER?” However, I will not allow the bitterness of others to define me or the life of my children. They will be strong, and they will be resilient.

They will be unapologetically brilliant and self-aware. They will speak and they will listen. They will think and they will act. They will learn the lessons that they are taught at home and at school and they will forge a path that will be uniquely their own. But most of all, they will be unified, and they will keep coming.

They will remember Eric Garner and George Floyd; Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor; Tamir, Trayvon, and Emmitt; Thurgood, Charles Hamilton, and Ida B.; and they will know about the Freedom Riders and all those HBCU students who sat, marched and shouted. They will also remember those whose consciences, cowardliness, and indifference allowed them to do and say nothing…

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 17

FOCUSING ON WHAT HBCUs DO BEST IN THE AGE OF COVID-19

BY DR.MARYBETH GASMAN

As colleges and universities scramble to retool in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and prepare for the fall semester being either on-campus or online, students are uncertain about their futures. They are watching the media, looking to leaders for direction, and talking to one another about the state of the nation and the world. In the midst of this chaos, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have the opportunity to do what they do best – support students.

I recently spent some time talking with current students at HBCUs about how they are feeling about college during this pandemic, and about what they need from their professors and their HBCUs overall. Their biggest concerns were about returning to campus in the fall, with most of them wanting to return, and craving a routine. They are particularly worried that institutions will rush to online education in the fall when they see other institutions doing so, rather than weighing the decision based on what happens in the next couple months.

Students who follow their professors on social media can relate to the frustration they feel but also want them to be optimistic. One of the most important aspects of college – especially within the HBCU context – is interaction with faculty and students prefer it in person. They need encouragement from their professors that life will return to the sense of stability they feel on their campuses. Students want check-ins and responses to emails from faculty. Hearing from their HBCU faculty made them feel seen and part of their campus community.

Some of the students that I talked with are going to be seniors next year and they just want “a normal year” even though they know that normal might not be realistic. They want to “continue to learn” and partake in the traditions that HBCUs are known for across the nation. They wondered how their HBCUs could recreate some of these traditions on-line now and in case campuses are online in the fall. These rising college seniors want to mark their accomplishments with special moments and hope that their institutions are considering how important traditions are and how to implement them despite the COVID-19 pandemic. They also want opportunities to interact with their

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student friends. They want to make the connections that are such an important part of the HBCU experience.

When I asked what they feared, those with majors that need hands on interaction – the type of interaction that HBCUs are known for –wondered how they would have the full HBCU experience and benefit in the ways they hoped when enrolling.

Those students in the STEM fields were most concerned given that lab work is vital to their success. All of the students worried about jobs.

The students also wanted reassurance from their HBCU community that the nation would turn around. They are worried about the elections, the candidates being out of touch with their needs, large-scale racism, and the future of the nation – one that they will be a part of for years to come.

As I talked with these students, I reflected on the years of interviews I have conducted with HBCU students and realized that these students have been told for most of their lives – by family, leaders, and friends – about the uplifting and nurturing environment that HBCUs provide, they have experienced it first hand, and they don’t want to miss out. It will take the creativity and care that HBCUs are known for to ensure that students experiencing the pandemic have an experience that is just as meaningful as those HBCU graduates who have gone before them.

Dr. Marybeth Gasman is the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education & Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University.

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HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 19

NAIDA RUTHERFORD:

TRIPLE GLASS CEILING SHATTERER

BY KIMBERLEI DAVIS

It was in the early morning hours of June 10th that HERstory was made in Richland County, South Carolina.

The following day was marked by trouble at the polls, with a huge shortage of poll workers because of coronavirus fears, combined polling places, incomplete or handwritten ballots and hours-long waits at some precincts.

Despite all these factors, a first-time political candidate defeated a five-term incumbent.

Her name - Naida Rutherford.

In a landslide victory, the Benedict College alumna shattered multiple glass ceilings becoming the first African American, the first woman and the first licensed medical professional to be the coroner of Richland County in 173 years.

Naida picked up 59 percent of the vote (30,459 total votes), to Gary Watts’ 41 percent (20,896 votes).

Don’t get her wrong, Naida loves the momentum her campaign garnered and the fact that her name will forever be etched in HERstory, but she says that, “It’s pretty cool to be having the firsts during this time, but it’s also pretty sad…because why is that?”

Coroner-Elect Rutherford credited the leadership of South Carolina State University alumna, Samuetta Marshall.

Marshall who has served as coroner for Orangeburg County since 1993, “has demonstrated that a woman, Black woman can be coroner.”

Rutherford noted that women are more than capable of holding elected positions and being entrusted to complete the work assigned to their hands.

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“I’m happy to be able to help pave the way for other women who look like me in all shades of brown and Black and for me to be a symbol of something they can do as a woman of color,” she said.

Rutherford said she will walk boldly yet still remain humble knowing that while over 30,000 voters cast ballots in her favor, she has “a lot of bosses,” but wants to earn the trust of those that didn’t vote for her.

It takes a village if you want to pursue any dream.

Whether it’s a loved one sending a text or DM to help push you along or a virtual conference call with friends to do a check-in during this age of social distancing – we all need a squad.

It took a day or so for it to sink in that she accomplished what many thought she couldn’t – except for Yoma Edwin, Christina Cue, Alycia Albergotti, Jonathan Williams and Zach Sanders.

With a caseload ahead of her the next day, Naida went to bed at 2:30 a.m. and woke up to 405 text messages congratulating her as Coroner-Elect.

The Democratic nominee for Richland county coroner for the November general election faces no opposition.

“We were a small team, but we did it!”

“It was such a diverse group in Richland County that helped us.

Our campaign was “#ForUs” and we won this together.”

Rutherford’s passionate video analyzing the initial autopsy report of George Floyd went viral.

“I was outraged and I gave a raw thought of how I felt reading this for the first time and why I was running.”

During the May 29th Facebook Live, Rutherford explained to some 9,000 viewers the lack of information in the report and damage that could have been caused to Floyd’s cervical column

and bones resulting in his death.

“The neck is such a vulnerable part of the body…it was really important for me to talk about that so that people could see that not only is having an independent review of something like the George Floyd case happen in your city, in your town or in your county for your loved one, but it’s also important to have someone with clinical knowledge tied to that investigative experience.”

Continuing education as a coroner furthers knowledge into human anatomy and physiology and understanding what petechial hemorrhage looks like and that if you press on someone’s neck and back it restricts the ribs from expanding, prohibiting proper oxygenation of the lungs she said.

Rutherford believes that a coroner should have a collaborative relationship with law enforcement, but not one that has such an allegiance that your vision is clouded.

“George Floyd’s case was a perfect example of why independent reviews are necessary and when the second autopsy report came out for those that saw my video, they said, “Oh, she really knows what she’s talking about.”

The mother of two is a National Board Certified Nurse Practitioner and owner of Styled by Naida. She spends her time advocating for the homeless, foster children and others in need.

Before Naida became #TheBESTofBC, she didn’t have a college plan, family or the means.

patients and prisoners. I am still fighting, read a Facebook post on June 1st.

Running for public office and winning her bid by a large margin was just an expansion of that fight.

If there was ever any doubt that perseverance pays off look no further than Naida Rutherford.

Here’s the catch, she hasn’t even reached her maximum altitude yet.

During an audition visit to support another track star, coach Arthur Davis took notice of Naida’s athleticism, asked her to join the team and the rest is HERstory!

“I’m a testament to what HBCUs can provide for students who don’t have the means, who don’t have the best grades or resources. HBCUs provide the type of education that goes beyond the classroom.”

HBCUs help build responsible, contributing members of our society, the BC Tiger said.

“Richland County has been good to me, Benedict College has been good to me; I’m a proud Benedict College alumna and I will work hard so that people will know the goodness of the school and what HBCUs can do for students like me.”

She was a homeless teenager, then a divorcée who opened a boutique after her electricity was cut off and continues her works as an advocate for the voiceless.

I fought for a murdered peer in college. I fought for patients in the ER. I fought for rehab families and stroke and trauma victims, for sex workers and the transgender community. I fought for wound

Kimberlei Davis is a published author, brand strategist, empowerment speaker and an accomplished journalist currently working in print, digital and broadcast media. She is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University and is the founder of The LEAP Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at assisting with the academic outcome of foster children. Kimberlei is the mother of one son, Benjamin.

Connect with the writer @KimberleiDavis

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 21

LESLIE FOSTER:

EXCEPTIONAL JOURNALIST

BY KEITH HARRISTON

In her last years of high school at Detroit’s famous Cass Technical High School, Lesli Foster wanted to apply to a journalism apprenticeship program at the Detroit Free Press, one of the city’s largest newspapers. The program allowed high school students to essentially follow and be mentored by professional journalists over the course of a school year.

A counselor at Cass Tech discouraged Foster from applying, saying she would have little chance of being accepted.

Foster had an aunt and uncle who were journalists, and the career interested her. So, she applied anyway and was accepted.

Among the journalists at the Free Press who mentored her was Robin Givhan, now a Pulitzer Prize winning fashion critic for The Washington Post.

And Foster, the high school student who one school official had labeled as having little chance of being accepted in the program, was named the program’s Apprentice of the Year.

“There will be people in your life who influence you, sometimes without them or you knowing it at the time,” Foster said. “That high school administrator who told me I could not do it was one of them. It motivates you, and it makes you humble.”

Foster has come a long way since that doubter tried to label her.

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She is now weeknight anchor of the Monday through Friday evening news broadcast of WUSA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., the nation’s seventh largest TV market. She has won multiple awards on her journey from her first full-time job after graduating from Howard University as a weekend anchor and reporter for WEIY-TV outside of Flint, Michigan, to WBAL-TV in Baltimore and finally at WUSA-TV in D.C. She grew up on the West Side of Detroit. While at Cass Tech, Foster took modern dance during her high school years and was on the dance team at her high school and for the Detroit-Windsor Dance Academy.

“Dance was a ticket for me to see things, see different places and gain new experiences,” she said. And it taught her discipline, timing, choreography and “being in touch with who I am.” In dance and broadcast journalism, she said, “you are a vessel for stories in similar ways. In both, you are connecting with people.”

By many measures, Foster is a success in her field. Her skills, her drive, her commitment to telling stories were birthed with her relatives and the Free Press program. But they were fine-tuned at Howard University’s School of Communications.

She entered Howard University in fall 1993 and majored in Broadcast Journalism.

of HBCUs, but Howard wasn’t among those campuses visited.

“I knew a lot of people who attended Howard or wanted to attend,” she said. And she wanted to leave Detroit and Michigan.

“I needed to see something different,” she said. “I didn’t want to have high school in college all over again.”

Before graduating from Howard, Foster pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She comes from a family of Deltas, including her mother.

Lee Thornton, then a professor at Howard, was a huge influence on Foster. Thornton, who died in 2013, was the first African American to cover the White House for a major news network.

She worked as a correspondent for CBS News, CNN and National Public Radio, where she was the first African American host of the network’s flagship program “All Things Considered.”

“She was everything to us,” Foster said of Thornton. “She was invested in who we were as people.”

Sometimes Thornton’s guidance was direct and, to the sensitive, brutal. Like in Ms. Foster’s first year at Howard, when Thornton told Foster she would need to “lose some weight” if she were interested in being in front of the camera in broadcast journalism.

She said Thornton “laid a foundation for all of us Broadcast Journalism majors.”

In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, Foster filled in as weekend anchor of CBS Evening News. The network had been hit hard by COVID-19 and decided to use news anchors from affiliate stations to fill in. She called her two days as a network anchor “a great, intense experience.”

“Everyone was super excited to see me anchor the show,” Foster said. The news shows on the weekend were usually videotaped.

On the Sunday show, however, because of more impact to staff from COVID-19, the news show’s director announced at four minutes before what was to be the start of taping that they would do the show live.

“That made me realize how difficult this pandemic has been,” she said. “That was a time,” she said thinking back, “when you wish that someone like Dr. Thornton was around to see me, to see the confidence she helped to instill in me allowed me to step in without a problem. I owe a lot to her and to Howard.”

“She constantly said ‘you’ve got to be better, smarter, better. She fed us with food and knowledge at her home. She took us into her home. I saw her and wanted to be her. I draw upon her strength to this day.”

She also mentioned journalism professor Lawrence Kaggwa, who she said helped to instill in her and other students the importance of “learning journalism fundamentals, the drive to succeed and the willingness to work hard.” Kaggwa, who taught print journalism classes and retired in 2015, remembers Foster as one of a group of students from her class that “were really committed to learning.”

“She started in my Fundamentals of Journalism class, and she survived. And you know, that is not an easy thing to do,” said Kaggwa whose classes were legendary for flunking even the best students who hadn’t committed to the work needed to be a successful journalist.

Foster has nothing but praise for the Howard journalism faculty who helped prepare her for a career in journalism. “And they did it,” Foster said, “without all the bells and whistles” in terms of infrastructure and tech equipment.

How did Foster end up attending Howard? She had done tours

Keith Harriston is a freelance writer who lives outside of Washington, D.C. He worked for 23 years at The Washington Post as a beat reporter, investigative reporter, editor and senior manager in the newsroom. He was twice a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. He has taught journalism at Howard University, American University and George Washington University. He continues to write for The Washington Post.

He also has written for www.theroot.com,theundefeated. com, Ebony Magazine and other publications.

He earned a B.A. in communications from Morehouse College, an M.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas and a certificate in news management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

COVER STORY

KeishaLanceBottoms M AYOR

T R ANS F OR M AT IO N A L L E A D E R

BY ASHLEY ELLIOTT

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“IT’S BECAUSE OF WHO I AM AND WHO I BELIEVE GOD CREATED ME TO BE IN THIS SPACE AND THIS TIME AND IT IS AN EXTREME HONOR TO SERVE IN THIS CAPACITY.”

A

tlanta, Georgia – The ninth largest metropolitan area in the U.S., is known for its diverse landscape, southern hospitality, and rich heritage. The capital city is home to close to six million people and has birthed a class of elite leaders ranging from civil rights advocates to entertainers, musicians, and corporate executives. The vibrant and rapidly growing city is considered a transportation and tech hub, with the development of its innovative tech village, the 4th largest in the U.S., and even more impressive, the Hartsfield – Jackson International Airport that has been dubbed the busiest in the world. At the helm of this evolution is Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former lawyer, judge, and city council member who took office in 2017. Mayor Bottoms’ advocacy and leadership can be felt throughout the city, and most recently the country as Atlantans and Americans navigate a global pandemic and ongoing social and racial injustices.

“I would say I lead with my head and with my heart,” she expressed. “I feel with my community and I’m experiencing a range of emotions that so many people across this country are experiencing. Leading during COVID-19 and leading through this movement we are experiencing across America – there is no playbook for this, so you take all those things that are within your heart and then you have to process it with your head as a leader.”

As the second female appointed mayor and sixth consecutive African American to lead Atlanta, Mayor Bottoms explains why her appointment as mayor is so significant. “It’s an extraordinary experience and it means so much for so many reasons,” shared the Atlanta native. “My family’s history in Atlanta goes back to a slave plantation in Crawfordville, Georgia. My grandmother’s parents were direct descendants of slaves, who were brought to Atlanta on a horse and buggy and my family took root in the west side of Atlanta in the Vine City/English Avenue area. My grandfather’s history is also very similar, and to carry that legacy,

knowing that all my grandparents wanted was a better life for their children and now to be the mayor of this city and to be named Georgian of the Year as a descendant of slaves in this state – it’s incredible. My love, my passion, my care, and my concern for this city extends so much further beyond my being mayor. It’s because of who I am and who I believe God created me to be in this space and this time and it is an extreme honor to serve in this capacity.” Mayor Bottoms recognizes she’s carrying the hope of her ancestors and fulfilling an important legacy while striving to leave an even greater one for her family and the city of Atlanta. “My family makes so many sacrifices to allow me to be mayor and it’s even more incumbent upon me to do this for all the right reasons. When I look at where we are in this country and looking at it through the lens of my children, they still have hope for a better tomorrow. They look at me like how are you going to make it better? That motivates me to try and make it better and the encouragement from my husband saying you got it; you can do it - my family has been everything in direct relation to my success.”

Since taking office, Mayor Bottoms has initiated a list of objectives that has propelled the city to vaster heights. “We have a very aggressive affordable housing plan and it is to create or preserve 20,000 affordable housing units by year 2026,” she explained.

“That’s important because as a part of my legacy I hope to leave for this city is ensuring that everyday people in Atlanta can afford to live and raise a family with dignity. This city was not created to be just the city for an elite class of people. It’s for everybody and in that spirit, we have to make sure that there’s an ability for everyone to be a part of this city.” Mayor Bottoms is also looking to continue important work around criminal justice reform in Atlanta, something that’s very personal to her due to her father’s incarceration and the impact it had on her as a young child. “I talk a lot about the shortcomings of my father. He was like so many dads across this country. He had a heart of gold. A good man who made a bad mistake and what I’ve learned from my HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 25

family is that you have to have forgiveness and you have to do your part to help people that will be their best selves and love unconditionally.” In 2017, the city eliminated cash held bonds, which was one of Mayor Bottoms’ first initiatives during her term.

The signing of this ordinance eliminates the Municipal Court’s cash bond requirement for some low-level offenses. Additionally, Mayor Bottoms and city leaders have eliminated a long-standing contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“The contract was for us to house ICE detainees but it’s now giving us the opportunity to re-imagine and transform our city jail,” she noted. “We are in the process of converting that jail into a center of equity, health, and wellness so that we can have a physical place in this city that all people can come and access resources while they get job training and have 24-hour day care, as well as supportive housing. Our overall goal is achieving what we call One Atlanta, where we have an equitable and resilient city where people are able to access resources that allow them to thrive. This takes on all types of forms from our center for workforce innovation where we are extending job training opportunities to people in our communities to the work we are doing at our city jail and beyond.”

At a time when protests are echoing loudly across America due to the killing of unarmed black men and women by police officers, the unsurmountable health disparities for

26 | HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue

minorities, and evidence of racial disparities in the criminal justice system, Mayor Bottoms’ compelling voice and staunch stance demonstrates her care for her citizens as mayor and her children as a mom. This passion has gotten the attention of top democratic leaders including former vice-president and 2020 democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, who called Mayor Bottoms’ leadership incredible, and has resulted in her being named a possible vice-presidential running mate. “It makes me feel great that I am a part of that conversation. There’s three hundred and thirty plus million people in this country so to have my name mentioned in this discussion, it is a really big deal, not just for me personally but because of all that it represents. He is the best student of probably anybody on this planet to know what a good vice president should be and I’m going to trust that he’s going to make the right decision whether it’s me or one of the other women’s names that have been mentioned.”

While admitting she never dreamed of becoming mayor of her hometown and one of the most diverse cities in America, Mayor Bottoms recognizes the great responsibility she has been given, particularly during this moment in time. It indeed requires her to be multi-faceted and equipped with courage, confidence, compassion, dedication, and the ability to make definitive yet difficult decisions that affects millions of people. Much of those acquired capabilities she credits with gaining from her alma

mater, Florida A&M University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, Florida, the 5th largest HBCU in the country. “FAMU has so much to do with who I am today. It was this incredible experience where I had the opportunity to grow and mature but still in an environment where people cared about me. It was there I learned that nothing beats hard work and you can’t short cut hard work and commitment and dedication,” she says. “I have a comparison point with going to Georgia State for law school where when I walked in to take my exam I received a number and I think law school was just a sterilized environment. When you compare it with this experience of an HBCU it mattered to my professors who I was and that I got what I needed. At HBCUs there’s a confidence that’s instilled in you, there’s a consciousness that’s instilled in you, and also compassion that’s instilled in you because you learned so much about your history and who we are as African Americans in this country and what our history is and why it’s important for us to be part of our community not just as productive people who get up and go to work everyday, but really this historical responsibility we have to uplift our communities in whatever work that we do as well.”

As Mayor Bottoms continues to navigate the inevitable challenges and the unique opportunities that come with leading the ‘gate city of the south,’ she reflects on lessons learned from family and friends and offers her own dose of personal advice. “My parents and grandparents told me to always treat people with decency and respect, no matter who they are. They also instilled in me that you don’t ever give up. You always believe that there’s going to be another day you can try and get it right even when you make mistakes.” That piece of advice closely resembles that shared by two other influential leaders in the black community.

“I heard Oprah Winfrey pose the question many years ago, what would you do if you weren’t afraid to fail and the other from my friend Tyler Perry when I heard him speak many years ago even before I met him, and he said nobody can beat you in your lane. I think that for so many people including myself, it’s very tempting, especially with social media, to compare yourselves with other people and think you are falling short, but the reality is God created you to be you and all of the abilities and talents that come along with that. Even with our most innate abilities and talents nothing beats hard work, so whatever it is that you’re on this earth to do, just do it to the best of your ability and don’t compare yourselves with other people.” She added, “At the end of the day, I view this life as a puzzle and we are all a piece of that puzzle. I can’t serve as mayor without an entire team around me whether it’s my chief of staff or my chief operating officer or the team who does my scheduling, or even the men and women who come in at the end of the day and empty the trash.

All of that goes into allowing me to do what I do, so I would

just encourage people and caution people to not be so hard on yourself. Just dig deep and really try to tap into that passion that God has put in your heart and just go for it.” Adding one final thought to what this all meant for her as she reflected on her journey, she concluded, “I didn’t know I would be mayor. I had no idea that was in the plan but what I did know was that I had a heart for people and a heart for my community and that just so happen to have led me to this path, so I would say tap into that thing that’s already inside of you and remember that nothing ever beats hard work.”

ASHLEY ELLIOTT is a Marketing and Public Relations professional who has spent more than 12 years developing Integrated Marketing Communications campaigns for three institutions of higher learning across the state of South Carolina. She currently serves as the Assistant Director of Marketing and Information Technology for the University of South Carolina Career Center, as well as a University 101 instructor.

Ashley is a member of Andrew Chapel Baptist Church in Orangeburg, S.C., where she has helped organize the Community Church Growth Conference for more than 10 years.

She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Northeastern Corridor of Orangeburg Community Development Commission and is a member of the American Marketing Association, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and South Carolina Women in Higher Education.

A native of Orangeburg, S.C., Ashley earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Claflin University and a Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Eastern Michigan University. She is a graduate of Leadership Orangeburg and is a Licensed Realtor with Keller Williams Realty Columbia.

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 27

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 29

U NC F F E AT U R E

COVID-19: THE INTERSECTION OF PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL BATTLES

BY LODRIGUEZ MURRAY (UNCF SENIOR VP OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS)

Sunday night, March 29th: I remember this evening vividly. After a long and productive week—a very, very intense two weeks when UNCF achieved the goal of convincing Congress to provide significant resources for HBCUs to manage through a still-emerging pandemic. I remember winding down and reflecting on some of the seeds we had sown with our congressional partners. In response to a health-turned-economic pandemic that will undoubtedly go down in history, UNCF had done a number of things to ensure the safety and continuity of our beloved institutions. I was blessed to be at the epicenter of those dizzying, yet rewarding activities in the CARES Act, including:

•$575 million of dedicated funding directly to HBCUs to help institutions respond to the coronavirus pandemic;

•Additional $354 million of funding for HBCUs to handle coronavirus situations on campus (beginning March 27), with

half of that funding ($177 million) going to students at HBCUs;

•Securing deferments of payments to the HBCU Capital Finance Program to 14 UNCF-member institutions, 9 public

HBCUs, and other HBCUs during the pandemic;

•Convincing Congress to repurpose additional Department of Education grant money for coronavirus responses; and

•Ensuring opportunities like the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) could include HBCU campuses.

On that Sunday evening, I had not even bought my first mask and yet my employer (UNCF) and the institutions we serve had already begun the daunting task of completely operating in a virtual environment. For me, this meant working with Congress and the Administration from the confines I usually reserve for leisure and respite. For HBCUs, that meant taking early precautions to combat the spread of this deadly virus, such as moving in-person instruction to online learning and working feverishly to get their students home while providing ways for them to get instruction in remote locations.

Given the steps that we convinced Congress to take, HBCUs are equipped—for now. We showed Congress that HBCUs and some MSIs are different from other institutions of higher education, and that extra federal funding is critical to these institutions. While the funding helps in the meantime, fall—the start of a new academic year-- is just around the corner. Additional investment is necessary for the 2020-21 school year for institutions and students.

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As I thought of the considerable accomplishments of those last two weeks—something that I will one day call a career achievement, my mother called. She told me something I couldn’t even fathom at the moment—my brother had contracted coronavirus and was admitted into the hospital. The next day, he would be put under a medically induced coma and a ventilator would be needed to breathe for him and keep him alive.

Sure, before this call I knew that coronavirus is a virus that any of us are susceptible of contracting. I’d heard of other people who’d been diagnosed—but it was truly different when the person with the virus was MY brother. This virus wasn’t just an illness that “other people” get, but something that hit home in a way for which I was unprepared. I am an ordained minister and I immediately called my brother before he was put to sleep.

We prayed. Spiritually, I stood vigil, praying daily. Adding faith. Looking back, I think about the strength of my brother-willpower and otherwise.

It is much like that of the HBCUs and students that attend them. Like the students in this time, I am a proud product of an HBCU. And the commodity that ALL HBCUs have in droves is resilience. These thoughts of wanting my brother to overcome this tragic illness are paralleled to the thoughts of resilience that our institutions have endured for decades. Coronavirus isn’t the first storm that HBCUs have had to weather. HBCUs, which are nothing short of community cornerstone institutions, have weathered every storm that America has experienced for the past 150 years, but in a different way. We often say that when America catches a cold, Black America contracts the flu. So while the coronavirus and the ramifications of this virus touch all industry around the world—HBCUs are experiencing even more of a setback. While daunting, the ability to survive and efforts to thrive are in their DNA. It’s in the fabric that sustains each of the 101 institutions. The fabric that weaves together our community, our culture and births the leaders that move us forward.

Over the next full month, my brother experienced setbacks—and eventually triumphs. After 13 days on the ventilator, he finally gained strength and he began to breathe on his own. The road to recovery was long. We were alarmed when he developed a blood clot in his leg, knowing all too often this is how limbs are lost; but not this time. That issue was resolved. It took another two weeks for him to gain enough strength and relearn how to walk, pour water and do the things he would need to do every day to take care of his wife and his then five-month old daughter (who also recovered from coronavirus as the youngest case that the city

hospital cared for). My brother was the youngest (30 years old), sickest person that hospital saw who actually recovered. My heart rejoices that his recovery has been providential.

My professional fight quickly turned into my personal fight— all on the same issue. But as the virus can infect the human body, it can infect institutions in horrific ways. The pre-existing, often co-morbidities that institutions can suffer from are a lack of investment (federal and philanthropic); the very real digital divide; and the economics of education where HBCU pupils comprise a student mix no other type of colleges and universities see—45% first-generation college students and 75% Pell Grant eligible students. Like it does with the body, this virus seeks to attack those pre-existing conditions of our institutions. Despite those unfortunate realities, that same resilience a single patient can show in the face of long odds is what HBCUs have exhibited before and are exhibiting now.

It’s a fact that our institutions have historically been underfunded, have lower endowments and are compared to institutions that had a 300-year head start. For those reasons, these historic institutions, initially created for the progeny of slaves and the most underserved have always managed to operate close to margins—but they operated. Physical structures of buildings need investment. A vast majority of students at our institutions are from low-income backgrounds and/or are the first in their families to attend college. They need investment, like the doubling of the Pell Grant. The odds have historically been stacked against HBCUs and students like the one I was. They have been stacked against us as a people. Being that the coronavirus has impacted the African American community the most, odds were stacked against my brother. But I truly believe that there is a spirit, even providential, that allows us, if determined, to fight and overcome adversity.

UNCF intends to fuel that fighting spirit. It too is in our organization’s DNA, our mission, to be exact—to live in a nation where all Americans have equal access to a college education that prepares them for rich intellectual lives, competitive and fulfilling careers, engaged citizenship and service to our nation. We continue to fight for the resources, federal or philanthropic, to achieve that mission. At UNCF we focus daily on promoting and advocating for the preservation of one of our nation’s greatest treasures—HBCUs. Why? For the same reason I prayed for my brother. They are worthy of the investment. A mind is still a terrible thing to waste. And this is truer today than 40 years ago when we began to say it.

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TM C F F E AT U R E

TMCF’S LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE GOES VIRTUAL

BY WALTER HUDSON

As a sophomore, Jonathan Jones hit an academic rough patch. He almost gave up on his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.

themselves as leaders, as well as students with leadership potential who want to build on their skill sets.

Now he’s a graduate student at Florida A&M University pursuing a double master’s in business administration and supply chain management, while running an event planning business on the side. Last year, he also won $10,000 to spearhead a personal community service project at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s (TMCF) annual Leadership Institute, a selective networking event for over 400 HBCU students.

LI offers students the opportunity to develop and practice their leadership skills in areas that will contribute to the success of their personal, academic, and professional goals through a variety of interactive sessions and simulations with executives from Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. LI culminates with a recruitment fair with nearly 100 recruiters exposing students to employers where they compete for internships, full-time jobs, and continuing education opportunities.

“This institute gives opportunities that weren’t there,” Jones said.

“It opens doors that would’ve otherwise been closed.”

Because of COVID-19, this year’s Leadership Institute—now in its 20th year—was scheduled to take place on October 14-18, 2020, in Washington, D.C., but will be held virtually instead.

The annual event is an exciting leadership development conference for college juniors, seniors, and graduate and law students attending TMCF’s 47 publicly-supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). LI is for students who establish

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Jones went to the Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C. last year as one of ten Hennessy fellows, a program now in its second year that includes professional development trainings, scholarships of up to $20,000 per academic year, a $10,000 annual stipend for other school-related expenses and the chance to compete in a pitch contest to fund his capstone project.

The four-day event offers a series of sessions – hosted by representatives from major companies like Microsoft, JP Morgan Chase and Co., Boeing and others – on personal finance and professional development. The goal of the Leadership Institute

is to provide HBCU students with strategies to advance in the work world while connecting them with companies looking for diverse talent.

Students come to LI “ready to go out there and literally conquer the world,” said Dr. Harry L. Williams, president and CEO of TMCF. “When you have an opportunity to engage with one of the students attending our Historically Black Colleges and Universities, I’m telling you, it’s a treat.”

For him, the Leadership Institute is about pairing the “best and brightest of our students” with the “best companies in America.”

Williams hopes students will emerge from the experience—even virtually—with new skills but also concrete offers for jobs and internships, he said. In past years, he’s heard from students who left the event with three or four new career opportunities.

“This is one place where companies can go and have a concentrated group of students, specifically African-American students,” Williams said. “To be able to get that type of access is very valuable because they know that these students have already been vetted, already gone through a rigorous process.”

Dr. Harry Williams, CEO of TMCF

Walter Hudson is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C.

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THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: HBCUs ARE WORTH THE INVESTMENT

BY OLANMA MANG

The United States is rich in a plethora of assets that make the country stand out among its peers. The Heritage Foundation has set out to highlight one of those assets: Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

On January 23, the foundation held its inaugural HBCU Forum in Washington D.C., spearheaded by The HBCU Working Group of its Edwin J. Feulner Institute.

The convention focused on improving America’s global competitiveness and military preparedness by leveraging the potential in HBCUs. “It is essential to talk about historically black colleges and universities in that context because if we don’t, HBCUs will fall to the threat of being seen and viewed in a very small circle or box,” Angela Sailor, the vice president of the Feulner Institute, said in an interview with HBCU Times.

She has over 20 years of experience working with the government, nongovernmental organizations and non-profit organizations.

She became the vice president of the Edwin Feulner Institute in April 2019, working to preserve the American Dream and to create a legacy for future generations.

An important part of creating this legacy is sustaining the country’s historically black institutions. Sailor, herself, split her undergraduate studies between two HBCUs – Spelman College and Central State University.

Now leading the efforts of the HBCU Working Group, she said the group has sought to engage civil society in bolstering the country’s global competitive edge, since its first meeting in May 2019.

“Coming out of that meeting, we decided that the place of focus should be on global competitiveness and military preparedness.

One of the things that we publish from the Heritage Foundation is an index of military strength,” she said, referring to the 2020 Index of U.S. Military Strength, an annual assessment by The Heritage Foundation.

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This year’s assessment rates U.S. military power as “marginal” and concluded that its size was “two-thirds the size it should be,” with old equipment and “problematic” readiness levels.

The purpose of the document, Sailor said, is to give insight to what the nation needs to uphold its defenses and maintain its position as the leading power in the world today.

“As we look at those numbers across the spectrum, there are places and opportunities where we need to expand our capacity, and as we talked as a working group, we said it is critical that HBCUs are at this table creating a pipeline for military preparedness,” the vice president said.

HBCUs are no stranger to facilitating a connection between students and the military through their Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs. But out of over 100 HBCUs in the country, only 25 have ROTC programs on their campuses.

Bridging this gap was one of the focal points in the forum, which had a segment discussing how to leverage HBCUROTC programs towards global competitiveness and military preparedness.

In the segment, Col. James Raftery, Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at U.S. Military Academy West Point, said the academy is focusing on how to support military research at HBCUs and facilitate a recruitment pipeline between HBCUs and the academy.

He was part of a panel of universities and colleges that enumerated their remedial education and military preparatory programs which help feed the HBCU-military career pathway.

Other panels also included presidents of several HBCUs including Howard University, Benedict College, Virginia State University, Bowie State University and Talladega University.

The Heritage Foundation, through its Davis Institute for

states, regions and cities in which they are located, and hold the promise of greater educational and economic advancement for many, many more Americans,” he said.

National Security and Foreign Policy – which focuses on national defense research and policies – has also begun to engage ROTC leadership programs with policy briefings to inform policy change, Sailor said in the interview.

The foundation’s efforts to improve the country’s military standing will be limited without bringing the government to the table as well. So, the foundation is in constant contact with the Department of Education, the White House and the administration to discuss policies regarding HBCUs, Sailor said.

“We talk to the government all day long because the government is promoting policy, and it’s our job to be in relationship with both the private sector and the government over those policies that we think create opportunities for a flourishing civil society,” she said.

This was evident in the forum’s guest list that included the United States Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos; Jonathan Holifield, the executive director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs; U.S. Department of the Army Chief Information Officer Lt. Gen. Bruce Crawford; the vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Eric Eversole, among others.

In regards to global competitiveness, Sailor explained, “We mean it across the spectrum in terms of how the nation itself will compete against the rest of the world, from the standpoint of economics and innovation and technology, towards advancing those means.”

In 2017, the United Negro College Fund released a study that detailed the economic impact of HBCUs on their local and state communities. It estimated the national annual impact to be over $14 billion, with HBCUs creating over 130,000 jobs.

Holifield said it is important to invest in these institutions to preserve their legacy and invest in their future contributions.

“The HBCU competitiveness narrative aligns with public and private sector investment language and the expectation of investors for a favorable future return,” he explained.

Panels underscored the joint role HBCUs and the private sector play in gaining and maintaining an edge on the global economic stage. Sailor said the foundation is committed to framing the conversation between HBCUs and the private sector.

“One of the things that we will be working on, and continue to work on, into next year is convening HBCU leaders with privateindustry leaders so that there is dialogue now about what is needed in four, in five, in six, in ten years,” she said.

This dialogue will explore ideas on how to improve technology infrastructure and access to it in HBCUs across the country, including those in rural and remote communities.

“As we think about military preparedness and global competitiveness, you see the place where technology is essential in innovation, research and development,” Sailor said. This need to invest in technology is even more crucial today as universities shift towards e-learning because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Moving forward, the goals of the Feulner Institute regarding the HBCU Working Group will continue to comprise advancing research, policies and conversations concerning global competitiveness and military preparedness through outreach to and conference with HBCUs, the private sector and the government, Sailor said.

At the forum, she remarked, “That working group will continue to be committed to its mission of promoting HBCUs an American asset, not just an asset for the black community but an American asset.”

An intrinsic part of the foundation’s core values is shining a spotlight on economics. The Heritage Foundation describes itself as a think tank with a mission to promote economic freedom and public policies based on “principles of free enterprise, limited government [and] individual freedom.”

At the forum, Holifield acknowledged the significance of HBCUs and dubbed them national treasures while also highlighting their continued economic importance today.

“HBCUs also provide unique competitive advantages for the

OLANMA HAZEL MANG is a freelance writer for HBCU Times.

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DR. DEE BELL WILLIAMS:

PROFESSOR, ENTREPRENEUR AND INFLUENCER

BY KIMBERLEI DAVIS

Some of the world’s billionaires took themselves from the streets to the top of the Forbes List.

They are some of the most recognizable faces in the world and the story on how they amassed such wealth is applauded; but some of the most incredible rags to riches stories are proof that it is possible to overcome life’s toughest challenges and create something better for yourself.

Dr. Dee Bell Williams isn’t on the Forbes List just yet, but her story is one that reminds us that through determination, grit, and a little bit of prayer, anyone can overcome their circumstances and achieve extraordinary success.

“It’s but by the grace of God,” said the Culture-Focused Teaching (CFT) Classroom Management System author and international teacher trainer.

Created to help teachers in the classroom and build effective school cultures within schools worldwide, the system “is a combination of what I’ve seen in classrooms all across the nation and research paired with leading students of the future at Benedict College.”

With over two decades of dedicated service to the field of education, the South Carolina State University alumna and owner of Dr. Dee Unlimited, Bell Williams also works as a culture and diversity consultant and school and community relations specialist.

Demetress’ wealth isn’t about coins or status, but it was built in her early childhood growing up at the knee of her paternal grandparents Frank and Gladys Bell - a retired U.S. Navy Seal and retired educator in Norway, South Carolina.

In addition, she is a marketplace ministry leader who hosts creative workshops and conferences that provide hope and faith to her clients and other experts in her field.

Affectionately known as Dr. Dee, the Hunter-Kinard-Tyler Trojan is doing what many women before her have seemed to do so well effortlessly - wear many hats.

The highly sought after speaker has clients ranging from faith leaders to business executives and corporate CEOs training them on the best CFT methods for inclusivity.

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“Individuals want to know how to work well with people who differ from our background,” said the Benedict College professor.

Whether black, caucassian, hispanic or those of other races, Dr. Dee said people are being more receptive to “how do we build a culture that is conducive where everyone feels appreciated in the work that they are given and the value they provide.”

Dr. Dee’s love for SC State first began on the campuses of Claflin College’s (now University) and Benedict College.

Always certain that she would attend an HBCU, a young inquisitive Demetress would stay on campus with her aunt who was a student at Claflin from time to time and she was heavily involved in The Young People’s Christian Assembly at Benedict.

Forgoing her once top choices, FAMU, Grambling and Southern, Demetress settled on becoming a Bulldog so she wouldn’t be too far away from home.

Her obedience to her grandparents heeding paid off having earned all three of her degrees there.

When she wasn’t helping them on the farm, at SC State, Demetress was involved in the Student Union Board, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.; Psi Alpha Chapter, Sigma Alpha Eta National Honor Society in Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology; Sigma Tau Delta National English Honor Society, Marching, Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Honor Society (charter member) and the SCSU Gospel Choir (UVOC).

As an HBCU graduate and professor, Dr. Dee said, “Many students, especially our young black men don’t matriculate through college, because they don’t have the support system to get them through. We serve a different body of students and we serve from a different perspective than they would’ve gotten if they went to a PWI (Predominately White Institution).”

“We serve with the aspect that these children are our children and these children are our family. Some of the things you may see on other campuses may look exquisite and better, but everything that glitters isn’t gold.”

“HBCUs are responsible for an average of nearly 65% of black professionals from various fields: lawyers, doctors, federal judges, engineers, veterinarians, educators, attorneys, military officers

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Her understanding of her call has proven to be beneficial, especially during the time of social-distancing amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

and the list goes on,” she said. “Along with the free labor of enslaved Africans, HBCUs are the foundation of how much of America was built and sustained. These historical schools were built as a way to empower Black academics and create a space where we could learn in a safe, supportive environment.”

Raised by her grandparents since she was eight months old, Dr. Dee was born into a legacy of activists.

“As an NAACP grandbaby, there was no other choice for me, not only because my family demanded it; they exposed me to the atmosphere as a young child; so I desired to only attend an HBCU. It was the only choice for me then; and I believe that it should be the top priority now---especially for black students in this racially charged climate. Supporting HBCUs will help sustain our black neighborhoods, black investments, and it will assist with building collective research and scholarship that will be needed to further the reach of HBCUs across this nation and this world.”

Dr. Dee implores graduating seniors to attend an HBCU, because you should be “celebrated and not just tolerated.”

Accepting the call to ministry in 2008, Dr. Dee’s reach to feed the sheep is not within the four walls.

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As many teachers globally had to shift from the traditional classroom setting to e-learning, Dr. Dee offers this advice as districts transition to a vastly different looking school reopening, “Understand that some of your children have had a lack of access to information and there has been a learning loop.”

Learning is interactive and many students will be void of that critical experience, “Administrators and teachers have to begin to set up a culture-focused environment now so they can help students deal with the trauma of the experience and those who may have lost a loved one or even a teacher due to COVID-19.”

With the backdrop of being raised by retired military personnel and surrounded by the importance of education, Dr. Dee said she had a “beautiful picture of what life could be like.”

Many children born in the late 70s and early 80s saw first hand the ravaging effects drugs had on families, especially in communities of color.

“My grandparents modeled how to treat people the way you want to be treated, how to be authentic and to always remember where you come from.”

The “small town country girl,” sprinkles the teachings of her upbringing throughout her literary work, training sessions and speaking engagements.

She also uses her life experiences to connect with students so they know that she is not far removed from what they may be going through.

“It’s important that students know that they’re not alone in this process of trying to discover their identity and divorce some of the dysfunction that they may have come from to live a life of effectiveness that the future has available for them.”

For more information about Dr. Dee Bell Williams visit drdeeunlimited.com; email info@drdeeunlimited.com or call 803-216-4061.

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COVID-19 CAMPUS CLOSURES FOR HBCUs COULD DEEPEN FINANCIAL HARDSHIPS

BY DR. RODNEY WASHINGTON

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been essential to the education of African Americans for decades.

Their vital mission to prepare young people of color from underresourced communities has proven to change the narrative on generational poverty, professional opportunities and social justice in this country. In conversations questioning the relevance of HBCUs in the 21st Century, I believe many would argue that there is now more of a greater need, in light of an emerging pandemic and possible recession disproportionately impacting African Americans. The recent spread of COVID-19 and its rapid transmission rate for communities of color has exposed the deepening inequalities for low-income communities already struggling with access to healthcare, housing instability and food insecurity. African Americans are contracting the virus at alarming rates, as data suggest they are also more likely to die.

This fall, HBCUs are now faced with the possibility that this pandemic could force campuses to remain closed, while remote learning continues. This holds serious implications for students and the future of the institutions we hold dear.

Quite often, the resolve to attend college for students of color means so much more than getting a degree and making their families proud. There is also an opportunity to mediate income and housing insecurity without the family bearing the brunt of the burden. I remember my matriculation at an HBCU in Mississippi. Admittedly, much of my decision on where I would go rested on which one of the schools would be less of a financial burden to my parents. By the time I was a junior in high school, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her situation grew progressively worse as I entered undergrad. As such, I didn’t want to become more of a cost burden, so I tried to take advantage of every opportunity that the institution afforded me.

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When I think of what an abrupt school closure would have meant for me, I am filled with utter anxiety. The possibility that many campuses may not reopen in the fall present an entirely new set of challenges for students already in fragile, financial situations.

Low-income, First-Generation Students and the Burden of Dual Responsibility The substantial burden of being a first-generation low-income student of color cannot be overstated. According to an article published on the unique challenges of a first-generation college student, 69% said they decided to attend because they wanted to help their families. The struggle to attend college and leave their families behind is not easy to conclude. In my work with young males of color here in Mississippi, I engaged a group of high school seniors in an affordable housing community to support their transition into post-secondary education. Most striking to me was the posture taken by these young men as being an instrumental part of their families’ overall survival. In many low-income, multigenerational homes, there is a sense of shared accountability, which also lends itself to limited aspirations. According to a study by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, only 21% of low-income first-generation students make it to graduation. The decision to attend college should not burden the family unit. However, through scholarships, assistance and other aides, as 75% of HBCU students are eligible for Pell Grants, the opportunity to matriculate in higher education can provide a means to acquire income and possibly provide support to the home. Consequently, for new and returning students, the idea of delayed campus openings could mean (re)committing to the family income equation that may prove to be a permanent solution instead of a temporary fix.

Importance of Dorms and Meal Plans to Mediate Food and Housing Insecurity If you could think back to your college move-in day, I would wager that it was a big deal. The dormitory was like the prepaid apartment unit that allowed you to sense stark differences in sharing space with siblings or answering to curfews and restrictions. The dining experience has also vastly improved from my college years. Students now have a wide assortment of food choices and multiple ways to manage funds that allow purchases even when the dining facilities are closed. Therefore, students have easy access to stable housing and meals as long as their tuition and aide are intact. Worst case scenario, between semester terms, students have to find accommodations with friends or family.

balanced by the amount of support offered through financial aid. Loan refunds would also be used to offset some costs.

Still, now there is a possibility that this pandemic could hold significant income insecurity for students working their way through school. It is not uncommon for college students to work in the service industry, such as retail and restaurants, also deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the nation slowly reopens, I wonder if there will be any consideration for those who have committed themselves to seek a better life, only to face an uncertain future.

According to a study conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, more than 60% of students experienced food insecurity within the past 30 days and housing insecurity/homelessness within the past year. Examine the wide-ranging diversity of high-risk students entering into higher education: African Americans, LGBTQ students, former foster youth, students with prior convictions, and students claiming independent status for financial aid purposes. Students experiencing vulnerabilities do not have the privilege necessary to navigate shifts toward remote learning, i.e., adequate broadband and technical capacity. However, that doesn’t begin to compare with the possibility of experiencing total housing displacement if campuses fail to reopen.

Non-Traditional Students and the Threat of Recession There has been a rise in non-traditional students, who are often 25 and older, usually attending part-time, working and may have children or caring for other family members. Consequently, their enrollment status is often paired with full-time work hours,

Dr. Rodney Washington is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Science at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. He is also a Robert Woods Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader.

Twitter @rodwashi

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SERVANT LEADERSHIP, CRISIS MANAGEMENT, AND POST-PANDEMIC REALITIES

BY DR. TAMMY E. SMITHERS

The response of higher education leaders around the United States during the novel coronavirus pandemic has been expeditious and reactive. At the onset, decisions were made to completely shut down college and university campuses based on state- and city-wide directives to cease face-to-face teaching until further notice. These split-second decisions left campus presidents and administrators determined to ensure the immediate safety of their students and staff. Classes and instruction were transitioned to a distance learning modality. Large gatherings were ceased.

Tough decisions were made to either postpone, cancel, or move graduations to a virtual platform.

For Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), particularly, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), those same decisions were more intricate and dire. Many of the nation’s HBCU presidents and student affairs administrators exemplified an aptitude of servant leadership by consulting directly with parents and family members of their students. HBCU leaders grappled with how students would get home either by bus, airplane, or car with administrators and presidents sometimes coming out of their own pocket to purchase bus tickets and plane tickets to get students home. Along with transportation costs came at the expense of a temporary hotel stay with pier diem cash to sustain them through their trek home. To contend with these and other unexpected contingencies, HBCU leaders were forced to tap into already anemic budgets to find funds to support the short-term needs of their students.

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For other students, this pandemic shined light on the realities of their homelessness. Administrators and presidents were reminded that some of their students had nowhere else to go. No other place to call home. The campus community is their home.

These are typically those students who are wards of the state—in the foster care system—and determined to obtain an education as their exit strategy into adulthood. State-funded colleges and universities are required by law to provide residential housing and food service for students who cannot safely return home.

Thus, food service and housing departments were tasked with employing social distancing measures to safely provide for these students.

For many HBCUs, the long-term impact of this pandemic has opened a pandora’s box of being under resourced. The residual effects will exacerbate enrollment, retention, and college completion challenges for this group of institutions. Just as small and minority-owned businesses have felt the reverberation of economic distress, HBCUs could potentially face a reduction in enrollment for the fall semester as colleges and universities prepare for changes to their educational modalities to include distance learning and reduction in class sizes per course to accommodate social distancing rules.

While four-year colleges and universities are uncertain of how this pandemic will have an impact on fall enrollment, two-year community colleges anticipate an enrollment increase. For some students, distance learning is not what they signed up for and as a result, they may opt to attend a community college for the

fall semester or the 2020-2021 academic year instead of a fouryear HBCU. This potential drop in enrollment for HBCUs can have a ripple effect on its future funding sources. In December 2019, legislators authorized $85 million annually to HBCUs, which was part of a $255 million financial package for MSIs. Under the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund, the Department of Education dispensed $1.4 billion to MSIs, of which HBCUs are included. Funding for this was administered as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (CARES) Act. Given the novel coronavirus crisis two things remain eminent.

The first is student safety must be the immediate priority. The second is revenue loss as a result of proration of housing refunds and lower enrollment in the upcoming fall. Decreased persistence of students who may drop out or transfer could potentially correlate to decreased enrollment, as well. Likewise, for those would-be first-year students who opt to take a gap year and wait it out, enrollment growth numbers will be impacted.

and values. No matter the type of institution, whether minority serving or Ivy League, this pandemic crisis hit every institution the same. For instance, leaders were forced to face reality, there is no optimal delivery of education. The once frowned upon online degrees that brick and mortars shunned have now become a model for how institutions can offer dual modality learning to students in the most efficient way. Conversely, the solvency of HBCUs to survive such a model can have a more pronounced impact on how well they can rise above and garner new support from private funding sources, while simultaneously remaining an educational resource for its students and delivering on their promise to educate and build future leaders. After all, as one HBCU president so aptly stated, “We don’t just graduate students, we graduate families.” Families and communities are depending on their students to make it. HBCUs bear that additional responsibility to ensure that they do.

For HBCUs, of which a larger percentage of students are Pell Grant-dependent, presidents must factor into consideration the economic condition of the students’ families. No longer is it about accessibility, but instead, it becomes more about affordability. Here is where the support from alumni and other external philanthropic services are essential to the sustainability of HBCUs beyond this pandemic. The altruism of HBCU alumni to provide one-time gifts to his or her alma mater for Giving Tuesday campaigns during the pandemic was admirable.

Funds collected provided direct financial support to students to pay for meals and incidentals. Funding support was in addition to the emergency grants provided by colleges and universities as a result of the CARES Act earmarked for students who applied for the extra financial help.

However, beyond the federal funding and one-off Giving Tuesday campaigns, HBCU presidents and university advancement teams must bolster external relations with private foundations, corporations, and individual supporters who can commit to multi-year private grants, corporate donations, and planned gifts, respectively. The sophistication levels of HBCU university advancement departments must be elevated and staffed with competent professionals who have earned the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential, which is the development profession’s gold standard. In addition, individuals staffed within the university advancement department should have a track record of fundraising experience beyond hosting high-dollar galas that cost exorbitant amounts of money with a miniscule net bottom line.

Looking toward the near future, the consequences of the novel coronavirus can actually be a wake-up call for many HBCUs. Adapting to a new normal may sound cliché. However, HBCUs like other higher education institutions can take this opportunity to reimagine, reposition, and realign with their mission, vision,

Dr. Tammy Smithers is a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Minority Serving Institutions and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, & Justice at Rutgers University. An adjunct professor of diversity, equity, and leadership at the University of St. Thomas and formerly an adjunct professor of management at Texas Southern University, Dr. Smithers’ research centers around retention, persistence, and graduation rates where she has done comparative research at various types of minority serving institutions to include more specifically, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions.

Dr. Smithers holds a doctorate in education and ethical leadership from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, an MBA from Rice University, and a bachelor’s from The University of Texas at Austin.

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 43

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

BY OLANMA MANG

“I wish I could freeze time,” Chadwick Boseman said to Larry King two years ago. The pair sat across from each other in an interview that included a question and answer session.

King had asked the actor which superpower he wished he had in real life.

“Stop time and then move around and do stuff and then come back,” Boseman answered with a smile on his face.

At the time, the world was oblivious to the weight of his words.

Boseman entered the global stage as King T’Challa, the Black Panther of Marvel Studio’s fictional African nation Wakanda.

This role was one that transcended the screen as a symbolic cultural phenomenon in which the entire world reveled. It meant something. It was representation. It was necessary. Boseman understood this and often spoke about the immense personal impact Black Panther had on the audience and the cast as well.

He embodied the character and translated it to real life where he carried himself with grace, kindness, exemplary fortitude, and purpose, all while fighting a four-year battle with colon cancer.

He died on Aug. 28, age 43, surrounded by his wife and family.

According to the statement released by his publicist, Boseman was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016. He continued to shoot movies and work in-between surgeries and chemotherapy treatments, and even visited St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee in 2018.

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He was an Anderson, South Carolina native, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts from Howard University in 2000. He later returned to his alma mater in 2018 to receive an honorary doctorate degree. His speech to the university’s graduating class highlighted the importance of having a life purpose.

“You would rather find purpose than a job or a career,” he said at the podium. “Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history. Your very existence is wrapped up in the things you are here to fulfil.”

posted a video where he looked considerably slimer earlier this year.

The outpouring of condolences and tributes from Boseman’s colleagues and friends paints a picture of a man who was steeped in a sense of purpose and relished the time he had on Earth.

His Marshall co-star, Josh Gad, said he was “unbelievably giving,” and Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick, in a statement in memoriam of the actor, called him “a man of grace and humility” who uplifted people and spoke out against social injustices.

“I WISH I COULD FREEZE TIME.”

Part of his own purpose as an actor was to genuinely tell the diverse stories of Black people. He shied away from shallow stereotypical roles and embraced those with depth and nuance. So, Boseman’s portfolio includes roles like Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson in the 2013 movie 42; legendary singer James Brown in Get On Up (2014), and civil rights activist and the first Black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in Marshall (2017).

Fellow Howard alum Senator Kamala Harris tweeted her condolences to the actor’s family and called him “brilliant, kind, learned, and humble.”

Former President Barack Obama commended Boseman’s strength in a tribute, saying, “Chadwick came to the White House to work with kids when he was playing Jackie Robinson. You could tell right away that he was blessed. To be young, gifted, and Black; to use that power to give them heroes to look up to; to do it all while in pain – what a use of his years.”

“Only Chadwick could embody Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, and T’Challa. He, too, knew what it meant to persevere.

To summon real strength,” former First Lady Michelle Obama said in her tribute to the actor, adding, “he belongs right there with them as a hero—for Black kids and for all our kids. There’s no better gift to give our world.”

Boseman could not freeze time, but his superpower was his generosity, his service, his strength, his grace, his passion, his purpose. He was a man many consider to be an epitome of Black excellence, an epitome of a hero. A man that spoke with actions that left a mark on the world.

Boseman’s death shocked the world, fans and colleagues alike, who knew nothing of his cancer diagnosis. Many have rebuked those who callously commented on his appearance after he

In a video tribute to the actor, his Black Panther co-star Letitia Wright said, “Against all the odds, you remained focused on fulfilling your purpose with the time handed to you.”

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 45

“ Never let anyone say that you’re not good enough, or it’s not your time.

My life’s work is about proving the doubters and the pessimists wrong.

Because I know how much we can do together.

It is our time.”

Jaime Harrison

Candidate, U.S. Senate

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Paid for by Jaime Harrison for U.S. Senate

P O WER A L U M N I

RENÉE MCDONALD HUTCHINS Renée McDonald Hutchins is Dean and Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Chair of Public Interest Law of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC Law). Dean Hutchins joined UDC Law as dean after fourteen years on the faculty at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. Dean Hutchins also taught in the Lawyering Program at the New York University School of Law.

Dean Hutchins is widely recognized as a leading expert on the Fourth Amendment and criminal appellate practice. Her legal scholarship has been published in high-impact journals like the UCLA Law Review and NYU Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, among others. She has also provided legal analysis and insight for outlets including MSNBC, “Voice of America,” and CSPAN-TV’s “Landmark Cases” series.

She has authored or co-authored three textbooks: Learning Criminal Procedure, Developing Professional Skills: Criminal Procedure, and Essential Lawyering Skills. She has also written

on the law of racial profiling and stop and frisk, most recently as a contributing author to the anthology Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution & Imprisonment and in David Tanenhaus’ Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Dean Hutchins is a member of the American Law Institute.

She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. She is a former member of Maryland’s Appellate Courts Judicial Nominating Commission and the ACLU of Maryland’s Committee on Litigation and Legal Priorities and a former board member of both the Judicial Institute of Maryland and the Clinical Legal Education Association.

Dean Hutchins graduated cum laude from Spelman College with a B.A. in Mathematics. She went on to receive her J.D. from Yale Law School. Shortly after graduating, Dean Hutchins clerked for the late Hon. Nathaniel R. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 47

FREDNESHA J. SANDERS Ms. Frednesha J. Sanders is a high performing Senior Consultant in Risk and Financial Advisory at Deloitte, and she travels around the country to help leading healthcare companies save money through revenue optimization strategies. She is an active member of the National Association of Black Accountants, and she served as the 2019 Ms. Charlotte, NC Corporate America.

She competed in the 2019 Ms./Mrs. Corporate America competition and won Miss Congeniality, The Spirit Award, Best Formal Wear, and Ms. Corporate America 1st Runnerup. Ms. Sanders is the Executive Director of A LOTT of Sista Love Inc., a faith-based women’s empowerment group. Under this organization, she moderated Girlz at the Gate and started a mission-driven group at Virginia State University (VSU) where she encouraged others to walk and pray on campus at 5:30 am.

The organization was featured on NBC12 news, promoted by VSU through a professional YouTube video, and recognized as the 2016 Student Organization of the Year by HBCU Digest.

Ms. Sanders modeled in New York Fashion Week, was a debutante, served as Miss Virginia State University 1st Runnerup, and she aspires to serve as Miss USA. She recently won the People’s Choice Award and placed in the Top 10 for the Miss North Carolina USA pageant, and her platform encouraged others to learn about the importance of mental health and wellness. Ms. Sanders graduated from Virginia State University as the highest-ranking student in the Reginald F. Lewis College of Business, a Thurgood Marshall and Provost Scholar and she is a Harvard Business School SVMP Alumna. Ms. Sanders resides in Charlotte, North Carolina and enjoys mentoring college students, teaching others about finance, giving back as well as traveling around the world. Some of her favorite places are Greece, Bermuda, and Jamaica.

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JESULON GIBBS-BROWN, J.D., PH.D Jesulon Gibbs-Brown, J.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, SC. Her research and teaching focuses on education law, educational policy-making, the superintendency and practitioner-based research. Dr. Gibbs-Brown recently served as a school district superintendent for five years in her hometown located in Orangeburg County, SC before returning to higher education. In addition, she previously served as the state director for the Office of School Transformation at the South Carolina Department of Education and practiced school law as an attorney representing school districts in South Carolina. She began her academic career as an assistant then tenured associate professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at South Carolina State University and an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Gibbs-Brown earned her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Writing from Spelman College, M.A. in Economic Policy from Georgia State University, Juris Doctorate (J.D.) with a concentration in school law and Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Indiana University-Bloomington. Dr. Gibbs-Brown is married to Mr. Brenton Brown, who serves as the Director of Public Policy and Community Affairs for the South Carolina Commission on Minority Affairs. They are the proud parents of Hamilton Joshua Brown, named after Charles Hamilton Houston.

HBCU Times 2020 Fall Issue | 49

RANSOM MILLER, III

the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants from 1996-2002. In addition, he served as a volunteer DC Pop Warner head football coach for his son’s team.

Ransom Miller, III is the founder and chairman of Project GiveBack, a community service organization based in Washington, D.C. Project GiveBack’s primary program is The Annual Thanksgiving Food Distribution which has provided food baskets to over 12,500 families since 1995. Other programs coordinated by Project GiveBack include: The Children’s Book + Toy Drive, which provides books and toys for children; The Computer Sponsor Program, which has assisted schools and community organizations in the acquisition of over 125 computers; The Annual Back 2 School Supply and Backpack Drive, which provides all grade appropriate supplies to over 200 children; and the Children’s Easter Celebration, which hosts 75 children annually providing a safe and fun activity for local children. The target demographic for all programming is low income, underprivileged families with a specific focus on children.

In other community service efforts, Ransom impacts his hometown community of Oklahoma City through a partnership with Bethlehem Star Baptist Church via The Ransom Miller, III Scholarship Fund, a college scholarship for graduating high school seniors. Since its inception, the scholarship fund has awarded over $40,000.00 in scholarships. Ransom has served in the deacon ministries at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and Refuge Baptist Assembly in Beltsville, Maryland. He is also a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated Alpha Omega Chapter, has served on the Executive, Social, Scholarship and Social Action committees, and has held the office of Chapter Reporter. Ransom also served on the board of directors for

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Professionally, Ransom is the Director of Finance Transformation at Fannie Mae. He has served in multiple leadership positions since joining Fannie Mae in 2007, including Director of REMIC and MBS Tax Reporting, Director of Procurement Operations as well as leading some of the company’s largest strategic initiatives. Shortly after his arrival at Fannie Mae, Ransom was elected to be the president of the African Ancestry Employee Resource Group. He held that position from 2007 to 2011 and currently serves as an advisor to the leadership team. Prior to his employment with Fannie Mae, Ransom was a Senior Manager in the KPMG Structured Finance Group. In Ransom’s 11 years at KPMG, he served in several leadership roles including being the local chairperson of the KPMG Network of African Americans Affinity Group and member on the initial Diversity Council. For ten years, Ransom spearheaded the KPMG African American History Month Lecture Series in the Washington, D.C. Area which featured several prominent African American leaders.

Ransom is a proud alumnus of Howard University where he excelled in academics and athletics being named to the Academic All-America Team, Golden Key National Honor Society and All-MEAC Football First Team (1992).

Ransom resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife HarDisha and sons Ransom IV and Harrison.

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