HBCU NIGHT FOR THE CULTURE

HBCU NIGHT FOR THE CULTURE BY KIMBERLEI DAVIS

In recent weeks we witnessed a hard stop in life as we knew it.

We’ve all had to grapple with the unprecedented times.

Once labeled a “Democratic hoax,” by the current administration, the coronavirus (COVID-19) reached all 50 states and the District of Columbia quicker than we could blink our eyes.

There were mandatory lockdowns and curfews, millions working from home, students e-learning, a rush on toilet tissue and hand sanitizer and devastating falls in the stock market - it left none of us untouched.

COVID-19 impacted all facets of daily life, including how businesses must operate.

College life, in particular life on an HBCU campus is all about being a part of the social scene.

For Andres Martin, founder and executive director of HBCU Night, Incorporated he, like so many other leaders, had to navigate what the next steps were after watching the virus wreck havoc on months of planned events.

The 11-city IMPACT Tour had stops still scheduled in Los Angeles, Miami and Houston before Dre and his team knew they had to pull the plug to ensure volunteer and attendees safety.

Most were to be held in arenas that were home to NBA teams. In an interview prior to the pandemic, I asked Dre about HBCU Night, Inc; its purpose and plan for the future.

HBCU TIMES: You describe HBCU Night as a multifaceted event that celebrates African-American heritage while creating awareness for HBCUs, how successful have the events been in terms of increasing enrollment?

DRE MARTIN: Our events have had a major impact on high school students from grades 9-12. Last year in Brooklyn, we were able to reach 50% of the 12th-grade attendees to go on to matriculate at HBCUs.

HBCU TIMES: What portion of proceeds from HBCU Night(s) go directly to institutions?

DRE MARTIN: Given our affiliation with the HBCU Alumni Alliance chapters nationwide and local partnerships with other Divine 9 and HBCU Alumni chapters, we were able to consult a proceed figure per ticket with each market. Each market has varied from $5-$10 on each ticket purchased for each chapter. This provides an opportunity for chapters to donate to scholarship funds, institutions, etc.

HBCU TIMES: You’ve been able to successfully partner with a number of NBA teams/arenas to host these events, how has that relationship helped with your mission?

MARTIN DRE MARTIN: Partnering with NBA teams has been great. It allows us to be a resource that helps contribute to community relations initiatives and provide our HBCU Night structure to present to a multitude of demographics in these arenas. Our mission is to create awareness for HBCUs in various diverse spaces and educate the prospective college students about illustrious HBCUs. This eventually leads to us providing resources for matriculation opportunities.

HBCU TIMES: Can you elaborate on current or former NBA players or executives who are HBCU grads and how they’ve helped advocate or become ambassadors for the cause?

DRE MARTIN: We have a list of prominent figures inducted into our HBCU Night Panel HOF, who have equally dedicated their time to spread the gospel for HBCUs. Some executives who have helped advocate for HBCU Night are DJ Envy, Real Estate mogul and Host of Power 105.1’s, The Breakfast Club, George F. Spencer, Executive Vice President of Business Development, Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Valeisha Butterfield-Jones, Global Head of Inclusion at Google just to name a few.

HBCU TIMES: Talk about the five components of HBCU Night:

DRE MARTIN: Well the HBCU To Executive Panel serves as an opportunity to enlighten prospective college students about our benefits of enrolling in our beloved HBCUs, our HBCU Fair is an opportunity for these prospective college students to also jump in front of recruiters and admissions representatives to learn more about what the curriculums have to offer, on-spot enrollment and scholarship opportunities as well. Our Diversity & Inclusion Career Fair is designed to help rising seniors in college

and alumni with career opportunities. Our Black Excellence Mixer is organized for us to celebrate Black Excellence, Divine 9 Excellence, and engage in a fundraiser opportunity and our Live Entertainment component is contingent on the entity we are partnering with but it’s organized to have chapter organizations enjoy entertainment in addition to the Black Excellence Mixer. Therefore, our components collectively are designed to appease a multitude of demographics and exude HBCU excellence.

HBCU TIMES: The IMPACT Tour has made at least six stops so far in major cities. Are there plans to take the tour to places where access isn’t as readily available?

DRE MARTIN: We think globally and act locally. Our goal is to reach as many locations in dire need of educational resources. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic we have cancelled the rest of The Impact Tour, but once circumstances are safe for large gatherings we will proceed to expand nationally and internationally to increase efforts and impact metrics.

HBCU TIMES: Share how HBCU Nights came to be and since its inception what have you learned about yourself?

DRE MARTIN: HBCU Night came to fruition from presenting our multifaceted strategy in a few boardrooms during my tenure at the Brooklyn Nets. My presentation was on why it made sense from a corporate responsibility standpoint and a community relations standpoint. I learned I’m just another HBCU advocate who loves to celebrate HBCUs. HBCUs played a critical role in history and mean so much for the trajectory of this country and because of that I knew I was willing to dedicate my entire career to add more to the legacy of HBCUs.

HBCU TIMES: When you and your team are putting together panelists, what about the guests resumé makes him or her stand out?

DRE MARTIN: This is an exciting time for our board. For myself, I seek for industry executives and leaders who have made a significant impact in their careers. It’s about the message they can convey and the inspirational stories they can share as well. Our list of prospective speakers is a great list and our goal is to see how they can explain the benefits of attending HBCUs and how their HBCU has helped them navigate to their executive seats they sit in today.

HBCU TIMES: What did your time as a Tiger at Grambling State University deposit in you?

DRE MARTIN: Grambling’s motto is “Where Everybody is Somebody.” This is exactly what Grambling exudes. It was the best experience I had as a college student as I was gaining true independence, but also learning the possibilities of me achieving my goals were up to me. The community at Grambling was family oriented and I felt accepted. The student life was incredible. I think that’s why I love Grambling so much because it introduced me to my adulthood and challenged me academically so much it helped me develop significantly in the time I was there. It was also refreshing to see how many successful alumni have paved the way. That’s exactly what a young Black scholar like myself needed at the time, direction and inspiration.

HBCU TIMES: You’re wrapping up studies at Howard University, how have you been able to integrate worklife while spearheading the tour?

DRE MARTIN: It has been a challenge, but I have learned it is important to manage time strategically down to each minute. With time being the most valuable commodity on earth, I knew these tasks were going to be attainable to achieve, but I had to remain focused on completing my list of tasks every day. Whether it was jumping off a call for HBCU Night to jumping on a conference call with my EMBA professors/cohort, I had to focus on prioritizing, balancing and executing my tasks accordingly..

HBCU TIMES: Share at least two memories from attendees at one of the HBCU Night events.

DRE MARTIN:

There were many groups of bright young scholars who engaged with great questions all over the country, but seeing how Hamilton High School in LA (where the late great Nipsey Hussle attended) engaged in asking important questions and the panel replying with responses to the point where the audience were snapping their fingers (as if it were a poetry reading) was fulfilling because it showed how much the students wanted to learn. Also, there were scholarships handed out in many markets, but seeing the expression for $50k being issued in Memphis from PSC recruiter, Tamara Bates, was joyful.

HBCU TIMES: What lasting impact would you like for HBCU Night to have and do you see a need for it in 2040?

DRE MARTIN: I would like to see HBCU Night continue to serve as a resource that helps with the decision-making process for the future executives, doctors, lawyers, presidents, and more. I want to see how many students we are/were able to help encourage to evolve and help them discover purpose through the many effective curriculums our HBCUs have to offer. Our programming is essential. Unless there is significant change in economic inequality status, diversity in the corporate sector and a significant increase of c-suite leaders from HBCUs, then it will indeed be necessary to continue to advocate for HBCUs with our five philanthropic components. HBCU Night is also an experience to be able to celebrate and exude HBCU excellence and that legacy shall live on forever.

HBCU TIMES: What’s your ask?

DRE MARTIN: Our ask is to partner with large corporations and other small businesses to help with these philanthropic initiatives. These students from lower socioeconomic areas deserve an opportunity to learn more about HBCUs from a multitude of HBCU organizations, alumni and other advocates in addition to live entertainment. We want to expand efforts and we want the HBCU community to continue to join arms for our next generations of scholars and leaders.

College students work hard to get to their senior year.

That special time when family, friends, Frats and Sorors get to see you turn your tassel.

It’s still up in the air for many colleges and universities if and when commencement will happen.

Social distancing has become the ‘new normal’ for an American culture that is all about being social albeit on Insta or TikTok.

So what do we do? We stay together to help each other and help those who need our aid.

We focus on what is important right now — our health, the health of our families, friends, and communities.

Before the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans were largely barred from white-dominated institutions of higher education.

And so Black Americans, and their White supporters, established their own schools across the South to educate emancipated slaves, which came to be known as Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The Morrill Act of 1890, which required states to provide land-grants for colleges to serve black students, allowed HBCUs to build their own campuses.

As a result, Black students who previously had negligible opportunities to attend college, now had a greater sense of purpose and a place they could truly call their own.

With more than 100 of which are still open today, HBCUs, afforded Blacks the opportunity to pursue degrees in environments where they were supported, protected, reaffirmed and in most cases gave them dignity.

HBCU graduates helped launch the Civil Rights Movement, built the Black middle class, staffed the pulpits of Black churches, have gone on to win Noble and Pulitzer Prizes, Oscars, and become professors at their alma mater.

Some people still ask whether HBCUs have outlived their purpose.

Yet for the students who attend them and for graduates who have walked their halls, HBCUs still play a crucial — and unique — role.

Hear first-person testimony from the Frederick and McDuffie family about why they chose an HBCU.

Like most social media challenges, all you need is a phone and willing participants.

What started as a trip home in 2019 to spend Christmas with her parents in Sumter, South Carolina, the click of a button with Fredereka McDuffie’s family resulted in a moment in history to be shared for generations to come.

BY KIMBERLEI DAVIS

With her family onboard to represent their respective HBCUs “it was on.”

As the winners of HBCU Times’ family legacy photo challenge, the South Carolina State University Bulldog (‘92) said, the moment “caused me to pause and really reflect on the beautiful legacy that our parents have bequeathed to us. As proud HBCU alum, their educational journeys set the framework for our own journeys. My

mom use to say when we were growing up, ‘You need an HBCU experience’ and she was right,” the Clark Atlanta University (‘96) alumna exclaimed.

“It framed not only our intellectual journeys, but our worldview, our sense of being in the world, our friendships and relationships and our deep appreciation for the work of black institution building – whether supporting black colleges, black businesses or black churches.” Atlanta residents Fredereka and her husband Kelvin sponsor an annual SC State Bulldog Scholarship at Cascade United Methodist Church so that as many students as possible can have that HBCU experience that her parents L.C. and Carolyn Frederick and Bernice McDuffie Wright touted.

Before retiring as a professor at Morris College and as Lee County School District’s Assistant Superintendent/Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Carolyn Frederick and Bernice McDuffie Wright were both Valedictorians of their high schools.

See for Fredereka, her sister Marla, and their spouses Kelvin and Eric, “Black Excellence” has been a thing before they were born.

L.C., a former baseball player at Morris College (‘65), hit a home run when he met his bride while they both were pursuing MBAs in Finance at then Atlanta University (‘67 and ‘66).

“Black Excellence looks like equal opportunity for growth and development,” said the financial advisor and former student body vice president.

For the Southern University Jaguar (‘65), Carolyn believes, “Black excellence is being your absolute best and helping others along the way.”

“Black excellence is our culture...setting goals... looking into yourself and using your skills and talents to the best of your ability,” said South Carolina State University alumna Bernice McCants McDuffie Wright (‘66, ‘76 and ‘85).

As the patriarch and matriarchs of their families who each endured the effects of segregation and discrimination, they’ve only used those experiences to impact the world in areas of education, accounting, business and to “pass on this HBCU legacy to my grandchildren so that they too can succeed.”

Tatyana McDuffie was in the final stretch of her freshman year at Howard University when the COVID-19 pandemic hit America - hundreds of miles away from her two sisters and parents Fredereka and Kelvin. The Dean’s List student in the School of Communications’

Annenburg Honors Program forged her own path as a Bison and not a Bulldog like her parents.

However, it’s their shared belief on the relevance of HBCUs that would make the faint of heart believe in the vision laid out many years ago.

“(HBCUs) produce many of the Black leaders of tomorrow...the culture of HBCUs has influenced mainstream media and pop culture,” Tatyana said.

As a student at SC State (‘90), Tatyana’s father’s most memorable collegiate experience came when he had a chance to speak on the floor at the SC State House, “in an effort to get more funds to support the School of Engineering.”

“We sustain HBCUs by making them a part of our annual giving efforts. We can also help by making a more concerted effort to compel others like professional athletes...to pool resources and give,” the NAACP and National Society of Black Engineers member said.

Marla had a scholarship to attend the University of South Carolina, the high school senior turned it down and went on to become Miss Spelman College (‘93/’94).

Dr. Frederick Pristell (‘94) said winning the photo challenge was an opportunity to “celebrate a president, Dr. O.R. Reuben and his wife Dr. Anna D. Reuben, who embraced my father and made room for him to attend Morris College as a young sharecropper from Dunbarton, South Carolina.”

“I chose North Carolina Central University because of its track record of affirming the racial/ethnic identity of AfricanAmerican students, the ability and capacity to educate students to think critically and analyze data-information effectively and the ability to graduate debt free.”

For these three reasons Eric Pristell said he’s able to, “benefit from the return on the investment in my education.” Supporting your HBCU is so much more than just wearing a t-shirt; it’s about digging your heels in when times such as these are tough and our institutions are relying on alumni for support.

The Frederick and McDuffie family are a shining example of what it means to listen to the heeding of your ancestors and the voice of God.

These men and women have traveled life’s path by shattering ceilings in education and business arenas, helping people get financial independence and they’ve used their sorority and fraternity circle of influence to cultivate change.

Change, though necessary, is often hard.

One thing that the current state of affairs has taught us even more clearly is that those in your four walls are our legacy.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our family, just like most families; We have not seen our parents face-to-face since February and we typically see our parents and siblings pretty regularly,” Frederka said.

“I believe a pandemic like this really makes you look at what matters most- spending as much time as possible with the ones you love as tomorrow is not promised.”

22 | HBCU Times 2020 Summer Issue WRIGHT

Transformation Through Collaboration www.scsu.edu

DID YOU KNOW...

SC State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). In addition, several of its programs are accredited by 14 national accrediting agencies. SC State University was founded in 1896 as the state’s only publicly supported HBCU. SC State University has a currrent student enrollment of approximately 2,500. SC State University is one of only two South Carolina Land Grant Institutions (Clemson). SC State University is the top producer of African American Teachers and School Administrators in South Carolina. Eighty-Five percent of SC State University’s student population are South Carolina residents. SC State Universityhas an economic impact of more than $145 million on the Greater Orangeburg Region, creating more than 1,500 jobs annually. SC State University’s notable alumni include U.S. House of Representatives Majority Whip James E. Clyburn; Miss USA 2017 Kara McCullough; NFL Rookie of the Year Darius Leonard; The Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr., Senior U.S. District Judge; The Honorable Ernest A. Finney, Jr., former S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice and The Honorable Donald Beatty, third African American Supreme Court Judge in South Carolina. SC State University’s School of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, a distinction held by only 5% of business schools worldwide. SC State Universityoffers signature programs in civil, industrial, electrical, and mechanical engineering, and has the only undergraduate program in nuclear engineering in South Carolina. SC State University is recognized for its coveted accredited programs in speech pathology & audiology, education, business, biology, criminal justice, music industry and communications. SC State University’s world renowned ROTC “Bulldog Battalion” has produced 22 general officers, second only to West Point. SC State University is designated as a National Academic Center of Excellence in Cyber Defense Education. SC State University’s head football Coach, Oliver “Buddy” Pough, is the Winningest Coach in SC State history. SC State University has partnered with the U.S. Coast Guard to allow students to transition into the branch and commission as officers. SC State University’s Department of Education has been awarded $1.4 million by the South Carolina Legislature to fund its Minority Access To Teacher Education (MATTE) Program. Follow SC State University SC State University’s Biology Department partnered with MUSC for $12.5M research grant in Cancer Research.

This adage holds true for California native Jamal Josef.

The celebrity choreographer and Voorhees College alum is acquainted with struggle and it makes him appreciative of the process, preparation, and prosperity.

In the days of Insta-gratification and people wanting Instasuccess, few appreciate true grind and seldom realize that anything you gain instantly can instantly be taken away.

Before he was helping Beyoncé create a whole mood during 2018’s Coachella - the most searched performance in Google history (according to the tech giant) or choreographing the moves for Wanda Sykes and Faith Evans for Bounce TV’s 28th Trumpet Awards, he watched his car get repossessed, found himself living on a friends’ sofa for a few weeks and selling his beloved dog just to get by.

Unashamed of the lesson’s life has taught, Jamal is an overcomer.

Raised a PK and a member of an entertainment family, Jamal had assurance that there was a call on his life, but sought how to make the two fit.

Josef has performed with award-winning artists like Raphael Saadiq, Kirk Franklin and The Walls Group and his talent has been featured on NBC’s “World of Dance” and “Saturday Night Live.”

A 2010 graduate, Josef earned an undergraduate degree in mass communications.

Making the transition from a Texas high school that was nearly double the size of Denmark was not an easy adjustment - at first.

Arriving on campus with an academic and choir scholarship in tow, Jamal was set to make his mark - but if he could only get a few bars.

“I was like ‘I have AT&T, why don’t I have a cell signal in this city,’” he quipped. “It was definitely a culture shock and slower pace of life.”

VOORHEES ALUM AND CHOREOGRAPHER TO THE STARS

BY KIMBERLEI DAVIS