RESCHEDULED DATE: Saturday, February 6, 2010

The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc/ Hayti Heritage Center send our condolences to the people of Haiti. This catastrophe is beyond comprehension to a people who have been struggling to recovery from natural disasters over the last year. In an effort to act the Foundation along with 18 groups and over 100 artists from Durham and surrounding communities will come together to raise money at the DURHAM ARTISTS FOR HAITI RELIEF CONCERT, Saturday, January 30 in the St. Joseph’s Performance Hall at the Hayti Heritage Center beginning at 5:00 pm – 12 midnight. Suggested donation of $20 at the door and all proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross for Haiti Relief.

“I have been so saddened by the events in Haiti and after talking with others in the community just felt we need to do something to show our support as artists. So I begin to plan this concert last week and it has all come together with the support of so many people, businesses and volunteers. We (Hayti Heritage Center) have a unique connection to Haiti having been named after the first free and independence nation of the Diaspora. In addition to a link that many may not know that is seen daily on top of the steeple of the historic St. Joseph’s structure- a VeVe (the weathervane) which is the symbol of Erzulie, The Goddess of Love, which is a voodoo symbol worshiped in the Haitian culture”, states V. Dianne Pledger, President/CEO of St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation.

We are fortunate to have artists that are willing to give back to support worthy causes, and on Saturday night the public will have the opportunity to hear some jazz, gospel, R & B, comedy, spoken word, blues, a little bit of everything to raise money to support the efforts to restore the nation of Haiti.

Scheduled to appear: Prince Miah & The Girl ToyZ, The Marcus Anderson Group, Baron Tymas Trio, Jasme Kelly, The Rise Band, Bull City Slam Team, The William Darity Group, Jatovie McDuffie, Jennifer Evans Gospel, Brandi Q & PB Band, Darrell Stover, Cinnamon Davis, Dasun Ahanu, The Johnny White Band, The William McLaughlin Group, Ian Siler & True Prayze, Kurt Melges & Leslie Land and more.

We urge you to support the recovery of this nation with a financial contribution; our neighbors in Haiti are racing to confront the enormous devastation. It is at times such as this that our help is need most. If you are unable to attend the concert the Hayti Heritage Center has set up a fund which will be sent to the Red Cross for relief efforts. You may donate through our on line donation system and identify your contribution for Haitian Earthquake Relief, or drop by the Hayti Heritage Center. Our prayers are with the Haitian community throughout the world.

Additional relief efforts and contact information is as follows:

Donate

• Financial Donations
  • Donate $10 to the American Red Cross – charged to your cell phone bill – by texting “HAITI” to “90999.”
  • Contribute online to the Red Cross
• Find more ways to help through the Center for International Disaster Information.

The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. (SJHF) founded in 1975, is an African American cultural and educational institution deeply rooted in the historic Hayti community of Durham, North Carolina. SJHF is dedicated to advancing cultural understanding through diverse programs that examine the experiences of Americans of African descent – locally, nationally and globally. The Foundation is committed to preserving, restoring and developing the Hayti Heritage Center, the former St. Joseph’s AME Church, a National Historic Landmark, as a cultural and economic anchor to the greater Durham community. For more information call (919) 683-1709 or www.hayti.org

North Carolina Central University will celebrate Black History Month in its Centennial Year with a series of events that are free and open to the public. The keynote speaker is Glenn Harris, associate professor, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, who will address this year’s theme, “The History of Black Economic Empowerment.” The lecture is scheduled for Monday, February 15, at 3 p.m. in the H.M. Michaux, Jr. School of Education Auditorium.

On Tuesday, February 9, Dr. Ben Carson, director, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, will speak from his book, Think Big, in the McDougald – McLendon Gymnasium, at 3 p.m. A book signing and reception will follow the program.

The stage comedy, “Dance on Widow’s Row” by playwright and North Carolina native Samm-Art Williams will open at the University Theatre, Friday, February 12, at 8 p.m. NCCU students will lend their talents to this production set in Port Town – a fictional, coastal community. This play was featured in the 2001 National Black Theater Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C. Kenneth Hinton, adjunct instructor, is the director.

Other highlights include a lecture by Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence, Oluwafemi Faseum, “Talking Drums as Instruments for Music Making and Communication in West Africa,” a cello recital, “A Cello Recital of Negro Spirituals,” by Associate Professor Timothy Holley, and what has been billed as an “African American Cultural Explosion,” sponsored by the Earle E. Thorpe Historian Society. For more details, visit <www.nccu.edu>.

Discussion/Presentation – “Youth for Justice”
Date & Time: February 1, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Location: Alfonso Elder Student Union, Room 146 – 146A
Description: Speakers include Tomasi Larry, Benita Artis, Charmaine Troy and Norma Petway

Lecture – “Talking Drums As Instruments For Music Making And Communication In West Africa”
Date & Time: February 2, 5:30 p.m.
Location: BRITE Building, Room 1050
Description: The event speaker will be Oluwafemi Faseum, Fulbright scholar-in-residence, NCCU Department of Music.

Film – “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin”
Date & Time: February 2, 6 p.m.
Location: Miller – Morgan Building, Auditorium
Description: The NCCU Department of Public Health Education will sponsor this event. A reception will follow the film.

Lecture – “Marcus Garvey: Race First”
Date & Time: February 3, 3 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 201
Description: The event speaker will be Balca Ceesay, NCCU undergraduate student.

Discussion – “Hayti and the Parrish Street Gang During the Jim Crow Era”
Date & Time: February 4, 2:30 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 207
Description: The event speaker will be André Vann, university archivist.

Film – “Favela Rising”
Date & Time: February 5, 11 a.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 205
Description: The NCCU Department of History will sponsor this event.

Exhibit – “Alexander (Alex) Rivera: Pioneer Photojournalist for Black America”
Date & Time: February 7, 2 p.m.
Location: NCCU Museum of Art
Description: The exhibit will run through April 23.

Lecture/ Video Presentation – “Reviewing A Colored School, A Narrative Film on Black Education, Self-Determination, and Pride: Parallels to the NCCU Traditional Experience”
Date & Time: February 8, 1 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 207
Description: The event speaker will be Janice Dargan, visiting assistant professor, NCCU Department of English and Mass Communication.

Lecture – Lyceum Program Speaker Dr. Ben Carson
Date & Time: February 9, 3 p.m.
Location: McDougald – McLendon Gymnasium
Description: Dr. Ben Carson, director, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, will speak.

Lecture – “The Right Man: The Genealogy of James Edward Shepard, 1875– 1947”
Date & Time: February 10, 3 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 203
Description: Historian Henry Lewis Suggs will speak.

Lecture – “Uncovering the Lost Papacy: The Three Black Popes”
Date & Time: February 11, 10:45 a.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 207
Description: NCCU undergraduate student James Blackwell will speak.

Play – “Dance on Widow’s Row”
Date & Time: February 12, 13, 19 & 20, 8 p.m.
Location: Farrison Newton-Communications, University Theatre
Description: A Samm– Art Williams comedy, directed by NCCU visiting lecturer Ken Hinton, will be performed by NCCU’s Department of Theatre.

Lecture – “The History of Black Economic Empowerment”
Date & Time: February 15, 3 p.m.
Location: H.M. Michaux, Jr. School of Education, Auditorium
Description: Glenn Harris, associate professor, University of North Carolina at Wilmington will offer this keynote address.

Presentation – “President Barack Obama: Identity and Dreams of My Father”
Date & Time: February 16, 6 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 207
Description: Michael V. Taliefero, NCCU undergraduate student will speak.

Lecture – “NCCU’s Economic Impact on the Durham Community”
Date & Time: February 17, 3 p.m.
Location: C.T. Willis Commerce Building, Room 315
Description: Andrea Harris, president of N.C. Institute of Minority Economic Development, will speak.

Lecture – “Infected with Fear: White Supremacy in North Carolina Politics 1876– 1965”
Date & Time: February 17, 7 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 201
Description: A.J. Donaldson, NCCU graduate student, will speak.

Film – “The Jackie Robinson Story”
Date & Time: February 18, 11 a.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 205
Description: The NCCU Department of History will sponsor this event.

Lecture – “It is Deeper than Rap: ‘Caught the Jingle but not the Music,’ Gangsta Rap and Black Masculinity”
Date & Time: February 18, 1 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 201 – B
Description: Brian Robinson, NCCU graduate student, will speak.

Seminar – “Somebody Had to do it: Children on the Front Lines of School Desegregation—Engaging HBCU Students as Researchers”
Date & Time: February 19, 1 p.m.
Location: Alfonso Elder Student Union, Room 146 – 146A
Description: Paula Q. Hall, NCCU associate professor, and Millicent E. Brown, associate professor, Claflin University will speak.

Film – “Black Panthers and San Francisco State: On Strike”
Date & Time: February 22, 11 a.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 205
Description: The NCCU Department of History will sponsor this event.

Lecture – “Grace Campbell: Cooperatives and Black Economic Empowerment”
Date & Time: February 23, 6 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 201
Description: Lydia Lindsey, NCCU associate professor will speak.

Lecture – “Maroon and Gray: Fight or Flight, Slaves in Antebellum Eastern North Carolina”
Date & Time: February 24, 3 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 207
Description: Marcus Nevius, graduate student, NCCU, will speak.

Lecture – “’Segregation Must and Will be Destroyed’: Louis Austin, the Carolina Times, and the Long Civil Rights Movement”
Date & Time: February 25, 2:30 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 201
Description: Jerry Gershenhorn, NCCU associate professor, will speak.

Panel Discussion – “Sixty Years of Health Education at North Carolina Central University”
Date & Time: February 25, 6 p.m.
Location: Miller-Morgan Building, Auditorium
Description: Event speakers include B.T. McMillon, Howard Fitts, Ted Parrish, Laverne Reid, and LaHoma Romocki.

Book Presentation/Signing – Adriana Lentz-Smith
Date & Time: February 26, 3 p.m.
Location: Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 201-B
Description: Adriana Lentz-Smith, Duke University assistant professor and author of Freedom Struggles: African Americans and World War I, will speak.

Musical Performance – “Negro Spirituals and Cello Music of African Americans”
Date & Time: February 28, 4 p.m.
Location: Edwards Music Building, Recital Hall
Description: Timothy Holley, NCCU associate professor will perform.

“African American Cultural Explosion”
Date & Time: February 28, 6 p.m.
Location: Alfonso Elder Student Union
Description: This event is sponsored by the Earle E. Thorpe Historian Society.

In the 114th annual meeting of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) that concluded yesterday in Atlanta, North Carolina Central University received reaffirmation of its accreditation as a degree-granting institution of higher education. The next formal review will be conducted in 2019.

Chancellor Charlie Nelms said, “I’m obviously pleased that the Commission reaffirmed our accreditation. I want to thank the faculty and staff for their continuous commitment to teaching and learning and their diligent pursuit of means to enhance the quality and effectiveness of our programs.”

The university offered its self-evaluation to the Commission several months prior to SACS’ reaffirmation visit conducted April 14 – 16, 2009, by a team of administrators from peer institutions. Chaired by Dr. Velvelyn Foster, vice president for academic affairs and student life at Jackson State University, the team assessed NCCU’s compliance with the Association’s standards. They also evaluated the university’s required Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) titled Communicating to Succeed.

Subsequent to their assessment, Dr. Pauletta Bracy, NCCU’s director of accreditations, led the effort by campus faculty and staff to address the action items identified prior to the submission of the on-site team’s final status report to the Commission this fall.

“This process of reaffirmation has been a valuable exercise in our continued quest for excellence and it is especially significant as it falls during our centennial year,” said Bracy.

NCCU elected to focus its QEP on improving the quality of students’ oral and written communication skills. The university has begun to invest greater resources in its writing and speaking laboratories and to institute greater emphasis on these skills throughout the curricula.

North Carolina Central University’s Staff Senate, Sodexo, the NCCU Academic Community Service Learning Program and WNCU 90.7 FM are collaborating to collect food donations to benefit the Durham Rescue Mission. They’re seeking help to feed hungry families during the holidays. On Friday, November 20, WNCU will broadcast live from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the McLean Parking Lot to fill NCCU vans with food. The lot is located on the corner of Nelson and Fayetteville Streets near the Alfonso Elder Student Union.

“We are a strong and compassionate group that cares about our students, faculty, and staff, but also, the community of which we are a part,” states Rebie Coleman, chair of NCCU’s Staff Senate. “During these tough economic times, we realize there is a tremendous need, so we’re calling on others to help us help them by donating food.”

The Durham Rescue Mission needs non-perishable food items including canned meats, canned vegetables, soups, sugar, coffee and tea to restock their pantries to feed hungry families in the community. On Thanksgiving Day, the Durham Rescue Mission hosts an annual Thanksgiving Community Dinner. They serve a free traditional thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings, and give away free clothing and free groceries.

“We have been blessed to have mild weather but still we have had record attendance of 199 men, women and children staying at the mission this fall,” said Gail Mills, co-founder of the Durham Rescue Mission.

For additional information or how you can help, call Rebie Coleman at (919) 530-5369.

North Carolina Central University formally announced the unexpected selection of its Marching Sound Machine band for the 2011 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif. Under the directorship of Jorim E. Reid, North Carolina Central University will take part in the famous New Year’s Day parade considered to be one of this country’s triple crown of marching band honors.

“There is Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the John Philip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Trophy for most outstanding college or university band, and the Tournament of Roses Parade,” said Reid. “The Rose Parade was in my 15-year plan. I didn’t intend to submit an application for another seven years.”

But Reid’s success over the course of his initial eight years as director at NCCU, particularly his band’s five consecutive appearances at the annual Honda Battle of the Bands (HBOB), gained the attention of Rose Parade officials. The rumor was that he should take a chance and apply.

Indeed, NCCU simultaneously announced the band’s selection, for the sixth year in a row, to perform at the HBOB Invitational Showcase scheduled for January 30, 2010, in Atlanta, Ga. The Georgia Dome concert likely will draw 60,000 fans to watch presentations by the eight historically black college or university (HBCU) bands that tallied the most votes out of a field of 45 contestants.

For the Tournament of Roses Parade, bands are selected based on their musicianship, marching ability, and showmanship. Reid emphasizes musicianship above all else. “It’s all about their skill as musicians,” said Reid. “We don’t want to blast our audience but rather, engage them with a high quality listening experience.”

Drum Major Donald Parker, III, a senior in music education, expressed his satisfaction that “the trials and tribulations we go through” had been rewarded.

Now, the band will ramp up practices and the university will gear up to raise the approximately $2,000 per student it will cost to attend the California events. Part of the Rose Parade experience for the musicians includes assistance with float preparation, and performance at Bandfest during the three days prior to New Year’s Day, 2011. For them, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. NCCU is precluded from applying again for another four years.

For additional details, visit North Carolina Central University’s Homecoming Website.

What would happen if a surgeon walked into an operating room without a scalpel? Not much. What would happen if a teacher ran out of chalk? A lot.  Today, the classroom is different and Dr. Patricia Russell-McCloud is ready to move students, professors, administrators, and the community to new levels of collaboration.

Russell-McCloud is coming to North Carolina Central University as part of the institution’s Centennial Lyceum program on Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at 6 p.m, in the McDougald- McLendon Gymnasium.  The topic of the lecture is Education Upgrade—Empowering, Energizing and Enlightening!

According to the motivational speaker’s biography, she is an “internationally acclaimed orator and author who motivates and encourages students, and faculty… to increase their educational opportunities for mainstream opportunities in the public and private sector job markets.”

The lecture Education Upgrade—Empowering, Energizing and Enlightening! is free and open to the public. For additional information, please contact:  Natasha Adams at (919) 530-6932 or email: <nadams@nccu.edu>.

North Carolina Central University kicks off the first session of its Lunch and Learn Series at the James E. Shepard Memorial Library, room 140, Tuesday, September 15, 2009, at 12 noon. According to Theodosia T. Shields, the director of library services, the university is hosting Durham resident and best-selling author Michele Bowen. “Bowen will read from her humorous book, Up at the College, and will sign copies at the end of the session,” says Shields.

Attendees are encouraged to bring lunch. The library staff will provide dessert.

Shields says, “Up at the College is about love, loss, seemingly insurmountable difficulties and spiritual renewal.” Bowen is known for her books about the African-American church and its practices. Reportedly, some believe characters in the book are drawn from her experiences at NCCU, others see it as a story about Duke University. Bowen will only say she is a “satirist and a devout Christian.” She is the author of Church Folk, Second Sunday, and Holy Ghost Corner, and a member of St. Joseph’s African Methodist Episcopal Church in Durham.

For more information, please contact Dorcas Mason at (919) 530-6475.

North Carolina Central University is the first publicly supported liberal arts college for African-Americans and this year, U.S. News & World Report ranked NCCU among the top ten HBCUs in the country. As NCCU celebrates its Centennial Year, a diverse student body of more than 8,500 students is enrolled in programs such as law, business, library science, nursing, education, and biotechnology.

WNCU is a proud sponsor of the 36th Annual CenterFest presented by the Durham Arts Council coming up in September.

Durham Arts Council proudly presents
The 36th Annual CenterFest – The Art Lover’s Festival!
Saturday, September 19th – 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday, September 20th – 12 noon – 6 pm

Location: Foster Street at Hunt Street adjacent to Durham Central Park in Downtown Durham.
Information: www.centerfest.durhamarts.org

Each fall for 36 years, hundreds of juried fine artists, craftsmen and performers from across the country gather together in downtown Durham to dazzle, inspire, delight and entertain you. Find your perfect match at North Carolina’s longest-running outdoor arts festival, where it’s easy to find the art you love.

CenterFest 2009 features 117 visual artists from 9 states, plus continuous entertainment by over 200 performing artists on three stages.
Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $4.00 at the gate ($12 suggested donation for families of 4 or more). Proceeds go towards the DAC Annual Arts Fund, which supports arts programs, artists, and arts organizations in the community.

North Carolina Central University was ranked tenth in the nation and first in the state according to U.S. News and World Report’s survey of historically black colleges and universities on measures of the quality of undergraduate education. It is the top-rated public HBCU in the country.

“We are taking a moment to appreciate this good news but only a moment,” said NCCU’s Chancellor Charlie Nelms. “Our objective is to become even stronger.”

The ranking was based on retention and graduation rates, class size, faculty preparedness and compensation, and the opinions of administrators among the 81 HBCUs surveyed.

Behind NCCU, North Carolina’s Elizabeth City State University placed eleventh, followed by Winston-Salem State University (17), Johnson C. Smith University (19), Bennett College (21), North Carolina A&T State University (25), and Fayetteville State University (29). Livingstone College, Shaw University, and Saint Augustine’s College were unranked.

According to U.S. News and World Report, the top ten HBCUs in the nation are:
Spellman College, Atlanta Ga. (1); Howard University, Washington D.C. (2); Morehouse College, Atlanta Ga. (3); Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn. (4); Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, La. (5); Hampton University, Hampton Va. (6); Tuskegee University, Tuskegee Ala. (7); Claflin University, Orangeburg S.C. (8); Dillard University, New Orleans, La. (8); and North Carolina Central University, Durham N.C. (10).