My child at the fair yesterday.

The Prez

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Unfortunately, it doesn't get a lot of play. There is no CNN "Abused in America" series. Churches don't talk about it. Neither do schools. And yet, 1 in 4 women will experience it in their lifetime, with the group most at risk being 20-24 years old- college aged women. So when thinking about someone to bring for our social justice chapel, I had to bring Kemba Smith this year.

This was a very high profile situation, and yet I still find many who don't know about her. Kemba started at Hampton University, got involved with a drug dealer, and ended up spending 6 1/2 years in jail for her role in drug trafficking. She turned herself in at 6 months pregnant, and had her son while incarcerated.

President Clinton pardoned her in 2000, and she has been actively speaking since then. Her message resonated with the women on campus because unfortunately, some of them are already in abusive relationships. Our task is finding out how to make them whole so they can listen to their inner voices and walk away.

For more on Kemba, go to her site: http://www.kembasmithfoundation.org/

The Prez

Last night, our Panther Programming Union (PPU) and the International Students Association sponsored a documentary by Patrick Mureithi, a native of Kenya, about the Rwanda genocide and a program to reconcile persons engaged on both sides of the conflict. Several Arkansas schools are working with the Rwandan government to educate students here. We are one of the schools, and we had students attend last night from Hendrix College and UALR.

About 130 attended, which is great for a 90 minute documentary and discussion on a rainy Monday night. Patrick participated on the panel with about 8 of the Rwandan students (3 from PSC). It was a great event and very educational. If you want to learn more about this documentary, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAN_-Ylpjuw

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Each fall, the UNCF member presidents and board meet on a campus. 2 years ago, we hosted everyone here. This past week, we were at the place Booker T. Washington built- Tuskegee University.

Our host was Dr. Benjamin Payton, 5th president of Tuskegee. That's right- they have only had 5 presidents. He is in his 28th year as president.

I was excited to do the campus tour, and we also visited the Tuskegee Airmen memorial.

We were also able to attend a nice banquet where we heard the Tuskegee choir as well- they were excellent. So it was a great time at Tuskegee.

The Prez

Mid-terms are this week.

The Black Male Initiative did study tables on Sunday to get the men focused.

My freshman orientation class took a tough quiz today- you've got to know your PSC history!

The Prez

One of the most highly anticipated Bless the Mic events in the history of the series was Gabrielle Union. I really think people didn't believe she was actually coming to PSC. But by now, people should know anything is possible.

She spent time with the Street team for a private autograph party, and then attended a dinner with VIP guests (including little Kimbroughs).

She took more pictures, including the program participants, Brooke and Anthony.

The lecture was sponsored by Verizon Wireless. Remarks were given by PSC alumnus, Sherman Tate, on behalf of Verizon.

I hyped her up

And she took the stage. She commented that since I quoted Ice Cube in the intro, she had to give the keep it real speech!

She did a great job telling her story. Growing up in Nebraska, dealing with being a Black girl in an overwhelmingly white area, feeling lost as a student at UCLA, and being raped while at work.

Her overall message was that you can take control of your life once you decide who you are. She wasn't preachy, but just down to earth and conversational. I'm sure the 600+ in attendance would agree.

This definitely was a great hit. Having a chance to hang out with her after the lecture was definitely a highlight for me and I am definitely an even bigger fan these days. She is truly good people and a new friend of the hip hop president and PSC.

The Prez

Today we held our Pathfinders Mentoring program reception. The program is a way for new students to meet faculty and staff in hopes of finding a person to serve as an on campus mentor.

The event was set like speed dating. During the first round, students went to various tables for 1 minute introductions.

During the second round, they would spend 2 minutes with the faculty or staff person, asking more detailed questions. At the end, they could talk to whomever they wanted to and begin to select mentors.

Over 40 students participated and about 25 faculty and staff. We have to keep working to get more faculty and staff to participate as the students are eager to make connections, but two mentees per person is still very manageable.

We'll see who I get as a mentee.

The Prez

Little Rock is finally coming up! John Legend came to town!

He did a 90 minute set, with the first 80 minutes non-stop, and then doing 2 encore numbers. The band was tight, and we had a great crowd.

Members of the Black Male Initiative attended as a group, and got a chance to meet John Legend after the show.

And so did Adria Kimbrough.

As well as The Prez!