A group of our students were in Orlando last weekend for the UNCF pre-alumni/alumni council conference. The current president of the pre-alumni council is Sade Daniels from PSC- she actually just completed her term. Out Miss UNCF at PSC is Alexis Davis, pictured here with some students and alumni.

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In 2007 I got an idea. I wanted to give a sweater to every student who joined a fraternity or sorority and happened to be #2 on their line. This concept is called selecting a special- an informal mentoring relationship that older members established with incoming members. In some regions of the country, people would select specials across organizations.

So with that idea I wanted to show that despite being in different groups, we all should work together because all  the groups have the same values and principles. So last spring (2011) each group on campus selected members and recently I received all of their sweaters to present. This was definitely a fun moment.

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Lem from Soul Food was on the yard yesterday! Of course, folks my age remember the hit series on Showtime which was the longest running TV drama with a majority black cast. But for most of the students, this is Grant from Stomp the Yard.

His name is Darrin DeWitt Henson, a very talented actor, choreographer and writer. Many know about his fitness dance taps, as he did choreography for the likes of Michael Jackson and N Sync. Our student Justin Cain (on the right) made the connection to bring him to campus.

Darrin has lots of good quotables last night. "Are we willing to shed the pounds of procrastination? Are we willing to build the mental muscle to burn the fat of procrastination?"

He challenged our focus, noting that we spend too much time with Twitter, Facebook, etc. and not focusing. He noted all the Apple products we own, but no Apple stock (I'm buying some ASAP).

My favorite comment from the night was how we use these four letter words: can't, stop, won't and don't. He went on to say, "Most of you are shoulding all over yourselves." Loved it!

Darrin hung out for a while, then afterward went and did karaoke. Defintely a good dude all the way around.

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Bless the Mic season seven moved into January with our guest, Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry. She has been BLOWING UP recently, just landing her own show on MSNBC while serving as a professor at Tulane and a columnist for The Nation. With 2012 being an election year, it was great having her insights.

In a wide-ranging lecture, Dr. Harris-Perry looked at the Constitution particularly with respect to the ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She noted the irony of Jefferson writing these eloquent phrases while living a contradiction.

She emphasized that college is still a great investment, noting the lower unemployment rates for those with a degree, but also noting that unemployment differential by race has existed for over 30 years- since it was tracked. She then talked about the prsion complex, noting that black women are the group being incarcerated at the fastest rate today.

Not only was she informative, she was VERY funny as well. She noted a special kinship Black people feel with President Obama just knowing he knows what a perm smells like! Definitely one of the best in a line of great Bless the Mic speakers.

Those who bought books coming in were smart- they were a hot item after she finished!

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Last Thursday we kicked off our spring Body Justice activities. This is an initiative to focus on the development of healthy lifestyles by all members of our community. Below are some scenes from that day.

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On Thursday our Social Justice Advisory board came to town for a series of discussions as we continue to embed social justice into the frabric of the institution. The group was formed in 2009 and had their first meeting on campus that fall. Our director of the social justice initiative, Dr. Joseph Jones, was a member of the advisory board before being recruited for the position. They will continue to provide recommendations so that we can expand our program.

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On Wednesday we held our spring institute for faculty and staff. It is a way for us to get focused as we prepare for the upcoming semester. As you can tell, everyone was happy to see each other.

Our speaker was Dr. James Minor of the Southern Education Foundation in Atlanta. A graduate of Jackson Sttate, with a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, he helped us to continue our year long focus on the HBCU ethos.

He wanted us to reconsider our perspective for this semester. His overall ideas were that HBCUs need to intentionally communicate their specialness, that faculty and staff should ask themselves if they do their jobs knowing that someone's life is in their hands, and that we should focus on innovation and not simply be consumers. His talk was very challenging and hopefully one we will reconsider not only this year but every year.

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Last year a report was released which ranked HBCUs based on the profile of incoming students (average SAT and ACT scores). For last year we ranked #9. But for the 2010-11 year, we moved up one spot to #8. Another great indicator of our progress.

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Top Historically Black Colleges and Universities - HBCU (2010-2011)

This article ranks the top Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the United States by average (midhinge) ACT and SAT scores for Fall 2010 enrollees. HBCUs are institutions of higher education that were established prior to 1964 for the purpose of serving black students.

For purposes of this article, HBCU are separately ranked according to their average ACT and SAT scores and then those two rankings are averaged to establish an overall ranking for each school.

 

1. Howard University

2. (tie) Spelman College, Morehouse College

3. Hampton University

4. Fisk University

5. Xavier University of Louisiana

6. Bluefield State College

7. Florida A & M University

8. Philander Smith College

9. (tie) Southern University, Jackson State University

10. Oakwood University