Just over 10 years ago, the private equity mogul Glenn Hutchins was on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. With his 25th Harvard College reunion near, he was thinking about how to put some of his wealth to good use. One afternoon, clad in a T-shirt and board shorts, he stopped at an old whaling chapel, where Henry Louis Gates Jr., the prominent professor of African and African-American studies at Harvard, was leading a symposium. That encounter gave Mr. Hutchins his cause.
Since then, Mr. Hutchins has strengthened his connection to Mr. Gates and the Harvard program. Their bond will become stronger on Wednesday, when Mr. Hutchins is expected to announce a gift of more than $15 million to create the Hutchins Center for African and African-American Research, solidifying Harvard’s program as one of the top in its field. “It creates an infrastructure for the department and a solid foundation on which they can thrive,” Mr. Hutchins said in an interview this month.
The gift — part of a previously announced $30 million donation to the university whose uses had not all been specified — also bespeaks a friendship between two men unlike each other in many respects. One is a wealthy white financier whose firm, Silver Lake, is on the verge of taking over the computer maker Dell with its founder, Michael S. Dell; the other is a celebrated black professor who helped popularize African-American studies as an academic field and social phenomenon.
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Dennis Kimetto of Kenya set a course record Sunday as he took first in the 2013 Chicago Marathon, his second marathon win of the year. Kimetto beat the previous record of 2:04:23 with 2:03:45, according to unofficial times. Kimetto and Emmanuel Mutai were neck-and-neck until the last half-mile when Kimetto broke out front. “I am happy because I broke the course record,” Kimetto said. “The [race] conditions were very good.”
Kimetto came to Chicago with a 2013 marathon win already under his belt. He took first in this year’s Tokyo Marathon with a time of 2:06:50, which set a course record for the race, just his second marathon to date. During his first marathon, in Berlin last September, he crossed the finish just one second behind the winner.
Kimetto is known for long-distance road racing. The World Marathon Majors points out Kimetto would hold the world record for fastest marathon debut if the IAAF recognized that stat. He set his personal best in Berlin with a finish time of 2:04:16.
article by Lisa Balde via nbcchicago.com
A Red Lobster waitress, who said a customer left her a receipt with a racist slur, has received the tip of a lifetime, thanks to a fundraising from online supporters.
Toni Christina Jenkins of Franklin, Tenn., said she was shocked when she saw a receipt on the table with “none” on the “Tip” line and the N-word on the “Total” line.
“I was just stunned that it happened,” Jenkins, 19, said. “It’s not something that you think in our generation would actually take place, so I was just blown away by it.”
After posting a picture of the receipt to Facebook Sept. 10, her story sparked outrage online, prompting a California man to take action. Matthew Hanson, founder of AddictingInfo.org, heard Jenkins’ story and started an online fundraiser called “Tips for Toni” that collected $10,749 in place of Jenkins’ non-tip on the bill for $44.53.
“It was about sending a message to racists that Americans aren’t going to tolerate that,” Hanson said. “We raised $10,000 within seventy-two hours. It was really amazing.” Hanson presented the check September 30th to Jenkins, who was unaware of the fundraiser. “I literally screamed. I was so confused,” Jenkins said. “I was just so thankful. I felt so blessed and so honored that so many people came together on my behalf to give this to me.”
Jason Stamper (pictured), the principal of technology at the New Schools at Carver in southeast Atlanta, told WSB-TV 2 that it’s his job to protect students and that’s what he did when he saved one of his students from a dog attack. After hearing from other students that someone was being attacked by dogs on campus, Stamper sprung to action.
At first he jumped into his car and used it in his first attempt to scare off the dogs. “Didn’t work and actually I had some tennis rackets in my car and I actually was able to get them off with some tennis rackets,” he explained. His daring actions saved 16-year-old Carver student, Azarius Lowe. But Stamper did not want to take all of the credit, saying that cops and other school staff helped too. The dogs are still on the lose. Animal control has set up traps to catch them, but they caught a dog not connected to the attack.
The boy’s father, Arthur Steverson, was thankful that Stamper helped his boy and treated him as his own son. He said he wasn’t afraid for himself when he fought off the dogs, but was afraid for Azarius after seeing his injuries. The boy is recovering from the attack and will be OK.
article via newsone.com
Florida Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill that made some changes to the state’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law. The bill, which was passed by a vote of 7-2, has been strongly supported by the family of Trayvon Martin. The 17-year-old was shot and killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was charged with second degree murder and was acquitted by a Florida jury in July.
“Tracy and I have said from the beginning that our hope is that the tragedy of Trayvon’s death can be turned into real change so that other parents don’t have to experience the grief we have endured” Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, said following the announcement of the bill’s advancement.
“The work here is not done, and we fear an uphill battle going forward to achieve real change in our son’s name.” Stand Your Ground allows citizens to use deadly force if they feel their life is in danger. New changes to the bill would include providing proper training for neighborhood watch programs, ensuring a proper investigation is conducted after Stand Your Ground is claimed, allowing lawsuits against people acting in self-defense if they negligently injure or kill an innocent bystander and limit the use of the law when aggressors claim it.
“I see this as an important first step in making sure that Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law properly protects victims and applaud the committee for taking this first step,” said Martin family attorney Ben Crump in a press release. “In light of current events in Washington D.C., It is refreshing to see legislators compromising and working together so that Florida’s citizens are protected.”
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com
Fortune‘s list of the 50 most powerful women in business includes a few women of color, among them Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox at number 13; Rosalind Brewer, the CEO and president of Sam’s Club, a Wal-Mart company, at number 15; and Shonda Rhimes “Scandal” and Grey’s Anatomy” executive producer at number 50.
The list notes that Burns’ Xerox makes more than half of its $22 billion in revenue from business services other than copying. Madame Noire spoke with Burns, the first African-American woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, this summer before she received the Prism Award for Graphic Communications Management and Technology. “At all levels of leadership, we’re starting to see more and more women and African-American males. We’re just at the start. It’s evolutionary, not revolutionary,” she told us.
Brewer is head of a $56.4 billion company, one of three companies in the Wal-Mart behemoth. Not only is she driving up the numbers for Sam’s Club, which would be a Fortune 500 company on its own, she’s also a board member for Lockheed Martin, a company that also appears on this list of powerful women a couple of times. (Marillyn Hewson, the defense contractor’s CEO and president, is number four on the list.)
And of course we know who Shonda Rhimes is. One of the few women in the entertainment business to appear on the list, Rhimes is also among the youngest at 43 years old. (Marissa Mayer, 38, Yahoo’s CEO at number eight and Marianne Lake, JPMorgan’s 44-year-old CFO at number 49, are a couple of the others.) Not only are Rhimes’ shows – Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy — generating dollars for Disney’s ABC network, Fortune cites her impact on pop culture. In a related story, Rhimes says that the secret sauce for a show like Scandal is hard work. “You’re forced to innovate. There’s no resting on laurels,” she says.
Total aside, but when a fan asked whether Mellie will be given a love interest so that Fitz can see how he would react “to the table being turned,” Rhimes says, “Fitz is Mellie’s love interest.” Gah!
Number one on the list is IBM’s chairman, president and CEO Ginny Rometty who’s been leading the century-old computer company for two years.
article by Tonya Garcia via madamenoire.com
Philanthropists Laura and John Arnold have offered up to $10 million in emergency funding to the National Head Start Association in an effort to keep them open during the government shutdown. The personal donation will help keep Head Start and Early Head Start programs, who were forced to close or are facing closure, open. The programs service more than 1 million low-income children each year, providing them with meals and health care and getting them ready for elementary school.
On October 1st, 23 programs in 11 states, servicing over 19,000 children were to be funded and are expected to lose that money. “For nearly fifty years, Head Start has been the window of opportunity for more than 27 million of our nation’s poorest children as they embark on their journey to achieve the American Dream,” said Yasmina Vinci, Executive Director of the National Head Start Association. “The Arnolds’ most generous act epitomizes what it means to be an angel investor; they have selflessly stepped up for Head Start children to ensure their path toward kindergarten readiness is not interrupted by the inability of government to get the nation’s fiscal house in order.”
According to an NHSA press release, the Arnolds offered assistance after learning about the government shutdown’s paralyzing impact on Head Start programs. Following the government shutdown, if Head Start programs receive funding for a 52-week period, Head Start programs will begin to repay the funds from NHSA at no interest through the Arnolds.
DUBLIN, Ohio — The Presidents Cup ended Sunday the same way it always goes — an American celebration after Tiger Woods delivers the winning point. Woods’ back flared up on him again in the final hour at Muirfield Village. He still managed to hang on to beat Richard Sterne, 1 up, to give the Americans the 18 points they needed to win the Presidents Cup for the fifth consecutive time. It was the third straight Presidents Cup that Woods won the cup-clinching match — all three with Fred Couples as the captain.
“It was a team effort this whole week,” said Woods, who went 4-1 for the best record of any player. “We really played well to give ourselves a nice lead.” The biggest surprise was not so much the outcome, but that the matches ended without going to Monday.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is one of the nine people expected to be part of the selection committee for the College Football Playoff that begins in 2014, a person familiar with the decision told USA TODAY Sports.
The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the committee has not been announced, also confirmed the following members: football Hall of Famer Archie Manning, Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez, USC athletics director Pat Haden, Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long, West Virginia athletics director Oliver Luck and Clemson athletics director Dan Radakovich in addition to Rice, former Ole Miss and NFL quarterback Manning, former NCAA Executive Vice President Tom Jernstedt and former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese as at-large selections.
The person said there will only be one sitting athletics director from each of the five power conferences, so those places are set. “It’s an all-star cast,” the person said. A second person familiar with the makeup of the committee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it has not been announced said the committee also will include Lt. Col. Michael Gould, former Superintendent of the Air Force Academy and a former player for the school.
The first person said Rice’s diverse background made her appealing. A native of Birmingham, Ala., Rice holds degrees from the University of Denver and Notre Dame, and is a professor of political science at Stanford. She served as National Security Advisor from 2001-05 and Secretary of State from 2005-09. She also was Stanford’s Provost from 1993-99. She has been on faculty at Stanford since 1981.
GOOD FIT: Rice more than qualified for committee
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Morgan State University is launching the Global School of Journalism and Communication School to better prepare students entering the competitive field.
The Historically Black University explains their mission on the site:
Today, the mission of Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism and Communication is to give voice to a broader group of people – people who struggle to contribute to the public discourse that shapes this nation and the world. We serve this cause with innovative teaching, cutting edge research, and exemplary service to Maryland, our nation, and the world.
Our goal is add to the diversity of thoughts, opinions and beliefs by offering students from a wide range of backgrounds the liberal arts education and skills training they need to effectively communicate ideas – to plead their own causes, or to accurately tell the stories of others.
In our global school, students travel the world in their classes and assignments, without leaving the campus. They also see the world through their interactions with our partner programs at universities in distant lands – and they are offered opportunities to travel abroad in our Worldwide Learning Lab program.
The great advances in technology have turned the world into a global village. The goal of our school is to make our graduates effective communicators in every way – and every corner of this village.
The school officially launches this fall and it will be commenced with a special ceremony on August 27, 2014.
article via blackamericaweb.com