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Obama Weekly Address: Helping Protect Our Kids by Reducing Gun Violence (VIDEO)

President Barack Obama’s weekly address to the nation this week focusses on reducing gun violence.  Watch below:

Brittney Griner Dunks Career High, 3 Times in Baylor Win over FSU

http://youtu.be/BIyiEHqt0g4
 
WACO, Texas (AP) — Brittney Griner certainly knows how to provide a farewell to remember — and an embrace Baylor coach Kim Mulkey will likely never forget.  There were three impressive dunks on a night Griner almost could have had more in her final home game.

“Tonight felt like senior night. Tonight was better,” Griner said. ” The three dunks. Just going out the way we did. Not everybody’s lucky, and we were. We gave the crowd a good game.”
Griner had 33 points and a career-high 22 rebounds, becoming the first woman to make three dunks in a game, as the defending national champion Lady Bears rolled past Florida State 85-47 Tuesday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
NCAA Florida St Baylor BasketballWith former President George W. Bush part of the crowd packed into the Ferrell Center for the final home game of Griner’s impressive career and four other seniors, the 6-foot-8 two-time All-American delivered in spectacular fashion — with one dunk before halftime and two more in a 79-second span right before coming out of the game for good.
“It’s always exciting to see when Brittney dunks. I always get excited. We always get excited,” junior point guard Odyssey Sims said. “Everyone gets pumped. It’s nothing we’ve never seen. She’s just phenomenal.”
Brooklyn Pope had 12 points for Baylor, which has won a nation’s-best 57 games in a row at home. Sims had 11 points and Kimetria Hayden 10.  The Lady Bears (34-1) are in the NCAA round of 16 for the fourth year in a row. They play Louisville (26-8) on Sunday night in Oklahoma City.
Griner’s opening slam came on a break after a Florida State basket. Freshman guard Niya Johnson passed ahead to Griner, who took one step without a dribble before slamming it home with 4 minutes left in the first half for a 43-18 lead — sending the partisan crowd of 9,652 into a frenzy as she ran down the court with her mouth open and clearly enjoying the moment.

ESPN To Give Robin Roberts ‘Espy’ Award For Courage

robin roberts espy award
NEW YORK — ESPN is staying in the family in giving its Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Robin Roberts at its annual ESPY awards this summer.  The “Good Morning America” anchor is being saluted for how she kept viewers involved in her treatments for two serious illnesses. She had breast cancer in 2007 and last year had to undergo a bone marrow transplant to treat a rare blood disorder. Roberts returned to “Good Morning America” last month.
Roberts came to sister company ABC from ESPN, where she was the network’s first black female sportscaster.  Most past awards recipients have sports connections, like former Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt last year. But the ESPYs have also honored Nelson Mandela and the four men who tried to stop one of the Sept. 11 hijackings.
article by Associated Press via newsone.com

First Lady To Visit Chicago For Youth Empowerment Gathering

Michelle Obama Chicago
First Lady Michelle Obama (pictured standing) will be returning home next month to join Chicago Mayor and former White House Chief Of Staff Rahm Emanuel for a gathering with community leaders focused on youth empowerment. Given the high rate of violence in the city and the deeply embedded gang culture, Mrs. Obama will be addressing the group with the hopes of developing opportunities for young people.
The meeting, called the “Joint Luncheon Meeting: Working Together to Address Youth Violence in Chicago,” will be held on Wednesday, April 10, and hosted by Mayor Emanuel at the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Chicago. Invited organizations and groups include the Commercial Club, the Economic Club, the Executives’ Club, and World Business Chicago.

CalTech Astrophysicist Wins Teaching Award

John A. JohnsonJohn A. Johnson, an assistant professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, received the Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching from the university. The prize was established by the university “to honor annually a professor who demonstrates, in the broadest sense, unusual ability, creativity, and innovation in undergraduate and graduate classroom or laboratory teaching.” Dr. Johnson’s research focuses on searching for plants outside our solar system.
Dr. Johnson is a graduate of the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He holds a Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of California at Berkeley.
article via CalTech Astrophysicist Wins Teaching Award : The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

Edison O. Jackson Named President of Bethune-Cookman University

Edison O. JacksonEdison O. Jackson is the sixth president of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He has been serving as interim president since May 2012. He has agreed to serve as president until July 2016. The board of trustees stated that it would begin a search for his successor in January 2015.
Dr. Jackson previously served as president of Compton Community College in California and as president of Medgar Evers College, part of the City University of New York system. He retired as president of Medgar Evers College in 2009 after serving in that position for 20 years.
Dr. Jackson earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology and a master’s degree in counseling from Howard University. He holds a doctorate in education from Rutgers University.

 article via jbhe.com

Three African-American Men Win Marshall Scholarships

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(L to R) Ronald Allen, Keith Hawkins, and Jacob Tzegaegbe

In 1953 the Marshall Scholarships program was established by an act of the British Parliament. Funded by the British government, the program is a national gesture of thanks to the American people for aid received under the Marshall Plan, the U.S.-financed program that led to the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. The scholarships provide funds for up to two years of study at a British university, and include money for travel, living expenses, and books. Applicants must earn a degree at an American college or university with a minimum of a 3.7 grade point average.  The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission is authorized to award up to 40 scholarships each year. This year 34 scholarships were awarded. It appears from JBHE research, that three of the 34 winners are African Americans.
Ronald Allen is a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. He will be commissioned into the Marine Corps in May. A native of Seattle, he plans to study for a master’s degree in public policy at King’s College in London.
Keith Hawkins is a senior at Ohio University in Athens. He is an astrophysics major in the university’s Honors Tutorial College. Last summer he spent time conducting research at Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii. He will pursue a Ph.D. in astronomy at Cambridge University. An avid bicyclist, he routinely bikes 50 to 60 miles each weekend.
Jacob Tzegaegbe is a 2011 graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in civil engineering. This May he will earn a master’s degree in civil engineering. His research focused on bus rapid transit systems in African cities. With his Marshall Scholarship, he will pursue a Ph.D. in planning studies at University College London.
article via jbhe.com

University of Tennessee Names Its First Building After an African American

Fred D. Brown JrThe University of Tennessee board of trustees recently approved names for new buildings and the renaming of several existing structures on the Knoxville campus. Included in these actions is the naming of the Fred D. Brown Jr. Residence Hall, the first building on the Knoxville campus to be named after an African American. The building is the first new residence hall on campus in 43 years. When completed in 2014, the new residence hall will house 700 students.
Fred D. Brown was a longtime staff member at the university and the founder, 40 years ago, of the Office of Diversity Programs in the College of Engineering. Brown was a graduate of Tuskegee University.
article via University of Tennessee Names Its First Building After an African American : The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

Craig Cameron Named to an Endowed Chair at Penn State

Craig E. CameronCraig E. Cameron was named to the Eberly Family Chair in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Pennsylvania State University. Professor Cameron joined the Penn State faculty in 1997. His research focuses on the development of strategies to treat or to prevent infections by RNA viruses.
Professor Cameron is a magna cum laude graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he majored in chemistry. He holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
article via Craig Cameron Named to an Endowed Chair at Penn State : The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

HBCU Elizabeth City State University Opens a New Art Gallery

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“Guitar Player” by Leonard Jones

Elizabeth City State University, the historically Black educational institution in North Carolina, recently opened its new Kermit E. White Graduate and Continuing Education Center. The center houses the university’s art gallery.
One section of the gallery will display pieces from the university’s permanent collection of African and African American art. The other part of the gallery will exhibit a rotating selection or a visiting collection.
Professor Alexis Joyner, chair of the art department at the university, loaned eight pieces from his personal collection for the opening exhibit. In addition, works by Leonard Jones, a former professor at Virginia State University and Charles Joyner of North Carolina State University are in the opening exhibit.
The accompanying illustration shows one of the pieces in the exhibit, “Guitar Player” by Leonard Jones.
article via jbhe.com