The AT&T Real Yellow Pages is the official directory of Winston-Salem State University.

Dr. Wilkerson maintained her connection to the university all her life.

Winston-Salem State University has received a $220,000 gift from the estate of Dr. Rachel E. Diggs Wilkinson, who passed away in 2008.  The funds will be divided equally between an endowed scholarship and establishing an endowment fund for Diggs Gallery.

“This gift represents Dr. Wilkinson’s long-term commitment to the university and is one of the largest estate gifts we have ever received,” said Dr. Brenda Allen, provost.  “The new Rachel E. Diggs Wilkinson Scholarship will certainly benefit worthy students who are in financial need.  Also, this initial gift to Diggs Gallery will allow us to establish an endowment fund that can provide operational support for this unique art treasure that serves not only the university, but the broader community.”

The ties Wilkinson and her family have to Winston-Salem State go back to the institution’s beginnings.  Her parents were graduates of Slater Industrial Academy, while she and four of her five siblings were honor graduates of what was then Winston-Salem Teachers College. The education wing of the Anderson Center on the WSSU campus is named after her grandfather, Bishop Jefferson Davis Diggs, as is Diggs Elementary School, Diggs Boulevard and Diggs Memorial United Holy Church in Winston-Salem.  Additionally, the Diggs Gallery is named for her brother, “T” Diggs, who was an artist and art professor at WSSU for 45 years.

Wilkinson graduated from WSSU in 1933 and was then denied admission to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill because of her race.  She enrolled at Columbia University and earned her master’s degree there in 1937.  She then returned to North Carolina to teach in the public schools until she was named dean of women at WSSU in 1940.

She earned her doctorate in higher education at New York University and later joined the City University of New York, where she stayed until her retirement in 1972 as a full professor.

New blueprint for student success adopted by WSSU Board of Trustees.

The Winston-Salem State University board of trustees adopted a new strategic plan for the university during its quarterly meeting in December. The plan is likely to impact every facet of the university, from academic advising to enrollment.

At the core of the plan is a call to improve student retention and graduation rates.

In the plan, statistics show that the percentage of first-year students who stay for a second year dropped from 77 percent in 2003 to 68 percent in 2006. WSSU Chancellor Donald Reaves wants to see that number improve to about 85 percent. He would also like to see the six-year graduation rate improve to 60 percent from the current number of approximately 40 percent.

University officials say one of the ways the university can improve those rates is in the selection process. That means selecting prospective students with stronger academic backgrounds. Although enrollment boomed in the early 2000s, the university was not attracting top academic students, officials said. That changed this year, when WSSU scaled back its freshman class to 795 from the 2008 record high of 1,357.

The document adopted by the board brings into focus Chancellor Reaves’ overall vision for WSSU over the next five years. “This is a blueprint for how to move the university along a continuum of improved outcomes,” Reaves says.

Reaves also talks about the need to see more core classes that will excite students.  As it is now, new students take a narrow core curriculum and typically declare their major during their freshman year. He has called for a more flexible approach.  “We’ve got to get our core curriculum to a place that is modern and flexible and that provides a student with choices,” Reaves says. “We have to get away from the notion that when 17-year-olds arrive on campus  they have to pick a major. “

Other changes ahead include:

• A first-year seminar program.

• Increasing internship opportunities.

• Expanding online- and distance-learning offerings and programs.

• Increasing financial aid for graduate students.

• Enhancing retention support for at-risk students.

• Increasing revenue from fundraising and philanthropic support.

• Investing in new and renovated facilities designed to build a better sense of community.

Rams' new head football coach Connell Maynor

The university has named Connell Maynor, a college football veteran with more than 20 years of experience as a player and coach, as its ninth head football coach.

Maynor has been part of 10 championship teams, six as a player and four as a coach.  Most recently Maynor was the offensive architect of the 2009 CIAA Champion Fayetteville State University Broncos, serving as both offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Maynor, a former standout football student-athlete at both Winston-Salem State University and North Carolina A&T State University, was introduced as the Rams’ head coach at a press conference in the Richardson Hospitality Room of the WSSU Bowman Gray Fieldhouse Dec 15, 2009.

“I am extremely pleased that Connell Maynor has accepted our offer to become Winston-Salem State’s head football coach,” said Chancellor Donald J. Reaves.  “I am also delighted that we were able to move the selection process so quickly because time is, of course, of the essence for our recruiting and planning for the 2010 season.  Now, we will be able to start the new year with Bill Hayes as our athletic director and Connell Maynor heading up our football program,” Reaves added.

An eight-person search committee led by search committee chair, Dr. Dennis Felder, was charged with the responsibility of filling WSSU’s football coaching vacancy from a pool of more than 75 applicants representing 17 states.

“Undertaking this process of being chair of the search committee for our head football coach search, and having been given the directive of needing to have a coach in place by January 1, was a challenge,” Felder said.  “However, with the outstanding search committee we assembled, the goal was accomplished.  As the head of the search committee I can unequivocally say that we are welcoming the most qualified candidate for our head coaching vacancy and the person who is certainly the best fit to represent our university and lead our football program.”

Maynor spent the last 10 seasons as a member of the Broncos’ award-winning football staff. He helped to lead Fayetteville to four CIAA title game appearances and three CIAA championships (2002, 2003 and 2009).  His offensive unit produced two All-CIAA quarterback selections (2002 and 2003) and ranked first in the CIAA in rushing offense, total offense and scoring in 2008 en route to a 13^th-place national ranking in scoring offense and a 39^th-place national ranking in total offense in Division II in 2008.

In addition to his collegiate coaching responsibilities, Maynor served as offensive coordinator for the Arena Football League’s Philadelphia Soul from 2006-2008 and helped lead the Soul to the 2008 Arena Bowl World Championship.  Under his leadership the Soul ranked first in scoring offense (62 ppg), touchdowns (132), touchdown passes (102) and red zone efficiency (85 percent) in 2008 en route to an Arena Bowl title.

As a player, Maynor has earned six championships.  He was the starting quarterback for the Rams’ 1987 CIAA championship football team under then-head coach and incoming WSSU Director of Athletics William “Bill” Hayes; he was named to the All-CIAA team as a freshman.

After following Hayes to North Carolina A&T State University, Maynor was named First-Team All-MEAC in both 1990 and 1991.  He was also named the MEAC Offensive Player of the Year, was honored as the 100% Wrong Club Player of the Year in both 1990 and 1991, and help lead the Aggies to the 1991 MEAC Championship.

Learn more about Maynor’s plans for the Rams.

Dr. Jones is widely recognized in the technology field.

Dr. Elva J. Jones, chair of the Department of Computer Science at WSSU, was named to the 10th Annual 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology for her work in education, research and outreach.

The selection was made by eAccess Corp., a San Francisco-based publisher. The purpose of the list is to raise the profile of African-Americans in technology and to inspire new generations.

Jones is professor and department chair in WSSU’s College of Arts and Sciences. Her entire career has centered on exposing underrepresented minorities to computing and preparing them for computing careers.

“It is a tremendous honor for me to be included on the 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology list,” said Jones. “Computing has been such a captivating field for me that I never tire of the work and the discovery each day brings. I want as many students as possible to experience the joy of idea discovery, creative design, and technology integration.”

Jones has focused her recent teaching, research and outreach in two areas: analysis and visualization of NASA data and robotics as tools to attract African-American students to the field of computer science.

She is the founding chair of the Department of Computer Science. She has led the natural progression from teaching the first courses in computing, developing the first concentration in computer science, leading the development of the major program in computer science, leading the development of the master of science program in computer science and information technology and the BS in information technology, to most recently leading the development of an option in information security.

Jones and other honorees was recognized at a 10th anniversary symposium in San Francisco, CA on Jan. 15, 2010.

“Jones is an example of the critically important role of African-American innovators, educators, policymakers and executives who shape the future of the global economy,” says John William Templeton, president/executive editor of San Francisco-based eAccess Corp., which has produced the list since 1999. “During a transformational national administration, they represent the role models to propel new generations into the careers of the future.”

One of two guilts for the First Family.

A group of grandmothers, part of a WSSU program for grandparents, were hoping for a unique holiday gift – a trip to the White House to present a gift to President Obama.  That didn’t happen, but they are still hopeful about meeting with the president.

The seven women created a quilt for Obama and requested to meet with him through U.S. Sen. Richard Burr’s (R- North Carolina) office.  They anxiously wait, pray and sew.

“This quilt is special because it is filled with love and prayers,” says Shirley Smith, a local grandparent participant in WSSU’s  Grandparenting program who coordinated the creation of the quilt.

The full-bed-sized quilt includes the seals of each state and the District of Columbia, according to Smith.  She said the grandmothers felt motivated when the president caught their attention in a unique way.

“Back when President Obama first announced he was running for president, and we learned he was raised — and had a special relationship — with his grandmother, we knew he would be a special person, even when many thought he didn’t have a chance,” Smith said.

The grandmothers met and started praying and knitting.  They prayed throughout the entire 800-hour sewing process.  It took eight months; the quilt is just about finished.

“Anyone raised by their grandmother has special insight into people and the world,” Smith says.

“I envision this quilt as something the President can use to cover himself to relax under a tree or something.  It has enough prayers in it to cover him in love and work for him in blessings,” she adds.

WSSU’s Grandparenting program is affiliated with the School of Health Sciences and the Division of Nursing. The program was initially funded in part by a four-year $730,000 W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant received in 2003 along with funds from Georgia State University.  Currently the program is funded by the NC Department of Health and Human Services. The funds are used to maintain a school readiness program to provide academic support, health care and other assistance for families where grandparents are the primary caretakers of children.

Two years ago the grandparents created 13 hand-sewn quilts that were auctioned to benefit orphaned children who are victims of AIDS in Lesotho, Africa.

“Many of the grandparents who are making these quilts could very easily sell them to use the revenue for their own situations,” says Dr. Lenora Campbell, associate dean for the Division of Nursing and project director of WSSU’s Grandparenting program. “It’s inspiring how they look beyond their circumstances to help others they don’t know – whether for school supplies for children in another country or providing inspiration for the President of the United States.”

D'Walla Burke

An invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall on Jan. 18 marks another achievement in an exceptional year for the Winston-Salem State University Choir under the direction of D’ Walla Simmons Burke, director of choral and vocal studies.

In addition to being invited to perform at Carnegie Hall for the second time in two years, Burke and the Choir were also recently listed as a 2009 Grammy entry in five categories: Best Classical Album, Best Orchestra Performance, Best Choral Performance, Best Classical Vocal and Best Contemporary Composition.

A Grammy initial entry is a list of recordings that are submitted by record companies and individuals. The recordings are voted on by the Recording Academy’s voting members and the top five vote earners become nominees.

In November 2006, the WSSU Choir traveled to Prague, Czech Republic to record the CD with the Dvorak Symphony Orchestra at the invitation of Maestro Julius P. Williams. The CD was produced by the Albany Records Classical Music Label, which has also recorded trumpeter Wynton Marsalis; composer Adolphus Hailstork; Harvard Glee Club; and pianist/composer Robert Owens.  To hear an audio excerpt of the CD, go to the choir’s webpage.

Williams is an award-winning conductor, composer, recording artist, educator, author and artistic director. A prolific composer, Williams has created dozens of works for virtually every genre of contemporary classical performance. His film score for Lifetime TV’s “Fighting for our Future” won the Gracie Allen Documentary Award in 2003. Williams included the composition by Joe Westmoreland (Somewhere Far Away) as a tribute to him and to his mentor Coleridge Taylor Perkinson, who orchestrated Westmoreland’s work.

On Jan. 18 at 7 p.m., Burke and select members of the WSSU Choir will perform a program honoring the Rev. Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Burke’s debut performance at Carnegie Hall was April 20, 2008, when she directed Gabriel Faure’s Requiem to a near capacity audience.  Select members of the University Choir accompanied Burke in 2008.

Burke called the 2008 opportunity a once-in-a-lifetime experience that could not have happened without the support of her students, administrators, faculty/staff at Winston-Salem State University and the community of Winston-Salem.

“When I walked onto the stage, Carnegie Hall looked like K. R. Williams Auditorium on the WSSU campus because I saw faculty, staff, administrators and many members of my church in the audience,” Burke recalled.

The WSSU choir has four CDs available:  Somewhere Far Away; Lift Every Voice and Sing; I Wanna Be Ready; and In Silent Night. A new CD, Hold Fast To Dreams, will be released by March 1. A CD of the Music Voice Faculty,  The Voices of Winston-Salem State University, is also available. For more information, please contact D’ Walla Simmons Burke at burkedw@wssu.edu or 336-750-2525.

Representatives of schools, departments, offices and programs receiving LIF grants include (from left to right): Dr. Elva Jones, Dr. Sharon White, LaMonica Singleton, Dr. Kathy Stitts, (Altria representative) Barbara Jones, Dr. Soncerey Montgomery, pictured with (seated center) WSSU Vice Chancellor for University Advancement, Michelle Cook.

The university has received a $40,300 Leadership Investment Fund (LIF) grant to support a number of campus programs.

More than $9,500 of the grant to WSSU’s Office of Career Services will be used to sponsor an online Career Guide as well as provide support for a Business Etiquette Dinner. The Honors Program’s Leadership Institute will use $8,000 for its Leadership Ideas for Today’s Scholars Program. The Computer Science Department will use more than $12,800 to implement a Computer Science Day event.  WSSU’s School of Business and Economics will use $10,000 for professional development and to establish a Hallmark Leadership Retreat and Toastmaster’s International Gavel Club.

The objective of the Leadership Investment Fund is to help develop tomorrow’s diverse and talented workforce through support of key events and educational programs at colleges and universities where Altria Group, Inc.or one of its family of companies actively recruits.

Altria Group is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, John Middleton, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Philip Morris Capital Corporation.

Dr. Alvin Mitchell

Dr. Alvin Mitchell, associate professor and coordinator of justice studies, is the founder and editor of the newly formed Journal of Justice Studies, a joint venture with the university’s Center for Community Safety.

“The journal publishes scholarship articles, essays and book reviews that are relevant to justice issues on crime, poverty, discrimination and ethics,” said Mitchell.  “The writing encompasses various disciplines ranging from criminology and social justice to economics and politics.  It is aimed at any discipline that deals with the realms of justice.”

The annual journal recently released its first issue including a comparative analysis of school suspensions of white and minority students by Dr. Okori Uneke, associate professor of sociology at Winston-Salem State, and an article entitled “Health Realization, Empowerment and Restorative Justice” by Dr. Tiffany Baffour, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.  The journal can be found in the reserve section of O’Kelly Library on the WSSU campus and will be in the library’s permanent catalogue.

Mitchell has published articles in a number of academic journals and also published a monograph entitled “Capital Punishment, Testing Thurgood Marshall’s Hypothesis: A Supreme Court Justice’s Theory.”  The Center for Community Safety was established in 2001 and is a community-based center of Winston-Salem State.  It works to engage communities in using research strategically to shape action and respond to community safety issues.

Dr. John Adeyeye

Poor old statistics.

Young people, particularly African-Americans and other minorities, can’t see why they should major in such a field — even the math majors. There’s no glamour, no excitement. They just aren’t interested. And so the statistics (excuse the pun) show a nationwide decline in the number of minority students studying math and statistics as a major.

Dr. John O. Adeyeye, professor and chair of mathematics, wants to change those numbers.  He is studying ways to get students more interested in studying statistics – at least at WSSU.

“Part of minority students’ reluctance to major in mathematics and particularly statistics is due to the apparent lack of understanding of clear career paths aside from teaching or proceeding to graduate school,” Adeyeye notes.

Adeyeye points to a critical need for statistical knowledge in research design, data analysis and other relevant industrial applications and real career possibilities.

He has received a two-year, $163,000 National Science Foundation grant to implement a mathematics degree with a statistics emphasis, develop interdisciplinary statistics research and instruction models at WSSU, and provide considerable career development experiences for students to prepare them for the statistics workforce in such fields as agriculture, business, engineering, meteorology, geography, education, aviation, health research, science research and advanced research.

Adeyeye says his study will create new opportunities to expand the career options for mathematics majors at the university —  and maybe, just maybe, students will see math and statistics as cool.

Author, activist Kevin Powell

Winston-Salem State University’s 2010 Black Male Symposium will be held February 25, at 6 p.m .in Kenneth R. Williams Auditorium and feature noted political activist and author Kevin Powell as the keynote speaker.

A 9 a.m. panel presentation in Dillard Auditorium will feature local scholars and academics.

The Black Male Symposium examines issues related to black male upward mobility and progress to uplift black males, prepare them to be leaders, and see them through the graduation process. In past years, featured speakers have included Dr. Na’im Akbar, Spike Lee, Rev. Floyd Flake, and Jim Ellis.

Powell is widely considered one of America’s most important voices in these early years of the 21st century. Legendary feminist Gloria Steinem asserts that “as a charismatic speaker, leader, and a very good writer, Kevin Powell has the courage…to be fully human, and this will bring the deepest revolution of all.” Internationally acclaimed scholar and social critic Dr. Michael Eric Dyson has called Powell “a mighty wind of fresh air.”

Kevin Powell is an activist, writer, public speaker, pop culture aficionado and a 2008 Democratic candidate for Congress in Brooklyn, New York. A product of extreme poverty, welfare, fatherlessness, and a single mother-led household, he is a native of Jersey City, New Jersey. He was educated at New Jersey’s Rutgers University. Powell is a longtime resident of Brooklyn, New York. He has published nine books, including his recent essay collection titled, Someday We’ll All Be Free (Soft Skull Press). This collection of provocative pieces looks at freedom, democracy, justice, and race in America, as inspired by Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 presidential election, and September 11th. Besides running for Congress, Powell also managed to publish two new books in 2008: No Sleep Till Brooklyn, his second volume of poetry; and The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life, a self-help book geared toward the healing, development, and empowerment of Black men and boys.

Black Men for Change is a student organization founded in 2003 to help empower African-American males to rise above negative stereotypes and become productive assets to their community.

Members of the organization have volunteered with Winston-Salem Symphony, Piedmont Craftsmen, AIDS Care Service, Forsyth County Department of Public Health P.O.S.S.E initiative, Forsyth County Democratic Party, RiverRun International Film Festival, Piedmont Opera, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes initiative, and the Black Male Summit initiative. They have received special recognition from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County for their contribution to the arts community and were awarded the 2007 Winston-Salem State University Student Organization of the Year. The organization has also been featured in the Winston-Salem Chronicle.

Members of Black Men for Change have read three of Mr. Powell’s books: Someday We’ll All Be Free, The Black Male Handbook and Open Letters to America to prepare for his lecture and engage in intellectual dialogue about issues impacting black males in America.

Lectures by noted clergy, authors and educators, theatrical performances and concerts and film screenings highlight the month-long schedule of Black History Month activities at WSSU.
Guest speakers include Dr. Noel L. Erskine of Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, educator Simon Johnson, Executive Director of Quality Education Schools, and motivational speaker, author and activist Kevin Powell.
Activities throughout February also includes dance performances as well as musical and theatrical performances.
Most but not all events are free and open to the public. The lineup includes:
•    Monday, Feb. 1
Event:    “The Meeting” (A play about Dr. King and Malcolm X)
Location: Dillard Auditorium
Time: 7 pm
Sponsor:  Campus Life
Contact person: Dale Williams 336- 750-3351

•    Tuesday, Feb. 2
Event:    American Blood Drive
Location:         TC 207ABC
Time:  10am-5pm
Sponsor:  Student Health Services
Contact:  Carisa Hoyle    336-750-3379

•    Thursday, Feb. 4,
Event: James A. Gray Lecture series Dr. Noel L. Erskine, Emory University, Candler School of Theology
Location: Dillard Auditorium
Time: 9:45am
Sponsor: James A. Gray
Contact Person: Rev. Cedric Rodney 336-750-2479

•    Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Feb. 4, 6, 7
Event:   “Young America,” A play based on Shelia Bright’s American Flag
photography
Location: Dillard Auditorium
Time: 7pm
Sponsor: Diggs Gallery
Contact person: Belinda A. Tate (336) 750-2460

•   Tuesday, Feb. 9
Event: African –American Dance Ensemble
Location: Dillard Auditorium
Time: 7pm-9pm
Sponsor: Office of Student Activities
Contact person: Dale Williams 336-750-3351

•    Wednesday, Feb. 10
Event:  “Charter Schools: A Paradigm for Student Success”
Presenter: Simon Johnson, Executive Director of Quality Education Schools
Locations: 228 Hall-Patterson Bldg.
Time:  10 am
Contact person: Dr. David Legette (336-750-2530)

•    Monday, Feb. 15
Event: BHM Think Fast (Black History trivia)
Location: Kennedy dinning hall
Time: 5pm-7pm
Sponsor: Office of Student Activities
Contact person: Dale Williams 336-750-3351

•    Thursday, Feb. 18
Event:  GSSA Film Screening (BHM Film – Name of film not
determined at this time)
Location:  Dillard
Time:  6pm-8pm
Sponsors:  Gay-Straight Student Alliance  (working with
Fines Art Department)
Contact:  Brandon Hughes bhugh101@wssu.edu

Event: “Hoo Doo Love” by Katori Hall
A tale (play) of love, magic, jealousy and secrets: Toulou escapes from the Mississippi cotton fields in the 1930s to pursue her dream of singing the blues in Memphis. When she meets a rambling blues man, the notorious Ace of Spades, her dreams are realized in a way she could never have imagined.
Location: K.R Williams
Time: 7pm-9pm
Sponsor: Drama Guild
Contact person: Andre Minkins, 336-750-8726
Ticket price: $4 St / $5 Fac-staff / $9 Adults ($6 Srs)

Event:  More Than Letters (Honoring historically black figures who are members of NPHC organizations)
Location:  TC 207A
Time:  7:30pm-9:30pm
Sponsor:  Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
Contact person:  Calvin Holloway 750-8627

•    Friday, Feb 19
Event: “Hoo Doo Love” by Katori Hall
A tale (play) of  love, magic, jealousy and secrets: Toulou escapes from the Mississippi cotton fields in the 1930s to pursue her dream of singing the blues in Memphis. When she meets a rambling blues man, the notorious Ace of Spades, her dreams are realized in a way she could never have imagined.
Location: K.R Williams
Time: 7pm-9pm
Sponsor: Drama Guild
Contact Person:  Andre Minkins, 336-750-8726
Ticket price: $4 St / $5 Fac-staff / $9 Adults ($6 Srs)

Event: Four Queens- No Trump
(A play written and directed by Ted Lange)
Location: Arts council theatre
610 Coliseum Drive Winston-Salem, NC
Time: 7pm
Sponsor: The North Carolina Black Repertory Company
Contact person: www.ncblackrep.org/ www.nbtf.org

•   Saturday, Feb. 20
Event: Four Queens- No Trump (A play written and directed by Ted Lange)
Location: Arts council theatre
610 Coliseum Drive Winston-Salem, NC
Time: 7pm
Sponsor: The North Carolina Black Repertory Company
Contact person: www.ncblackrep.org/ www.nbtf.org

•    Sunday, Feb 21
Event: Four Queens- No Trump ( A play written and directed by Ted Lange)
Location: Arts Council Theatre
610 Coliseum Drive Winston-Salem, NC
Time:  TBA
Sponsor: The North Carolina Black Repertory Company
Contact person: www.ncblackrep.org/ www.nbtf.org

Event: Hoo Doo Love by Katori Hall
A tale (play) of  love, magic, jealousy and secrets: Toulou escapes from the Mississippi cotton fields in the 1930s to pursue her dream of singing the blues in Memphis. When she meets a rambling blues man, the notorious Ace of Spades, her dreams are realized in a way she could never have imagined.
Location: K.R Williams
Time: 3pm- 5pm
Sponsor: Drama Guild
Contact Person: Andre Minkins, 336-750-8726
Ticket price: $4 St / $5 Fac-staff / $9 Adults ($6 Srs)

•   Monday, Feb. 22
Event: Hoo Doo Love by Katori Hall
A tale (play) of  love, magic, jealousy and secrets: Toulou escapes from the Mississippi cotton fields in the 1930s to pursue her dream of singing the blues in Memphis. When she meets a rambling blues man, the notorious Ace of Spades, her dreams are realized in a way she could never have imagined.
Location: K.R Williams
Time: 7pm- 9pm
Sponsor: Drama Guild
Contact person: Andre Minkins, 336-750-8726
Ticket price: $4 St / $5 Fac-staff / $9 Adults ($6 Srs.)

•    Tuesday, Feb. 23
Event:  The American Spiritual Ensemble
Location:  K. R. Williams Auditorium
Time:  7:30pm
Sponsor:  Performing Arts
Contact person:  David Legette  750-2530
$12 – All Day-of-Show Tickets
$10 – Senior Citizens w/ I.D.
Free to WSSU Students w/ I.D.

•    Thursday, Feb. 25
Event: Black Male Symposium (Morning Session)
Location:   Dillard
Time: 9:30 am
Sponsor:  Black Men For Change
Contact Person: Sandra Young 336-750-3354

Event: Black Male Symposium: Kevin Powell (Evening Session)
Location: TBA
Time: 6pm
Sponsor: Black Men for Change and Office of Student Activities
Contact Person: Sandra Young 336-750-3354

•    Friday, Feb. 26
Event: Four Queens- No Trump (A play written and directed by Ted Lange)
Location: Arts council theatre
610 Coliseum Drive Winston-Salem, NC
Time: TBA
Sponsor: The North Carolina Black Repertory Company
Contact person: www.ncblackrep.org/ www.nbtf.org

•   Saturday, Feb. 27
Event: Four Queens- No Trump (A play written and directed by Ted Lange)
Location: Arts council Theatre
610 Coliseum Drive Winston-Salem, NC
Time: TBA
Sponsor: The North Carolina Black Repertory Company
Contact person: www.ncblackrep.org/ www.nbtf.org

•    Sunday, Feb. 28
Event: Vagina Monologues
Location: Dillard
Time: 5pm- 7pm
Sponsor: Office of Student Development and Residence Life
Contact Person: Maqueita Eleazer 336-750-8681

Event: Four Queens- No Trump (A play written and directed by Ted Lange)
Location: Arts council theatre
610 Coliseum Drive Winston-Salem, NC
Time: TBA
Sponsor: The North Carolina Black Repertory Company
Contact person: www.ncblackrep.org/ www.nbtf.org
For more information about Black History Month events and schedule changes contact Dale Williams 336-750-3351 or check the WSSU Web site.

Cheryl Pollard-Burns (left) and LaMonica Singleton are all smiles at their graduation ceremony.

to  LaMonica S. Singleton, interim director of Career Services, and Cheryl Pollard-Burns, an enrollment officer in the Office of Enrollment Management, who both graduated from master’s programs at North Carolina A&T State University on Dec. 14, 2009.

Singleton earned a Master of Science in Adult Education. She maintained a 4.0 GPA. Her concentration was in Higher Education and Human Resource Development.  She completed her practicum experience in the Division of Student Affairs under the direction of Dr. Esther Powell, Director of Student Advocacy and Adult Student Services.  Mrs. Singleton completed a research project on Intergenerational Mentoring in the Workplace.

“As a student services provider, the educational research, program processes-planning and foundational theories certainly apply as I seek to enhance the design, implementation and delivery of programs to our stakeholders,” says Singleton.  She is a 1994 graduate of WSSU and has been employed with the university since 1998.

Pollard-Burns earned the Master of Science Degree in Adult Education with dual concentrations in Higher Education and Training and Development with a 4.0 GPA.  While attending NC A&T she conducted research on “The Impact of Training and Development on Promotional Opportunities for Employees at State Supported Colleges and Universities in North Carolina.” She completed her capstone project in the Human Resources Department at Winston-Salem State University, under the supervision of Calvin Holloway, developing a Training Program for managers and supervisors on the “Fundamentals and Importance of Developing High Potential Employees for Future Promotional Opportunities.”

Pollard-Burns is a 1993 graduate of WSSU and has been employed at the university since 1999.

Congratulations…

to the entire Winston-Salem State University family for an outstanding show of support for the 2009 State Employees Combined Campaign. Although we fell a little short of our $35,000 goal, in the face of a severe economic downturn the WSSU response was a remarkable $32,288.04. With reports of many university campaigns experiencing double digit declines of from 17 percent to more than 60 percent, WSSU experienced only a  six percent drop from 2008. Overall giving across the university system was down 18 percent.

The scene from the Atkins statue.

Winston-Salem State University was like many locations along the East Coast (some still are) covered under snow just a few short weeks ago. This is what it looked like on campus when the snow began. When it was over, WSSU and much of the city were under more than five to eight inches of snow. The bitter cold kept a lot of the snow around for a while.

Scene approaching the Clock Tower.

One of the photos in the exhibition featuring a WSSU student.

The photography exhibition of Sheila Pree Bright, currently on view at Diggs Gallery, has inspired the creation of an original play, which will debut at Diggs Gallery in February.

The premiere of Young Americans will be held on Feb. 4 and 6 at 7:00 p.m. and Feb. 7 at 3:00 p.m. in WSSU’s Dillard Auditorium of the Albert H. Anderson Center.  The play, which is free and open to the public, was commissioned by Diggs Gallery. It is based on gallery’s current exhibition, Young Americans: Photographs by Sheila Pree Bright.  The 49 large format chromogenic prints on view explore the identities of U. S. citizens and immigrants pursuing citizenship by presenting images of Americans aged 18 – 25, each posing with the American flag and revealing their unique conceptions of patriotism. Young Americans: The Performance will bring this moving exhibition to life on stage.

Written and directed by WSSU assistant professor Andre Minkins, the play is inspired by the photographs and statements from the Young Americans participants, and selected writings by Authoring Action, a youth organization headed by filmmaker Nathan Ross Freeman and Lynn Rhodes.  The performance will feature spoken word and visual art collaborations by three WSSU fine arts majors, Joshua Phifer, Kolin Robinson, and Jaeson Pitt, and appearances by a team of WSSU student and community actors.

For a guided tour of the exhibition and to reserve group seating for the play, call 336-750-2458 or email our visitor services manager, Dara Silver at silverda@wssu.edu.