HBCU

Patti LaBelle to headline Dillard University Founding Anniversary Celebration

NEW ORLEANS DATA NEWS WEEKLY — To mark its 150th founding anniversary, Dillard University will welcome singer Patti LaBelle as its featured performer for its gala event on May 11. The Grammy-award winning artist, actress, and entrepreneur will perform at the event, which also serves as a fundraiser for students attending this historically black university. The gala at the Hyatt Regency downtown will recognize the university’s contribution to the city, and work to sustain its legacy.

Published

5 years ago

April 28, 2019

Oakland Post

By Mark Veals

To mark its 150th founding anniversary, Dillard University will welcome singer Patti LaBelle as its featured performer for its gala event on May 11. The Grammy-award winning artist, actress, and entrepreneur will perform at the event, which also serves as a fundraiser for students attending this historically black university. The gala at the Hyatt Regency downtown will recognize the university’s contribution to the city, and work to sustain its legacy.

“For me, Dillard is an integral part of the history of New Orleans. It was built by a diverse coalition of local and out of state citizens,” said Walter Kimbrough, Dillard’s president.

“It has been supported by two religious denominations. It provided the state’s first nursing program. It has a unique location in a residential community important in building the black middle class of the city. So, all of those factors help build the legacy,” Kimbrough said.

It is not the first time LaBelle has brought her philanthropy to help the local university. A decade ago, she headlined their 140th anniversary fundraiser. LaBelle will be joined by Hip Hop artist Lana Michelle Moorer, also known as MC Lyte, who serves as a Dillard Board Trustee member, and will also be the host of the event. The proceeds of the gala fundraiser support the university’s Student Assistance for Financial Emergencies (SAFE) fund that helps retain students most at-risk of not completing their degrees because they could not pay their outstanding balances. Since its inception, the SAFE Fund has so far helped 300 students to remain enrolled at Dillard and over 100 students have graduated.

“While there is federal, state and institutional aid available, sometimes a [financial] gap still exists because funding runs out. SAFE is used to help make up that difference so that students can persist and ultimately graduate from Fair Dillard,” said David D. Page, Dillard’s vice president of Enrollment Management. “The support of our alumni, family/friends, and donors is critical and ultimately makes this happen.”

The gala will also pay tribute to past university presidents, campus life, and more. Additionally, distinguished alumni will be honored at the gala. The honorees include: Dr. Millie Charles, recipient of the Dave Dennis Lifetime Achievement Award which is presented to an alumnus who has exhibited significant achievement in their career or community. Michael Griffin, the recipient of the Henry ‘Plook’ Lucas Service Award, which is awarded to an alumnus who has exhibited significant leadership through service to his/ her Alma Mater. Warren Jones, the recipient of the Justice Revius O. Ortique Professional Excellence Award, which honors an alumnus who has attained high achievement in his/her career field. Crystal McDonald, the recipient of the Young Alumni Award, which recognizes established and future leaders among Dillard’s young alumni or those who have demonstrated such during their first 15 years as an alumnus. Lastly, Dorothy Perrault, the recipient of the Frank Mason Leadership Award, which honors an alumnus who has been a momentous supporter of Dillard University.

“Today we are focused on ensuring that we contribute not just locally but globally in a range of areas. This means continuing to be a leading producer of physics graduates, to continue to develop a hands-on film program, as well as address the dearth of people of color in the legal community.” “We definitely aren’t simply interested in celebrating 150 phenomenal years; we are essentially launching a new era of creative innovation,” Kimbrough said.

Both Hyatt Regency and WDSU Channel 6 will sponsor the event and the public can find out my information at http://bit.ly/du150gala

This article originally appeared in the New Orleans Data News Weekly.

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Laphonza Butler Becomes California’s Newest U.S. Senator

Two days after California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that Laphonza Butler would fill the U.S. Senate seat of the late Dianne Feinstein, the new senator was sworn in on Capitol Hill by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.

Published

7 months ago

October 10, 2023

Oakland Post

Laphonza Bulter was the president of Emily’s List. Wikimedia Commons photo.

Replacing the Late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Butler Becomes the 3^rd Black Woman to Serve in Upper Chamber

By Lauren Victoria Burke,

NNPA Newswire contributor

Flanked by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and California Sen. Alex Padilla as she took the oath, Butler than received a round of applause by senators of both parties.

After the swearing-in, President Joe Biden called Butler to congratulate her, the White House said.

“I am honored to accept Gov. Newsom’s nomination to be a U.S. Senator for a state I have long called home,” Butler said in a statement Monday. “I am humbled by the Governor’s trust. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s leadership and legacy are immeasurable. I will do my best to honor her by devoting my time and energy to serving the people of California and the people of this great nation.”

She will be the third Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate, preceded by Illinois’s Carol Mosely Braun, and current V.P. Kamala Harris. Butler is also the first openly lesbian Black U.S. senator: Her wife, Neneki Lee, held the Bible during Butler’s swearing-in.

Since 2021, Butler has been serving as the president of EMILY’s List. The fundraising platform supports and funds women candidates and amplifies issues that disproportionately impact women.

Before that she was involved in labor organizing, elected president of California’s largest union, Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

“As the president of SEIU 2015, Laphonza Butler led the fight for fair wages and respect for home care workers,” said Mary Kay Henry, current SEIU president, in a statement Monday. “As president of SEIU California, she was a driving force in winning the first statewide $15 an hour minimum wage in the nation. She has been a strong ally electing pro-women candidates as president of Emily’s List.”

Fellow California Sen. Alex Padilla also expressed strong support for Butler. “Throughout her career, Laphonza Butler has been a strong voice for working families, LGBTQ rights, and a champion for increasing women’s representation in politics. I’m honored to welcome her to the United States Senate,” Padilla wrote in a statement. “Governor Newsom’s swift action ensures that Californians maintain full representation in the Senate as we navigate a narrow Democratic majority. I look forward to working together to deliver for the people of California.”

Newsom’s decision was not on the political radar screen of most prognosticators.

With the selection of Butler, the decision by California’s Governor did not include any of the currently announced candidates for U.S. Senate in 2024 in California. Those current candidates include veteran members of Congress Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff and relative newcomer Katie Porter.

“As we mourn the enormous loss of Senator Feinstein, the very freedoms she fought for — reproductive freedom, equal protection, and safety from gun violence — have never been under greater assault. Laphonza will carry the baton left by Senator Feinstein, continue to break glass ceilings, and fight for all Californians in Washington, D.C.,” wrote Gov. Newsom in a statement released on the evening of October 1 announcing Butler’s appointment.

Butler will be the only Black woman in the Senate. But Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester is expected to win the Senate seat vacated by Senator Tom Carper. Carper announced he would not run for re-election in 2024 and Rochester announced shortly afterwards that she would run for Carper’s seat.

Butler formally became another addition to the Congressional Black Caucus when she was welcomed with a swearing in by those members later on Tuesday.

Butler grew up in Magnolia, Miss., one of four siblings raised by a single mother. Her father, who suffered from heart disease, passed away when Butler was 16. She attended Jackson State University, an HBCU, graduating in 2001.

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Historic Black University: Multiple Suspects Sought After Shooting Incident at Morgan State University

Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley and Morgan State University Police Chief Lance Hatcher told reporters that the incident happened around 9:25 p.m. when university police officers, on their regular patrol, detected gunfire from the campus. The victims, aged between 18 and 22, which include four men and a woman, sustained injuries that are reported to be non-life-threatening.

Published

7 months ago

October 10, 2023

Oakland Post

Tyler Hall, Morgan State University campus. Morgan State is one of the few historically Black institutions nationally to offer a comprehensive range of academic programs, in business, engineering, education, architecture, social work, and hospitality management. Photo courtesy morgan.edu

By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire

Baltimore police are intensifying their search for multiple suspects involved in a shooting incident that occurred on the campus of Morgan State University, leaving five individuals injured. Among the victims, four are students of the historically Black institution.

“The entire city of Baltimore’s heart aches for the Morgan community, for the victims and their families, and for our city as a whole,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott stated.

Multiple windows were shattered during the incident, and school officials said they immediately began active shooter response protocols. Worley said police systematically cleared buildings in pursuit of those responsible. While there are indications that it could have been more than one shooter, authorities could not confirm whether multiple assailants were involved.

Hatcher said university police received notification of the shooting at approximately 9:27 p.m. and sent the first public safety alert to the community at 9:30 p.m., followed by four other notifications.

At approximately 11:45 p.m., city police announced via Twitter that the incident was no longer an “active shooter situation.” University officials announced via social media that the shelter-in-place order had been lifted, and shuttle services resumed at around 12:30 a.m.

Worley emphasized that SWAT officers meticulously combed through every floor of the buildings they searched, conducting two sweeps, before lifting the shelter-in-place order.

Authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward and assist in their efforts to bring those responsible to justice.

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Black History

Acting President of Temple University Dies Suddenly After Memorial Service

“President Epps was a devoted servant and friend who represented the best parts of Temple,” the university said in a statement. “She spent nearly 40 years of her life serving this university, and it goes without saying her loss will reverberate through the community for years to come.”

Published

7 months ago

October 3, 2023

Oakland Post

JoAnne A. Epps had served Temple University for 40 years. Courtesy photo via NBC News.

NBC News

Referred to by a colleague as a ‘calm force in troubled waters,’ Temple University Acting President suddenly died Tuesday after falling ill at a memorial service, officials at the Philadelphia school said.

While attending a memorial for Charles L. Blockson, JoAnne A. Epps, 72, slumped in her chair onstage while someone else was speaking and was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.