HBCU's Add Males In Crisis Symposium To Black College Football Classic

(Charlotte, NC) -- Johnson C. Smith University and Livingstone College have announced their plan to expand the Black Football Commemorative Classic, started in 2009. The 2nd Annual Black College Football Commemorative Classic is scheduled for November 6, 2010 in Charlotte, NC.

Building upon the vision of the forefathers of both institutions and fulfilling their mission of being beacons of change, the institutions plan to expand the Commemorative Classic to include a Symposium on the Black and Minority Male Crises, which serve as the precursor to an annual Black and Minority Male Institute.

Smith and Livingstone will join with the leadership of an interdenominational coalition in North and South Carolina to host the symposium. The theme of the 2-day Symposium, scheduled for November 4-5, 2010, is: Black and Minority Males Taking Flight through Personal Development, Knowledge Sharing and Commitment to Community.

The 2-day conference offers three tracks directed to:

Black and Minority Males, ages 15-24 Youth practitioners, interested adults, and faith-based entities dealing with Black and other minorities’ male issues Researchers currently working in the area.

The goal of the Symposium is to define corrective strategies employed on a regional basis that aid in preparation for manhood and engaged citizenship thus mediating the local crises among Black and other minority males.

Topics to be covered include health and wellness, relationship development, leadership development, gang and violence recognition/prevention, and others. Appearances include nationally-recognized speakers, noted Black athletes, music groups, and others. Activities include workshops, panel discussions, break-out sessions, team building exercises and more.

Dr. Ronald Carter, President of Johnson C. Smith University, announced that “in addition to the 2010 Symposium, the schools plan a 2-year collaborative research project on The

Black/Minority Males in America: Identification. Impact. Diversion. Redirection. We plan to engage noted researchers from around the country such as The CollegeBoard Advocacy and Policy Center and from our own institutions.

Results and specific actionable items will be presented at the 2012 Commemorative Classic Black and Minority Male Institute, as we celebrate the 120th game between Johnson C. Smith and Livingstone College.

This classic is not about a contest between two football powerhouses, stated Dr. Jimmy Jenkins, President of Livingstone College. “We are very proud of our football teams and the competitiveness that exists between us and other teams that we play; however, the establishment of the Commemorative Classic is about a clarion call to our students, other HBCUs, and the public-at-large, serving notice that our ultimate responsibility is to be communiversities, address the needs of our communities, creating agents of change and being the places where the ills of society are being resolved and that society can look to us as repositories of truth, and we all know that it is the truth that will set us free,” said Jenkins.

In 2010, Smith and Livingstone embark on a journey, not unlike that journey back in 1892. While the mode of transportation is different from that of 1892, their mission is perhaps even more compelling. The plight of African American males in this country and around the world is at crisis proportion. What better conduit to use to deliver the message that education is the key to addressing this spiraling, out of control problem, than these two institutions that caused a paradigm shift in 1892 to do the same in 2010 with the Commemorative Classic?

The audience for the press conference included NFL greats Pettis Norman (former professional American Football League tight end in the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers) and Donnie Shell (former American Football strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers and a member of the Steelers famed Steel Curtain defense in the 1970s).

Also present were law enforcement officers, business and community leaders and staff and alumni from each institution. All responded with a reinforced commitment to address the issues of Black and Minority males and to support these dynamic, institutional leaders as they shift the current state from crisis to positive, impactful and sustainable change.

Johnson C. Smith University and Livingstone College

Founded and chartered as Biddle Memorial Institute in 1867, renamed Johnson C. Smith University in 1923; JCSU is a private, four-year, co-educational, liberal arts institution of higher learning with an enrollment of approximately 1,563 students located in the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina. JCSU offers active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, international study, faith development, career discovery and community service. Today, Johnson C. Smith University prides itself as Charlotte’s premier independent urban university.

Livingstone College and Hood Theological Seminary were originally founded as Zion Wesley Institute by a group of A.M.E. Zion ministers for the purpose of training ministers in the Cabarrus County town of Concord, North Carolina in 1879. The Rowan County town of Salisbury, just 20 miles northeast of Concord, gave the Trustees a generous donation of $1,000 and an invitation to relocate the school in Salisbury. They accepted both gifts, and the College re-opened in Salisbury in 1882 on J. M. Gray's farm called Delta Grove with one building and 40 acres of land. Today, Livingstone College's new holistic learning approach is designed to deal prepare students to gain maturity and intellectual awareness, and motivation toward learning.