Points of Interest

CU Visits GMA

(Page 3)

ING Donates $20K to

CMM Program

(Page 4)

CU Presents at

Exelon

( Page 5)

CU Salutes Senior

Athletes

(Page 6)

Staff Spotlight

(Page 7)

Cheyney University

of Pennsylvania Cheyney University’s

Vital Communication

March 2010 Volume 3, Issue 3

President’s Note 2

Who’s Who Named at CU 2

Community Day Coming Soon! 3

Cheer & Dance Competition 8

New Trustee Appointed 9

Women Cultivating Women 10

Inside this issue:

CU Senior Fawaaz Fields Honored by NAACP

Cheyney University Senior

Fawaaz Fields was recently honored by the National As-sociation for the Advance-ment of Colored People (NAACP) Media Branch at the annual membership lunch-eon held at D’Ignazio’s Towne House in Media. Mr. Fields is a member of the Keystone Honors Academy and has been on the Dean’s List since 2006. Additionally, he served as Freshman Class President, President and Vice President for the Student Government Cooperative Association, President and Vice President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

The Philadelphia native has won numerous awards in his collegiate career and speaks conversational Spanish. Mr. Fields utilizes his Spanish proficiency, which included a Spanish immersion summer at Middlebury College, at the Academic Success Center on campus. There he tutors fellow students in Spanish,

Algebra, and English. However, on campus SGCA President Fields is best known for his dynamic CU spirit that is heard with every note from his saxophone in the CU Jazz Ensemble and the Soulful Sounds Marching Band. CU President Dr. Michelle R. Howard-Vital was honored to present the award to Fields during the program. Dr. Vital stated, “We were extremely pleased to attend the Media An-nual

NAACP event. We are espe-cially proud of the leader-ship of the NAACP and Dr. Joanne Flynn. We are ex-tremely proud of Fawaaz Fields, his community lead-ership, and his community service . Mr. Fields is an excellent example of a tal-ented CU student who will be an asset for the Com-monwealth and the nation.” Other honorees included: Mr. Ernie Derrickson, Jr., R.N.; Mayor Robert McMa-hon, Media Borough; and Mr. Frank Daly, Attorney. Miss Cheyney University, Andrea Wilder, participated to show her support. Other CU attendees included Dr. Ivan Banks, Provost and V.P. of Academic Affairs and Dr. Suzanne Phillips, V.P. of Student Affairs and Student Life.

Miss Cheyney University 2009-10, Andrea Wilder congratulates NAACP honoree Fawaaz Fields

Vice President for Student Affairs and Student Life, hosted a recognition pro-gram and dinner reception to honor the inductees on Monday, Feb. 22, in the Great Room of Carnegie Hall. Dr. Phillips acknowledged, “It is a real

For more than 60 years, Who’s Who has an honored outstanding campus leaders for their scholastic and community achievements. This year, Cheyney Univer-sity of Pennsylvania is proud to honor eighty-nine students who were accepted into the Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, a distinguished biographical volume that recognizes the nation’s most noteworthy students in higher education. Along with 2,300 other national institu-tions of higher learning, Cheyney Univer-sity nominates students each year for the national Who’s Who recognition. Dr. Suzanne Phillips, Cheyney University’s

pleasure and honor to congratulate our students on this nationally-recognized and prestigious achievement.” Selection of students for Who’s Who is conducted each fall by individual insti-tutions and submitted for publication in the national Who’s Who volumes. The nominating committee is com-posed of representatives from the uni-versity community and included: Dr. Tara Kent, Dean, Keystone Honors Academy; Dr. Janet Manspeaker, Pro-fessor, Department of Social and Be-havioral Sciences; Reverend Etta Bald-win, Director of the Academic Success Center; and Mr. Gregory Benjamin, Interim Director of Alumni Relations.

Greetings Friends, Alumni, and Stake-holders of Cheyney University, Recently I had the opportunity to travel to New York City to participate as audi-ence for Good Morning America. What was most spectacular about this trip was the opportunity to travel with, and inter-act with, our students. This field trip rein-forced that the students of Cheyney Uni-versity are our greatest asset and our best kept secrets. It also became appar-ent that our students need many more such trips, so that they can be prepared with broad exposure and experiences to compete successfully in the increasingly global marketplace.

As we continue to cultivate donors for our many signature programs which include the Keystone Honors College, the Call Me MISTER Program, and our scholar athletes, we will need the help of our significant stakeholders, so that we can prepare the most knowledge-able, well-versed, and competitive stu-dents for this world-wide economy. If you can sponsor a trip for a group of students, please let us hear from you! Sincerely,

Michelle Howard-Vital President

Page 2 Cheyney University’s Vital Communication

President’s Message

CU Students’ Achievements Recognized in Who’s Who

Volume 3, Issue 3 Page 3

CU Appears on ABC’s Good Morning America

CU Community Day & 1st Annual Thornbury 5k/10k Race Coming

formances, live jazz, health and public service information and more. There will also be children’s races on the Univer-sity’s track and field. Cheyney University’s Community Day is free and open to the public. Most of the

On Saturday, March 27th, Cheyney University will be hosting another Com-munity Day in conjunction with the First Annual Thornbury Township 5K/10K race. Community Day is designed to showcase the talents of campus community members and to build relationships with community members. Race registration begins at 7:30 a.m. The first race is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Family-fun attrac-tions and activities are scheduled from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Attractions include face painting and caricatures, a petting zoo, stu-dent art exhibits, theatrical per-

festivities will be at or near Cope Hall. For a complete listing of attractions visit: www.cheyney.edu/pr/Community-Day.cfm Race proceeds will benefit the Delaware Valley Lion's Club. Lions Club Interna-

tional is the largest service club or-ganization in the world with over 1.3 million members and 45,000 chapters worldwide. The Delaware Valley Chapter also helps Thornbury Township by han-dling concessions at some Thornbury Park events such as Memorial Day and Independence Day. For more race information visit: www.runccrs.com. Come join the fun!

After the live broadcast, CU students re-ceived a behind-the-scenes tour of the studios and were able to ask questions and take pictures with the Good Morning America on-air personalities.

CU’s focus on communications media, fine arts, and entertainment arts builds

Miss Cheyney University An-drea Wilder, Mr. Michael Tay-lor, Professor Damon Dan-dridge, Ms. Bernette Wright, CU Foundation President David Alston, President Howard-Vital, and about 40 outstanding CU students recently appeared as studio guests on the ABC Net-work’s Good Morning America Program hosted by Robin Rob-erts and George Stephanopou-lous.

President Howard-Vital was especially pleased to have the students learn more about communications me-dia and entertainment arts. “Because we are developing a center of excel-lence in Communications Media, Fine Arts, and Entertainment Arts, this tour of the ABC studios at Times Square was not only fun but enlightening for our students,” affirmed Dr. Howard-Vital.

on the University legacy of graduating esteemed jour-nalists and media personali-ties including the late Ed Bradley (CBS 60 Minutes), Jim Vance (NBC Washington), Robert Traynham (The Com-cast Network); and Robert Bogle, CEO of the Philadel-phia Tribune.

Michael Taylor, the organizer of this Student Affairs initia-tive, believes that the Univer-sity’s appearance on Good

Morning America is noteworthy, and it is something in which the faculty, staff, students, and alumni can take pride. “Because we are the nation’s first histori-cally Black institution of higher learning, I thought this would be a great opportu-nity to reaffirm CU’s position on a na-tional level,” added Taylor.

Page 4 Cheyney University’s Vital Communication

Cheyney University has recently re-ceived a $20,000 contribution in sup-port of the Call Me MISTER program from ING, the global financial institution of Dutch origin which provides banking, investments, life insurance, and retire-ment services for over 85 million clients worldwide. Ethel Pippin, ING Vice President and HBCU/Urban National ING Director stated, “Based on my introduction to

the fine work being done on campus (at Cheyney Uni-versity) with future urban educators in the School District of Philadelphia, ING would like to provide $20,000 in support of the

Call Me MISTER Program this year.” The Call Me MISTER (Mentoring, In-structing Students toward Effective Role Models) and TS2 are teacher preparation and leadership programs designed to address the critical shortage of ethnically diverse public elementary school teach-ers in underserved urban communities. Call Me MISTER was founded in 1999 as a partnership between Clemson Univer-

sity and several colleges in South Caro-lina. This licensed program is now of-fered at several HBCUs and their partner colleges. Mr. Howard R. Jean, Call Me MISTER Teacher Leadership Program Director and former MISTER student attests, “We are extremely grateful for the contribution from ING during these tough economic times.“ President Howard-Vital expressed her gratitude to ING and Ethel Pippin and looks forward to developing a relation-ship that will encourage the development of more teachers. Mr. Jean added, “ING’s support speaks volumes about their vested interest in helping to transform society through sup-porting needed program like Call Me MISTER and providing access to financial responsible programs. We salute them and look forward to working with them in the present and future.”

ING Awards $20k for Call Me MISTER Scholarships

Exelon Corporation is committed to diversity awareness. This was the focus of their “Lunch and Learn” programs held during Black History Month. As part of this initiative, Exelon invited Cheyney University’s Concert Choir to kick-off

their month of activities. Mr. Keith Bing-ham, University Archivist, and Mr. Eric Almonte, J.D., Executive Associate to the President, ended the celebration with presentations on the history of Cheyney University. The choir, directed by Professor Damon Dandridge, performed several selections for Exelon employees before joining the employees for a complimentary soul food luncheon. Demonstrating their appreciation for

the choir, Exelon employees of Kennett Square presented President Howard-Vital with a contribution of $4,000. The contribution was designated to be used for choir scholarships. President Howard-Vital affirmed, "We were very pleased and honored that the Exelon employees awarded a $4,000 contribution to the Cheyney University Choir to help defray the cost of their per-formances. We look forward to being good neighbors with our friends at Exelon. Together we can build the next generation of scientists–one student at a time." Professor Dandridge stated, “ It is with profound gratitude that we accept The Exelon Corporation's generous scholar-

ship award of $4,000 for The Cheyney University Concert Choir. This award will make a very big difference for the group's immediate future.” Commenting on his historical presenta-tion about Cheyney University, Archivist Keith Bingham related, “We were hon-ored to present the many vintage photo-graphs and historical facts that are vital to Black History.” Co-presenter Almonte added, “The Uni-versity is thankful for both the invitation to showcase the talents of our students as well as the financial support to con-tinue to offer more scholarships for our students.”

Exelon Celebrates Black History Month

With CU Concert Choir and Staff

Volume 3, Issue 3 Page 5

Online Giving now available at www.cheyney.edu!

Cheyney University’s Office of Institutional Advancement is pleased to announce our new capacity to accept gifts online!

Visit our website at www.cheyney.edu and click on “Donate to CU.”

For more information about the Cheyney University Annual Fund, call (610) 399-2154 or (610) 399-2109.

CU

Mr. Keith Bingham and Mr. Eric Almonte present CU’s history for Exelon employees.

The Montgomery County Chapter of the Cheyney University National Alumni Association hosted a “CU Day of Worship” at the new Bethlehem Baptist Church in Ambler, PA.

President Howard-Vital and Gregory Benjamin were there to worship and to re-connect with alumni of the area. Alumni Affairs staff also used this time to distribute materials to families with rising students, update the growing alumni mailing list, and collect scholarship donations. To invite CU to your local church, please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement to coordinate an event at 610-399-2027.

With the game tied at 23 the Lady Raid-ers went on a 7-0 run to and took the advantage into the locker room at the half. The Lady Wolves took the lead at the 4:37 mark on a lay-up by senior Carla McPherson, which started a 6-0 run for the Lady Wolves. When a three-pointer by senior Raider forward Lauren Beckley, the all-time leading scorer in the PSAC, cut the deficit to two with 1:44 on the clock, the Lady Wolves responded by rattling off five unanswered points from Stephens to assure the Wolves victory. The eight Lady Wolves who wore blue and white for the final time were Stephens, Muhammad, Henderson, McPherson, Stephanie Orji, Leslie Miranda , Georgia Anderson, and Char-nelle Taylor. Tamir Smith, Kevin Presbery, Theodore

Petty, James Sanders, and Tyrone Blass-

ingame also put on their blue and white

jerseys for the last time as CU Wolves. In

the final game of their college careers,

After eight senior Lady Wolves were honored in a pre-game ceremony at Cope Hall, Cheyney University (10-16:7-7) proceeded to trounce Shippensburg (14-16:7-7) 71-66 in the season finale for the Lady Wolves. Lutfiyya Muhammad achieved the 1,000 point score that marked an outstanding college athletic career that included one season at Delaware State. Her 23 points paced the Wolves as teammates Angel Stephens and Angel Henderson added 17 and 13 points respectively.

the quintet led Cheyney in the Wolves

valiant effort to claim a spot in the PSAC

semi-finals, but came up short 76-65 at

East Stroudsburg in the quarterfinal

round. Smith tallied 13 points and ended

with a career 1,305 points to place 9th for

all-time scoring. The Wolves ended the

season with a 16-12 record.

Page 6 Cheyney University’s Vital Communication

Wolves End Season with Salute to Seniors

Montgomery County Alumni Host CU Day of Worship

China Jude and Coach Marilyn Stephens (right) say farewell to departing senior, Angel Stephens.

Athletic Director China Jude and CU Men’s Head Coach Dominique Stephens honor Tamir Smith.

Staff Spotlight:

China Jude, Director of Athletics

Volume 3, Issue 3 Page 7

China Jude, CU Director of Athletics,

has always been a scholar-athlete.

In high school, she played three

sports, and she secured a volleyball

scholarship.

“As an athlete, the most challenging

aspect was dealing with time man-

agement and discipline to the or-

ganization with both thoughts and

actions,” explained Ms. Jude.“I val-

ued the teamwork and leadership

skills I was able to obtain as a result.

People may find it hard to believe I

was never captain of a team despite my

natural ability to lead.”

Realizing she did not need a title to be a

leader was one of the most important

lessons Jude declares she gained from

her athletic career. However, now hav-

ing the title of director and overseeing

all of the athletic programs at CU has

been an opportunity to lead by exam-

ple.

During her three years at Cheyney Uni-

versity, one of the ways Jude has

worked to make positive changes was to

add a community service component to

the athletes’ responsibilities in addition

to emphasizing the need for them to

perform well academically.

“Students need to understand the world

is bigger than they are. They need to

concentrate on selfless acts to contrib-

ute to the world. They are required to

perform at least two community service

projects per academic year,” explained

Jude.

Modest, yet direct in nature, Jude has

gained the respect of counterparts in her

field and is viewed as a trendsetter in col-

lege athletics. China Jude is one of the few

African-American female athletic directors

in the country.

Jude affirms that typically HBCUs tend to

stick together, but her philosophy is to

“think big,” by networking beyond HBCUs.

She states, “I get teased at conferences,

but I have befriended some of the most

powerful athletic directors in the coun-

try.”

When recounting her time at Cheyney

University, Ms. Jude is most proud of CU’s

ability to recruit Coach Marilyn Stephens

and the success of the Lady Wolves.

States Jude, “Coach Stephens walked into

a team without the ability to recruit–

which is a challenge. Nonetheless, the

Coach was able to incorporate her phi-

losophies and did not miss a beat. Within

the first season, their improved record

reassured me that we made the

right decision to hire her.”

Besides recruiting outstanding

coaches, one of Ms. Jude’s priorities

has been to engage alumni and in-

crease alumni and corporate giving

to Athletics.

She affirms, “I rely heavily on alumni

support and include them in search

committees as well as most major

decisions including Hall of Fame in-

ductees. The C Club President is al-

ways supportive; he allows me to dream

big for our CU Wolves.”

The financial struggles that small HBCUs

encounter was the focus of Ms. Jude’s

most recent published work entitled,

“Low in Money, High in Creativity,”

available at www.moaaweb.com.

In this work, China Jude mentions the

successes of John Chaney and C. Vivian

Stringer, despite meager funding. She

wrote: “It is said that when a person

loses one of their senses, the other

senses are heightened; this can also be

true that from shrinking budgets and

limited funding sources comes in-

creased creativity.”

China Jude believes that the secret to her

success is maintaining balance. She man-

aged to balance a challenging career with

keeping a strong relationship with her

son, who was kept involved behind the

scenes, so he could develop a better un-

derstanding and appreciation of the day-

to-day challenges involved.

Cheyney University Athletic Director, China Jude

Page 8 Cheyney University’s Vital Communication

abc

Cheyney University Cheerleaders, led by Coach Lydia Harsley, were proud to host the Encore Cheer-leading and Dance competition on Sunday, February 21, in the Cope Hall Gymnasium. The event was an open invitational for squads from high schools, rec-reation, all-star, colleges, and cheer and dance teams. Squads competed in the day-long com-petition and received medals and tro-phies. The grand championship team won a fully paid bid to the 2010 EDC Open Nationals.

The CU Cheerleaders debuted their cheer and dance routine and led the crowd in several chants throughout the program. Coach Harsley exclaimed, “It was phe-nomenal to see so many young ladies

who made the commitment to dedi-cate, sacrifice and discipline them-selves in order to be great at what they do. Also, It was a great oppor-tunity for our CU Cheerleaders to display how talented they are, and that is exactly what they did. I am very proud of our ladies!”

The competition’s theme was: “I love the 80s.” Individuals who wore 80s-inspired outfits received discount admission. The event served as a fundraising and networking opportunity for the CU Cheerleaders and was very well-attended.

CU Cheerleaders Host Encore Cheer and Dance Competition

Volume 3, Issue 3 Page 9

The Spring 2010 Cheyney University Magazine will contain alumni news, donor profiles, campus updates and information about current stellar CU students, faculty and supporters. Magazines will be avail-able through your local alumni chapter or through the Office of the Public Relations in Biddle Hall.

If you have any news or stories you think needs to be included in fu-ture editions, please contact us at publicrelations@cheyney.edu or acolon@cheyney.edu.

Earlier issues of the CU magazine are available online in the CU Public Relations pages at www.cheyney.edu.

Coming Soon, the Spring 2010 Magazine

Che yne y Uni vers ity Now On Facebook!

Cheyney University’s Name on Twitter is :

Cheyney Univ

Cheyney, Pa., where he matriculated to study Sociology, earning a B.A. in Urban Studies. The Honorable Vincent J. Hughes, of Philadelphia, and Samuel J. Patterson, of Bryn Mawr, have also been reappointed to the Council of Trustees. State Senator Hughes won a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives at the age of 30 by defeating a veteran in-cumbent. He later became the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Cau-cus (PLCB) and later won the 7th District

Governor Edward G. Rendell recently announced the appointments and nomi-nations for Council of Trustees of Chey-ney University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Robert W. Bogle, of Yeadon, was re-appointed to Chairman of the Council of Trustees. Mr. Robert W. Bogle is president and chief executive officer of The Philadelphia Tribune, the nation’s oldest and the Greater Philadelphia region’s largest newspaper serving the African-American community. Mr. Bogle attended Cheyney State College (now Cheyney University) in

seat in a special election. Mr. Patterson is President and CEO of Veridyne, Inc. (formerly Shepard-Patterson.) After receiving a B.S. de-gree in Computer Science from Chey-ney University, he began his career as a Programmer Analyst at the E.I. Dupont Company, where he designed and im-plemented various database manage-ment and accounting systems. New to the Cheyney University Coun-cil of Trustees is Dr. Audrey Bronson of Philadelphia.

Governor Rendell Appoints CU Council of Trustees

Cheyney University

Highlight

Women Cultivating

Women 2010

Award Ceremony

will be held on

Saturday,

March 27,

from 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m.,

at Carnegie Hall,

on the

historic quad

Page 10 Cheyney University’s Vital Communication

Sign up to receive important campus alerts…

Visit www.cheyney.edu for more events

dent, Dr. Michelle R. Howard-Vital. She will receive the “Mary McLeod Bethune Award.” Mary McLeod Be-thune was an American edu-cator and civil rights leader.

Dr. Howard-Vital is being hon-ored as an outstanding life-long educator who is the first female president of Cheyney University, the nation’s first historically Black college or university in America, which was founded in 1837.

Dr. Howard-Vital confesses, “It is always humbling to be honored for work that you love. I will work even harder to develop future leaders for the Commonwealth and the nation. I will endeavor to always do more.”

Honorees will include the Honorable Lori Dumas, of the

Cheyney University of Pennsyl-vania is proud to host the Fourth Annual Women Culti-vating Women (WCW) 2010 Award Ceremony on Satur-day, March 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This year’s theme is: “Words of Wisdom: Helping Young Women to Understand the Impact of the Decisions They Make in Their Life.”

WCW is calling all women and young ladies to attend this important forum to celebrate and honor the tireless works of amazing women who are unsung heroines and offer critical advice and words of wisdom to young women who are faced with many hard chal-lenges and life decisions today.

Among those being honored at the ceremony will be CU Presi-

Philadelphia Court System, will receive the Juvenile Justice Award; Philadelphia radio personality Wendy “Lady B” Clark (WRNB 107.9), who will receive the “Music Pioneer Award.” MoShay LoRen, also a Philadelphia radio person-ality (WRNB 107.9), will receive the “Empower-ment Award” and Gwen Ragsdale of the Black Holo-caust Museum of Slavery, will receive the “Historian Award.”

WCW has been in existence

since January 2007 to

strengthen intergenera-

tional relationships among

women and empower girls

from various socio-

economic and ethnic back-

grounds.

CU President to be Honored by

Women Cultivating Women

CHECK YOUR WOLF MAIL

EMAIL FOR FREQUENT CAMPUS UPDATES!

IMPORTANT

Community,

It is extremely

important that

you check your

email for

weekly

announcements

Email is one of

the ways in

which

important

campus

announcements

are sent to

you .

Volume 3, Issue 3 Page 11

CU ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER Vaux Logan Hall, Room 207

The Academic Success Center is eager to help students

organize and review study materials for assignments

in preparation for classes and exams.

Sessions are held on the Vaux-Logan, second floor in designated locations.

Please contact Ms. Etta Baldwin for more information at ext. 2319, or

Ms. Cherelle Box-Thompson at ext. 2046. Volunteer tutors appreciated.

Tutorial Sessions Available—

CU Council of Trustees Meeting Dates FY 2010

In accordance with Act 188, Section 20-2008-A, each council shall meet at

least quarterly, and additionally at the call of the president, or its chairperson,

or upon request of three (3) of its members. The Cheyney University Council

of Trustees proposed meeting dates for academic year 2009-2010 are:

March 18th meeting is re-scheduled.

Please check the website for update (www.cheyney.edu)

June 17, 2010

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Office of the President 1837 University Circle P.O. Box 200 Cheyney, PA 19319-0200

Preparing leaders from 1837 through the 21st Century

NNONON PPROFITROFIT OORGANIZATIONRGANIZATION

US PUS POSTAGEOSTAGE PPAIDAID CCHEYNEYHEYNEY UUNIVERSITYNIVERSITY

PPERMITERMIT #5#5 CCHEYNEYHEYNEY, PA, PA 1931919319