Archives: News

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA — Aaron A. Walton, President of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Brenda A. Allen, President of Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, issued the following joint statement:

“As we navigate these unprecedented times, we are now forced to deal with a series of tragic events. The unconscionable deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery were unnecessary incidents that have drawn national and international attention. Many people realize that this can and should be the moment to move America forward — into an era of social and economic justice, equity, and stability. We, as a nation, must do better.

“Representing the two oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities in our nation — Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and Lincoln University of Pennsylvania — we stand together against racial injustice. America’s HBCUs are in a unique position to be at the forefront of this effort. Our institutions exist because there was a time when universities did not accept African Americans into the ranks of their student population, so we created our own. Now, more than ever, our vision and our voices must be heard.

We call on our students to focus their energy on bringing constructive change to the society in which we live. We ask them to use the modern technology and resources that previous generations did not have as the means to adapt, to overcome inequities and to change our communities for the better. Most importantly, we want our students to stay safe at all times, whether they decide to express their voices at home or in person at peaceful demonstrations.

We are reminded of the words of two prominent alumni of our storied institutions. They are just as relevant today as when they were first spoken and penned:

‘…We do solemnly pledge ourselves to assist by our means any suit brought against the perpetrators of outrages…’
– Octavius V. Catto, Cheyney University, Class of 1858

‘O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.’
– Langston Hughes, Lincoln University, Class of 1929

“We are in challenging times that require unity and a sense of purpose. Cheyney University and Lincoln University stand united in the fight for social justice.”

Thanks for visiting! MyChesCo brings reliable information and resources to Chester County, Pennsylvania. Please consider supporting us in our efforts. Your generous donation will help us continue this work and keep it free of charge. Show your support today by clicking here and becoming a patron.

• MyChesCo / https://www.mychesco.com/a/news/society/civil-rights/joint-statement-from-cheyney-university-and-lincoln-university-on-the-ongoing-unrest-across-the-nation/

Inframark, LLC announced that Cheyney University of Pennsylvania has chosen the company to effectively manage all operations and maintenance (O&M) of its wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) that serves the entire campus.

The three-year contract went into effect May 1.

Inframark will be responsible for O&M of the University’s sequential batch reactor WWTP that is designed for nutrient removal. Additional responsibilities include environmental compliance and coordination of the biosolids management program and lift station operation, according to the press release.

“We are excited to welcome Inframark as a new business partner to the University,” said James T. Lewis, Executive Director of Operations and Facilities Management at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. “Our wastewater treatment plant is critical to the successful operation of campus safety and compliance. Inframark is a recognized leader in water infrastructure operations and we look forward to working with them.”

“We are proud that Cheyney University is the first Pennsylvania college we will be serving,” said Inframark’s Regional Manager Mike Wolgemuth. “We will ensure that we provide the University the same excellent service and expertise that we offer all of our clients.”

In performing disease cleanup and disinfection, the companies:

• Follow CDC protocols and use CDC approved industrial-strength disinfectants with a broad spectrum kill claim.
• Utilizes the Halo Disinfection System by Halosil International and includes HaloMist disinfectant (5% H2O2 and 0.01% ionic silver) that is dispensed by HaloFogger machines.

Read more about the contract in the press release here.

 

• https://www.wwdmag.com/green-technology/business-news

The Undefeated, ESPN’s content platform focused on the intersections of sports, race and culture will present The Undefeated HBCU Day on Saturday May 23, a virtual celebration of the Class of 2020. Along with messages from prominent African Americans including former President Barack Obama, Cheyney University’s Arynn Pratt, representing this year’s graduating class will deliver a special inspirational message on www.TheUndefeated.com.

Obama headlines a list of prominent African Americans who will deliver congratulatory and inspirational messages to this year’s HBCU graduates. Others include Grammy Award-winning artist Toni Braxton, actor Omar Epps, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, The Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James, Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, and more.

“Arynn is a very bright young lady and has represented Cheyney exceptionally well during her matriculation,” said Cheyney University President Aaron A. Walton.“She was recommended as valedictorian by Cheyney Provost Kizzy Morris and I immediately approved. We cannot wait to see her join the national stage with so many prominent African Americans.

”Being named valedictorian for the Class of 2020 at the first HBCU was quite a shock. I am humbled and grateful to God to represent Cheyney University in such a way,” Pratt said.“Considering the COVID-19 quarantine took away the second half of my final semester and caused our graduation ceremony to be delayed until later this year, I was trying to find something to be excited about. This definitely did it!”

Pratt has dual degrees in Psychology (BA) and Biology/Pre-Medicine (BS), completed requirements for two degrees in four years, starting in the 2016 fall semester. She took at least 21 credits each semester for the past three semesters averaging a 4.0 for those semesters. During her junior year, Pratt was appointed to the Pennsylvania Board of Education to serve as a student representative to provide her perspective on policies that affect Pennsylvania students. She was awarded a Keystone Scholarship, which is given to academically gifted students and covers the full cost of their education at Cheyney.

Pratt also completed an internship with Atlantis in Ourense, Spain where she completed over 60 hours of AAMC-compliant, physician shadowing in various specialties. Now a graduate, she will continue her pursuit of becoming a medical doctor.

• Tribune Staff Report / https://www.phillytrib.com/news/health/coronavirus/espn-s-the-undefeated-to-feature-cheyney-grad-celebrate-hbcu-class-of-2020/article_b39599f3-5111-5a6d-946e-2dbd96c1f3a9.html

Cheyney Graduate to Participate in ESPN’s Virtual “The Undefeated” HBCU Day Celebrating the Class of 2020  

(CHEYNEY, PA – May 22, 2020) This Saturday, May 23, The Undefeated, ESPN’s content platform focused on the intersections of sports, race and culture will present The Undefeated HBCU Day, a virtual celebration of the Class of 2020. Along with messages from prominent African Americans including former President Barack Obama, Cheyney University’s Arynn Pratt, representing this year’s graduating class will deliver a special inspirational message on www.TheUndefeated.com.

 

Former President Barack Obama headlines a list of prominent African Americans who will deliver congratulatory and inspirational messages to this year’s HBCU graduates. Others include Grammy Award-winning artist Toni Braxton, actor Omar Epps, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, The Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James, Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, and more.

 

“Arynn is a very bright young lady and has represented Cheyney exceptionally well during her matriculation,” said Cheyney University President Aaron A. Walton. “She was recommended as valedictorian by Cheyney Provost Kizzy Morris and I immediately approved. We cannot wait to see her join the national stage with so many prominent African Americans.”

 

“Being named valedictorian for the Class of 2020 at the first HBCU was quite a shock. I am humbled and grateful to God to represent Cheyney University in such a way,” Pratt said. “Considering the COVID-19 quarantine took away the second half of my final semester and caused our graduation ceremony to be delayed until later this year, I was trying to find something to be excited about. This definitely did it!”

 

 

Pratt has dual degrees in Psychology (BA) and Biology/Pre-Medicine (BS), completed requirements for two degrees in four years, starting in the 2016 fall semester. She took at least 21 credits each semester for the past three semesters averaging a 4.0 for those semesters. During her junior year, Pratt was appointed to the Pennsylvania Board of Education to serve as a student representative to provide her perspective on policies that affect Pennsylvania students. She was awarded a Keystone Scholarship, which is given to academically gifted students and covers the full cost of their education at Cheyney.

 

Pratt also completed an internship with Atlantis in Ourense, Spain where she completed over 60 hours of AAMC-compliant, physician shadowing in various specialities. Now a graduate, she will continue her pursuit of becoming a medical doctor.

 

Utilizing the hashtag #UndefeatedHBCUDay, the virtual celebration will feature a collection of videos and written content shared all day across The Undefeated’s social accounts (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) and curated on www.TheUndefeated.com.

 

###

 

About Cheyney – Founded in 1837, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is the nation’s oldest historically Black institution of higher education. Building on this legacy, the vision for Cheyney is to become the premier model for academic excellence, character development, and social responsibility among not only Historically Black Colleges and Universities, but in all of American higher education. The campus is located on 275 acres straddling Delaware and Chester Counties. Read more at www.cheyney.edu.

 

 

The Undefeated and HBCUs – The Undefeated is one of the leading media platforms providing insightful reporting and storytelling focused on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Stories about HBCUs are one of the featured content verticals on The Undefeated website. In addition, the ESPN sports, race and culture platform offers a Rhoden Fellowship, a one-year journalism internship program that identifies and trains aspiring African American journalists from HBCUs. During the academic year, the Fellows serve as correspondents covering sports and news at their respective campuses for The Undefeated’s HBCU vertical.

 

 

The Cheyney University Administration acted swiftly to respond to the COVID-19 virus by ensuring a safe and healthy campus environment and successfully transitioning to online learning to accommodate all student needs.

Online Learning:

Since March 23, Cheyney University faculty provided online delivery of course for the Spring 2020 semester. This was aligned with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s guidelines of having no in-person classes. Prior to the transition to online learning, the university prepared students and faculty for remote learning through D2L software and zoom. Students received email instructions on expectations and requirements and staff had time to adjust to the online platform. It was a smooth, successful transition for faculty and staff.

COVID-19 Response for Students

After spring break, students who had no symptoms of the coronavirus had the option to continue to reside in their dormitory or move out and return home for the remainder of the semester. Accommodations were made for students who remained on campus for various reasons (i.e., international students, students who do not have reliable internet connectivity at home, or those without stable living conditions). For these students, there was an established modified on-campus services, such as health and dining. We also provided all students—whether residing on or off-campus—with additional instructions for online academic counseling and other support services. Students who decided to return home for the remainder of the semester received prorated refunds for selected fees. This policy was in alignment with the guidance PASSHE recently provided to all State System universities.

Spring 2020 Graduation

With health and safety established as our top priorities, the administration asked our graduating seniors to share their vision for commencement. Results of our survey showed an overwhelming majority of graduating seniors – nearly 90 percent – supported postponing the previously scheduled May 9 ceremony to a date later in the year.

President Aaron Walton also had the great opportunity to recognize recent graduates at the National HBCU Virtual Ceremony this past weekend, joining with almost 80 participating HBCUs. Whether overcoming obstacles or celebrating triumphs, the Cheyney community has shown a commitment to one another. The delayed commencement in no way affects the conferral of degrees. Students who applied to graduate and successfully completed final course requirements will have their diplomas sent by mail after the Registrar’s Office finalizes the grades.

CARES Act

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Cheyney University’s administration had several meetings to discuss and select a methodology for distributing the emergency student grants portion of the CARES Act. We also had discussions with our counterparts at other universities. The selected distribution methodology ensured adherence to the federal guidelines, while taking into consideration the needs of our students. A student survey was conducted to understand how they were impacted by the disruption caused by the coronavirus. Students were given the option to receive their payment by check, direct deposit, or a prepaid debit card. Our objective is to get the funds into our students’ hands as expeditiously as possible. About 440 students completed the survey and chose to participate in the grant, and are Title IV eligible. A total of $331,808 from the federal stimulus will be distributed to these students.

COVID-19 Impact

As with all of the state’s public universities, Cheyney University has had to make financial and budgetary decisions to adjust to the current academic environment caused by the pandemic. However, through our resurgence efforts, we have made many changes over the last two and a half years that have better positioned us to respond to the current crisis. Our freshman retention rate of 70% has been the highest it’s been in the last two decades. Incoming freshman applications continue to increase with deposits up 50 percent already for the fall semester of 2020. Cheyney is of only two of the 14 schools in state system projecting an increase in enrollment each of the next five years.

Our monetization efforts continue to thrive. Four biotech companies located to the new Science building, providing paid internships for students and doing research in cutting edge such as cancer research, analytical sciences, and pharmaceutical research. We have three more companies scheduled to move to campus:

• Advanced Alchemy—Hemp Processing for medicinal purposes
• 3D printing company
• solar panel manufacturing company projecting 100 permanent jobs

 

The new Corporate Partnerships include:

• Epcot Crenshaw Corp., a West Chester-based company that develops technologies to solve environmental problems, is developing a new headquarters on campus including research labs, greenhouses, and a new aquaponics facility.
• Navrogen will bring its bio-pharma research and development (R&D) operation to Cheyney’s Science Center.
• ASI Chemicals a start-up company that manufactures chemicals for pharmaceutical products is launching operations on the Cheyney campus through a facilities use agreement, which enables these companies to use the space in exchange for providing learning opportunities for Cheyney students.

 

Fall 2020 Semester

Members of our Executive Team have been actively meeting and interacting with our colleagues throughout PASSHE, to discuss how it could impact our Cheyney community—our students, staff, faculty, on-campus partners, and vendors. During the meetings we discussed various scenarios and have developed contingency plans to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spreading on campus should that happen in the fall. It is important to note there are no known coronavirus cases at Cheyney at this time.

 

 

 

The three-year contract includes the campus wastewater treatment plant and lift station.

Horsham, Pa., May 11, 2020 ─ Inframark, LLC, is pleased to announce that Cheyney University of Pennsylvania has chosen the company to effectively manage all operations and maintenance (O&M) of its wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) that serves the entire campus. The three-year contract went into effect May 1.

Inframark will be responsible for O&M of the University’s sequential batch reactor WWTP that is designed for nutrient removal. Additional responsibilities include environmental compliance, coordination of the biosolids management program, and lift station operation.
“We are excited to welcome Inframark as a new business partner to the University,” said James T. Lewis, Executive Director of Operations and Facilities Management at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. “Our wastewater treatment plant is critical to the successful operation of campus safety and compliance. Inframark is a recognized leader in water infrastructure operations and we look forward to working with them.”

Founded in 1837 as the nation’s first Historically Black College and University, Cheyney University is the second college campus Inframark serves nationally and the first-ever in the Keystone State. Inframark also has 12 other municipal and industrial projects that it serves in Pennsylvania.

“We are proud that Cheyney University is the first Pennsylvania college we will be serving,” said Inframark’s Regional Manager Mike Wolgemuth. “We will ensure that we provide the University the same excellent service and expertise that we offer all of our clients.”

About Inframark

Inframark, LLC (www.inframark.com), is a standalone American infrastructure services company focused on operation and maintenance of water and wastewater systems, management of community infrastructure, and back-office services.

With more than 40 years of experience in managing water-related infrastructure, the company employs in excess of 1,500 people serving more than 300 clients in 19 states. Its North American operations manages facilities that can treat over a billion gallons of drinking water and wastewater daily. It also manages more than 7,000 miles of wastewater collection and water distribution networks. Its infrastructure management services group serves 220 clients with financial, administrative and specialized support services.

Water&Waste Digest