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Cheyney University of Pennsylvania President Aaron A. Walton has announced today that Vice President of Economic Development and Dean of the Newton Campus at Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) and alumnus Dr. Irvin Clark will deliver the keynote address at Cheyney University’s 163rd Commencement convocation. The ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 12, at 11 a.m. on the University’s Historic Quadrangle.

“As a proud graduate of Cheyney University, it is truly an honor and blessing to be selected by President Walton as 2018 commencement speaker,” shared Dr. Clark. “Growing up in Philadelphia, many of my teachers and mentors were graduates of Cheyney University. Their influence, along with my experiences at the University as an undergraduate, made Cheyney not only my first choice, but the best choice for me. The opportunities and doors that have opened as a result of my education have been unlimited. I look forward to sharing words of wisdom and inspiration to the graduates as they prepare for the next phase in life as graduates and champions for Pennsylvania’s finest institution of higher education, Cheyney University.”

As a first generation college attendee, and graduate of two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Dr. Clark is a true example of the impact that higher education can have on the trajectory of one’s life. The two-time graduate of Cheyney, holding a master’s of science in adult and continuing education (‘01) and a bachelor’s of arts degree in social relations (‘98), has developed an unwavering commitment to higher education access and success for underrepresented students, as demonstrated through his professional and philanthropic endeavors.

In his current role at Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC), Dr. Clark is responsible for working with the business and industry community to ensure their workforce needs are addressed through the various academic and non-credit programs offered at the college. Since his arrival at GPTC in 2017, he has secured over $150,000 in philanthropic gifts from institutional partners to support the advancement of the institution’s academic programs in advanced manufacturing and STEM related disciplines.

Dr. Clark previously served as the Vice President and CEO at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC – Harrisburg Campus). During his tenure, he provided educational experiences to more than 8,000 students in the Harrisburg metropolitan area; established campus-planning strategies resulting in a master plan for building and maintenance; increased the campus scholarship campaign by leading an $11 million campaign; and led efforts to increase enrollment and outreach with the neighboring counties.

Throughout the course of his career, Dr. Clark has also been successful in writing, managing and evaluating various federal, state and local grant programs, many of which are designed to develop, plan and carry-out services to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Additionally, he has worked as an adjunct faculty member for the Community College of Baltimore County and College of Southern Maryland to instruct courses in grant writing and college reading, success and study skills.

Dr. Clark, who earned his Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Administration from Morgan State University (‘05), is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and currently serves on the boards of several national, state and regional organizations including, the American Association of Community Colleges, the Metro Regional Commission of Atlanta and the College and the Career Academy Board for Morgan County (Atlanta).

He is married to Dr. Kudiratu Clark, also a proud HBCU graduate (Clark Atlanta University, ‘01), and practicing physician (anesthesiologist) for a private physician group in Atlanta. They have two beautiful children, Theodore and Madison.

The public is invited to witness candidates receive their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the nation’s first HBCU. For those that cannot attend the ceremony, the event will be live streamed on the University’s website. Additional details on graduation and related events can be found on the University’s commencement webpage.

State Senator and Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Council of Trustee member, Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) and the entire Pennsylvania Senate honored the 40th anniversary of the Cheyney University men’s basketball team winning the 1977-1978 Division II Men’s National Championship at the Capitol Building in Harrisburg, PA on Tuesday, April 17.

Cheyney State College, led by Naismith Hall of Fame coach John Chaney, earned the championship by beating the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay 47-40 on March 18, 1978 at the Hammons Center in Springfield, Missouri. The team finished with a record of 27-2 to secure the school’s first and only national championship in men’s basketball.

“It gives me great honor on this day to ask this body to rise to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1977-78 national champion Cheyney University men’s basketball team in Division II,” Senator Hughes said, as he recognized the team on the floor of the Pennsylvania Senate. He noted the “important accomplishment” of the basketball team at the nation’s oldest Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs).

The championship team was composed of John Butts, Duane Coleman, Milt Colston, Andrew “Dip” Fields (Tournament MVP), Kenny “Cisco” Hinson, Jeffrey “White Mouse” Hutcherson, Roger “Bird” Leysath, Gerald “Mo” Mills, Charles “Murph”” Murphy, Gilbert “The Colonel” Saunders, Arthur “Suga Bear” Stone and John “Blue” Walker. Coach Cheyney was assisted by the late Charles Songster while Joe Iezzi served as the team’s athletic trainer.

Colston, a senior guard and All-American, led the team averaging 15.1 points per game. Hutcherson scored 13.4 points in his senior campaign. Sophomore Charles Murphy scored 11.2 points per game, as did Fields, who averaged 10.9 rebounds per game in addition to his scoring efforts.

One of the players pointed to Cheyney’s dynasty in that era in winning the conference championship so frequently. On its way to winning the national championship, Cheyney won its sixth straight Pennsylvania Athletic Conference title, defeating Slippery Rock 66-59.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the national championship, the Senate of Pennsylvania unanimously adopted a resolution honoring the University and the team for its accomplishments. The championship team, was first honored by the Athletics Department at Cheyney in February and later presented with a declaration at Philadelphia’s City Hall in mid-March.

Cheyney has made three men’s Division II Final Fours appearances, 1978, 79 and 86, while the Cheyney women appeared in the first ever Division I National Championship final game in 1982 and went to the Final Four again in 1984.

Grammy Award-Winning Artist, Performance Poet and Author J. Ivy will visit Cheyney University of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, April 24, 2018, to perform at CU’s Fade to Black poetry night. This event, sponsored by The Office of  Residence Life and Housing, the CU Cultural Programming Committee and campus organization, The Brotherhood, will be held in the Carnegie Hall Great Room at 8 PM.

Renowned spoken word artist J. Ivy has translated the art of poetry into mainstream music and television arenas, through his use of compelling performances depicting contemporary society. The seasoned artist, who hails from Chicago, is widely known for his captivating performances on Russell Simmons’ HBO Def Poetry of his original poems, “I Need to Write” and “Dear Father.” Ivy’s poetry has also been featured on the song “Never Let Me Down” by rapper Kanye West. J. Ivy’s feature on the now hip-hop classic ultimately earned him a Grammy Award. The multi-talented performer has also released two studio albums of his own.

Additionally, J. Ivy has voiced openings for sporting events like the NFL’s Sunday Night Football, the 2017 NBA Draft, and ESPN’s US Open. He also narrated the award-winning BET film Muhammad Ali: The People’s Champ, has starred in a national ad for AARP and collaborated with several R&B artists to complete voice-overs.

Ivy is also a published author, having released the memoir Dear Father: Breaking the Cycle of Pain and Here I AM: Then and Now, a follow-up to his second studio album, HERE I AM, which contains a compilation of lyrics, stories that inspired the alum and other poetry works. Most recently, he has released the audio book My Daddy’s Records: Songs from the Book Dear Father.

This event is free and open to the Cheyney University campus community. For additional information on this event, contact Thomas Nixon, Director of Residence Life and Housing, tnixon@cheyney.edu.

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania’s Fine Art Honor Society (FAHS) students, along with their fellow Fine Arts, Design and Liberal Studies (FADLS) classmates, faculty advisors and staff members, have been working diligently over the course of the spring semester to organize a full-scale service project to collect educational goods and supplies for nonprofit organization, “Lift Up! Namibia.” “Lift Up! Namibia” works to raise awareness of the critical issues faced by the people of Namibia, a small county in South West Africa.

Founded in 2016 by Madame Caroline Andjaba, wife of His Excellency Martin Andjaba, Ambassador of Namibia to the United States, “Lift Up! Namibia” thrives by its mission to “mobilize support for education and help the people of Namibia respond to natural disasters,” and works with Namibians living in the United States to support educational opportunities for K-12 students in Namibia.

Upon learning of the organization and its mission, Marietta Dantonio-Madsen, Chair of the Fine Arts, Design and Liberal Studies Department at Cheyney, immediately wanted to find out how Cheyney students, her colleagues and FADLS faculty advisors, Helena Domenic (Associate Professor of Fine Art) and Joel Keener (Professor of Art) and other staff could become involved.

“I reached out to Madame Caroline and we later met in Washington, D.C. to discuss the educational needs of the students of Namibia, and outline how Cheyney could assist to further raise awareness and collect supplies,” says Madsen.

From there, Madsen began working with the FAHS and students from the spring semester Graphic Design Concept Development course, instructed by Domenic, to teach them how to negotiate and organize a service project, write sponsorship letters and structure a nonprofit donation lists.

Participation in the service project also gave the FADLS students the opportunity to exercise their diverse range of creative talents.

The students designed posters, graphics and other visuals to artistically show their support, pride and to inspire others to get involved. Another highlight – students were able to personally meet with Madame Caroline during her special visit to Cheyney.

“Through my participation I have learned that to achieve more, you must give more and service projects like “Lift Up! Namibia” give us the opportunity to do so,” shared student Rhonda Davis, who played an instrumental role in assisting the group to develop sponsorship letters and other written documents for the service campaign.

The group is now requesting that the Cheyney community rally together to lift up Namibia, and assist them to collect the following supplies: pencils, tape, permanent markers, erasers, backpacks, mathematical sets, sharpeners, scissors, rulers, composition books, pens, crayons, binders, puzzles, rulers and any new or used books. Donations can be dropped off in any of the designated donation boxes located in Marian Anderson, the Marcus Foster Snack Bar and Ada Georges. The complete supply donation list can be found here.

For more information on “Lift Up! Namibia” and to find out how you can get involved, visit liftupnamibia.com.

Top Photo [l to r]: Front: Veronica Becerra, Jamera Stanciel, Mrs. Caroline Andjaba, Charlene Hoffman, Jazmyn Robinson. Back: Rhonda Davis, Khalil Abdulahi, Jilanne Bentley, Shayahna Smith, Isaiah Stratton, Troy Scott.

Middle left photo (student artwork): Veronica Becerra. | Middle right photo (student artwork): Top: Shayanna Smith, Bottom left: Jelanne Bentley, Bottom right: Khalil Abdulahi.

Bottom left photo (student artwork): Isaiah Stratton.

On Thursday, April 12, 2018, the Cheyney University Campus Community is invited to join the Keystone Honors Academy for “Reach Towards the Stars.” This evening of motivation and inspiration will feature a keynote address from Astronaut Joan Higginbotham. Higginbotham’s address is designed to uplift the audience and encourage students, particularly minorities and women, to take interest in STEM field majors and pursue their dreams.

Higginbotham began her career with NASA in 1987 at the Kennedy Space Center as a Payload Electrical Engineer in the Electrical and Telecommunications Systems Division. During her nine-year tenure at the Kennedy Space Center, she supported 53 space shuttle launches. In 1996, Higginbotham was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA and later transitioned to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, which is the hub for all human spaceflight activity.

By 2006, Higginbotham became the third African-American women to travel to space following completion of a 12-day mission on the STS-116 space shuttle. She later went on to complete three additional missions before retiring from NASA in 2007 to pursue a career in the private sector.

Higginbotham obtained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She also earned a master’s degree in management and space systems from the Florida Institute of Technology, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in aerospace science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Additionally, she has been recognized with a host of awards and citations including the NASA Space Medal, Distinguished Alumni awards from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and induction into the National Association of Negro Business and the Professional Women’s History Hall of Fame.

Higginbotham is also an active member of a number of civic and service organizations, including Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, The Links Incorporated, and the Association of Space Explorers.

This free event will take place at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Marian Anderson Music Center. The event is also open to the public.

For more information or to request group seating, please contact 610-399-2386.