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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.

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania has been awarded a $30,000 grant from Governor Tom Wolf and the PA Department of Education, to support our efforts to create programs that prevent and address sexual violence on campus. Governor Wolf’s office announced late Tuesday (March 13) that Cheyney was among the 39 universities across the state selected to receive the funding through the “It’s On Us PA” grant.

The Governor’s “It’s On US PA” statewide campaign aims to bring together college and University  administrators, faculty, staff, students, families and community members to “reframe the conversation around sexual violence and pledge to be part of the solution.”

“This grant will enable us to launch the ‘We C.U.’ (Cheyney University) social norms campaign. This campaign is designed to not only elevate awareness of the resources available on campus, but to also educate the entire Cheyney student population on understanding consent, healthy relationships and negative behaviors,” shared Robin Coward Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness, EEO and Title IX. “This in turn will help promote a culture where students feel empowered to report and make safer and healthier decisions.” Coward and Thom Nixon, Director of Residence Life and Housing at Cheyney, will partner to serve as the grant leaders for the University.

The “It’s On US PA” statewide campaign was launched by Governor Wolf in 2016, following the national “It’s On Us” movement spearheaded by former President Barak Obama. In 2017 the Wolf Administration awarded nearly a million dollars in It’s On US PA grants to 36 Pennsylvania postsecondary universities.

On Monday, March 19, 2018, join Cheyney University’s First Year Experience program for RAPtivism (rap + activism). This unique performance-lecture will be hosted by singer, speaker, educator and ‘RAPtivist’ (rap activist), Aisha Fukushima, and will take place in the Marcus Foster Auditorium at 6 p.m.

Fukushima’s RAPtivism project has spanned nearly 20 countries and four continents, and uses hip-hop music to highlight “the ways culture can contribute to universal efforts for freedom and justice by challenging apathy with awareness, ignorance with intelligence, and oppression with expression.”

RAPtivism is open to the campus community and is mandatory for all students in Freshman Seminar.

For more information, contact Daneisha Allen, First Year Experience Manager at Cheyney University, at dallen@cheyney.edu. To learn more about our guest Aisha Fukushima, visit aishafukushima.com.

As graduates of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, and the over 100 fellow Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the nation, exit their University’s Quad and advance to break down barriers and make significant strides in their respective fields – and in life, they never forget where they came from. Alumni repeatedly credit their institutions as the driving force that bred their success, noting that had it not been for their HBCU experience, one that extends well beyond the classroom, their outcomes would be drastically different

Cheyney alumni Leonard Brown (‘17) and Dr. Janelle L. Williams (‘07) share similar sentiments.

Recently, Brown and Williams returned to their alma mater to document their HBCU experience and share how attending Cheyney prepared them for their current endeavors for a segment, entitled “Life After Graduation.” The segment will be featured as part of an upcoming episode of the PCN TV show, Infinite Opportunities.

“College wasn’t always in the plans for me,” said Brown, who is now an In-Store Partner/Sales Representative with the Kraft-Heinz company. “My junior year of high school, I transferred to Imhotep Charter (located in Philadelphia) where they stressed the importance of a college education. While there I developed a support system of advisors and mentors, the majority of whom were alumni of the University. It was there that I discovered Cheyney is where I belonged.”

Williams on the other hand, always felt college was the logical path following high school graduation, however she characterized herself as an average student that held self-doubts about her future prior to attending Cheyney. “I chose Cheyney for two reasons: 1. Cheyney is entrenched with a significant history that is reflective of both my culture and my identity; 2. Cheyney promised me a home away from home and made a commitment to my future.”

Though the pair, who are both Philadelphia natives, matriculated at Cheyney a decade apart, they share the commonality of having studied Business and Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management (HRTM), and having been students in the University’s distinguished Keystone Honors Academy (KHA), which offers full-scholarships (covering tuition, fees, room and board) to high achieving undergraduate students.

While at Cheyney, the scholars immersed themselves in every opportunity afforded to both Cheyney and KHA students, on and off the historic campus.

Williams, became a student-athlete after securing a spot on CU’s Track & Field/Cross Country roster, and later sprinted her way through a host of commitments, including; being a Frederick Douglass scholar and mentor, Social Chair of CU’s Student Government Association (SGA), a writing tutor, Resident Advisor, Sophomore Class President, Senior Class Vice President and joining the sorority Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. She also completed three competitive internships with Metz Foods, the Starwood Hotel Group and Sodexo, and studied abroad in Ghana, West Africa.

Brown also took advantage of all that Cheyney had to offer. He spearheaded several community based leadership projects, including The Good Neighbors Initiative, completed a total of six internships and one intensive, and fully-funded, study abroad opportunity in Norway. There he studied leadership, peace and environmental sustainability. Additionally, Brown participated in several honors conferences as both a speaker and an attendee.

Brown and Williams equally credit the University, and their involvement in the honors academy, as the driving force that gave them confidence to explore every possibility presented.

“Cheyney has a unique opportunity in the Keystone Honors Academy. The program’s structure allowed me to thoroughly focus on my academics and gaining valuable experiences that would help to ease my transition after graduation,” shared Brown. He also acknowledges HRTM Associate Professor & Chair, Dr. Ivan Turnipseed and Nicole Rayfield, Director of the Keystone Honors Academy as being influential mentors in preparing him for life after graduation.

“Cheyney helped me to find the value in myself. Prior to Cheyney, I was an average student; at Cheyney, I was a Keystone Honors Scholar. I believe the positive affirmations that started on day one, helped impress upon me to believe and understand that I was already successful; I just needed to learn a little more. Growing up I wanting to be a Doctor. Cheyney told me I would be a Doctor; there was never a doubt, so I learned not to doubt myself,” said Williams.

With her newfound self-awareness, Williams exited Cheyney and later pursued a master’s degree at Penn State University via the Bond-Hill Scholarship program. Under this program, eligible CU graduates are given full scholarships to continue their studies in professional and graduate programs.

“Cheyney prepared me academically for graduate studies and provided financial backing to pursue those studies. In addition, it shaped my desire to work in higher education, research and study HBCUs” said Williams, who obtained her Ed.D from Widener University, is currently a visiting scholar at the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions at the University of Pennsylvania.

In spite of the ongoing challenges that HBCUs tragically face, they produce some of the world’s most influential figures. And, it was here, at the nation’s first (HBCU), that both Brown and Dr. Williams, assembled the necessary skills and experiences needed to become the successful, well-rounded individuals they are today.

“To paraphrase Whitley Gilbert (a fictional character from the 1990’s sitcom, A Different World), “You can go to school any place, but no school will love you and teach you to love yourself, and know yourself like Cheyney,” said Williams.

The “Life After Graduation” segment will air within an episode of Infinite Opportunities, a show that highlights the happenings and range of enriching opportunities at Pennsylvania’s 14 State System universities, on Sunday, March 11 at 9:30 a.m. on PCN. Catch the current season, and past season episodes that spotlight Cheyney, and other PASSHE students, here.