Daily News on Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Former Virginia Union University and all-CIAA men’s basketball standout Darius Hargrove has been named the Romanian Import Player of the Year in EuroLeague competition. Hargrove led the CSU Asesoft Ploiesti club to the 2009-10 league title averaging 17.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the regular season.
Hargrove led the Panthers to the 2005 Division II national men’s basketball championship.
Retiring Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irving is ending 42 years of service with a special donation to Fort Valley State University. Upon his retirement in January 2011, the longest-tenured commissioner in the state and in the country will donate $50,000 from unused campaign funds to FVSU’s scholarship fund. From the release:
“I could not list all the ways Commissioner Irvin has come to our assistance, including his willingness to serve as a member of the FVSU Foundation board,” said President Larry E. Rivers. “He is a friend in whom we take pride and for whom we wish the happiest of retirements.”
Irvin is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Fort Valley State University Foundation, a position he has held since 2007.
A South Carolina State University student is likely to receive up to $300,000 after a jury in Orangeburg County on Wednesday awarded him nearly $500,000 in a lawsuit against the school. Gerald Wayne Brooks sued the university after falling and cutting his hand against a broken window which, he says in court documents, the university neglected to repair after repeatedly reporting the problem. From the Times and Democrat:
Brooks was staying at Mitchell Hall when he cut his hand on a broken window on April 5, 2007, sustaining damage to six nerves and two ligaments.
Brooks said S.C. State was “grossly negligent” in failing to inspect hazards on its campus, in failing to warn Brooks of the damaged window and failing to fix the window. He ended up suing S.C. State for failing to maintain safe premises.
According to court documents, S.C. State said Brooks had sufficient knowledge the window was broken and that it is common procedure for the university to make necessary repairs to property once a report is made to an appropriate official.
But Butcher said although Brooks may have known about the broken window, that does not exempt S.C. State.
“Certainly when you see something dangerous you will sidestep it,” Butcher said. “But if there is a pothole in the road you will hit it eventually if it is not fixed.”
The Richland County Council rejected a proposal from Benedict College to renovate an unused hotel facility into a campus dorm earlier this week, bringing relief to community members and alumni who say the university never invited them into the planning process for the building. From WSPA.com:
Council member Gwendolyn Davis Kennedy, who represents the area, says, “The school went about it the wrong way. They never discussed it with residents.”
Tom Malone, whose backyard backs up to the would-be dorm, says he didn’t like it when students were living there last year. “My biggest problem was with traffic and trash,” he says, saying students came and went at all hours.
Linda Dove, who lives down the street from the building, says she’s glad county council voted against allowing it to become a dorm permanently. “This is a retirement, more or less a retirement community around here. We did not want all the noise and all the young people,” she says.
Despite losing the potential dorm, Benedict attorney Ernest Cromartie says, “Benedict College is committed to its students and any student who is enrolled or who wants to attend will be provided housing.”
Emails to the college concerning future plans for student housing were unreturned as of press time.
The Washington Times today reports that a Howard University Hospital employee has been charged with selling the personal information of hospital patients for more than a year.
Alabama State University today announced that former Hornet linebacker Nigel Carr has signed a free agent deal with the Baltimore Ravens.
The Tallahassee Democrat today reports that Florida A&M University will continue to offer degree programs in music despite the uncertain status of the Marching 100.
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents last week announced Dr. Cheryl Davenport Dozier as the permanent president of Savannah State University. Dr. Dozier, a Masters of Social Work alumna of Atlanta University, had held the position on an interim basis since April of 2011, and in that time, has created successful initiatives to improve customer service, alumni giving and retention.
