Starting Thursday, March 1, North Carolina Central University is offering a ‘Budget Buster’ deal on its 2012 football season tickets, selling the first 500 ticket packages for only $99 – a $36 savings off of the value of a reserved seat for each home game.

The 2012 NCCU football season ticket package includes a reserved seat for four home games, including Fayetteville State (Sept. 1), Hampton (Oct. 20), Delaware State (Nov. 3 – Homecoming), and rival North Carolina A&T (Nov. 17).

The Budget Buster offer also impacts NCCU’s most popular ticket option, the All-Access Card, which includes a season ticket for both football and basketball seasons. Starting March 1, the first 200 All-Access Cards will be sold for just $175 – a savings of $102 if reserved seats were purchased separately.

The Budget Buster deals are available until the specified numbers of tickets are sold, but no later than June 15.

Starting July 1, the family-friendly ‘Family Pack,’ with general admission tickets for two adults and two children to each home football game, will be available for $199 – a savings of $61 off of the actual ticket value if sold separately.

Once the Budget Buster deals are over, regular season ticket package pricing will take effect on July 1. Football season tickets will be sold for $115, while NCCU faculty and staff can purchase football season tickets for $105. The cost of the All-Access Card will be $185.

For complete details or to purchase tickets, stop by the NCCU Ticket Office on the lower level of W.G. Pearson Cafeteria (610 E. Lawson Street) or call (919) 530-5170.

For more information about NCCU football, including the full 2012 schedule, visit www.NCCUEaglePride.com.

Representatives from colleges and universities that serve large numbers of minority students will gather for a two-day meeting this week at North Carolina Central University to explore and share strategies for student success. Scholars and administrators from institutions serving African-American, Hispanic and American Indian students will attend the spring 2012 meeting of the Walmart Foundation Student Success Collaborative on Thursday, March 1, and Friday, March 2.

The initiative is a two-year project, financed by a $3 million grant from the Walmart Foundation, involving three organizations that focus on education of minority students: The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), representing historically black colleges and universities and other institutions with substantial black student enrollment; the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU); and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC).

Combined, the institutions represented by these three groups educate more than one-third of the nation’s minority students, many of whom are from low-income backgrounds and are the first in their families to attend college. The three organizations share the goal of increasing retention and graduation rates of students enrolled in the colleges and universities they represent.

The aim of the Walmart Foundation Student Success Collaborative is to identify institutions with high rates of student persistence and graduation and to determine the practices and strategies that contribute to this success — and then to find ways to encourage other institutions to adopt those practices. The ultimate goal is to significantly increase graduation rates at all minority-serving institutions.

About 50 educators are expected at the meeting, which will include panel discussions, workshops and a variety of presentations and case studies. The Thursday meetings will be in NCCU’s new Nursing Building, and Friday’s will be in the W.G. Pearson Cafeteria Chancellor’s Dining Room.

North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University will meet on the gridiron on Oct. 6 in Indianapolis, Ind., inside Lucas Oil Stadium, home of Super Bowl XLVI, for the 29^thannual “Circle City Classic” football game, the event hosts Indiana Black Expo, Inc. (IBE) and Indiana Sports Corporation announced Wednesday (Feb. 22).

A series of weekend events will surround the football game (scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff), featuring performances by the marching bands from both NCCU and SCSU.

The trip to Indianapolis will be especially meaningful for NCCU Chancellor Charlie Nelms, who earned master’s and doctorate degrees from Indiana University and spent several years working in the Indiana University system, including seven years as chancellor at Indiana University East.

“Having spent more than 25 years in Indiana, I fully appreciate the purpose and mission of the Circle City Classic which not only supports academic achievement but showcases the rich legacy of HBCUs,” said Nelms. “I am thrilled North Carolina Central University, specifically our football team along with our famed Marching Sound Machine band, will have the honor of taking center stage for this noted gridiron event.”

In NCCU’s first appearance in the Circle City Classic, NCCU Director of Athletics Dr. Ingrid Wicker-McCree takes note of the exposure the event will bring to the university and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

“We are so excited about the opportunity to participate in this prestigious Classic,” Wicker-McCree said. “The exposure of our university and the MEAC to that part of the country will enhance the visibility of our institutions and what NCCU and the MEAC have to offer young men and women who aspire to reach their educational goals.

“We look forward to bringing Eagle and Bulldog fans to the great city of Indianapolis on the weekend of October 6 to watch some exciting competition on the field of play by both our student-athletes and our great marching bands,” she said.

NCCU football head coach Henry Frazier III is entering his 20^th season of college football as either a player or coach, but this will be his first time participating in the Circle City Classic.

“I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Circle City Classic,” said Frazier. “I’ve heard they put on a first-class show. We’re looking forward to playing in the stadium where the Super Bowl was just played. It will provide good publicity for our program and an exciting experience for our student-athletes.”

NCCU’s award-winning marching band, the Marching Sound Machine, which performed on New Year’s Day 2011 in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., is slated to entertain at Friday’s pep rally and in the halftime battle of the bands.

“We are highly anticipating the Marching Sound Machine’s performances in Indianapolis for the famed Circle City Classic,” said NCCU Director of Bands Jorim Reid. “This noted sporting event’s popularity would provide a stage to introduce North Carolina Central University to potential students and new fans.

“The Circle City Classic will also expose our band students to the people, landscape, and culture of the Midwest,” Reid said. “The region is home to the Big Ten conference where the roots of ‘high stepping’ marching band style originally evolved. It will be an honor to march in a region rich with band history and participate in a classic that has a most storied tradition.”

Game tickets ranging from $10-$50 will be available at the NCCU Ticket Office on a date to be announced. NCCU fans are encouraged to purchase tickets from the NCCU Ticket Office.

For more details about the Circle City Classic, visit www.CircleCityClassic.com.

About North Carolina Central University

Founded in 1910, North Carolina Central University was the first publicly supported liberal arts college for African-Americans.  Today, this dynamic campus has a diverse student body of 8,600 enrolled in academic programs including law, biotechnology, library science, business, nursing, education and the arts. In consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report ranked NCCU among the top ten HBCUs in the country. Visit www.nccu.edu or more information.

About NCCU Football

North Carolina Central University enters its second season of full NCAA Division I (FCS) athletic competition as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Eagles won back-to-back football conference championships and a Black College National Championship in their final two years in the Division II ranks (2005 and 2006) before starting the transition to Division I in 2007. The NCCU football program is now under the leadership of award-winning head coach Henry Frazier III, who enters his second season on the Eagles’ sideline. During its storied gridiron tradition, NCCU has produced 129 all-conference selections, 63 all-Americans, 40 NFL draft picks, 10 conference championships and two Black College National Championships. Visit www.NCCUEaglePride.com for more information.

NCCU’s SGA will host the National HBCU Obama Student Summit on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The summit will feature a policy discussion led by actress Gabrielle Union and NCCU students on three topics: education, jobs and healthcare. Participants include Valerie Jarrett, senior democratic strategist, and U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield. The event will be held in the NCCU Student Union. Doors open at 6 p.m. and an advance RSVP is required at http://ofa.bo/ncsummit.

North Carolina Central University will celebrate the work of artist and NCCU alumnus Ivey Hayes with the opening of an exhibit, “Ivey Hayes: A Retrospective,” on Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. at the NCCU Art Museum. The exhibit will run through April 20.

Hayes was born in Rocky Point, N.C., a small rural community near Wilmington, and his work is inextricably linked to the community and its rustic character. Hayes’ uses of watercolor and acrylic processes are central to his working method, and they cross cultural divides using universal themes.

“Few painters from this area of eastern North Carolina have dealt so fully with the landscape and its people,” said Kenneth Rodgers, director of the NCCU Art Museum. “Everyone is amazed that Hayes creates such stylized and imaginative images, and does it despite serious arthritis.”

Taking as a point of departure student works from 1969, the exhibit presents works from Hayes’ earliest realistic landscapes and portraits. Also included are watercolors from his series on Native Americans and his self-described ‘visionary’ period. These works pay homage to Africa with a geometric-abstract figural expression. Visitors will also see current colorful, large-scale acrylic pieces that emphasize exaggerated figures. These include musicians, dancers, cotton and peanut pickers, quilters and people fishing.

The show is the first museum exhibit of Hayes in the Triangle in more than three decades.

During his career, Hayes has received regional and national recognition. His work has been exhibited throughout the state and in solo shows in New York City, and Washington, D.C. In 2006, Hayes was featured at Wilmington’s Louise Wells Cameron Museum in a major exhibit of works by African-American artists, alongside the works of Romare Bearden, Big Al Carter, Minnie Evans and Faith Ringgold. His work has been shown on the Charlie Rose Show, at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and on WUNC-TV’s “Our State.”

He has won numerous awards for his work, including the Presidential and Celebrity awards at the North Carolina Azalea Festival Master Arts Exhibit in Wilmington. In 2006, he was honored with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for his artistic achievements and contributions to the state. He also created the art work for the first annual North Carolina Blueberry Festival.

Hayes is a 1970 graduate of NCCU and received the Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1975.

The NCCU Art Museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call the museum at 530-6211.

In celebration of Black History Month, North Carolina Central University will present “Black Mama Monologues” on Feb. 10, 11, 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 12 and 19 at 2 p.m. in the University Theater.

Conceived by Anton Hough and Kerri Mubaarak, “Black Mama Monologues” captures the soul of the African-American woman. The production was originally designed for the Caldcleugh Multicultural Arts Center’s We Are One Performing Arts Program in Greensboro. It was later performed by The Collective. The unique approach to the production offers cast members the opportunity to compose monologues about their own life experiences, influences and exposures to African- American mothers. The result of such an intimate project has yielded a voice and a tribute to the African-American matriarch.

“The audience is able to step into a world of individual, real-life encounters with a black mama that are also collective and easily recognizable,” said Dr. Asabi, assistant professor of theater at NCCU and artistic director of the production. “These accounts address the unique culture, experiences, struggles, desires, familial commitment, relationships and spirituality of African-American women.”

Sixteen actors will share their reflections of the phenomenal influence of African-American women in their lives from life lessons learned to distinctive methods of discipline. Filled with music and dance, this exuberant drama also gives three NCCU students the opportunity to serve as choreographers.

“Throughout history the black mother is the epitome of an extraordinary being with unspeakable strength, irresistible beauty, undying love and enduring wisdom,” Asabi said. “She has survived the denial of her physical beauty and the ability to be her true self. “Survival in such an adversarial environment has given birth to this exclusive spirit of the black mama.  I was inspired to take this experience, opportunity and creative premise to the community.”

Tickets are $5 for students, senior citizens and children aged 4 to 17, and $10 for general admission. To purchase tickets, contact the NCCU ticket office at 919-530-5170. University Theater is in the Farrison–Newton Communications Building.

Founded in 1910, North Carolina Central University was the first publicly supported liberal arts college for African-Americans.  Today, this dynamic campus has a diverse student body of 8,300 enrolled in academic programs including law, biotechnology, library science, business, nursing, education and the arts.