Archive for February, 2012
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
 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.
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Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
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.
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Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
 In keeping with Women’s History Month, WNCU will present a special Jazz Profiles program every Sunday in March from 8 – 9 p.m. This is in tribute to some of the legendary female artists who have had a large impact on jazz and raised the bar for every musician.
March 4 – Billie Holiday
March 11 – Etta Jones
March 18 – Melba Liston
March 25 – Betty Carter
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Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012
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 29thannual “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 20th 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.
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Thursday, February 16th, 2012
 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.
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Thursday, February 16th, 2012
 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.
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Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
 Tuesday, February 21, 7 pm
Lenora Zenzalai Helm Faculty Recital
Not Voice As Usual
B. N. Duke Auditorium
Not Voice As Usual, is an evening performance of songs which speak to using one’s voice to bring to bear justice, equality, or, for, out, and if necessary, against silence at times deemed crucial for action. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote reminds us…”Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,” we must decide when those times arise that you must make your voice heard. Sometimes, we must choose not to be silent, Not Voice As Usual!
NCCU music faculty, jazz vocal musician Lenora Zenzalai Helm will perform her original compositions from her six CD releases, and arrangements by NCCU music professor and saxophonist Brian Horton. Also featured will be many NCCU music department colleagues including, Timothy Holley, cello; Baron Tymas, guitar; Ed Paolantonio, piano; and Thomas Taylor percussion. Helm’s trio of NCCU Jazz Studies graduate music alums, Ryan Hanseler, piano; Larry Q. Draughn, Jr., drums and graduating senior Lance E. Scott, Jr., acoustic bass will also appear, as well as members of NCCU’s vocal jazz group, “Resolution,” and other special guests. Additional repertoire will include an interesting range of genres from Rachmaninoff, Villa-Lobos and Vivaldi, to Elton John, Nina Simone and John Coltrane.
This concert is free and open to the public.
www.LenoraHelm.com
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Sunday, February 5th, 2012
 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.
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Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
 February 5, at 3 p.m. – Wailin’ Soul: Bob Marley and the African-American Connection
A 60-minute music rich special on Bob Marley and how African American music influenced him and Reggae music.
February 7, at 7 p.m. – The Faces of Poverty Special
As part of an ongoing initiative to serve our listeners in the public interest, WNCU 90.7 FM invites you to listen to and participate in a community-based program February 7 beginning at 7 p.m. Our forum entitled “The Faces of Poverty in North Carolina” will provide a platform to talk about the “Truth and Hope Tour of Poverty in North Carolina” that seeks to examine poverty in rural counties and inner city neighborhoods in the state. The North Carolina NAACP, the N.C. Justice Center and the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity are sponsoring the tour.
WNCU will broadcast live from the auditorium of the H. M. Michaux Jr. School of Education Building on the campus of North Carolina Central University. Dr. Jarvis Hall, a political science professor at NCCU, will moderate the forum. This event is free and open to the public.
 February 11, at 6 p.m. – Sly and the Family Stone Special
A one-hour music intensive radio documentary about the music and legacy of Sly and the Family Stone. Family Affair is hosted by Ben Fong-Torres, and includes a wide range of Sly and the Family Stone tracks – from the big hits (“Dance to the Music,” Everyday People,” and others) to deep cuts from all their albums. Some songs accentuate the points made by the many interview subjects, others speak for themselves. All of them stand up as examples of Sly Stone’s “watershed point in the development of rhythm and blues,” as detailed by biographer and journalist Joel Selvin.
Band members Rose Stone, Larry Graham, Greg Errico and Andy Newmark provide rarely-heard, first-hand accounts of the zeniths and nadirs of Sly Stone’s universe, taking us from their family roots to their mainstream success to later sessions “surrounded by really crazy people…out there in the twilight zone. Musicians Isaac Hayes and Chuck D break down how music from all those episodes influenced Sly’s contemporaries, as well as future generations of musicians.
February 14, at 7 p.m. – Maya Angelou’s Special
Storied poet, author, educator and activist Dr. Maya Angelou will present intimate conversations illuminating African American comedy, film, family life and poetry. Congressman John Lewis will share some of his experiences during the civil rights era. Professor Nikky Finney will share stories of growing up in a civil rights family. Mary J. Blige will discuss the five years she spent preparing for the role of Nina Simone. Dr. Julianne Malveaux will discuss the impact of the civil rights movement on education. Finally, Ambassador Andrew Young will speak on the fight for equality. For more info, click here.
 February 19, at 7 p.m. – Duke Ellington’s Jump for Joy
In an age when the film and theater industries presented African Americans primarily as servants and porters, as fearful and clowning stereotypes, Duke Ellington dared to produce and grace a musical with the same dignity, wit, beauty, and unabiding hipness that he always brought to his band. Jump for Joy is a cultural milestone and another example of how this great American composer traversed the racial and aesthetic boundaries of his time. It was an all-black musical revue that Ellington said “would take Uncle Tom out of the theater and say things that would make the audience think.” The inspiration came from a late-night party, a convergence of Hollywood glamour and nascent civil-rights activism with one of America’s greatest jazz orchestras.
February 21, at 7 p.m. – Dick Gregory’s Special
There is nothing like a good laugh to make a bad situation easier to bear. The challenge of creating humor out of something as bleak and tragic as racism in America fell into the hands of Dick Gregory a young man from Chicago with an acerbic wit and a charismatic presence. From the Vault is part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.
February 28, at 7 p.m. – Black Panther’s Special
The Black Panther Party is one of the most controversial and misunderstood groups coming out the Black Power Movement in the 1960’s. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, founded The Black Panther Party in October 1966 . They created a 10-point program to address political oppression, poverty, joblessness, hunger, housing, and the lack of justice in the black community.
In February of 2008, Pacific Radio Archives Production Coordinator Edgar Toledo teamed up with longtime archives volunteer Debbie Demery to help make sense of the controversy by sifting through a mountain of material to produce a collection of the most relevant Black Panther Party materials. From the Vault is part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.
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Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
 Trumpeter Marcus Printup, who was born and raised in Conyers, Georgia, had his first musical experiences hearing the fiery gospel music his parents sang in church, and would later discover jazz as a senior in high school.
While attending the University of North Florida on a music scholarship, he won the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Trumpet Competition. In 1991, Mr. Printup’s life changed drastically when he met his mentor to this day, the great pianist Marcus Roberts. Mr. Roberts introduced him to Wynton Marsalis, which led to his induction into the Jazz @ Lincoln Center Orchestra in 1993.
Mr. Printup has performed and/or recorded with Betty Carter, Dianne Reeves, Eric Reed, Cyrus Chestnut, Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Roberts among many others.
Mr. Printup has several records as a leader, Song for the Beautiful Woman, Unveiled, Hub Songs, Nocturnal Traces, The New Boogaloo, Peace In The Abstract, Bird of Paradise, London Lullaby, Ballads All Night and his latest, A Time for Love.
Mr. Printup is in demand as an educator. He facilitates master classes/clinics at Middle Schools, High Schools and Universities across the US.
Mr. Printup is an educator for Jazz @ Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition, the Jazz @ Lincoln Center Middle School Jazz Academy, the Savannah Music Festival Swing City Competition and an adjunct faculty member of the New School in Manhattan.
Mr. Printup made his screen debut in the 1999 movie Playing By Heart and recorded on the film’s soundtrack.
In 2005, a proclamation was granted to Mr. Printup declaring August 22nd “Marcus Printup Day” in his home town of Conyers, GA.
In 2008, Mr. Printup did a live Gospel CD recording for his childhood church, Peek’s Chapel Baptist Church as a benefit to raise funds for the building of a new church.
Mr. Printup is endorsed by and exclusively plays Antoine Courtios Trumpets and Flugelhorns of Paris.
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