Winter 2012 www.cau.edu MAGAZINE SIGHT SOUND & SOUL CAU Sets an American Perception CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY WINTER 2012 1 PRESIDENT’s LETTER On Creating an American Perception Clark Atlanta University claims a long heritage of intellectual and cultural excellence. For generations, our institution and alumni have consistently woven a brilliant tapestry, textured as much with critical thought as by passion and curiosity, adding rich hue and warmth to the American panorama. One cannot unfold a nation’s struggle for freedom, the cultural and intellectual emancipation of our people, the fight for social equality or the self-consciousness of those who labored for justice without acknowledging the venerable contributions made by sons and daughters of CAU. The continuous press for liberation by the men and women of CAU — students, faculty and staff — yielded voluminous intellectual discourse and pristine cultural expression gifted to us by individuals whose courage and tenacity was outstripped only by their mental acuity, spiritual fortitude and creative genius. You know their names: Lucy Craft Laney, James Weldon Johnson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ralph David Abernathy, Marva Collins, Kenny Leon and so many more. These alumni and so many others like them cultivated fields of consciousness as they answered their individual and collective callings. With dignity and honesty, they informed our individual and communal self-perceptions. With determination and resolve, each took a piece of our history, wrapped it in their unique genius, and AS lifted America’s perceptions of who we are as a people and as Americans. Because M HO T their contributions have been so stellar, the world has had to consider America as a JAY brilliant mosaic colored magnificently by their contributions. In The Life of Reason, philosopher and poet George Santayana reminds us that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This issue of Clark Atlanta magazine offers a glimpse of the many ways in which our university carries forward the work of those who set high the standard for social, cultural and intel- lectual excellence. In these pages, we offer a very contemporary snapshot of the sight, sound and soul of CAU. We also look at another stellar group of individuals, who have made and continue to make unquestionably important contributions to the life and future of this institution, our donors. Without you, our quest to cultivate the next generation of global leadership would be nearly impossible. The perceptions of leadership and responsibility cast in your giving speak volumes about what it truly means to be a son or daughter of Clark Atlanta University, deeply committed and unwaveringly loyal to our mission. Here’s to continued and even greater excellence. Carlton E. Brown, President 2 CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY WINTER 2012 MAGAZINE WWW.CAU.EDU FEATURES PRESIDENT Carlton E. Brown Cover Story: Sight, Sound and Soul 16 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS CAU Sets an American Perception Donna L. Brock For more than a century, our alumni have shaped and informed American EDITOR culture and tradition. These alumni offer a glimpse at how this legacy continues. Joyce Jones SIGHT NEWS EDITOR Andante Higgins – A versatile Newsman 17 Jennifer Jiles CAU’s NewsBreak 20 CONTRIBUTORS One Woman’s War 22 Jacqueline Conciatore, Dana Harvey, David Lindsay, Frank McCoy, Wilmore Takes the Stage at CAU 25 Matthew Scott, Chivone Smith SOUND DESIGN The Jazz of the City 26 DesignEng Cocheta Has Her Say in Hip-Hop 28 PHOTOGRAPHY SOUL Robert M. Bailey III, Jamie Liles, Reclaiming a Legend of Black Thought 30 Curtis McDowell, Jay Thomas CAU Set to Take Up a CAUSE 20 PRINTING Graphic Solutions Group Leadership Ledger 32 These four students are making an impact in their fields of endeavor. Clark Atlanta Magazine is published by the Clark Atlanta University Office Jamael Harris, School of Business Administration 32 of Institutional Advancement and University Relations. Address letters and Johnetta McSwain, Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work 33 comments to Clark Atlanta Magazine, Clark Atlanta University, Director of David Brown, School of Education 34 Strategic Communications, 223 James P. Brawley Drive, S.W., Atlanta, GA Tempestt McBride, School of Arts & Science 35 30314. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs (5x7 or larger preferred) are welcomed for possible inclusion in the DeparTMENTS magazine. Selection and publication are at the discretion of the editors. Opinions expressed in this publication are those University News 2 Alumni Forum 38 of the authors, not necessarily of the University. Convocation 11 Speaking Of… 41 Clark Atlanta University is a member Faculty Forum 12 Sports Update 42 of the Atlanta University Center, a consortium of five educational institutions Honor Roll of Donors 43 and is the largest of The College Fund/ UNCF institutions. Clark Atlanta does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, Front cover: Amarylis Sueing (’12) on saxophone; color, national or ethnic origin, religion, Zechariah Johnson (’13) on trumpet. Photo of W. E. age or handicap in the recruitment B. Du Bois used with permission from University of and admission of its students, in the Massachusetts-Amherst Special Collections. Photo administration of its educational policies and programs, or in its staff as specified detail courtesy of April Lundy, MFA. by federal law and regulations. Left: CAU Convocation speaker Milton J. Little First-class postage paid in Atlanta, Ga. poses with President Carlton E. Brown and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joseph Copyright ©2012 by H. Silver, Sr. Clark Atlanta Magazine of Clark Atlanta University. Back cover: CAU Global Leadership Academy staffer André McKinney and senior Theater Arts Major Terri Abney chat on the promenade with CAU Police Chief Thomas Y. Trawick, Jr. CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY WINTER 2012 1 UNIVERSITY NEWS Smart Technology Enhances technology in the classroom to increase instructional training program consist- Student Engagement & Learning student interaction, assess learning and ing of a series of dynamic workshops to As college and university instructors achieve learning outcomes. assist faculty members with enhancing increasingly integrate technology into “This is not just about integrating student engagement and interaction in their curriculum, 16 Clark Atlanta Uni- technology into the classroom: it’s about the classroom. The workshops focus versity professors spent last summer integrating it into teaching and learning,” on student-centered instruction and boning up on the latest smart technology said Gwen Mitchell, Ph.D., director of the the desired outcome was for faculty to and how podcasts, tutorials and response Center of Excellence for Faculty Devel- design a web-enhanced course for the devices can be maximized in the class- opment, which created and runs STEP. fall semester. room to enhance student learning. “For CAU instructors, technology is now The value of smart technology in The 2011 Summer Technology both a teaching and a learning aid in the enhancing learning was actually revealed Enrichment Program (STEP) enabled classroom.” when four CAU professors integrated faculty to learn how to better integrate STEP is an intensive, four-day technology into their classrooms during Five High School Juniors Complete CAU Classes as Part of a New Partnership “Some of the extracurricular activi- ties included attending Fall Convo- cation and the Miss CAU Corona- tion. The students also represented their school in Clark Atlanta’s 2011 Homecoming Parade.” Hemmitt added that the university hopes that the future college freshman will consider CAU as their first choice. The college-bound high school juniors will be the first members of their families to attend a higher edu- CAU’s early college scholars pose for a photo during the August 2011 freshman cation institution. According to Van- induction ceremony. Left to Right: Antonio Rayton, Angelina Barden, Alexis White, essa Nason, Ph.D., principal of the Jamesia Tucker and Kaia Bailey. Booker T. Washington Early College Academy, giving high school students Five high school juniors got a jump- Kaia Bailey, Angelina Barden, Anto- the opportunity to attend a nationally- start on college when they became the nio Rayton, Jamesia Tucker and Alexis known university will have a profound first participants in CAU’s Early Col- White embarked on an experience impact on their futures. lege Partnership during the fall 2011 that will enable them to accumulate 24 “This is a rare opportunity for semester. The university’s Community credit hours during their junior and our students to learn the necessary Educational Network and Outreach senior years of high school. The credits academic and leadership skills that Initiative designed the new program can then be applied to a college pro- will enable them to compete on a to support college-bound students. gram. Their first semester began with a global scale,” she said. “They also will The outreach initiative’s inaugural student-parent orientation, after which be introduced to the rich traditions semester involved students from the they participated with CAU freshmen in of Clark Atlanta University that will Booker T. Washington Early Col- the university’s annual freshman induc- instill in them a sense of pride and lege Academy who will be taking tion ceremony. self-efficacy.” two courses per semester at Clark “The students were enrolled in Tuition and books are paid for by Atlanta while they complete high Culture and Society and Fundamen- the Accel Program, designed for high school. The partnership is designed tals of Speech, for a total of six credit school students who attend an accred- to help prepare deserving young men hours, and they are all succeeding ited public or private high school in and women in their pursuit of higher academically,” said Ernita Hemmitt, the state of Georgia and are taking education. CAU’s interim dean of Student Affairs. college-level courses. 2 CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY WINTER 2012 UNIVERSITY NEWS CAU Names Carl Jones Vice President For Enrollment Services and Student Affairs the 2009-2010 academic year.