OAAA E-Weekly Newsletter Office of African American Affairs March 15, 2021 Special Announcement 5th Annual GradSTAR Etiquette Dinner on Wednesday, March 24th at 6:30. This will be a virtual event this year which will provide you with the opportunity to learn and practice the art of fine dining and business etiquette while in the comfort of your own space. Crystal Bailey, an etiquette expert from The Etiquette Institute of Washington, and a consultant for Fortune 500 companies will be the host and instructor for the evening. The meal for the event will be provided by the Office of African American Affairs and you will be able to dine as Ms. Bailey walks us through the social graces and rules of etiquette. More information about how to receive your meal will be available once you are registered. Spaces are limited so please RSVP by March 18th. This is a very special event that is co-sponsored by OAAA and McIntire School of Commerce and one that will no doubt increase your executive presence. We anticipate that it will be both helpful an enjoyable so please join us. RSVP Now If you have questions or need additional information please feel free to contact us. _______________________________________ UVA COVID-19 PREVENTION, DETECTION, AND RESPONSE PLAN The University is closely monitoring key metrics and has developed a COVID-19 dashboard that will be shared and will track key metrics like the rate of infections and our operational readiness to respond to the virus. We stand ready to alter our operations and plans based on these metrics. We are grateful to all members of our community for their diligence in following the guidelines outlined below. A printable copy of the UVA COVID-19 Prevention, Detection, and Response Plan is available. ____________________________________ MARK YOUR CALENDAR Spring 2021 March 29: No classes April 15: No classes May 6: Spring courses end May 7-15: Exams May 9 and 12: Reading Days May 21-23: 2021 Finals Weekend May 28-30: 2020 Finals Weekend Add/Drop/Withdrawal Deadlines OAAA Announcements & Services OAAA Announcements & Services – Spring 2021 In order to reduce the risk of exceeding the max capacity, the Office has created an email for you to send print requests. Click here to get more details about printing. ____________________________________ OAAA Virtual Office Hours Monday with Dean Bassett 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Zoom Meeting - Passcode: 984107 Tuesday with TBA 11:30 am – 1:00 pm – Zoom Meeting - Passcode: 621470 Wednesday with Dean Thomas 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm – Zoom Meeting - Passcode: 412435 Thursday with Dean Bassett 10:30 – 12:00 pm – Zoom Meeting - Passcode: 536215 Friday with TBA (Alternating) 9:30 am – 11:00 am – Zoom Meeting - Passcode: 763369 ________________ OAAA Tutoring for Spring 2021 – Contact: Dean Thomas for more information OAAA tutors meeting dates & times via Zoom: Calculus & Statistics Tutoring Every Monday – 12:00 pm-2:30 pm – Travis Elliott @ Zoom Room Every Thursday – 2:00 pm-4:30 pm – Travis Elliott @ Zoom Room Organic Chemistry Tutoring Every Monday – 6:30 pm-8:30 pm – Sarah Weisflog @ Zoom Room Chemistry Tutoring Every Tuesday – 5:00 pm-7:00 pm – Yvette Gamor @ Zoom Room Biology Tutoring Every Thursday – 6:00 pm–8:00 pm – Mihret Niguse @ Zoom Room Biology Tutoring Every Sunday – 6:00 pm–8:00 pm – Heather Poyner @ Zoom Room ______________________________ Contact: Dean Mason for more information on: Black College Women (BCW) Book Club Black Male Initiative (BMI) Black President’s Council (BPC) Black College Women (BCW) - In the Company of my Sister Quote of the Week "We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead." – Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter Faculty Spotlight Cortney Hawkins is the new Diversity Officer for the University Police Department. She recently completed the following interview with Antoinette Thomas, Associate Dean. Where are you from and what did you do before coming to UVa? I am from Birmingham, Alabama but I refer to it as Bombingham Alabama so that people will remember the 40 plus homes that were bombed on Dynamite Hill. Before coming to UVa I worked for the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. I had a variety of responsibilities including planning special events such as Juneteenth. While there I also had the pleasure of meeting a real life super hero like Sarah Collins Rudolph. She was the 5th little girl who survived the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church (She is on Facebook. You should look her up). Prior to working at the Civil Rights Institute, I was a high school teacher at Holy Family Christo Catholic High School. I taught English, American and World history and was the first teacher to incorporate African American history into the curriculum. I am a proud product of the Birmingham City School and graduated from The Ramsay High School. I played basketball in high school and for Troy University where I obtained a B.S in History with an emphasis in American and European history and a minor in Human Services. I am currently in law school and will obtain my Juris Doctoral in May 2021. Why did you decide to come to UVa? I wanted to make help make a difference in the world and UPD provides me the opportunity to advocate for civil rights and human rights. What are some of your goals as the Diversity Officer? I want us to move from being in a community to being neighbors that can really make a change. A community is just a group of people who live in a certain area but a neighborhood and a neighbor is someone that you get to know and can borrow sugar from. I encourage students and faculty to use me as a resource so that together we can make a difference in our neighborhood. Do you have any hobbies or activities that you enjoy? I enjoy playing basketball and listening to Nina Simone, I also like to do things that scare me and push me beyond my comfort zone like shark diving. Mind you, I haven’t done it yet but it is something I want to experience. I love cooking traditional southern food and drinking sweet tea. I also enjoying traveling, and reading history books. Quote's Corner Beyoncé Giselle Knowles- Carter (born September 4, 1981 - ) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, director, humanitarian, record producer, clothing designer, wife and mother of three children – Blue Ivy Carter, and twins Rumi Carter and Sir Carter. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. During Destiny's Child's hiatus, Beyoncé made her theatrical film debut with a role in the U.S. box-office number-one Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) and began her solo music career. She became the first music act to debut at number one with their first six solo studio albums on the Billboard 200. Her debut album Dangerously in Love (2003) featured four Billboard Hot 100 top five songs, including the number-one singles "Crazy in Love" featuring rapper Jay-Z and "Baby Boy" featuring singer-rapper Sean Paul. Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2006, she released her second solo album, B'Day, which contained her first U.S. number-one solo single "Irreplaceable", and "Beautiful Liar", which topped the charts in most countries. Beyoncé continued her acting career with starring roles in The Pink Panther (2006), Dreamgirls (2006), and Obsessed (2009). Her marriage to Jay-Z and her portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), which earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010. It spawned the UK number-one single "If I Were a Boy", the U.S. number-one single "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and the top five single "Halo". After splitting from her manager and father Mathew Knowles in 2010, Beyoncé released the album 4 (2011. She achieved back-to-back widespread critical acclaim for her sonically experimental visual albums, Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016); the latter was the world's best-selling album of 2016 and the most acclaimed album of her career, exploring themes of infidelity and womanism. In 2018, she released Everything Is Love, a collaborative album with her husband, Jay-Z, as the Carters. As a featured artist, Beyoncé topped the Billboard Hot 100 with the remixes of "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran in 2017 and "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion in 2020. The same year, she released the musical film and visual album Black Is King to widespread critical acclaim. Beyoncé is one of the world's best-selling recording artists, having sold 118 million records worldwide. Beyoncé is also the most awarded artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, with 24 wins, including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, as well as the most nominated woman at the Grammy Awards and is the most awarded singer, male or female in the award show history. Beyoncé, who had nine nominations, the most of any artist in 2021, made history with her 28th win. "Black Parade" took Best R&B Performance. She also grabbed Best Rap Performance with Megan Thee Stallion. Adding to the family’s Grammy wins, Blue Ivy, 9 years old, also won her first Grammy in 2021 Grammy Best Music Video for "Brown Skin Girl." Blue Ivy received a writing credit for the song. "Brown Skin Girl" is featured on Beyoncé's "Lion King: The Gift" album.