InsideTSU - April 20, 2022

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Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Houston Texans, TSU announce two-year partnership to upgrade facilities and provide scholarships for female student athletes

The Houston Texans and Texas Southern University announced a two-year partnership that will positively impact the Houston community by creating opportunities for student-athletes both on the field and in the classroom. The partnership was announced at a reception honoring Texans Head Coach Lovie Smith at the TSU Library Learning Center.

"We are happy to honor Coach Lovie Smith for his historic elevation to head coach, and for his contributions to the entire Houston community,” TSU Board of Regents Chairman Albert Myres said. “Coach Smith embodies leadership qualities that we work daily demonstrate. We appreciate all that he does and all that he is to our community.”

“The Houston Texans are proud to partner with TSU to support the university’s student-athletes, coaches and staff,” Houston Texans Chair and Chief Executive Officer Cal McNair said. “It is our hope that this partnership will enrich the next generation’s love of the game of football while providing unique opportunities to our community’s future leaders.”

The partnership will focus on three core initiatives including improving athletic facilities, funding scholarship opportunities for female student-athletes, and student, faculty and staff engagement. Over the next two years, the Texans will:

Donate the team’s artificial playing surface from NRG Stadium
Support football field house improvements that will assist with recruiting top-tier student-athletes to TSU
Award scholarships to five female student-athletes each year
Create opportunities and programming that will provide access to professional development, internships and mentoring for TSU students, faculty, staff and athletics leadership

“This partnership with the Texans will assist in transforming the lives of our TSU students. This investment affords our scholar-athletes additional resources to ensure their success on and off the field,” said TSU President Dr. Lesia L. Crumpton-Young (pictured above during the reception with former Texan Wade Smith and members of TSU's football team). “Given the facilities enhancements to the professional development, internships, and scholarships, our young scholars will exhibit exemplary performance!”

Verizon, Houston Fund for Social Justice and Economic Equity fuel TSU entrepreneurship education

TSU welcomed Verizon and the Houston Fund for Social Justice and Economic Equity (The Fund) on campus to announce a $300,000 grant that will support tranformative learning for TSU students and the community.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, along with Rose Stucky Kirk, President of the Verizon Foundation, and Thomas Jones, Board President of the Houston Fund, joined TSU President Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young, as well as TSU Regent Stephanie Nellons-Paige, for the ceremony.

The grant involves two-pronged collaboration between non-profits that are served by the Fund and TSU, which will utilize the funding to provide new programming for entrepreneurship and financial literacy, especially in communities of color and diverse-owned small businesses within the community.

"Today is an example of what true partnerships can mean on a college campus," said Dr. Crumpton-Young. "We are going to serve the underserved like they have never been served, and this partnership will allow us to do this."

Crumpton-Young referenced the excitement and interest of TSU students for entrepreneurial activities and resources that will help them launch their own businesses.

"It will be a university initiative, but it will be focused on enhancing the community. This gift, this partnership, will help us to ensure that small businesses in our community will be successful."

Gerald Smith, Chairman Emeritus of the TSU Foundation, as well as a TSU graduate and successful business entrepreneur, seconded President Crumpton-Young's statement. He believes that TSU's Jesse H. Jones School of Business, which includes the Gerald E. Smith Center for Entrepreneurship, will be a conduit for nurturing small business development.

"I want to thank Verizon for supporting this cause, and we look forward to making a difference in our communities (with this funding)."

Mayor Turner initiated the Fund in 2021 with the goal of raising $25 million to invest resources into nonprofits and small businesses that uplift and empower the Black community.

Business School receives renewed accreditation

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has informed the Jesse H. Jones School of Business that its Peer Review Team recommends an extension of accreditation for the school's business degree programs.

The recommendation was concurred with by the AACSB's Continuous Improvement Review Committee and ratified by the Board of Directors.

"This accreditation is a major stamp of approval for our programs," said Dr. David Yen, dean of the School of Business. "It reflects the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff as we work to achieve high levels of success for our students."

TSU chemistry professor named to EPA advisory role

Dr. Mahmoud Saleh, a TSU scholar and professor of Chemistry, was selected to serve as a member on the Executive Committee of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPA Board of Scientific Counselors is a federal advisory committee that provides advice and recommendations to the EPA's Office of Research and Development on technical and management issues of its research programs.

Dr. Saleh's term begins immediately and he will serve until February 2025.

"TSU in the News" snapshot:

TSU's Thurgood Marshall School of Law students, Dean Joan Bullock, professor James Douglas provide perspective on the Ketanji Brown confirmation on KHOU/Channel 11 and KPRC/Channel 2 (April 7):

Tiger football standout Michael Badejo earning NFL draft attention from Texans, others (April 7):

Verizon, Houston Fund for Social Justice and Economic Equity announce grant for TSU entrepreneurship education (April 11):

Houston Texans, TSU announce new partnership (April 13-14):

Honors College recognizes six individuals at 4th annual Spring Tribute & Luncheon

Former President of Texas Southern University, Dr. John M. Rudley, was one of six honorees at the fourth annual Thomas F. Freeman Honors College luncheon on Saturday, April 9. The Honors College was founded under Dr. Rudley’s leadership in 2009. He, along with Provost Sunny Ohia, who was also an honoree and professor of Pharmacology, were instrumental in transitioning the Frederick Douglass Honors Institute into the Honors College. More than a decade later, the college has received national honors for its “Freeman Honors” newsletter, and it has graduated more than 235 Freeman Scholars who are excelling as entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, business analysts, pharmacists, engineers, corporate executives and more.

Pictured at the tribute are (l. to r.): Honoree Dr. Willie Capers, Jr., professor of Pharmacy Practice and Administration, Dr. Dianne Jemison Pollard, dean of the Honors College; honoree Dr. Brian Armstrong, assistant vice president for Student Enrollment Success; honoree Dr. Yi Qi, department chair of Transportation Studies, keynote speaker Dr. Reagan Flowers; President Crumpton-Young; honoree Dr. John Rudley; honoree Dr. Nina Cofer, founder and CEO of Education Advancement Services; and honoree Dr. Sunny Ohia.

Keynote speaker Dr. Flowers, who serves on the Honors College Advisory Board, is president and CEO of C-STEM Teacher & Student Support Services, and is a trustee with Houston Community College System.

Also in attendance was Clarice Freeman, wife of the late Thomas F. Freeman, TSU's longtime, world-famous debate coach for whom the Honors College is named.

All event proceeds from the event benefit the programs in the Honors College.

TSU Preview Days give newly-admitted students next steps to becoming a Tiger

Hundreds of soon-to-be Tigers made their presence felt on campus earlier this month as they took part in the first of two TSU Preview Days. The event gives newly-admitted Tigers all the information they need to take the next steps toward enrollment and becoming a student.

In addition to campus tours, the event included sessions on financial aid, scholarship and housing options. President Crumpton-Young spoke words of encouragement to the students, who also had the opportunity to interact with other members of the University's leadership team, as well as have fun with TSU's mascot Tex.

TSU's next Preview Day takes place Saturday, April 23, from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

For more information, visit www.tsu.edu/preview, email recruitment@tsu.edu, or call 713.313.7839.

Pageant crowns newest Mister and Miss Texas Southern

A huge congratulations to the newly-crowned Mister and Miss Texas Southern, Taylor Getwood and Melody Robinson, following the 75th annual pageant ceremony held in Sawyer Auditorium.

Getwood, a Texas native who is majoring in Mass Communication with a minor in Political Science, was one of the youngest persons ever elected to serve on the school board of an independent school district (Port Arthur) in 2021 at the age of 18.

Robinson, who is from Gulfport, MS, is a Broadcast Journalism (Radio, Television, Film) major and is a member of TSU Cheerleading.

Both will be formally crowned next fall during Homecoming festivities.

Reality TV next up for TSU alumna who runs her own clothing line

2018 TSU graduate Shanique Imari is a busy entrepreneur. The former Tiger Sensation Dance Team captain not only has her own clothing line, she is now starring in the new Netflix reality show The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On, which was released last week. The ten-episode long series showcases six couples, including Imari and her boyfriend Randall Griffin, of which one partner wants to get married, while the other is not ready for such a commitment.

Imari started her own clothing line, 'SYN Closet,' in 2020.

Read more about Imari here.

Photo from Instagram/shaniqueimari

Former art student earns prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship

On April 7, 2022, the Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation approved the awarding of a Guggenheim Fellowship to Nathaniel Donnett, a graduate of TSU with a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts.

Donnett is one of 180 exceptional individuals who were chosen from a rigorous application and peer review process out of almost 2500 applicants. He was appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise.

“Now that the past two years are hopefully behind all of us, it is a special joy to celebrate the Guggenheim Foundation’s new class of Fellows,” said Edward Hirsch, President of the Guggenheim Foundation and 1985 Fellow in Poetry. “This year marks the Foundation’s 97th annual Fellowship competition. Our long experience tells us what an impact these annual grants will have to change people’s lives. The work supported by the Foundation will aid in our collective effort to better understand the new world we’re in, where we’ve come from, and where we’re going. It is an honor for the Foundation to help the Fellows carry out their visionary work.”

Donnett is an interdisciplinary cultural practitioner born in Houston, Texas. His practice holds metaphysical and phenomenological spaces that explore history, space/time, the interior/exterior self, incompleteness, and race. Black aesthetic traditions, music, refusal, fractal theory, and sacred geometry are strategies he uses to challenge conventional timeline narratives and Western frameworks. To reference the vastness of Black social life, Donnett takes a comprehensive approach to materiality.

In all, 51 scholarly disciplines and artistic fields, 81 different academic institutions, 31 states and the District of Columbia, and four Canadian provinces are represented in this year’s class of Fellows, who range in age from 33 to 75. Many Fellows’ projects directly respond to issues like climate change, pandemics, Russia, feminism, identity, and racism.

Since its establishment, the Foundation has granted nearly $400 million in Fellowships to over 18,000 individuals, among whom are more than 125 Nobel laureates, members of all the national academies, winners of the Pulitzer Prize, Fields Medal, Turing Award, Bancroft Prize, National Book Award, and other internationally recognized honors. The great range of fields of study is a unique characteristic of the Fellowship program.

The Foundation centers the talents and instincts of the Fellows, whose passions often have broad and immediate impact. For example, Zora Neale Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1936 with the support of a Guggenheim Fellowship and dedicated it to the Foundation’s first president, Henry Allen Moe. The accomplishments of other early Fellows like Jacob Lawrence, Rachel Carson, James Baldwin, Martha Graham, and Linus Pauling also demonstrate the strength of the Foundation’s core values and the power and impact of its approach.

Read more about Donnett and view his work here.

Skeete named as new women's basketball coach

Texas Southern University Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Kevin Granger has named Vernette Skeete as the 13th head coach in program history, pending Board of Regents approval. Skeete comes to TSU from Texas A&M, where she served as the program's co-associate head coach.

A rising star in the collegiate ranks, Skeete has a wide variety of experience as a head coach, assistant coach and student-athlete at all levels from the power-five ranks to high school. Skeete most recently spent the 2021-22 season at Texas A&M under recently retired and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Gary Blair as the team's co-associate head coach. Prior to Texas A&M, Skeete served as an assistant at Illinois for one season, six seasons as an assistant at Marquette and three seasons at the University at Miami.

The Malone, Fla. native has head coaching experience at Gulf Coast State (Florida) College where she compiled a record of 49-13 and was named the 2012-13 NJCAA Region 8 Coach of the Year, Panhandle Conference Coach of the Year and Florida College System Activities Association Coach of the Year after leading her squad to the 2013 conference and region championships, and a fourth-place finish in the NJCAA National Tournament. Skeete also spent time as head coach at alma mater, Malone High School.

Skeete began her collegiate playing career at Gulf Coast State where she led the Commodores to a 75-1 record, back-to-back conference and region titles, and the 2003 NJCAA National Championship. She went on to play two seasons at Alcorn State, helping the Braves to a SWAC championship and NCAA Tournament appearance as a senior, before earning her degree in psychology in 2005.

Skeete will be formally introduced to the public in the coming weeks.

New volleyball coach announced

Alexis Austin has been named as the fifth head coach in TSU volleyball program history. A former professional volleyball player and collegiate All-American, Austin comes to TSU from Liberty University, where she served as the program's assistant coach.

Austin spent the past two seasons at Liberty University as an assistant coach and specialized in coaching the team's outside hitters while also serving as one of the primary recruiters on the staff. During her two seasons at Liberty, the Lady Flames led the ASUN and ranked 13th nationally in blocks per set, the second year in a row in which Liberty finished in the Top 25 nationally in blocking.

On the recruiting front, Austin also displayed a penchant for recruiting student-athletes from her native city of Houston and state of Texas to Liberty as four student-athletes on the 2021 roster were from Texas, including two from the Houston area.

Prior to joining Liberty's staff, Austin spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach at Rice University where she earned her first collegiate coaching experience. She assisted head coach Genny Volpe during a highly-successful two years. The Owls posted a combined 51-11 record during Austin's time with the program. During the 2019 season, Rice reached as high as No. 17 in the AVCA Top 25, finishing with an RPI of 19, the highest RPI in school history. The Owls picked up their first-ever NCAA Tournament win, going 27-4.

Prior to her time at Rice, Austin played professionally in Poland as a member of PTPS. She has received international playing experience while competing for the BIP/USA Development Team in China in 2013.

Austin was a standout during her four years (2012-15) playing at Colorado. She finished her collegiate career ranked fourth in program history with 1,443 kills, including a career-high 498 kills (4.05 kills per set) as a senior. During 2015, she earned AVCA honorable mention All-America honors and was named to the AVCA All-Pacific South Region team and earned All-Pac-12 honors as both a junior and senior. She served as team captain while also earning academic honors.

She is also highly connected with the competitive volleyball circuit as she served as head coach for several youth volleyball clubs while also participating in camps across the country as a clinician. She is well versed in community service as the lead organizer for community service events for the Liberty and Rice volleyball programs.

Austin earned a degree in Communications with a minor in Ethnic Studies from Colorado in 2016, and she is currently pursuing her master's in developmental psychology at Liberty University.

Spring sports enter key homestretch

Football's spring game draws large turnout

Friday night lights shone bright at Durley Stadium with the 2022 edition of the TSU football team taking center stage for its annual Spring Game earlier this month.

A strong turnout of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members greeted Coach Clarence McKinney's newest squad, in addition to the Ocean of Soul, cheerleaders and other spirit groups that were on hand to root on the Tigers. While the first football game is still more than four months away, the Tiger vs. Tiger intra-squad matchup gave the coaching staff an opportunity to see players in game-like situations and assess performances.

While the football team went through its spring rituals, the Tiger baseball and softball teams continued toward the SWAC post-season tournament. The SWAC West-leading Tiger softball team (15-3 in conference play) swept Southern University this past weekend at home, and now travel to face Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday (1 p.m.) and Saturday (doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.).

The baseball team lost a close non-conference contest 7-6 at the University of Kansas on Tuesday. They face the Jayhawks again today before returning to MacGregor Park this weekend with games against Southern University on Friday (5 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.), and Sunday (1 p.m.).

The men's and women's golf teams are currently battling in the SWAC tournament, which concludes April 20 in Flowood, MS. Both teams have the lead going into the final day of the tournament.

For additional information about TSU athletics, visit www.tsusports.com.

Baseball photo courtesy of Isiah Thornton via TSU Sports.