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HBCU News
Henry Talley Is First Male
Tuskegee University Ordered To Pay $2 Million After Losing Lawsuit
Nursing Dean At FAMU
In 130-Year History
After losing a lawsuit against its former lawyer, Darryl E. Crompton, who was hired as an attorney and faculty member at Tuskegee University in early 2011 but three years later was termi- nated, the private historically black university was ordered to pay nearly $2 million to Crompton for breach of contract.
Al.com reports Tuskegee must pay Crompton $525,841 “after finding the school breached the provi-
sion of Crompton’s con- tract that provided for a five- year term of employment” plus $1,427,208 “after also finding that the university breached another provision of the contract that provided Crompton would be granted tenure on the first day of his employment,” fol- lowing a five-day federal trial in Opelika earlier last week.
A Tuskegee University spokesman said in a state- ment that the school is “dis- appointed in the initial
DARRYL E. CROMPTON
outcome at this juncture and plans to exhaust every avail- able legal remedy in appeal- ing the jury’s decision.”
The “case demonstrates that when an institution casts aside an outstanding execu- tive in his 60s for no reason, and then falsely suggests that the termination was based on his performance, it effectively destroys his reputation and leaves the courts as his only recourse,” Crompton’s at- torney Andy Campbell stated in an email to Al.com.
Florida A&M University this week announced Henry C. Talley, V as the new dean of its school of nursing, becoming the first man to lead the school in univer- sity’s 130-year history.
Talley, a retired United States Army Reserve Lieu- tenant Colonel and former founding director of Michi- gan State University’s Nurse Anesthesia Program, comes to Tallahassee with profes- sional stops at the VA Med- ical Center in Memphis and teaching posts at Arkansas State University and New York’s Harlem Hospital Cen- ter.
FAMU officials lauded that experience as an asset in the school’s effort to expand healthcare teaching and practice to the surrounding region.
“Dr. Talley brings to FAMU a wealth of experi-
RET. LT. COL HENRY TALLEY, V
ence and knowledge in inno- vative health care practices that will help to bring the FAMU School of Nursing many more years of success under his leadership,” FAMU Interim Provost Rodner Wright said.
According to the Tallahas- see Democrat, Talley joins a short list of men heading American nursing schools, just 46 out of more than 740 programs nationwide.
D-Back At Clark Atlanta Is ONLY HBCU Football Player Majoring In Fashion Design
UNCF Launches Black History Month Campaign To Raise $500K
Remember the name...
Darion “Spoon” Weath- erspoon, a tough-as-nails defensive back for the Clark Atlanta University Panthers football team is the first and only HBCU football player currently majoring in fashion design.
The 20-year-old Las Vegas native, is just as good with a needle and sewing machine as he is with a football and a pair of cleats. And he’s known among his teammates and classmates for his ex- traordinarily dapper wardrobe.
“As a child my mom al- ways made me dress sharp,” said Darion, with a proud grin. “She wouldn’t let me wear shorts or sweatpants in public.” Those lessons from his childhood are definitely paying off now.
He is one of hundreds of CAU students now majoring in fashion. Five years ago there were 170 fashion ma- jors at CAU. Today nearly 220 students are studying in the field.
Hickey wasn’t surprised to learn Darion is consid- ered the only HBCU football player majoring in fashion
Darion ‘Spoon’ Weatherspoon is a D-back on the team and a tailor apprentice back home.
UNCF has launched an in- augural Black History Month fundraising campaign, Build #BetterFutures, with a goal to raise $500,000 to support students attending UNCF’s 37 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
“In a month that cele- brates African American his- tory and culture, we also want to remember educa- tion,” said Maurice E. Jenkins, Jr., UNCF execu- tive vice president.
“Build #BetterFutures is a national effort to request support for our HBCUs and the deserving students they serve. By investing in UNCF, you are helping to build a better and brighter future for the next generation of scien- tists, engineers, educators,
clergy and business leaders.” Two years ago, it was re- ported the average gradua- tion rate at an HBCU was around 59 percent, with none above 70 percent. More than half of HBCUs struggled to get rates above 34 percent. According to a study con- ducted by UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Insti- tute, students attending HBCUs borrow loans at higher rates, which results in a higher debt after gradua- tion — assuming the students attend universities long enough to reach graduation. Thirty-nine percent of stu- dents enrolled at HBCUs in the fall did not return the fol- lowing year due in part to lack of financial resources,
the news release states.
design. He said not many black colleges and universi- ties offer a fashion major.
But that might soon change as more HBCUs rec- ognize the growing popular- ity of the program. “It fits into President Johnson’s mantra of education to em- ployment,” Hickey contin- ued.
Darion is a tailor’s ap- prentice at Gary Franzen Custom Clothing back in his hometown. And even though he didn’t pick up a needle and thread until he was 17, Darion said he knew at an early age he wanted to design suits.
His career goal to own and operate a custom tailor shop used to be the source of many good-spirited jokes among his Panthers football team- mates. Now they realized how serious he is about it, and how lucrative a career it is.
Besides being the next big name in the world of luxury suits, Darion maintains a 3.5 GPA.
He is also a social media guru. In his spare time, he manages the Twitter account for the CAU Center for Un- dergraduate Research and Creativity, not to mention his own robust personal account.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-B