Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 9-10-21

HBCU News
FAMU President Hosts Virtual Townhall For Students From Haiti And Louisiana
Florida A&M University (FAMU) President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., has issued a statement to reassure students whose relatives may have been affected by the passage of Hur- ricane Ida and the recent earth- quake devastation in Haiti.
On Aug. 14, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Haiti leaving more than 2,000 con- firmed dead, several hundred missing and more than 12,000 injured.
Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana as a cate- gory 4 weather system Sunday, is expected to affect the Missis- sippi and Ohio River valleys as it heads inland toward the Mid- Atlantic states.
“Our thoughts are with the people of Haiti ravaged by the devastation caused by the earthquake and families in
harm’s way as Ida comes on- shore in Louisiana,” Robin- son said.
“I want all FAMU students whose families and communi- ties are affected by nature’s wrath to know that we stand ready to assist them with any on-campus challenges.”
In order to connect with the students, Robinson and sen- ior administrators will provide a forum to hear students’ con- cerns.
“We will hold a virtual town hall meeting Monday evening at 6 p. m., to share with our students how the University plans to help and advise them of safety precautions to take,” Robinson said.
The virtual townhall is being held as the University en- ters the second week of fall se- mester classes.
Bethune-Cookman Students Offered Jobs And Internships With Florida’s Dept. Of Juvenile Justice
Seniors at Bethune-Cook- man University are being of- fered jobs and internships with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice thanks to a new partnership!
Students at Bethune-Cook- man University in Daytona Beach headed back to class with a new opportunity: A chance to get results for Cen- tral Florida’s troubled teens.
Bethune has long been the pipeline that feeds local law enforcement agencies and now Florida’s Department of Juve- nile Justice is snatching up those students with a first-of- its kind partnership.
Dr. Kideste Yusef, BCU Justice & Political Studies de- partment chair, said the crim- inal justice program is so strong that law enforcement agencies across Central Florida routinely recruit from Bethune.
Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young is per- haps the most high-profile BCU grad who got his law en- forcement start in the renowned criminal justice pro- gram.
“It’s very much a part of what we do,” Yusef said. “This is the work at Cookman.”
The school is one of the only colleges in the country to have its own virtual training simula- tor.
“BCU has one of the best programs in experiential
Daytona Police Chief Jakari Young ....BCU graduate
learning,” Yusef said. “You cannot be a criminal justice major and not participate ei- ther in our use of force simula- tor on campus, or attend our community engagement train- ing, or meet law enforcement officers or FBI or DEA agents on campus.”
So it wasn’t a surprise when the Florida Department of Ju- venile Justice officially offered internships and jobs to some graduating BCU seniors. Never had the DJJ partnered like this with any university in Florida.
Yusef said her students al- ready analyze DJJ’s vast data- base for their senior thesis.
“Who’s arrested, what does it look like, what types of crimes are juveniles involved in,” Yusef said. “The end part is what can we do about it, what are the solutions.”
The existing relationship be- tween BCU and the DJJ made sense to send students to work at the DJJ for real-world expe- rience and at the same time give the Juvenile Justice De- partment a real--world per- spective.
DJJ Secretary Simone Marstiller said hiring BCU students will further DJJ’s re- search efforts and “provide op- portunities for students interested in making a differ- ence in Florida’s juvenile jus- tice system.”
Approximately $23 mil- lion of the DJJ’s upcoming budget was shifted this year to delinquency and diversion programs, away from the residential cor- rections program, which houses and rehabilitates children.
N. C. HBCU Freshman Wins State’s $1M COVID Vaccine Lottery
A lucky Fayet- teville State Uni- versity freshman is receiving $1 million after re- ceiving her COVID-19 vacci- nation in North Carolina!
The Fayet-
teville State Uni-
versity freshman
is the third win-
ner of the $1 mil-
lion COVID-19 vaccine lottery, Gov. Roy Cooper announced during his COVID-19 briefing.
Audrey Chavous, 18, of Winston-Salem, was selected at random on July 21 for the third giveaway of $1 million in N.C.’s vaccine lottery. Chavous started her fresh- man year recently.
The vaccine lottery in North Carolina awards $1 million to four individuals 18 years or older who choose to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Chavous joined the gover- nor during his COVID-19 brief- ing and discussed why she
chose to get vaccinated and what she plans to do with the money.
“I chose to get vaccinated, not only for the safety of other people around me, but simply for the safety of myself,” she said.
Chavous said that the pan- demic greatly affected her sen- ior year of high school and she saw the impact it had on peo- ple in her life as well as on peo- ple around the world.
“I wanted to get vaccinated so I could be calm about going about my life and being able to get back to normal as soon as I possibly could,” she said.
Fayetteville State University freshman Audrey Chavous with N. C. Gov. Roy Cooper during his an- nouncement of her winning the lottery.
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