Page 30 - Florida Sentinel 1-28-22

National
Cheryl A. Hickmon, National President Of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Dies
Georgia Pastor, Wife Charged With False Imprisonment
Cheryl A. Hickmon, Na- tional President and Chair of the National Board of Direc- tors of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., died on Janu- ary 20.
Hickmon was a member of the historical sisterhood behind the national non- profit for four decades. She served the organization through various committees and task forces at the na- tional, regional, and local lev- els of leadership before she was elected as its President in November of 2021.
This is the first time in the history of the organization, who recently celebrated the anniversary of its founding in 1913, that a sitting president
CHERYL A. HICKMON
has passed away while in of- fice.
Delta Sigma Theta Soror- ity, Inc. issued a brief state- ment on her sudden passing.
“It is with great sorrow that
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. shares the passing of our beloved National President and Chair of the National Board of Directors, Cheryl A. Hickmon. President Hickmon transitioned peacefully on January 20, 2022 after a recent illness. President Hickmon was a devoted member of Delta Sigma Theta since 1982 and served in various capacities at the chapter, region, and national level before being elected National President. She is remembered not only for her role as a leader but for being a colleague, friend, and most of all, sister,” they wrote on the homepage of their website.
CURTIS KEITH BANKSTON AND SOPHIA SIMM-BANKSTON
How Colleges Are Dealing With High COVID Case Counts On Campus
A Georgia pastor and his wife were arrested on charges of false imprisonment after of- ficials found up to eight peo- ple locked in their basement, police said.
Curtis Keith Bankston and Sophia Simm- Bankston were running the unlicensed "group home" out of their rented Griffin house "under the guise of a church known as One Step of Faith 2nd Chance," the Griffin Po- lice Department said in a statement.
Griffin Fire last week re- sponded to a call about some- one having a seizure at the home and noticed a deadbolt on the basement door, accord- ing to police. Crews had to climb through a window to reach the patient.
Investigators determined the people in the basement, all with mental or physical dis- abilities, or both, were "essen- tially imprisoned against their will, which created an extreme hazard as the individuals
could not exit the residence if there were an emergency," po- lice said.
The Bankstons controlled the finances, medications and public benefits of the people they were keeping in the base- ment and had sometimes de- nied them their medications and medical care, according to police.
The people, who range in age from 25 to 65, were all placed into housing by the Georgia Department of Human Services. Five of the people kept in the basement are wards of the state, police said.
Curtis Keith Bankston, 55, and Sophia Simm- Bankston, 56, will likely face additional charges, police said.
"It is both frightening and disgusting to see the degree to which these individuals have been taken advantage of by people who were in a position of trust," the police statement said.
Cases of COVID-19 on col- lege campuses are on the rise across the country. In the first week of spring semester, the University of Georgia re- ported nearly 1,000 positive cases, more than any week so far in the pandemic. At Dart- mouth College in New Hampshire, the last 7 days saw 1,196 confirmed cases. At Penn State University, the positive case count hit a 12- month high.
Cases are spiking on college campuses because, despite the rapid spread of the omi- cron variant, most schools are beginning their spring se- mesters in-person. Just 14% of colleges are beginning the semester online, according to new data from the College Crisis Initiative. This time last year, before there were vaccines, about 40% of col- leges started online.
"You feel the stress on cam- pus," says Aisha Gho-
rashian, a senior at the Uni- versity of Oregon.
Despite having a student body that is more than 96% vaccinated, her university logged 960 COVID-19 cases in the first week of January as students returned to campus. Ghorashian was one of them.
"People, I think, don't feel safe," she says. "You see that double masking and you see those N95s that I've never seen people wear before."
When NPR spoke with her,
she was out of isolation – sporting a blue surgical mask as she sat in the law school building, students milling around behind her. Gho- rashian is surprised that things seem to be, for the most part, business-as-usual. And she's not the only one.
"Across the board, the fac- ulty, staff and students were shocked that we decided not to be online," Ghorashian says, "Even though the data showed that there is going to be a surge."
PAGE 18-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022