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This video is titled, �Black Excellence Awards Banquet: Making the Grade� held in Alumni Gym on April 24, 2010. This is the first DVD of two DVD�s of this program. Leon Williams stated in a 2013 email to faculty and staff, �Since the inception of the Black Excellence Awards Banquet in 1993, Elon students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the community have gathered annually to celebrate the academic success of black students enrolled full-time in the undergraduate program at Elon University. The banquet was officially named the Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Awards Banquet in 2006 in honor of Elon�s first black student in 1963, Glenda Phillips, and the first black graduate, Eugene Perry in 1969. The mission of the Black Excellence Awards Banquet is to recognize, celebrate, and affirm the presence of black students at Elon University. The Multicultural Center remains committed to this mission by helping students become active participants in their personal growth and in the achievement of their educational objectives.� The 2010, version one video recording of the �Black Excellence Awards Banquet: Making the Grade� program included: the �Welcome� by T. Leon Williams, Director of Multicultural Affairs; the �Introduction� of Elon�s president by Melissa Jordan, Assistant Director, Multicultural Affairs; the Opening Remarks by Leo M. Lambert, President, Elon University. Lambert�s remarks included: spoke about commitment to academic excellence as a journey; honored each student; recognized students� investment in their own levels of academic creativity; and congratulated each of the students for their integrity as informed global leaders. Williams asked for a moment of silence for Professor Wilhelmina Boyd who passed away in 2009 (Tributes taken from The Black Oaks Newsletter Volume 4, Issue 1 Fall 2009). Acknowledgement of Eugene Perry and Glenda Phillips was given by Williams. A special musical selection was performed by Dr. Soonsook Myung, Lift Every Voice and Sing. The �Invocation� was given by the Rev. Phil Smith, Associate Chaplain, and Director of Religious Life (in 2016, the owner of the Oak House). The �Introduction� of the Keynote Speaker was given by Keadrick Peters (Class of 2010), Student Program Coordinator. The Keynote Speaker was Dr. Sir Walter Mack, Jr. Mack�s (Elon College Alum) remarks included: thanked and recognized Leo M. Lambert, J. Earl Danieley, Glenda Phillips, and Eugene Perry; acknowledged L�Tanya Richmond�s vision; celebrated students of academic excellence during this event; experienced a season of light and darkness with the best of times and the worst of times; discussed the African-American history in the United States; talked about President Barack Obama as a part of African-American leaders along with 26 leaders of Fortune 500 companies (American Express, Red Lobster, Olive Garden); and drew attention to Haiti and the United States African-American students who have dropped out of school. Also, African-Americans who have chosen to take to crime and to be found guilty and sit in jail vs. being educated in our school system. The �Dance Performance� was performed by Urgent Message to Hallelujah All the Praise. And a musical selection was played by Dr. Soonsook Myung, Amazing Grace. The first African-American Alumni Summit occurred when the first African-American Scholarship was three thousand short of the fifty dollars. Some names included: Neima Abdulahi, Daniel Baquet, Jermile Batten, Lauren Beckham, Erin Blackwell, Amanda Bodenarain, Yakira Bristol, Cyntra Brown, Brittany Byrd, Brittany Carroll, Devan Carter, Jennifer Celin, Britney Chambers, Whitney Chambers, Brian Chinn, Karolyn Cook, Kelly Coleman, Eugene Daniel III, Brenton Davis, Tiffany Davis, Caroline Denning, Martina Dent, Cheavanese Diedrick, Matthew Dinwiddie, Mykel Dodson, Ryan Elliott, Tracey Evans, Ayan Forstall, Frances Gee, Evan Glover, Brittney Godwin, Christopher Graves, Jasmine Gregory, Chelsea Gund, Gregory Hairston, Brea Hamilton, Theresa Helmer, Kyle Herbert, Shenee Howard, Brenna Humphries, Tavia Hunt, Carmen Isaac, Jasmine Jackson, Ashley Jobe, Christian Jones, Kaya Jones, Raymund Jones, Brandon Kennedy, Devin Kennedy, Marcus Lockamy, Amanda Locke, Raven Manigault, Taylor Martin, Alex Mask, Kristen McDonald, Brandon McGee, Ashley McGraw, Shelby McKay, Andrea McLean, Janelle McNeil, Brandon McRae, Courtney Medley, Maggie Mial, Aisha Mitchell, Jackson Moore, Kelly Muren, Amber Murphy, Riese Narcisse, Keyona Osborne, Keadrick Peters, Dawn Peterson, Jeremy Peterson, Ghenet Pinderhughes, Benjamin Poole, Jasmine Powe, Cedric Pulliam, Raafe-Ahmadd Purnsley, Dionne Richardson, Ashley Robinson, Mary Robinson, Erica Scales, Danica Shipley, Samuel Shoge, Samantha Simunuyu, Tameika Sizoo, Andrew Somers, Andrew Stevenson, Alexa Sykes, Blake Thompson, Tiana Tucker, Devarrick Turner, Brittany Walker, Danaka Walker, Brittany Washington, Collin Watson, David Williams, Jr., Tavianna Williams, Zaccai Williams, Jeffrey Williamson, Asha Wilson, Robert Wohner, Courtney Wynn, Trevor Wynn, Bennett Yancey, and Chelsea Yarborough. |
