Category Archives: News

relevant local, national and international news

Preservation Planning Studio and Preservation Project Management classes to focus on Mt. Zion A.M.E., Glebe Street, this semester

Leave a reply

Content borrowed from: http://blogs.charleston.edu/historic-preservation/2015/01/31/preservation-planning-studio-and-preservation-project-management-classes-to-focus-on-mt-zion-a-m-e-glebe-street-this-semester/

Originally posted on January 31, 2015 by butlercr 

Profs. Ward and Butler are excited to get their classes involved at Mr. Zion A.M.E. Church this Spring. The church is in the midst of the historic college campus but remains a prominent African American Church. Prof. Ward reached out to create a partnership with the church, giving students the opportunity to get in (and under the building) to study its materials, evolution, history, and preservation/ maintenance needs. Preservation Planning Studio students are creating measured drawings for the building, while Preservation Project Planning class will be making repair recommendations and creating a preliminary budget, scope, and schedule to guide future work that the congregation may undertake.
Prof. Ward got the students involved in high tech analysis this week, inviting Chris Morabito with Faro Technologies to demonstrate with 3D scanning of the church interiors.
16311_814795725252127_7225755089071532760_n

The circa 1847 church has weathered a major fire and several hurricanes. It has had several repair campaigns, but retains original character defining features (as well as many materials added during alterations.) Here are some photographs of preliminary investigation on site, and be sure to check back for updates throughout the semester!:

IMG_6006

IMG_6009

IMG_6013

IMG_6021

IMG_6023

IMG_6028

IMG_6030

IMG_6037

IMG_6039

IMG_6042

IMG_6044

 

Black History Month: One of Time Magazine’s 40 Under 40 to Speak on Campus

Leave a reply

black history monthIn keeping with the College of Charleston’s commitment to diversity on its campus, and in celebration of 2015-Black History Month, the Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) will host Rep.

ATTEND: See more events hosted by the Office of Institutional Diversity.Bakari Sellers, Esq., as the keynote speaker for its “Signature Speaker Series.” Rep. Sellers will speak on Thursday, February 5, 2015, at 5:00 p.m., in the Stern Center Ballroom, located on the College of Charleston campus (71 George St.). The event is free and open to the public. Rep. Sellers will present “How far have we come and where do we go from here?: A Journey to excellence….”

Elected in 2006 to the South Carolina House of Representatives at the age of 22, Bakari Sellers is an attorney, one of the youngest State Representatives, and the youngest black elected official in the United States. Viewing himself, not as a politician, but as a public servant, Sellers is a passionate keynote speaker on civil rights, equality, education, and faith.

READ: Rep. Sellars was recognized as one of the top 40 under 40 by Time Magazine.

Education has always been a top priority for Sellers. He graduated from the South Carolina public school system and then proceeded to Morehouse College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. While at Morehouse college, Sellers was elected Student Government Association President and, by virtue of his position, served on the College’s Board of Trustees. He earned his juris doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law and soon entered politics, working for United States Congressman James Clyburn, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, and the Southeastern Regional Director of the NAACP.

With the strong moral and ethical grounding of his parents and grandparents, the never-ending thirst for education of his mother, and the undying passion for equal opportunity of his father, Sellers has returned to South Carolina. He hopes to continue the Sellers’ legacy of walking in faith, while creating change that benefits all persons—no matter the race, color, or creed.

According to Dr. John Bello-Ogunu, Sr., associate vice president and chief diversity officer at the College of Charleston, “We are very fortunate to have Rep. Sellers as our 2015-Black History Month keynote speaker. The rich and enviable history of his personal and professional accomplishments is a significant connectingbridge between the painful history of yesterday’s struggles of Blacks in America and the hope-filled stories of their present day victories and successes.”

OID’s Signature Speaker Series was created to promote community dialogue on diversity and social justice issues through presentations, workshops and seminars by local, regional and national speakers with the ultimate goal of advancing diversity, access, equity and inclusion at the College of Charleston.

“What I’m Thinking About” faculty discussion series to continue

Leave a reply

This semester we’re continuing a series of informal talks with faculty discussing their current research.

All talks will take place at 12pm in the African American Studies conference room:

Education Center Suite 207, room D (25 St. Philip Street)

January 28 —Michael Hemphill, Health and Human Performance
Scholarship and Community Engagement in the Charleston Promise Neighborhood:
Opportunities and Challenges

February 11 —LaTasha Chaffin, Political Science
Training Policy Expansion in Response to the Great Recession:
The Cases of South Carolina and California

March 11 —Mari Crabtree,  African American Studies
My Soul is a Witness: Theorizing Racial Violence with the Blues

College Honors Legacy of MLK

Leave a reply

The College of Charleston campus will be closed on January 19, 2015, in honor of Martin Luther King Day.

MLK-Commons-embedThe following events and activities are planned in recognition of this state and federal holiday:

Benjamin Jealous, former president and CEO of the NAACP, will speak at the College on Jan. 15, 2015.

Jealous’ talk – “The Forgotten Origins and Consequences of Race in America” – will take place at 7 p.m. in Sottile Theatre, 44 George St. The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m.

 RELATED: Read more about Benjamin Jealous.

The annual MLK Holiday Parade, sponsored by the City of Charleston and the YWCA Greater Charleston, begins at 11 a.m., Jan. 19.

MLK_Parade2014-embedThe parade route begins at Burke High School, 244 President St., and Several members of the College community will take part in the parade, including Tommy Baker, a Charleston businessman and member of the School of Business Board of Governors, who will serve as Grand Marshal for the MLK Parade.

The 2015 MLK Youth Speak-Out and Poetry Slam will take place at 12:30 p.m.

The poetry slam will immediately follow the MLK Parade, in the College’s School of Sciences and Mathematics Building Auditorium, 202 Calhoun St. To register for the poetry slam, contact the YWCA at 843.722.1644.

RELATED: See an extended list of other MLK-related events in Charleston.

Several College Offices will host a small-scale day of service.

As part of the national MLK Day of Service, the College’s Center for Civic Engagement, the Office of Institutional Diversity and the Office of Student Life is providing faculty, staff and students with the opportunity to participate in a small-scale day of service in Charleston on Monday, Jan. 19.

These service experiences will be led by a group of 10 students who will spend the weekend preceding MLK Day learning about the Civil Rights movement, active citizenship and volunteer management as part of an Alternative Break weekend in Charleston.

The College’s Bonner Leaders will spend part of MLK Day serving with the Green Heart Project at Mitchell Elementary in Charleston.

For more information about the MLK Day of Service, contact Maggie Szeman, assistant director of the Center for Civic Engagement, at szemanme@cofc.edu or 843.953.0810.

Join us in service to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Leave a reply

The 2015 MLK committee in conjunction with the Center for Civic Engagement, the Office of Institutional Diversity, and the Office of Student Life will provide faculty, staff, and students with the opportunity to participate in a small scale day of service to take place locally in Charleston on Monday, January 19th.

Registration to participate opens today (availability is limited). Information regarding community partners can be found on the registration form available on OrgSync.

MLK_Day-of-service

The Penn Center in Beaufort, SC is hosting a Civil Rights Symposium this Friday and Saturday

Leave a reply

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Penn Center Civil Rights Symposium, 1862-2014
November 21-22
Beaufort, St. Helena Island, South Carolina

http://penncenter.com/articles/2014/11/penn-center-civil-rights-symposium

Since 1862, the Penn Center has been a historic site education that established a school to protect, defend and advance freedom for all citizens, newly freed and those already protected.  The Penn Center is organizing a conference to facilitate greater state and regional understanding of this history and developing a network to continue network development and organization. A longer term goal is to utilize this opportunity to launch the Penn Center Civil Rights Institute, the first of several regional institutes for commemoration and facilitation of civil rights discourse, organization and planning.

The Penn Center is situated to lead the contemporary effort to secure a quality education and voting rights for all students. As such, the Penn Center is inviting key stakeholders in this movement to speak, including  Dave Dennis, Bob Moses, Connie Curry, Cleve Sellers, Chuck McDew, Emory Campbell, Millicent Brown, Hayes Mizell, Jim Campbell, Myrtle Glascoe and other key civil rights activists who participated in the Penn Center’s involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. This can only be possible with local experts on the topic such as Emory Campbell, Victoria Smalls, and Maria Benac. Invited scholars and activists will address issues around the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the repeal of key components of federal protection of the right to vote, the re-segregation of public schools and the school to prison pipeline, the role (and peril) of historically black colleges and universities in today’s society, and the role of museums and programs of social justice for the contemporary civil rights movement.

As part of the conference, the Penn Center will also facilitate the participation of youth and young in workshops and panels on police violence and strategies around achieving a quality public education. This includes working with Dave Dennis, civil rights organizer from 1961-1965, and Algebra Project organizer since 1990, and Bob Moses, civil rights organizer from 1960-1965 and Algebra Project and Young People’s Project founder, 1990. There will also be screenings of recent documentaries on he Civil Rights Movement and issue facing our communities, such as: Freedom Summer, Freedom Riders, The Corridor of Shame, etc.

The outcome and benefit of the conference and launching the Civil Rights Institute at Penn Center is to further inform the local, state, and regional understanding of this very crucial history. This further develops the role of the Penn Center and Beaufort in the growing regional and national visibility of an area vital to ongoing discussions of quality public education in the country. This, as noted, will also develop the content and professional development of teachers, leadership development of youth and young people, and will contribute to enhancing the vitality of education throughout South Carolina.