12 The Hampton Roads Messenger


Volume 8 Number 7


Around Hampton Roads Cox Charities Virginia Awards $160,000


to 25 Non-Profits Across the State CHESAPEAKE, Va. --Cox Communications awarded $160,000 in grants to 25 non-profit organizations in Virginia through Cox Charities grants programs. The grants presented today are part of the nearly $8 million Cox contributes annually through cash and in-kind support to the communities where they do business.


"Connecting with the communities we serve is an important part of our operations and is at the core of our company values," said Gary McCollum, senior vice president and general manager for Cox Virginia. "We're proud to give back to these 25 outstanding organizations today that are doing their part to enhance the lives of others and improve the places our employees and customers live and work."


Fifteen nonprofits received grants through the Cox Charities External Grants program and ten received grants through the Cox Charities Employee Grants program. The External Grants program focuses on non-profit organizations with programs specifically tied to youth, education and technology. Non-profits apply for these annual grants and from those applications, 15 are chosen statewide by an advisory committee made up of community, business and government leaders throughout the state.


The Cox Charities Employee Grants program gives Cox


employees the chance to nominate their favorite nonprofits for financial support. Winners are chosen by Cox employees, based on popular vote. This year's Hampton Roads winners are:


Horizons Hampton Roads was awarded a $10,000 grant to grow the Portsmouth program by adding one grade level each year, leading to improved educational outcomes and employment opportunities in the city of Portsmouth. This program will now able to serve 375 students in 2014.


Chesapeake Health Investment Program was awarded a $10,000 grant to fund the Parents as Teachers program, which provides information, support and encouragement to parents to help their children develop optimally during the crucial early years of life.


YWCA South Hampton Roads received a $10,000 grant for the purchase of 20 iPad Minis to be used as a means to enhance the teaching and learning outcomes among students enrolled in the afterschool program.


Norfolk State University Foundation, Inc. was awarded a $10,000 grant to fund the NSU After School Youth Education Program, which will provide academic support in the form of tutoring and mentoring coupled with recreational activities. This program will foster basic skills in math, writing, science and reading.


Office of Human Affairs Hampton Roads was awarded a $10,000 grant to fund the OHA Project Discovery which is a college preparation program serving at-risk middle and high school students in Hampton and Newport News.


Foodbank of the Virginia Peninsula was awarded a $10,000 grant to fund the Kids Café. This structured after-school program will provide nutritious meals and promote health, education and safety.


C. Waldo Scott Center for H.O.P.E received a $10,000 grant to fund a program that will assist 50 youth in strengthening their math, science, and reading skills. By implementing educational skill based sessions they will encourage students to be successful learners.


Employee Grants in the amount of $2,000 each were awarded to:


Chesapeake Bay Foundation - The goal of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is to Save the Bay - and keep it saved – through education, advocacy, litigation and restoration.


Kempsville Church of Christ – Go Project - The Kempsville Church of Christ Go Project focuses on local and global ministry projects, made possible through family and friends serving together for a common good.


Downtown Hampton Child Development Center - The Downtown Hampton Child Development Center is a private, nonprofit childcare center serving children from all backgrounds, incomes and abilities. Each day, the Center nurtures and educates nearly 200 children, from 6 weeks old to 5 years old.


Peninsula School for Autism - Peninsula School for Autism offers individualized educational and behavior support programming in year-round day school and after-school programs.


"We know that our employees are active in their communities and there are organizations they feel passionate about," said McCollum. "The Employee Grants program gives our employees an opportunity to actively participate in Cox's community programs and introduce their peers to organizations that mean the most to them."


Since 2009, Cox Charities has awarded $620,000 in grant funds to Cox communities throughout Virginia.


For more information on the 2014 grant awards program and how to apply for a grant, visit www. coxcharities.org.


HU Scripps Student Wins a Prestigious


Journalism Trip to Japan The Scripps Howard Foundation announced HU junior Brandon Theo Dorsey as one of the nine top journalism students in the nation being awarded an all expense-paid journalism study trip to Japan.


The competition pays homage to the memory of journalists who led the Scripps Howard Newspapers and United Press in its beginning years.


This trip will challenge students’ assumptions about the world through an excursion in the Kansai region cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe, as well as explore the history behind Hiroshima and Tokyo.


Although Dorsey is a sports journalism major, he understands that the sports industry is becoming just as prominent internationally as nationally.


HU alum Whitney (Boyd) Richardson ‘09 of the New York Times, urged him to apply.


At Hampton University, I’m surrounded by fellow students who are always trying to better themselves," said Dorsey, “This encourages me to do and strive for more—almost like a friendly competition.”


Dorsey, from Houston, TX, has had an impressive college career thus far. He has interned at ESPN radio, the Washington Times, started his own website called Elite Insiders, and is


March 2014


preparing for a summer internship at NBC Sports. On campus, he is the online sports editor for The Hampton Script, and produces and anchors sports shows on WHOV-TV news.


Additionally, as a sophomore Dorsey was chosen among twelve of the best college sports journalists in the nation to attend the Sports Journalism Institute. Here, he learned from top sports journalists like ESPN's Leon Carter, Sandy Rosenbush, and Stephen A. Smith.


“Really, all of this was God,” said Dorsey, “God hasn’t allowed me to forget that it is all Him.”


Despite Dorsey being accepted by Howard, Baylor, North Carolina A&T, and Florida A&M, he chose Hampton University because “Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications would provide me the best opportunity in what I wanted to do, and that’s journalism.”


“Professor [Allie-Ryan] Butler has taught me how to brand myself; my writing skills have improved under Professor [Mavis] Carr’s guidance; Professor [Wayne] Dawkins trained me in refining my writing to sound and look intelligent, but still appeal to readers; Professor [DaVida] Plummer coached me in TV work, and I can’t forget how Professor Jarvis has taught me to self- reflect and further grow as a man,” said Dorsey.


Travel begins May 8, and Dorsey admits that this is one moment in his life that he can look back at his work and think, ‘Wow, I’ve actually done some pretty good things to get here.’


Stephanie Bardwell Wins Lifetime Achievement Award from the National


Small Business Institute (Newport News, Va.) - Dr. Stephanie Bardwell, Associate Professor of law and management in the Joseph W. Luter, III School of Business was named a fellow by the National Small Business Institute (SBI) at its annual conference on February 14, 2014, in Las Vegas. This award is the highest honor that the SBI bestows upon a member. The award was given in recognition of her demonstrated commitment to service for the small businesses of America and in anticipation of her continued leadership in SBI.


Previous honors garnered by Bardwell from the National SBI include the Homer L. Saunders Mentor Award for outstanding contribution as an SBI director in 2010 and a Showcase Award in 2005 for her contributions to a true small business client success story. In addition, Bardwell is a Sam Walton Fellow and was president of the national SBI organization in 2011-12.


Bardwell joined the Luter School in 1995 and teaches business law, nonprofits, ethics and a course titled Legal Voice in the CNU Honors Program. She served as director of the CNU Small Business Institute from 1998 to 2009.


She is a graduate of SUNY Albany with bachelor of arts in history and education. She holds a JD from Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, and a master of laws in taxation from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law of the College of William & Mary.


cnu.edu NSU to Host William Carroll Writers


Festival The Norfolk State University Department of English and Foreign Languages will hold the second annual William Carroll Writers Festival March 25-27 at the Student Center.


The festival will feature several published writers, professors and poets who will serve as keynote speakers in five sessions over the course of three days. The keynote speakers include author Tim Seibles, horror writer John B. Rosenman, open-mic poet godchild the omen and Professor Shonda Buchanan.


The event will begin with a reception on Tuesday, March 25, at 6 p.m., Room 138C, featuring Seibles, who is a published author and local professor of English and Creative Writing.


The following day, Wednesday, March 26, a faculty reading will take place in the Student Center at noon. An open-mic session will follow at 7 p.m., and will be hosted by poet Synnika Lofton. The final day of the festival, Thursday, March 27, Rosenman will serve as the afternoon speaker at 12:30 p.m. Poets Buchanan and godchild the omen will be featured presenters during the festival’s last event at 7 p.m.


The festival is named in honor of Dr. William “Dr. Bill” Carroll, a longtime Norfolk State University English professor, who authored numerous poems and presented papers on literature. He passed away in March of 2010.


Daniel Pearlman, a professor of English at Norfolk State University, said the festival will bring talented writers to the NSU community and highlight the significance of creative writing.


“When students listen to great writers, they are inspired to feel an array of emotions, from sadness to triumph through the written experiences of poets and novelists,” Pearlman said. “We want to highlight the significance of creative writing so that students can express themselves through their own writing, realizing that every person has experiences which will help or teach other people.”


All events are free and open to the public. All presentations will be held in Room 149 of the Student Center. For more information, contact professors Daniel Pearlman at 757-823-2901, or Dr. Gary Wilkens at 757-823-2956.


Localities Endorse Hybrid Sewer


Approach for Regulatory Compliance Localities in Hampton Roads have committed to a regional approach to comply with the regulatory requirement to minimize sewer overflows. The Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), the cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg; the Town of Smithfield; and the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, and York; and the James City Service Authority each voted to support the hybrid approach to addressing wet weather sewer capacity requirements.


Each locality had to choose between two approaches by February 28th. In the original approach, each locality would fund rehabilitation of its own system based on a Special Order by Consent with Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality and HRSD would fund rehabilitation of its portion of the regional system. Under the hybrid approach, HRSD


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