14 The HBCU Advocate


Volume 1 Number 12


SC State Enters Historic International Partnership with Oxford


the students for the program. Sellers, whose roots are deeply


planted in the history of SC State University, was eager to extend a helping hand to the pioneering program and its bright students. As the son of Cleveland Sellers, a veteran civil rights activist and the only person convicted and eventually pardoned for the events of the Orangeburg Massacre, Bakari Sellers is extremely mindful of the power of education and


enlightenment.


“I could not be more proud of the students from South Carolina State University who are traveling to Oxford to continue their education,” Sellers said. “It is an honor of mine to be able


to provide funding for


these students to pursue their dreams. I believe students in rural South Carolina should be provided the same opportunities as those in urban areas


Tuskegee President


ORANGEBURG, S.C.– SC State University has entered into a historic international


partnership with St


Hugh’s College of Oxford University in England. Through the pilot Summer Chemistry Exchange Program, five SC State chemistry students will


travel


to Oxford to study at the prestigious institution’s world-renowned Organic Chemistry


Research


This unique collaboration a


Laboratory. between


St Hugh’s College and SC State University, with by attorney


sponsorship and CNN political


commentator, Bakari Sellers, debuts as Oxford’s first with a historically black college. Additionally, the partnership is St Hugh’s first with a college in South Carolina.


The program advances SC


State’s diverse collaboration efforts and paves the way for more students in their junior or senior year to gain a world-class educational experience. The learning environment, shared with several research groups from Oxford’s Chemistry


Department, “Consistent with our creates


increasing opportunities and resources for interdisciplinary research.


new


initiative of ‘Transformation Through Collaboration,’ this effort represents the very nature of what is possible now and what will occur more in the future with SC State and its partners,” said SC State President James E. Clark. “I could not be more proud of the faculty, staff, student partners and supporters who made this special collaboration possible. We look forward to such collaborations in the future.”


the


The students who will blaze trail


at Bess, a junior


Oxford are: from


South Carolina; Demetria Ciondi


Hartsville, Dorsey,


a junior from Syracuse, New York; Nurunnahar


Abdussalam, a senior


from Washington, D.C.; Michael Isley, a senior from Fort Mill, South


Carolina and Alston Jenkins, a junior from Charlotte, North Carolina.


Originally founded in 1886 as


a college for disadvantaged women, St Hugh’s College is now a “vibrant, co-educational remains


establishment, which


very proud of its radical tradition and beginnings,” according to


the college’s website. For over


130 years, it has provided first-class education to scholars, with notable alumni in politics, law, academia and various professional fields.


The Summer Exchange


Program’s launch was ignited by SC State chemistry professor and Oxford alumna, Dr. Rahina Mahtab, after a conversation with a St Hugh’s College representative.


In March of 2017, Mahtab was


having lunch in Columbia, South Carolina with Bruce M. Lawrence Jr., executive director of International Advancement at St Hugh's College, when he asked if there was any way he could assist her.


“I asked him, ‘Could you please arrange a summer research opportunity at Oxford University for our students?’ I am very thankful to Mr. Lawrence for taking this request seriously and making it happen,” Mahtab said.


“Oxford University is my alma mater and St Hugh's College was my college. I am very happy that I could help create this opportunity for our chemistry majors in a university that offers some of the best education in the world. This program introduces our students to


and social traditions, while providing inspiration and excellence that


help fortify their path to achieving greatness in the globalized society we live in,” she continued.


Students-with-ClarkMahtab also


expressed gratitude on behalf of SC State, towards Sellers for sponsoring


Oxford’s academic will


FROM PAGE 1


approach to engaging alumni, donors and other university stakeholders.


“I am honored and excited


to welcome Dr. McNair to the Tuskegee family. She is a trusted and well-respected leader who understands Tuskegee’s unique heritage, culture and traditions,” Rowe said. “Deeply engaging and collaborative, she is committed to ensuring that all voices of the Tuskegee family will be heard, and I am confident that alumni will enjoy working with Dr. McNair to continue moving ‘the pride of the swift-growing South’ forward.”


Graduating senior Austin Turk, who represented


Government students on the


search committee and has worked closely with university administrators as


Tuskegee’s current Student Association president,


was equally encouraged by McNair’s credentials.


McNair’s enthusiasm


“I was very impressed with Dr. for


fostering


student success,” Turk said. “She has demonstrated a strong commitment to mentoring many students and providing academic and professional guidance. I know that Tuskegee will benefit greatly from her leadership.”


reputation and legacy as its foundation for continued


McNair views both Tuskegee’s success under


leadership. “I am honored


and humbled


to be selected to serve as the eighth president of Tuskegee University,” she said. “The historic contributions of the university’s students, faculty and alumni are well known and valued throughout the nation. I very much look forward to building on the legacy of my predecessors so that Tuskegee University will ascend to even greater heights in the years to come.”


Wagner College President her


Richard Guarasci reflected on McNair’s appointment by saying, “I congratulate Lily for her selection, as well as for the intelligence, professionalism and grace that she has maintained throughout her seven years as provost.”


McNair’s appointment a six-month national follows presidential


search that began on Oct. 18, 2017. During that time, and in partnership with the search firm Isaacson, Miller, the Presidential Search Committee conducted listening sessions with senior administrators, faculty, staff, students and alumni; administered a stakeholder survey to garner additional opinions about the requirements, qualifications and opportunities for the university’s eighth president; and evaluated more than a 150 prospective candidates, narrowing the field to a small group who were interviewed in person.


Since


founding in 1881, it has been under the


leadership


Tuskegee University’s of


seven presidents


— the first of which was Booker T. Washington, who led the institution from 1881 to 1915. McNair will succeed Interim President Charlotte P. Morris, whose 35-year tenure with the university has included two terms as interim president — the most recent of which began on July 1, 2017.


appointment service


on a temporary in


to


Morris, who accepted as interim basis,


will the university the


president remain during


the fall semester as a member of the Brimmer College of Business and Information Science’s teaching faculty. She also will assist with the transition of leadership in the Office of the President.


The university’s presidential


search webpage provides additional information about McNair, as well as details the presidential search process.


Dr. organic


June/July 2018


and I look forward to continuing these efforts in the future,” he continued.


Stuart J. Conway, Oxford chemistry


Mahtab have spent


professor, and several weeks


preparing the students for the program. Conway will lead research training at St Hugh’s, along with other Oxford chemistry professors.


The five students, chosen for their


academic excellence and passion for contributing to the field of chemistry, will reside in the residence halls at St Hugh’s College and have the chance to explore England, both on their own and during scheduled field trips. The inaugural program will extend from Monday, June 25 to Friday, August 10.


For more information about


the Summer Exchange Program at Oxford, contact Dr. Rahina Mahtab at (803) 536- 8876, (803) 463-5193 or rmahtab@scsu.edu.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16