insideOakwood: - Aeolians in the Bahamas, Northrup Grumman visit, and more

Aeolians Tour in the Bahamas

The Aeolians of Oakwood University were granted the privilege to travel to Nassau, Bahamas, over the 2016 Christmas break, at the invitation of the South Bahamas Conference.

The choir was accompanied on the trip by members of Oakwood's administrative team and officers of the Oakwood University Alumni Association. The group enjoyed a visit to the home of the Governor General of the Bahamas, Marguerite Pindling, various tours, and the opportunity to meeting the President of the University of the Bahamas, Dr. Rodney D. Smith. The Aeolians presented both Mrs. Marguerite Pindling and Dr. Smith with a brief sampling of their musical artistry.

During their time in the Bahamas, the Aeolians presented two concerts entitled "Together as One." Celebrating 70 years of ministry, the Aeolians flame still blazes strong, reaching all people young and old.

Northrup Grumman Visits Oakwood's School of Business

Oakwood University's School of Business recently welcomed representatives from Northrup Grumman, a multinational security company that provides innovative systems and solutions to government and commercial customers worldwide. The company employs over 60,000 people in all 50 states and over 25 countries, and develops and maintains some of the most technically sophisticated products, programs and services.

On November 28, 2016, Northrup Grumman held an information session at 5:30 p.m. in the McKee Business & Technology Dining Room. This session provided students from the Business and Math and Computer Science departments with vital information about the company, and allowed students to learn how they can become a part of this global powerhouse.

Eight Northrup Grumman employees attended the session, including VP of Global Supply Chain, Janine Nyre who led out in the session. Other employees included Jason Canale, Supply Chain Manager; Matt Benesch, Business Operations Manager for Supply Chain; Leah Williams, Professional Development; Quentin Collins, Procurement Analyst; Marjorie Tschantre, Performance Focus; Sarah Prince, Workforce Development Strategy; and Oakwood alumna Monica McDonald-Graham, '89, Procurement Manager.

On November 29, the company held an engagement panel where students were encouraged to ask questions of all employees in attendance. This proved a valuable experience for students as they were able to gain valuable insights into the company which helped them think through how they may fit in the company.

Hyacinth Burton, Dean of the Business School met personally with Janine Nyre, VP for Global Supply Chain, and the two began mapping a path forward to a strategic relationship that will be of mutual benefit. This is an exciting time for both entities!

Public Invited to Discussion About Alabama Legislature

Oakwood University's Department of History and Political Science, and the Madison County Democratic Women are collaborating to present a discussion about the legislative process in Alabama.

On January 16, 2017, beginning at 7:00 p.m., an informational panel will discuss, among other things, how the Alabama Legislature works, and what happens during the various steps in passing a legislative bill.

The panel will include:

Rep. Anthony Daniels (D-State House District 53)
Joe Ward, President of the Alabama Education Retirees Association
Joanne Cummings, a community activist
Michael Taylor, Oakwood student

Preston Foster, political science professor from Oakwood, will serve as moderator. The discussion will take place in the Committee of 100 Auditorium in the McKee Business & Technology Complex. All are invited.

Business Faculty Serve Community

by Shaunda A. Roach, assistant professor

The faculty and staff of the Business & Information Systems Department participated in a couple of community service projects toward the end of Fall semester. For the second consecutive year, the department collected money to purchase turkeys for Thanksgiving baskets prepared and distributed by the Downtown Rescue Mission, which services low income individuals/families and the homeless in Huntsville. In 2016, we were able to donate six 14 - 16 pound turkeys.

Additionally, on December 1, 2016, we spent the day sorting food items at the Food Bank of North Alabama. For two and a half hours, five faculty members spent the morning shift and four faculty spent the afternoon shift inspecting and sorting various food donations for distribution in the community through various agencies, such as Manna House. We look forward to continuing both projects next year.

This spring, our community service project is to serve at the Downtown Rescue Mission and to again collect monetary donations to assist in their operations.

Pictured (l-r) are Business and Information Systems Faculty members:

Throy Campbell, Vern Gohanna, Japheth Kessio, The odore Brown, John Anderson, Shaunda Roach, Kyle Mackey, Jean LaiHing and Richard Blanco-Topping.

Vote for Miss Oakwood


	Miss Oakwood 2016-17 Courtney Buckhanon is asking everyone to vote -- students, alumni, family and friends!

EBONY's 2016-2017 HBCU Campus Queens online competition started today at 12:01 a.m., and ends at midnight on January 15, 2017.

To cast your vote for Miss Oakwood Courtney Buckhanon, visit http://www.ebony.com . You're allowed to cast three (3) votes in a 24-hour period.

We are asking that you help us spread the word AND keep coming back to vote every day. EVERYONE can share the information on their social media platforms as well.

Each reigning beauty was elected by her peers and/or school officials to represent those standards for her institution of higher learning. Oakwood University commits to the values of respect, compassion, integrity, excellence, service, innovation and collaboration.

To cast your vote for Miss Oakwood, visit http://www.ebony.com.

EBONYCampusQueens2016 is the official hashtag of the competition and should be used as much as possible on all posts.

120 Most Influential Oakwoodites

We are in search of nominations for a list of 120 Most Influential Oakwoodites.

Nominees will be presented during Alumni Homecoming Weekend 2017.

We are looking for names of those Oakwoodites who were either influential here at Oakwood -classroom, church, dormitory, basketball court, etc. -- or an individual who has positively influenced your life, or has transformed lives through his/her service following their time at the Oaks.

We need the following information:

Your name ___________

I nominate _______ as an Influential Oakwoodite because _____ **

Date(s) nominee attended ________and/or graduated ___________

Please include a high resolution photo (300 dpi or higher).

Email to [email protected] -- OR mail to:

Office of Integrated Marketing & Public Relations

Oakwood University

7000 Adventist Boulevard

Huntsville, Alabama 35896

**All submissions subject to editing for space.

Deadline: Midnight, January 31, 2017

Alumni News

On January 3, 2017, Dr. Andrew Harewood, '88, participated in the swearing-in of Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX 18 th District). Dr. Harewood is also a Lt. Colonel in the Armed Services and serves as Senior Pastor of the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in Harlem, New York. He is also Command Chaplain of the 80th Training Command Total Army School System (TASS). God is certainly placing our OU alums in positions of influence in Washington. Please continue to pray for our leaders during this time of transition.

Pictured with a few of the officers of the Oakwood University National Alumni Association (OUAA) are the members of the newly formed International Alumni Chapter, in Nassau, Bahamas. Many thanks to the president of the South Bahamas Conference, Elder Paul Scavella, for his help in organizing the meeting and his hospitality during the establishment of the chapter.

www.oakwoodalumni.org

About Oakwood

The mission of Oakwood University, a historically black, Seventh-day Adventist institution, is to transform students through biblically-based education for service to God and humanity.