@Claflin - Health and Wellness Expo, Business Plan Competition, and more

The World Needs Visionaries

Claflin University to Host Beauty, Health, & Wellness Expo During Women's History Month

In honor of Women's History Month, Claflin University's Counseling Department in partnership with Vondella Smith and Celebrity Hair Designer Adrin "Seven" Washington, '00, will host its first Beauty, Health, and Wellness Expo (BHW Expo) on Sunday, March 19 from 2 until 6 p.m. in the Jonas T. Kennedy Health and Physical Education Center. The purpose of the BHW Expo is to promote beauty, health, and wellness awareness. Proceeds from the Expo will support The Evening of Elegance Scholarship Program.

The BHW Expo will feature presentations from South Carolina beauty, health, and wellness experts, including Bianca Chardei of America's Next Top Model; motivational speaker LaKeisha Fersner Lawrence; WIS TV meteorologist Von Gaskin; beauty experts Rev. Kev & Lady K; women's empowerment expert Cynthia Hardy; beauty maven Vondella Smith as well as makeovers from celebrity makeup artist Marcus Green in conjunction with Adrin "Seven" Washington. There will also be vendors and corporate partners at the BHW Expo including Karen Stacks, Gold's Gym, and Hope Health. At the conclusion of the Expo, Adrin "Seven Washington will offer a business seminar on the "The Seven Great Fundamental Business Strategies of Beauty Professionals" which will take place from 6:30 until 7:30 p.m.

"I am elated to come home and share what I've learned in my career journey, " said Washington who has worked for magazines such as Essence and Vogue, runway fashion shows, television, White House officials, and celebrities including Patti Labelle, Lynda Carter, Gabrielle Union, Amy Poehler, and Naomi Campbell.

General admission for the Expo is $10, $5 for college students with valid ID, and free for children five and under. The business seminar with Celebrity Hair Designer is $25. Vendor booths are available for only $50. For more information please contact Sadie Jarvis at [email protected] and (803) 535-5285 or Vondella Smith at [email protected] and (803) 596-0552.

Claflin University to Host "Entrepreneurial Student Leaders" Fourth Annual Business Plan Competition

On March 20, Claflin University students will compete for cash prizes at the 4th Annual Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition. Developed in 2014, the competition is loosely modeled after the popular ABC television show "Shark Tank."

Claflin University was one of the first schools in South Carolina to create such an innovative and substantive business plan competition that has resulted in market ready products for commercialization. " Claflin University believes that the world needs visionaries, and these visionaries have definitely arrived on our campus in the form of the next generation of innovative entrepreneurs across academic disciplines," said Dr. Robin Davis, assistant professor of management in the School of Business and coordinator of the Business Plan Competition.

In 2015, Michael DeVore, '15, a business administration major, led the top-placing team but the members of the team included students from accounting, finance, marketing and computer science. DeVore's product, a Barber Shop app called "Live Chair," is now in the Apple store.

In 2016, the winning concept, called "Body Barrier," was developed by Angelo Hornsby, '16, a business management major and Xavier Robertson, '16, a biology major. They developed body recovery performance wear for athletes and fitness enthusiasts. They used the prize money and invested it directly into their company. Body Barrier Wear will launch on March 22.

Cash prizes for the winners are:

First place - $5,000
Second place - $3,000
Third place - $1,250
Fourth place - $500
Fifth place - $300

There are seven teams competing this year and they are excited to share their innovative ideas with the world. The students have been preparing for the competition since September 2016.

Claflin University's First Ever Cyber Security Team Qualifies for Second Round of

Collegiate Palmetto Cyber Defense Competition

Front row: Tracey Hughes, Hannah Hart, Anna Swanier, Sakshyam Dahal and Emmanuel Mong. Back row: Agbai Okoronkwo, Malik Hayes, Khari Glover and Jibril Burleigh.

Claflin University's cyber security team has been selected to compete in the second round of Collegiate Day at the 2017 Palmetto Cyber Defense Competition on Sunday, April 9 at Trident Technical College in North Charleston. Claflin is making its inaugural appearance at the competition. The eight-person team advanced after its impressive performance on February 25 in the first round of the event.

The Palmetto Cyber Defense Competition is presented annually by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SSC) Atlantic and the Navy's East Coast Engineering Center in collaboration with the South Carolina Lowcountry Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association (AFCEA). The goal of the event is to energize high schools, colleges, and their students to focus on the development of technical skills in the area of networking and cyber security that will help in preparation for exciting careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

During the competition, teams will use the latest cyber security tools and their own cyber skills to prevent constant attacks by hackers attempting to gain access to networks and programs. Claflin's team is comprised of computer science and computer engineering majors. The students are seniors Jibril Burleigh, Sakshyam Dahal, Hannah Hart, Khari Glover and Emannuel Mong; junior Malik Hayes; sophomore Agbai Okoronkwo and freshman Anna Swanier. Tracey Hughes, '97, served as Claflin's team judge. Hughes, a cyber security manager with Deloitte, earned a bachelor's degree in math and computer science at Claflin.

"I am extremely proud of our students," said Dr. Cheryl Swanier," chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences and team advisor. "We entered this competition with very limited experience and we had to compete against teams from larger institutions such as Clemson University, University of South Carolina and The Citadel. Advancing to the second round is truly a very special moment for our students and for Claflin. It's a great experience and a tremendous opportunity for our students to showcase their talents in cyber security. Claflin is the only HBCU in this competition," stated Swanier who is also the Henry N. and Alice Carson Tisdale Endowed Professor in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Dr. Swanier said that teams are limited to six participants in the second round. Claflin will be represented by Hart, Glover, Mong, Hayes, Okoronkwo and Swanier.

"We will spend time practicing and preparing for our next competition," said Swanier. "We know it will not be easy. But I am confident we will be ready."

Claflin Hosts SC Speech an Theater Association Festival

Claflin University hosted the 2017 South Carolina Speech and Theatre Association's College Festival on Saturday, February 11. Claflin welcomed students, coaches, and judges from five member institutions: Midlands Tech, Newberry College, Tri-County Tech, USC Lancaster, and USC Upstate. Students competed in events from three categories: Theatre, Performance Studies, and Public Speaking. Claflin University received the Sweepstakes Award, which is awarded to the school with the highest competition scores overall. Students received the following awards:

Brandi Threatt - First Place for Audition Monologues
Vincent Sanders and Ar'Darius Stewart - First Place for Duet Acting
Krista Bradley and Courtney Jefferson - Second Place Duet Acting
Brittany Hawkins - Third Place for Informative Speaking
Valaya Burke - First Place for Persuasive Speaking
Nadine Thomas - Third Place for Persuasive Speaking
Valaya Burke - First Place for Persuasive Speaking and First Place for Impromptu Speaking
Nadine Thomas - Third Place Poetry for Interpretation

Nadine Thomas was the Triathlon Award Winner, which is presented to the student who competes in all three categories and receives the highest overall points for all three categories.

The mission of the SC Theatre Association is to encourage a passion for excellence in speech and theatre education in South Carolina.

Have you Voted for Claflin in the Retool Your School Competition?

Do you remember the old adage "It takes a village to raise a child?" Well, it also takes a village to win the Retool Your School Competition and we need your full support to win! Note: Currently we are in 8th place.

Click here and vote daily for Claflin University. No matter if you have a laptop, desktop, smart phone, or tablet - you can vote on ALL of these devices once per day. The more votes we have, the better our odds are to win the $50,000.

Also in all of your Twitter and Instagram posts, use the hashtag #Claflin_RYS17 - remember its just Instagram and Twitter only. You can do this for an unlimited amount of times during the day. This is where we can collect a lot of votes per day.

Let's show others that we can win. Show that Panther Pride and vote online as well as using the hashtag in all of your social media conversations on Instagram and Twitter only.

Student Spotlight: Taylor Reynolds

Taylor Reynolds, a senior early childhood education major, is a member of the Alice Carson Tisdale Honors College . She has been accepted by six graduate schools: University of Maryland-College Park, University of Georgia, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Lenoir-Ryne University, University of South Carolina, and Florida A&M University . She plans to study counseling.

Taylor was awarded and completed the Walton-UNCF Education Fellowship Internship this past summer. She is a member of the Student Government Association, Alpha Kappa Mu Honors Society, Pi Lambda Theta Honors Society, National Society of Leadership and Success, the Honda Campus All-Star Team, and serves as senior class president.

Taylor is a recipient of the Silver Medallion award and was on the President's List 2014-2016. She has completed 230 community service hours .

Student Spotlight: Commissioned Officers

These Commissioned Officers have earned active duty commission in the United States Army. In May 2017, each student will graduate with the ranking of Second Lieutenant (O-1 ) after completing South Carolina State University's Bulldog Battalion Reserve Officers' Training Corps ( ROTC) program.

Andy Michel and Rashodd Howze have both been assigned to the Adjutant General Corps with a branch detail in t he Chemical Corps. They will be stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

Connie Sherow has been assigned to the Quartermaster Corps. S he will be stationed at Fort Lee in Virginia.

Brittany Singletary has been assigned to the Finance Corps. She will be stationed at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.

Akalyah Gilliard has been assigned to the Field Artillery Corps. S he will be stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas. She is the first female from Claflin University to be selected for a combat support assignment.

Alumni Notes

Quentin Baxter, '04, is receiving the artist award as a recipient of the 2017 Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Governor's Awards for the Arts on May 2. Established in 1972, it is the highest honor the state of South Carolina presents in the arts. Photo courtesy of the Post and Courier.

Dr. Leo Twiggs, '56, will also be honored with the Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Governor's Awards for the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award on May 2. Photo courtesy of the Times and Democrat.

Nancy Wilson Young, '65, was acknowledged on February 24-25 as a special honoree via signature events sponsored by the University of Miami's Black Alumni First Black Graduates Project. The project highlighted those who blazed the trail in breaking the color barrier at the University of Miami in the 1960s and 1970s.

Panther Pride

Claflin Softball Falls to Regional Opponent Rollins in Non-conference Doubleheader

The Claflin University softball team dropped a pair of regional softball games to Rollins College, falling in a doubleheader 9-1 and 7-0 on March 6 in Winter Park, Fla. The two losses snapped the Lady Panthers four game win streak.

Claflin will close out its six-game road swing on March 8 when they travel to Lakeland, Fla., to face Florida Southern in a non-conference doubleheader.

The Lady Panthers will return home to host Albany State University in a three-game series on March 11 and 12. This will be the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) opener for Claflin.

Claflin Midweek Baseball Reschedule Games

Please be advised that the baseball game between Claflin University and Saint Rose College has been rescheduled to Thursday, March 9 at 4 p.m.

Due to lighting, the March 7 game at Historic Mirmow Field was stopped in the bottom of the second inning.

In addition, the first pitch for the March 8 game between Claflin University and Francis Marion has been changed from 6 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Both games will be played at at Historic Mirmow Field in Orangeburg.