@Claflin: London Metropolitan University MOU, CIAA Basketball Tournament in Baltimore through 2025 and more

June 3, 2022

The World Needs Visionaries

Claflin University and London Metropolitan University Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Launch Historic Academic Partnership

Claflin University and London Metropolitan University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Thursday, May 26, to launch a historic academic partnership that will provide international study, teaching, and research opportunities for students, faculty, and staff at both institutions.

Claflin President Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack and London Metropolitan University Vice Chancellor Lynn Dobbs signed the agreement in Claflin's Ministers' Hall.

"This partnership is special. It's very different because it represents a significant financial investment by London Metropolitan University," Warmack said. "They are investing in our students by bringing them to London and providing housing and scholarship opportunities."

London Metropolitan University is a public research university in London, England, with more than 12,000 students. London Metropolitan University is commonly known as London Met. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (formerly the City of London Polytechnic) merged in 2002 to create the university; however, the university's roots go back to 1848. The university has campuses in the City of London and the London Borough of Islington.

Students, faculty, and staff from both universities will share their expertise, knowledge, and skills through the agreement. Students from both universities will also have opportunities for customized study abroad programs, international summer school, internships, and service-learning placement scholarships.

Another critical mission of the agreement is to promote substantive social change in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world.

"This MOU offers a much broader engagement than many of our other partnerships," said Warmack. "This partnership is intentional and inclusive. It is a one-of-a-kind partnership that includes students, faculty, and staff. It's not often that staff members receive research opportunities through study abroad programs."

Dobbs began her tenure as vice chancellor and chief executive at London Met in October 2018. Previously, she served six years as deputy vice chancellor and provost at Roehampton University, a public university in the United Kingdom.

"This partnership is very important to us," she said. "We have partnerships with many other universities, but most are commercial partnerships. Our agreement with Claflin benefits both institutions. We spent several months researching Claflin, and we had help from other universities and students in developing our proposal. We created three tiers for the universities. Claflin was selected as a Tier 1 partner, which means the university is an excellent investment. When we approached Dr. Warmack, he agreed that Claflin was the best fit for this MOU. We want to learn from Claflin, but we also want to share our knowledge during this partnership. We also want to learn more about serving minority students and the communities where they live."

The MOU aligns with Claflin's Value Proposition by fostering global perspectives through strategic interactions with diverse student and faculty populations and consistent involvement with inclusive learning experiences.

"London Metropolitan University has invited a delegation from Claflin to London," Warmack said. "I look forward to visiting their campus and hosting their team when they visit Claflin."

CIAA and Visit Baltimore Announce Extension of the Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament in Baltimore through 2025

Mayor Brandon M. Scott, Visit Baltimore, the State of Maryland, and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA®), the nation’s oldest historically Black athletic conference, announced that the Men's and Women’s Basketball tournament will extend its run in Baltimore for 2024 and 2025 following a successful first year in-person in Baltimore in 2022.

"I personally could not be more excited that the CIAA has found its home in Charm City at the Royal Farms Arena for the next three years,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “The tournament provides an opportunity for the City, State, local businesses, and our communities to come together to highlight Black excellence by providing an incredible tournament experience. The CIAA Tournament staying in Baltimore is a win for all involved. It generates a strong economic impact for our city each year and greatly benefits students who attend or are looking to attend historically Black colleges and universities.”

"The CIAA Board of Directors is pleased to extend the tournament in Baltimore through 2025. With the circumstances and challenges of COVID-19 over the past two years, both the CIAA and Visit Baltimore made several modifications to manage expectations and have still found success with hosting the tournament, both in person and virtually,” said CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams. “The extension will give both parties the opportunity to build upon its success in cultivating a greater sense of community while introducing a new venue that should enhance the experiences of our student-athletes, fans, partners, and alumni."

The extension follows news of a successful economic impact of the 2022 CIAA Basketball Tournament, which took place from February 22-26 at the Royal Farms Arena. The 2022 tournament welcomed 66,000 total attendees over 22 basketball games and had a direct spending impact of $13.9 million during its five-day run in Baltimore.

The CIAA Tournament generated a total economic impact of $19.6 million, which supported 1,159 part-time and full-time jobs and generated $1.9 million in state and local taxes. This financial success was made possible by the State of Maryland, Baltimore City, and the Local Organizing Committee.

In addition to total economic impact, the tournament generated $11 million in participant and spectator off-site spending, with $3.2 million spent in the food and beverage sector, $2.7 million in lodging, $2.1 million in entertainment and attractions and $1.9 million in retail spending.

“I am grateful to the twelve university presidents and chancellors for making the decision to extend the tournament’s run in Baltimore until 2025,” said Al Hutchinson, President and CEO of Visit Baltimore. “The decision to extend the tournament for another two years is not one that we take lightly as it shows great confidence in Baltimore’s ability to grow the tournament year over year. We welcome the opportunity to continue showing why Baltimore is a great home for the CIAA.”

Throughout the tournament planning process, the Baltimore Sports Tourism Development Council engaged 110 minority-owned businesses to be a part of the tournament which had a direct economic spend of $1,050,357 to those businesses.

In addition to the total economic impact that the event had on area hotels, restaurants and attractions, the City of Baltimore, State of Maryland, Visit Baltimore and the Local Host Committee made an $800,000 donation to the CIAA General Scholarship Fund that supports the conference’s 12 member institutions, made up of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and its students. This donation was made possible by the local businesses that make up the Local Host Committee, along with corporate contributions from partners including Brown Capital, Murphy Falcon & Murphy, The Harbor Bank, BGE, Verizon, Bank of America, BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, Amtrak, Under Armor, the Cordish Companies, Whiting Turner, PNC Bank, T. Rowe Price, Brown Advisory and many others.

“The CIAA Board of Directors is excited about the future of our historic annual basketball tournament in the City of Baltimore until 2025,” said Dr. Aminta Breaux, President of Bowie State University and Chairwoman of the CIAA Presidents’ Council. “We thank city leaders including Mayor Brandon Scott and Al Hutchinson of Visit Baltimore, along with other state supporters, for laying the foundation to realize greater success in the years to come. Our 12 member institutions, including student-athletes and alumni, will once again be able to come together and showcase outstanding talent on and off the court while providing a valuable educational network and economic boost to Baltimore, the state, and the region."

Over 260 community members served as volunteers during the 38 events and 22 basketball games that took place during the tournament, providing information and wayfinding support at BWI Airport, Penn Station and hotels in the tournament footprint.

Visit Baltimore partnered with Tourism Economics, an Oxford economics company and leader in global forecasting and quantitative analysis to create a full economic impact report following the CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball tournament in 2022. Click here to view the full report.

The CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament will be in Baltimore from February 20-26, 2023.

PantherCam

Executives from Getty Images recently visited Claflin University and delivered a lovely gift from their partnership with CanonUSA. Thank you, CanonUSA, for your generous gifts of two Canon 1DX Mark II cameras, a Canon 70-200mm 2.8 II L lens, and a Canon 16-35mm 2.8 II L lens. This new equipment will help the University's Office of Communications and Marketing continue to capture and tell the story of Claflin University by providing footage that will be archived with the help of the Getty Images Photo Archive Grants for Historically Black Colleges and Universities received this past January.

Alumni News

Zachary Freeman, '21, is working as a clerk this summer in the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office in Charleston, S.C. He is responsible for assisting attorneys with conducting legal research, writing memos for court cases, helping with organizing court cases, and learning about the rules of evidence. Currently, Freeman attends the University of South Carolina Law School. He is actively involved in multiple campus organizations that allow him to learn and grow as a law school student. Freeman is a member of the Black Law Student Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Through the NAACP, Freeman assists South Carolina residents with various legal and living circumstances including eviction issues, housing, and food assistance. “Law school can be a challenge at times, but it will be worth it when I finish,” Freeman said. “I can tell I am making my family proud and I’m truly looking forward to having the opportunity to help people in the legal profession. So, I am very lucky and fortunate to be in this position.”

LaToya Glen, Ed.D., '08, has been named the new assistant principal at Marshall Elementary School in Orangeburg, S.C. Previously, she was the school level technologist at Marshall. "I am delighted to serve Marshall in a different capacity as I begin my 15th year of serving our exceptional students,” Glen said. “In my new role, I look forward to supporting the vision of Principal William Whitehurst and working with the leadership team to support innovative ideas to improve home-school relationships, behavior and instructional interventions, and community sponsorships.”

Congratulations to Dr. Kareem Heslop, '17, who won the 2022 Student Bioenergeticist Award from the Biophysical Society. Heslop was also one of 26 doctor of philosophy graduates in the Class of 2022 from the College of Graduate Studies at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). A native of Jamaica, Heslop came to Claflin in 2013 as a part of the Passport to College program, a 501 C3 nonprofit established to assist students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) living in the Caribbean realize their dreams of attending college. The program also matches students with scholarships at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States. Heslop will begin a post-doctoral position at Genentech in San Francisco, Calif. Part of the Roche Group, Genentech is a leading biotech company focused on discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing medicines to treat patients with life-threatening conditions. Roche is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Click here to read the story. (Photo and information provided by MUSC.)

Amaris Jenkins, '18, is the new midday anchor for News 2, WCBD in Charleston, S.C. Previously, she was the weekend evening anchor and weekday reporter. Jenkins began her journalism career as an intern at WCBD. After graduating from Claflin, she moved to Macon, Ga., where she was a morning reporter and live desk anchor. Jenkins is a member of the Gamma Xi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in Charleston, S.C. She is a dedicated youth mentor and volunteer with United Methodist Outreach programs. Jenkins is actively involved in community and civic organizations and continues to be a part of community-oriented programs that support at-risk youth.

J. Ruth Littlejohn is featured in the Spring/Summer edition of the Upstate Advocate, a publication produced by Upstate Forever. This issue features Littlejohn and five other women who are leading the Upstate to a green, vibrant, and prosperous future. "I saw the pandemic prove how important green spaces and trails are in lowering blood pressure, stress, and cholesterol rates. I believe having more green spaces, parks, and playgrounds benefits everyone," she shared in the article. Littlejohn led the effort to refurbish South Converse Street Park in Spartanburg's Southside, providing a much-needed recreational area for neighborhood children and families. A 2018 Claflin University Hall of Fame inductee, Littlejohn is a councilwoman for Spartanburg (S.C.) District 3. She is also a member of the Claflin University Board of Visitors. Click here to read the article on page 18.

Tanisha Johnson Oduyemi, '98, was named 2022 Teacher of the Year at Walter Bickett Education Center in Monroe, N.C. Oduyemi serves as the Center's pre-kindergarten teacher and has 22 years of teaching experience. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Claflin in elementary education, a master’s degree in counseling at Webster University, and a graduate certificate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in birth to kindergarten.