December 2021 Issue | The BEST Tiger News

The BEST Tiger News

December 2021 Issue

Institutional News

Benedict College Receives $1 Million Investment from ServiceNow to Establish a Tech Scholars Program and NextGen Academy

Benedict College announced a $1 million investment and partnership commitment from ServiceNow to equip traditionally underrepresented students with the digital skills needed in today’s workforce. The partnership will provide access to technology and resources which will include a state-of-the-art ServiceNow Tech Center on the Benedict campus, scholarships for Benedict students, internship opportunities, a ServiceNow Tech Scholars Program that focuses on success in the tech sector, and a ServiceNow NextGen Academy – a two-month program designed to help participants actively take part in the digital economy and move directly into employment.

Benedict College Women's Business Center Receives a $100,000 Grant from the Truist Foundation

The Benedict College Women’s Business Center (WBC) received a $100,000 grant from the Truist Foundation to assist with the implementation of the Benedict College WBC Mobile and Creative Entrepreneurial Demonstration (MCED) Project, a new initiative designed to reach socially and economically disadvantaged women business owners in targeted rural areas of Allendale County, Bamberg County, the City of North Charleston, Clarendon County, Dillion County, and Lee County.

NAACP introduces program to address racial indifference

in local law enforcement at Benedict College

The Columbia Police Department and Richland County Sheriff’s Department will take part in scenario-based role playing to address racial indifference. It’s part of a new justice reform program announced at a press conference at Benedict College.

Click here to see the video coverage.

Academics

Benedict to Offer New Master's Degree in Sport Management

beginning January 2022

Click here for more information.

The BEST of BC Student News

Heyveon Clemmons featured in

Sisters of Charity Foundation Article

Sisters of Charity Foundation seeks to expand HBCU fellowship program

Heyveon Clemons wants to be an accountant. He graduates this spring from Benedict College in Columbia and plans to attend graduate school and earn his certification. He’s been interning at PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC, gaining valuable experience. Last year, he was one of two President’s Fellows participating in a program administered by the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. And now Clemons sees his future a little differently.

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Heyveon Clemmons, 21, is a senior at Benedict College who recently completed the Sisters of Charity Foundation’s President’s Fellows program

The program is meant to expose young Black males to the world of philanthropy and nonprofits, where their numbers in management positions are woefully low. The foundation, which introduced its President’s Fellows program in 2015, has been awarding students of Benedict College a $1,500 stipend, college credit and access to various mentors in order to show them that the nonprofit sector is an option for them, and to emphasize the “importance of giving back,” said Chynna Phillips, program organizer and research and policy director for Sisters of Charity Foundation. For the 2020-21 academic year, the foundation selected two fellows from Benedict.

This year the program is expanding, and will include four fellows, Phillips said. Thanks to new partnerships with other historically black colleges and universities in the state, future President’s Fellows will be drawn from Allen University in Columbia and from S.C. State University and Claflin University in Orangeburg. “The goal is to establish a President’s Fellow in each HBCU within South Carolina,” Phillips said. “There’s only eight, so it’s doable.” The philanthropic world is overwhelmingly White.

About 90 percent of executive directors and presidents at nonprofits and foundations are White, and about 84 percent of board members are White, according to a BoardSource report. Among staffers, a majority now are women.

Sisters of Charity Foundation hopes to create a significant pipeline to help diversify this sector, Phillips said. “It’s not enough to address inequities,” she said. “You’ve got to come up with solutions.” And it’s not enough to make room for a small number of people of color.

“What does it look like if you are going to be the only Black male sitting on a board, or stepping into a room of power?” she asked. “How do you deal with an environment that might not always be welcoming?” It’s essential to prepare young people for that discomfort, and to work hard to limit its duration by promoting more diversity, Phillips said. Darrin Goss, president and CEO of the Coastal Community Foundation in Charleston, is among the program’s mentors. He said the lack of Black professionals is pronounced among nonprofit organizations, which have particular missions or focuses, but it’s even worse within philanthropic organizations that distribute money in the form of grants or gifts.

“What Sisters of Charity Foundation has done by focusing in on the HBCUs of South Carolina, and specifically introducing them to philanthropic leaders like myself, exposes young Black males to a world they might never get a chance to see beyond being a recipient of a scholarship,” Goss said. These philanthropic organizations employ people experienced in finance, investing, accounting, program development, community outreach and more — the same group of people who might work for banks and marketing companies, he said. “It’s about showing them that this is an option,” he said. And about looking at grant making through an equity lens, and with an appreciation for historical disparities. Equity within an organization and its expression through that organization’s initiatives can’t be accomplished relying only on a top-down approach; it requires input from a diverse staff, he said. “Your lived experience gives you a built-in lens through which you see the world,” Goss said. “It results in better organizational decisions.”

Those lived experiences show up in board rooms and in the community, he added. Eventually, it is normalized. Clemmons, 21, said a highlight of his fellowship experience was the day he visited homeless families and heard about their lived experiences — the challenges they have faced, the needs that have gone unmet. “It made me grateful for my upbringing and schooling,” he said. It also lit a flame inside this aspiring young accountant. “I would love to find something in the nonprofit world, and give back,” Clemmons said.

The Youngest Evangelist -

featuring a few BC BOD trombone players

Seven of Benedict College Marching Band of Distinction’s Trombone Section members appeared in The Youngest Evangelist. Matthew Scrugg, Sophomore; William Bilal, Junior; Davis Anderson-Sophomore, Mason Garrett, Freshmen; Christian Curry, Junior; Keven Shepherd, Sophomore; and Fernando Derisca, Sophomore appear in the movie that is based on a true story.

The story take place in the 1980 and features, John King, a 10-year-old African American boy who see his mother experience the Joy of Salvation. After witnessing her endure domestic violence, to then desire and experience Salvation deeply for himself. He then begins a hard journey and increases in his love for God, resulting in him answering the call to Evangelism. See him in his everyday life, at home, school, church, and play, as he learns the importance of having respect through obedience. The Youngest Evangelist is playing at Spotlight Cinemas near Columbia Mall or check your local listing for a theater near you.

Click here to view video clip.

Athletics

Benedict Places 3 On Academic All-District Football Team

Benedict College football players Steven Campbell, Mitchell Romig and Ja'ron Kilpatrick have all been named to the 2021 Academic All-District® Football Team, selected by CoSIDA. The trio were selected in District 2, which includes teams from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAA), Gulf South Conference (GSC) and South Atlantic Conference (SAC).

Benedict was the only school from the SIAC or CIAA with players named to the team, and the only team outside of the South Atlantic Conference with multiple players named to the team.

Benedict's Smith, Scott Named To SIAC All-Conference

Volleyball Team

The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) announced its annual volleyball awards to finish the 2021 season. The team, which features fourteen student-athletes, was voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.

Benedict sophomore outside hitter Cana Smith and senior libero Amber Scott were both named to the second team.

Smith ranked fourth in the SIAC in kills per set, averaging 3.11 per set. She had a season-high 19 kills against Clark Atlanta and reached double-digit kills in 12 matches.

Benedict's Bey, Christmas Earn SIAC Weekly Honors

The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) has announced its men's and women's basketball Players of the Week.

For women, Ay'Anna Bey (Benedict) was named Player of the Week, while Taylor Christmas (Benedict) earned Newcomer of the Week.

For men, Raymon Adams (Central State) was named Player of the Week, while K.J. Doucet (Fort Valley State) earned Newcomer of the Week, released by the league office on Tuesday.

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Alumni Spotlight

Carmen Jimenez-Pride, Class of 2004, Receives 2021 Emerging Leader Service Award

Congratulations to Carmen Jimenez-Pride who was presented the 2021 Emerging Leader Service Award by the Association for Play Therapy (APT) during its Oct. 12-17 conference in Little Rock, AR

The award was created in 2021 and acknowledges an emerging leader, who has been fully licensed for 10 years or less, for their outstanding organizational service to APT, its Foundation for Play Therapy and/or chartered branches. Jimenez-Pride, an APT member since 2013, graduated its leadership academy, and has contributed immensely to the public awareness of play therapy through her various publications and presentations.

“Carmen is a natural leader and team player who is the current President of the South Carolina branch and is the developer of Diversity in Play Therapy Inc and summit host, where she works to increase diversity in the play therapy community,” says association CEO Kathy Lebby.

Play therapy is an approach favored by many licensed mental health professionals in the US and 25 other nations to therapeutically use play to help clients better describe and resolve their problems. It is particularly effective with children because, just as adults use words to communicate ideas and feelings, children use play.

APT is a national professional society that provides research, training, and credentialing programs to assist those professionals. Additional information is available at www.a4pt.org.