PVAMU Collegiate 100 Welcomes new Members

The Collegiate 100 at Prairie View A&M University welcomed eleven new members into the fold on November 11 in a special induction ceremony held in the Johnson Phillips All Faith Chapel on the campus.

Mr. Darnell Joseph, Chairman of the Board Emeritus for the 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, Inc., speaker for the event, challenged the young men to get involved in the various programs sponsored by the Chapter. "You have a great opportunity to make a difference in your community, and the same time a chance to associate with a prominent group of men who can be your mentors," Joseph said. "We welcome you to the 100 family and are counting on your support." Joseph is the Network and Communications Manager, Texas Southern University.

The new members include: Richard Atiba, Charles Babaoye, Cedarious Barnes, Giovanni Burton, Breenen Jackson, Armand Kincade, Keith Lewis, Sterling Mark, Ameer McMillan, Ryan Richard and Ryan Turner.

The Collegiate 100 was founded in 1993 by Frederick V. Roberts Esquire, then Director of Student Activities at Prairie View A&M University. Upon acceptance by the 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, Inc. and approval by the 100 Black Men of America, Inc., and the Collegiate 100 became an international organization for college men.

Following a few year hiatus, the Collegiate 100 was rechartered on March 10 at Prairie View A&M. With the induction of 22 members on April 18, the organization began its formal work at the university.

Some of the chapter's activities include participation in the Mentoring the 100 Way project of the 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, Inc. twice a month, where members work with 30 kids (8-12th graders), providing information on college life and tutoring Math and Science. The chapter is participating in the In-School Mentoring Programs at CyFair Elementary, where they provide pep talks on college and life in general. The chapter also established the Boys2Men Mentoring program for freshmen on campus. Along with Residence Hall Manager, The Collegiate hosts seminars with the men and women residents. The chapter also supported Breast Cancer Awareness at the university by distributing literature and pink ribbons to raise awareness of the disease. The chapter also teamed up with Highland Heights Elementary in Acres Home for the HISD Real Men Read Program, where for the past month, the team read to the students.

One major project for the Collegiate leadership was the founding and establishment of the 100 Collegiate Women of America, Inc. at the university. On November 10, 41 women were inducted to that organization. Plans are underway to expand to other campuses in 2012.

Finally, the chapter adopted the several housing complexes in Navasota, Texas to make Christmas a happy one for the children.  The chapter collected and spent some $600 for toys and clothing for the kids.  The project was led by Dymonique Burton, Vice President, Patrick Gray, Treasurer and Travis Reed. Several members of the 100 Collegiate Women of America, Inc., also assisted with the project

The members are currently preparing for the 2012 Male Youth Summit to be held in Beaumont on February 25, where some 800 young men will get to hear about life and how to become responsible men in the community.  The chapter will also serve as host for the 2012 Mr. Collegiate African American Scholarship pageant and National Male Leadership Summit on April 11-14.

Travis Reed a senior architecture and construction science student is the president for the Collegiate 100. The chapter advisers are Dr. Clement Glenn and Frederick V. Robert Esquire.

For information on the Collegiate 100, contact collegiate100pvamu@gmail.com.

PVAMU Collegiate 100 teams up for Real men Read Program to improve Early Childhood Literacy in Acres Home

The Collegiate 100 at Prairie View A&M University is on the move as it teams up with Highland Heights Elementary School in the Acres Home area of Houston for its Real Men Read Program on October 20.

Highland is a charter school that serves grades PK-5. It has received a Great-Schools rating of 7 out of 10 based on its performance on state standardized tests.

The program, designed to enhance early childhood literacy by improving the reading and comprehension ability of the students, is the first of its kind in the district to involve the men of the community. Prominent men from the community and college students such as those from the Collegiate 100 organization have committed to read to the students once a month and may expand in the twice later in the year.

In addition to the readings, the Collegiate 100 Vice President Dymonique Burton and Secretary Chris Shelton, both senior architect students, explained to the students the importance of education and reading. Burton and Shelton were very impressed with the students and how they responded to their questions. According to Shelton, "I am very excited to work with the Highland Heights students and to reach offer a helping hand to the children. I was touched tremendously when I saw the faces of the students light up in excitement to read."

Ms. Shanica Smith, fifth grade teacher at the school, was elated and excited that the students would travel from Prairie View A&M University for the program. “Am very impressed with The Collegiate men for their commitment and the way they connected with the students. We look forward to seeing them in November,” Smith commented. Dymonique stated that the students made an impact on them so they committed to read twice a month instead. “We are delighted to work with the kids and to give something back. I can’t remember having men sit down and read to me, so this program means a lot to us and the kids,” said Dymonique, also the Mentoring Chair for the Collegiate 100.

The Collegiate 100 is also engaged in mentoring kids in Cyfair ISD where all eighteen members are certified to participate in the program. The chapter has teamed up with University College and is sponsoring a series of seminars for the freshmen students. Additionally, the chapter is assisting with the chartering of the 100 Collegiate Women of America, a sort of sister organization at the university.

The Chapter will induct ten new members on November 11, who no doubt will be involved in the chapter’s programming.

The Collegiate 100 is a mentoring organization sponsored by the 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, Inc. Travis Reed, a senior architect student, is president of the Collegiate 100. The advisers are Dr. Clement Glenn and Frederick V. Roberts.

For information on the Collegiate, go to http://collegiate100prairieviewamuniversity.blogspot.com/ or write: collegiate100pvamu@gmail.com.

TAMUS Chancellor John Sharp with Collegiate Members following visit Prairie View A&M University

Prairie View A&M University administrators, faculty, staff and student and members of the Prairie View Community welcomed Mr. John Sharp, Chancellor for The Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) to the campus on October 19. Chancellor Sharp is a former Texas Comptroller, Railroad Commissioner, State Senator and Representative.

This is Sharp’s first visit to the campus, even in his capacity Chancellor, to show his commitment and respect for all parts of the system. Sharp has a wealth of experience with higher education and business management and is familiar with Prairie View A&M University status in the system.

Sharp told the capacity crowd that he was very impressed with his visit and to learn of the great things happening at the university. He cited the excellent research at the university being conducted by Dr. Raul Cuero and others. My goal is to make sure that people know what’s happening at our universities,” Sharp said. “I pledge to do everything that I can as chancellor to ensure that this university gets its fair recognition and support. Our office for commercialization of technology is ready to take some of this research to market.”

He is a native of Placedo, Texas, a small community on the Gulf Coast and has a master's in public administration from Texas State University. Sharp is most proud of his as accomplishments as Comptroller where he introduced several innovations like the Lone Star Card, the Texas Tomorrow Fund, the Texas Window on State Government and the website of the comptroller's office. Sharp assumed the new position on September 6 having been appointed in August but by law could not take the position until after twenty-one days.

Chancellor Sharp fielded various questions from the audience and expressed his thanks for the hospitality and encouraged the audience to be proud of the achievements of the university.  Several members of the Collegiate 100 were on hand for the presentation and took time to chat with Chancellor Sharp following the discussion.

For information on the Collegiate, write: collegiate100pvamu@gmail.com.

Collegiate 100 Returns to Prairie View A&M University

April 18 was a great day in the lives of 22 professional, talented and progressive young men who were inducted in to the Collegiate 100 organization at Prairie View A&M University.

The Collegiate 100 is an auxiliary organization existing on college campuses nationwide directly related to, and in turn shares the ideas and views of, the 100 Black Men of America. The goal of this organization is to assist 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, Inc., with its academic enrichment, economic empowerment, and Mentoring mission.

The members of the organization along with their positions are: Travis C. Reed, President; Dymonique J. Burton, Vice President, Dorian C. Price, Vice President Programs, Christopher J. Shelton, Secretary, Patrick Gray, Treasurer, Dominique R. Washington, Communications Director, Frederick C. Fox, Marketing Director, Kelvin Washington, Membership Director, Courtney Allen, Parliamentarian, Vincent I. Ellis, Chaplain, Terrance N. Caldwell, Sergeant-at-Arms, Jeffrey L. Harris, Historian.  Dr. Clement Glenn, professor of Education Leadership is the primary advisor along with Mr. Frederick V. Roberts, the secondary advisor and sponsor member of the 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, Inc.

The Collegiate 100 was created at Prairie View A&M University in Texas in 1993 by Frederick V. Roberts, then director of Student Activities. The original group included male and female students who provided leadership and mentoring for the students at the university. Roberts, being a charter member of the newly recognized Metropolitan Houston Chapter, Inc. (June 1994) of the 100 Black Men of America, Inc. presented the idea to seek affiliation with the national organization.  The chapter, led by Attorney Benjamin Pigott, accepted the proposal and presented the request to the Board of Directors of the 100 at its December 1994 Leadership Board Meeting. The proposal was unanimously adopted as part of the organization's Program Success and thus began the national launch of the Collegiate 100.

The 100 Black Men of America organization was borne out of the 100 Black Men of New Jersey which was created in 1963.  The national organization was formed in 1986 and formally introduced to the nation in 1987 in Atlanta, Georgia.  The 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, Inc. was chartered in March 1994. 

Some of the first members of the Collegiate 100 at PVAMU were Robert Brown, Horace Bussey, Kevin Bussey, Lelar Corbett, Loretta Davis, Jason Jefferson, Christina Johnson, Marcus Lane, Derrick Ross, Devyon Smith, Michael Smith and Donna Tomlinson.

On hand the for the ceremony were Houston City Controller, Attorney Ronald Green the featured speaker,  Prairie View Mayor Frank D. Jackson, the Master of Ceremony, Mr. Darnell Joseph, President and Chairman Emeritus of the 100 Black Men of Metropolitan Houston, Inc.

Other well-wishers were the family of the members along with the beautiful, talented and progressive young ladies, all students at the university.