Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics hosted its 11th annual Black History Month Celebration on Thursday, Feb. 28, to honor the achievements of African-American student-athletes and alumni. Over 165 people gathered in the Campbell Lounge in the Center for Recreation and Sport to celebrate and listen to a pair of special guest speakers.
Voices of Virtue, a community based choir and non-profit organizatio, opened the event by singing the Black National Anthem. The choir sang three selections throughout the evening and over $200 in donations were collected to support the organization. Voices of Virtue has traveled all over the world to compete in choral competitions to places such as Prague and Italy.
Georgette Brown, Assistant Athletic Director for Event Managment, provided the welcoming speech and extended thanks to those in attendance such as Eric Fishon (Vice President for U.S. Field Marketing of TD Bank), Bill Proto (Vice President for Administration and Student Services), Esther Goodcuff (Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs), Clyde Doughty (Athletic Director at New York Institute of Technology), Renee Bostic (Athletic Director at Medgar Evers College), China Jude (Athletic Director at Queens College of N.Y.), and the likes of alumni and longtime supporters Curtis Minnis, Grady Faulkner, William Dabney, Yvonne Graham and 2013 Hall of Famer Inductee Lisa Tunstall.
Next to speak was Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletic Robert Hartwell, who gave a brief history of the origin of Adelphi's Black History Month dinner celebration. Hartwell then introduced the first guest speaker of the evening, Tuskegee Airman Julius T. Freeman.
Freeman spoke about his first hand experience in Central Alabama as a Tuskegee Airman during World War II. His message to the student-athletes was to remain in school since this was not a favorable option when he was young. Freeman served as a medical technician at Lockbourne Air Base in Columbus, Ohio, and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his WWII service. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the U.S. armed forces. During WWII, they were trained as a segregated unit in Central Alabama at Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University. They were prohibited from fighting alongside white counterparts and faced severe prejudice, yet became one of the most respected fighter troops in WWII. Freeman moved from Columbus to Brooklyn and found a sales position selling and redesigning cars for the likes of Sammy Davis, Jr., James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Dick Gregory. It was an unknown territory for African-Americans to sell cars in those days and Freeman has spent 63 successful years in the automobile industry.
Next, Valerie Watkins presented the Cecil K. Watkins Memorial Award to seniorsMonica Martinez of track and field and RJ Samuels of men's basketball. This honor is bestowed upon a male and female student-athlete for excellence not only on the playing field and in the classroom, but also in the community. This is a one-time cash award and is granted to an ethnic minority student-athlete who has completed a minimum of 24 credit hours at Adelphi University and maintained at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.
Following the award presentation was keynote speaker Herb Boyd. A reporter for the Amsterdam News, Boyd used his platform to discuss the issues of racism that still plague African-Americans today. He spoke on the recent front page article in the Amsterdam News about Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind in blackface at a Purim party. His message was for people of all color not to accept offensive behavior towards them, speak up for their rights and use the power of words wisely. Boyd, who has published 22 books and countless articles, is an award winning author and journalist.
The Black History Month Celebration was founded in 2002 by Suzette McQueen and held annually during the month of February. It is co-sponsored by the Panther Club and the Office of Alumni Relations with corporate support provided by TD Bank.
