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Bobby Jindal's Failed Move on HBCUs

Dr. Jason Johnson

I am finally convinced that the Republican Party has been taken over by secret Democratic operatives. A team of highly-trained, well-placed Obama/Saul Alinsky operatives have been working their way into the Republican party for years now with one single goal: To ensure Republicans lose the Presidential election of 2012. 

With a bad economy and general discontent in their favor how else can you explain the apocalyptic incompetence of Republican governors since the 2010 election? In mere months they've blown more political capital than ("D.C. Madam") Deborah Palfrey.

Scott Walker in Wisconsin has managed to do what Democrats haven't been able to in 30 years, galvanize the labor movement in a non-election year. John Kasich in Ohio has managed to get teachers, college professors and cops all united in a mutual hatred of his new anti-labor policies. Now Bobby Jindal is galvanizing the almost 30 percent black vote in Louisiana against him with moves that are such political kryptonite that you'd think they must've come right out of a Democratic playbook.

I'm not saying that Jindal is getting absolutely horrible political advice but I will say this: If you can't find a way to convince the public to close a college that is only graduating eight percent of it's students, then you ought to be looking for a job outside of politics. 

Gov. Jindal has pushed through the merger of Southern University of New Orleans, an HBCU, and The University of New Orleans, a majority white institution. With the skills of a blind lumberjack, last December he replaced all African-American members from the 16-member state board of regents and set about a plan to "study" the feasibility of combining the two colleges. Needless to say, the African-American community in Louisiana wasn't too pleased with his whitewashing of the board of regents, let alone his goal of "closing" or "merging" an HBCU, a trend that has become very popular amongst southern governors of late.

State Sen. Cleo Fields filed a lawsuit seeking to block the "study" on combining the schools and the local community was up in arms. Jindal could obviously see the writing on the wall, but not fast enough to avoid running into it. He pushed out one old white guy, who'd been on the board for 14 years, and appointed a black man, surgeon Albert Sam, to be the lone black member of the board of regents. Which would have been great, if it weren't for the fact that Sam openly admitted that with his busy surgery schedule that he didn't plan on attending many meetings about the SUNO / UNO merger. 

Now the merger proposal has all but passed but the political fallout in the state will be felt for years to come. Students at SUNO are protesting, the state black caucus is crying bloody racism and the 30 percent African-American population is giving Jindal the side eye just as he's about to run for re-election. 

You can't entirely blame Jindal for his gross incompetence; he's never seemed to be a guy that got a good measure of his own political prowess. He incorrectly viewed his 2008 election as an endorsement of GOP policies instead of a rejection of Katrina incompetence by Democrats. He bought the hype of Republican spinmeisters that he was the second coming to Ronald Reagan, only to die a death of a thousand clicking remotes as he botched his Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union in 2009.

However, his tin ear in the face of both a racial and educational hot potato will likely spell doom for the 15-minute face of the Republican Party. What's worse, his proposal isn't entirely wrong. SUNO has an eight percent graduation rate, the lowest of any public historically black college or university in the United States. 

UNO has seen its attendance numbers dwindle as a result of hurricane Katrina and poor recruiting efforts. Schools performing that poorly, in a budget strapped state, need to be re-organized. Jindal's inability to make a cogent argument about these issues, which many others have been able to do, let alone the ham-fisted way that he's handled the entire controversy, has turned key constituents in the state against him just like Scott Walker and John Kasich have. 

But I guess those arguments were too tough to make. Those Democratic operatives are certainly doing their job – three 2012 potentials down, one to go. I'm thinking (N.J.) Gov. Chris Christie might be next. 

(Dr. Jason Johnson is an associate professor of political science and communications at Hiram College in Ohio, where he teaches courses in campaigns and elections, pop culture, and the politics of sports.  He can be reached atjohnsonja@hiram.edu.)

HBCUs Receive a Helping Hand In Preparing Students To Become Global Citizens

By Brittany Hutson
In a world where our everyday lives are influenced in some way, shape or form by the governments, businesses and individuals that are beyond our borders, it’s essential that educational institutions establish the roles they are going to play in preparing students to be global citizens.

It is for this reason that the U.S. Department of Education awarded the American Council on Education a grant to collaborate with historically black colleges and universities to identify the factors that will enhance their international policies and offerings.

Recently, it was announced that seven HBCUs have been granted an opportunity by the ACE to participate in what’s being called the Creating Global Citizens: Exploring Internationalization at HBCUs Project. For two years, the chosen seven will audit their campus international activities and identify policies, programs and structures to enhance curriculum, programs and initiatives on global opportunities for students. The chosen universities include Dillard University, Howard University, Lincoln University of Missouri, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Savannah State University, Tuskegee University and Virginia State University.

According to a press release by ACE, such strategies could range from “infusing international content into academic programs to developing strategic partnerships with institutions in other countries.”

Unfortunately, many HBCUs, particularly smaller ones, do not have the resources and the infrastructure to provide many study abroad opportunities to students, according to Marybeth Gasman, an associate professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I think it is wonderful that ACE has chosen seven HBCUs to participate in its internationalization project,” she said. “HBCU students need more opportunities to travel abroad and expand their perspectives through exposure to cultures outside of the United States.”
Sakita Holley, a graduate of Howard University, says that while examining the international activities of HBCUs is a good strategy, she is concerned about whether HBCUs will be able to receive more funding for study abroad programs.

“There are plenty of qualified minority students that want to travel abroad but the low participation rates are usually linked to whether or not they can afford to go,” said Holley, who is president of the New York-based PR firm, House of Success. “To remain competitive, schools will need to figure out ways to make these opportunities available to more of their students.”

She recommends that schools incorporate a one or two week trip to a foreign country into a capstone curriculum so that every student in a particular major can graduate with international experience.

USDA Support for HBCUs

Release No. 0466.10

Contact:

Weldon Freeman (202) 690-1384

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND SMALL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS

Support Will Promote Economic Development, Training for Entrepreneurship and Business Growth

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2010 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced support for economic development initiatives and for educational institutions to help owners of small farms and rural businesses in 22 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The secretary announced the funding at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference.  "USDA and the Obama administration are committed to supporting small business and our nation's historically black educational institutions to ensure that all citizens have equal access to economic opportunities," Vilsack said. "This funding will help create the next generation of entrepreneurs and help small businesses better compete in today's global economy."  These awards are being provided through USDA Rural Development's Small and Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grant Program and through a Rural Entrepreneurship Outreach and Development Initiative. Both programs support job creation efforts, business development and nurture cooperatives. Recipients of the outreach initiative funding are among the 18 institutions supported under the Second Morrill Act of 1890, a law providing for the establishment of land-grant institutions focusing on agriculture, home economics and the mechanic arts. For example, Alabama A&M University has been selected to receive a $95,000 grant to provide outreach and technical assistance to help entrepreneurs, businesses and cooperatives. The university will develop educational materials concerning renewable energy sources, continue a rural entrepreneurial outreach and development program for youth, develop financial management training, and provide technical assistance to rural business cooperatives. In Georgia, Fort Valley State University has been selected for a $105,000 grant to help rural businesses develop business and marketing plans that will help them more fully utilize sources of funding such as USDA Rural Development's Intermediary Relending Program. The grant also will help Fort Valley continue to operate the area's only small business incubator. The Rio Culebra Agricultural Cooperative in Colorado is using a $175,000 Small and Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grant that it was awarded in 2009 to help develop a business and marketing plan that will enable members to provide beef products in metropolitan areas. The cooperative also is helping producers sell specialty crops for Chicos and Bolita Beans. Additionally, it is working on a feasibility study for small-scale camelina production for a specialty cooking oil and use in a local biodiesel plant. Funding of recipients announced today is contingent upon their meeting the conditions of the grant agreement. The following is a complete list of organizations receiving USDA Rural Development awards: 1890 Land-Grant Institutions Rural Entrepreneurship Outreach and Development Initiative Grants Alabama: Alabama A&M University – $95,000 Tuskegee University – $100,000 Arkansas: University of Arkansas Pine Bluff – $105,000 Delaware: Delaware State University – $115,000 Florida: Florida A&M University – $105,000 Georgia: Fort Valley State University – $105,000 Louisiana: Southern University and A&M College – $115,000 Maryland: University of Maryland Eastern Shore – $100,000 Mississippi: Alcorn State University – $100,000 North Carolina: North Carolina A&T State University – $100,000 Oklahoma: Langston University – $104,000 South Carolina: South Carolina State University – $100,000 Texas: Prairie View A&M University – $70,035 West Virginia: West Virginia State University – $100,000 Virginia: Virginia State University – $80,965 Small Socially Disadvantaged Producer Grants Colorado Arkansas Valley Organic Growers – $93,000 Rio Culebra Agricultural Cooperative – $186,000 Hawaii Hawaii Bio-Energy Producers Cooperative – $114,715 Louisiana Louisiana Association of Cooperatives – $200,000 Michigan Farmers on the Move Cooperative Inc. – $200,000 Mississippi Mileston Cooperative Association – $105,824 Mississippi Association of Cooperatives – $200,000 Winston County Self-Help Cooperative – $200,000 North Delta Produce Growers Association – $177,417 Minnesota Hillside Farmers Cooperative, Inc. – $113,865 New Mexico Red Willow Community Growers Cooperative – $182,500 New York North Country Grown Cooperative, Inc. – $62,175 Puerto Rico Cooperativa Agro-Comercial De Puerto Rico – $154,360 South Carolina People's Farmers Cooperative, Inc. – $100,000 Farmers Low Country Marketing Cooperative – $64,500 Federation of Southern Cooperatives – $146,595 Pee Dee Small Farmer Association Inc. – $34,500 SCF Organic Farms LTD – $100,000 South Dakota Intertribal Buffalo Council – $175,000 Washington Manzaneros Mexicanos De Washington Corporation – $150,000 Through its Rural Development mission area, USDA administers and manages more than 40 housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs through a network of 6,100 employees located in the nation's capital and 500 state and local offices. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers, and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural America. Rural Development has an existing portfolio of more than $142 billion in loans and loan guarantees.

 

Rookie HBCU Presidents Undergoing Rigorous Leadership Testing

by Reginald Stuart , August 24, 2010

For the past 18 months, Dr. Donna Oliver has been president of Mississippi Valley State University.

Dr. Donna Oliver hardly had time to savor her rise to the top ranks of higher education as a college president when she got the sobering news from her new bosses: cut the school's budget by 5 percent immediately and be prepared for more cuts later.

"My mouth dropped open," says Oliver, president for the past 18 months of Mississippi Valley State University, recalling the startling news she faced two weeks into her freshman year as a college president. The 60-year-old veteran higher education executive expected challenges, "but not instant budget cuts."

The budget cutting was done, however, as have several subsequent cuts, she says. They have been achieved without major damage to the school's core programs or employment rolls, she says, and with input from a university community advisory group she appointed. The group has helped her navigate the school through its tough economic times, challenges mirrored at colleges and universities across the state and nation.

Oliver is among a corps of career academicians making up the growing ranks of first-time presidents at historically Black colleges and universities. They are taking on the challenge of championing HBCUs for the 21st century as the schools face a growing chorus of politicians and others questioning their continued value as demands grow for the schools to beef up their academic performance and needed funds — from public and private sources — become harder to come by. 

"They are very difficult jobs and more requirements are being placed on them," says Dr. Frederick Humphries, former president of Tennessee State University and Florida A&M University, where he is now a Regents Professor.

"Ultimately, it becomes a tenuous situation," says Humphries, citing the heavy turnover of presidencies in recent years.

Just this summer, 55-year-old Dr. David Wilson, formerly with the University of Wisconsin, joined Morgan State University in Baltimore as a freshman president. Dr. Harry L. Williams, 46, who got his start in university management a decade ago as director of admissions at North Carolina A&T State University, became president of Delaware State University in January. Nearly half a dozen HBCU first-time presidents are three years or less into their jobs, including the Southern University at Baton Rouge chancellor and the South Carolina State University president.

They have taken on the job of university chief executive during an era of heavy turnover of presidents, moves rooted in a variety of reasons. Some departures are simple retirement, as in the case of Dr. Benjamin Payton, president of Tuskegee University for 30 years. 

Other departures short of retirement are more complex, say presidential consultants and higher education veterans, citing anecdotal information. The reasons range from frustrations and differences with governance boards and alumni to heightened demands for institutional performance amid shrinking public and private financial support, especially since the onset of the economic downturn.

Oftentimes, departures are a combination of these factors, they say, citing recent resignations of presidents at Tennessee State, Jackson State University, Edward Waters College in Florida and Alcorn State University, to name a few. All are on the hunt for a new president, as is Norfolk State University in Virginia.

"Being a president in this day and time is hard work," says Oliver, a former provost at Edward Waters College. "You are leading seven days a week. Don't get into it because you think it's powerful, famous or prestigious. It's certainly a labor of love."  

A Pressing Need

For sure, the job of a college president has its rewards and perks. Usually, the position, which typically pays six figures, commands community respect, as most colleges generate millions of dollars a year in revenue and hundreds of jobs in their respective communities. Also, good fortunes prevailing, college presidents can have a positive, lasting impact on the lives of many people who enroll as students seeking to improve their lives and economic standing.

Still, challenges abound.

Dr. Reginald Avery, 63, who has been president of Coppin State University in Baltimore for two and a half years, and other leaders say the need to raise money has become a larger part of a president's job, even at state-supported institutions.

"It's not just going out asking for money, it's fundraising. For those who think it's an easy job, it's not. It's not at all," Avery says, adding that he spends more than 30 percent of his time fundraising.

Fundraising is also a heightened priority for Williams of Delaware State. "We have to look at different ways of generating revenue," Williams says, noting he sees a "niche" for his school in focusing on science, technology, engineering and math programs. DSU is pursuing partnerships with the National Institutes of Health, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation.

"The reality is that's where the money is," Williams says, acknowledging the complaints he hears from time to time, as do other school presidents, that the focused pursuit of STEM programs and money is coming at the expense of the traditional focus on liberal arts studies.

Williams has also been working more intensely with state officials to permanently secure scholarship funding to attract more in-state students to the school. The new "Inspire Scholarship" would guarantee tuition for two years for any Delaware resident with at least a 2.75 grade-point average, eliminating a state aid gap dating to 2006 when the Legislature approved similar scholarship funding for two-year college students.

Williams and his supporters had won bipartisan support for his Inspire Scholarship legislation. The proposal won House passage. However, it failed to win Senate passage on the final night of the legislature's regular 2010 session when a lone senator with the right to block legislation barred a vote on the bill, asserting he had not been properly advised of it. After protests from fellow lawmakers and voters, the senator relented and indicated he would seek a special legislative session this fall to vote on passage of the proposal.

"This is the kind of work presidents have to do, to get this kind of support and get this kind of bill," says Williams. "That's the exciting part. I look at what you can do to make an impact."

A Two-front War

Indeed, with HBCUs enrolling a high percentage of poorly prepared, first-time college students and carrying student bodies heavily dependent on financial aid, the freshmen presidents say they face a double-edged sword.

They want to hold on to their historic mission of providing educational opportunities for communities they have served in the past without compromising standards or goals. At the same time, they face pressure to raise admissions standards and graduation rates quickly or face losing more public and private funds as the performance and outcomes-based funding movement gathers steam. Already, they say, that movement is costing them millions in state and private funds and forcing them to eliminate financially and academically needy students who have the potential to succeed in college, if all else were equal.

Louisiana and Ohio lead the pack in fast-tracking the new thrust for performance-based budgeting for higher education. That shift in allocating funds to state colleges, on top of economy-driven budget cuts, has disproportionately impacted public HBCUs, chronically plagued with low retention and graduation rates. The new funding approach has caused them to be denied millions in state funds, educators say.

In Louisiana, already hit by the downturn in the economy, the performance-based budget approach takes 25 percent of the state allocation for higher education and reallocates it based on graduation rates. That formula has cost the state's HBCUs millions and, at his school, jeopardized its mission, says Dr. Kofi Lomotey, chancellor at Southern University in Baton Rouge.

Coppin State's Avery said Maryland is looking at performance-based funding and taking a cautious approach toward it. Still, he says, he's already instituted programs aimed at improving outcomes by strengthening freshman students' academic skills through a pre-college summer program.

"We've done this despite the budget cuts," says Avery, referring to state cuts in higher education support triggered by a slump in Maryland's economy and state revenue receipts. Budget cuts forced him to impose furloughs this past school year. This fall, Maryland's state colleges are raising tuition for the first time in four years.

In Mississippi, where funding cuts for state colleges could exceed a cumulative total of 25 percent by 2012 absent a major economic windfall, Oliver says she has asked her "Renaissance Committee" to come up with a plan on how the school could operate if it wound up with orders to cut its budget by as much as 10 percent.

"We don't want to be reactive," she says. "We want to be proactive."

Survival Instincts

Whether these freshman presidents and those appointed in recent years survive more than a few years is a hotly debated topic in academic circles. For sure, all the new presidents, especially the first-timers, sound ready for battle. Still, few observers give the 21st-century presidents the prospects of having tenures like Payton at Tuskegee or Dr. William Harvey, president of Hampton University. Possible? Yes, they say. Likely? That's another question.

Some observers say the turnover problem will continue to persist, absent some major attention on how presidential candidates are recruited and selected.

"There's a major issue we've never adequately addressed: How do we get the kinds of boards of directors we need for the 21st century?" says Dr. N. Joyce Payne, founder of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and a former director of the Office for the Advancement of Public Black Colleges, a unit of the Association of Public Land-grant Universities. "There's probably a greater unevenness (between governance board make-up and a president), if the outcome isn't working."

Payne says the success of a president hinges on how well the selection process was conducted and whether the board that selects a new chief executive is engaged in the process and develops the kind of "performance and selection matrix" that is more in keeping with a particular school's history, mission and vision of its future.

Whether looking inside for candidates or using a search firm, the recruitment and selection processes are essential to determining how successful a new president is likely to be, says Payne.

Humphries says selecting forward-looking presidents would help along with revisiting some outside pressures HBCUs face today, like performance-outcome standards. For example, Humphries says performance evaluation based on a 10-year graduation rate rather than six years would be fairer to HBCUs, given that many students "stop out" for a few years and return later to complete their studies.

The freshman presidents have their thoughts, too, about their prospects of surviving and thriving as institutional CEOs.

Oliver says new presidents can help their own cases by listening to their various constituents – boards of governors, faculty, alumni, students, legislators — and governing themselves accordingly.

"Put on your listening ears," says Oliver. "You have to know your vision, but you have to understand it remains your vision unless you can get their buy-in. Once you've accomplished that, you are ready to set your strategic priorities."

"Evaluate often," she adds. "Lastly, you must do it with excellence and integrity."

Oliver and other presidents sound eager to take on the challenges ahead, despite the storm clouds that abound.

"I'm sure the previous nine presidents (at Delaware State) had their challenges," says Williams of his predecessors. "If you are committed to education, the presidency is the job for you because you have the wonderful opportunity to promote quality education."  

 

U.S. News releases 2011 HBCU Rankings; Spelman Named Top HBCU

For the fourth consecutive year, U.S.News & World Report has produced a ranking of the undergraduate education at historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). These colleges were compared only with one another for these rankings.

How did we choose the schools to be part of the survey? In order to be on the list, a school currently must be listed as part of the U.S. Department of Education's Historically Black Colleges and Universities registry. The Higher Education Act of 1965 defines an HBCU as "any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation."

To qualify for the U.S. News ranking, an HBCU also must be an undergraduate baccalaureate-granting institution that enrolls primarily first-year, first-time students and must have been a school that was currently part of the 2011 Best Colleges rankings. In almost all cases, if an HBCU college was "Unranked" in the 2011 Best Colleges rankings, it was also listed as being "Unranked" in the HBCU rankings (see more details below). In total there were 80 HBCU colleges and universities eligible to be ranked, and 9 of those were "Unranked."

Peer assessment (weighting: 25 percent). The U.S. News ranking formula gives greatest weight to the opinions of those in a position to judge a school's undergraduate academic excellence. The peer assessment survey allows the top academics we consult to account for intangibles such as faculty dedication to teaching. Each individual is asked to rate peer schools' academic programs on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). Those who don't know enough about a school to evaluate it fairly are asked to mark "don't know." In the spring and summer of 2010, U.S. News conducted an exclusive peer survey among only the president, provost, and admission dean at each HBCU. Each HBCU received three surveys. The recipients were asked to rate all HBCUs, considering each school's scholarship record, curriculum, and quality of faculty and graduates at schools they were familiar with. A total of 242 surveys were sent out, and 36.3 percent responded. Synovate, an international opinion-research firm based in Chicago, collected the data.

Retention (25 percent). The higher the proportion of freshmen who return to campus the following year and eventually graduate, the more likely a school is offering the classes and services students need to succeed. This measure has two components: six-year graduation rate (80 percent of the retention score) and freshman retention rate (20 percent). The graduation rate indicates the average proportion of a graduating class who earn a degree in six years or less; we consider freshman classes that started from fall 2000 through 2003. Freshman retention indicates the average proportion of freshmen entering each fall from 2005 through 2008 who returned the following fall.

Top 20 Rankings:

1. Spelman College

2. Howard University

3. Morehouse College

4. Hampton University

5. Tuskegee University

6. Xavier University of Louisiana

7. Fisk University

8. Claflin University

9. Dillard University

10. Tougaloo College

11. North Carolina Central University

12. (TIE) Florida A&M University & North Carolina A&T State University

14. South Carolina State University

15. (TIE) Jackson State University & Johnson C. Smith University

17. (TIE) Delaware State University & Elizabeth City State University

19. Winston-Salem State University

20. (TIE) Morgan State University & Tennessee State University

22 HBCU Students Win a Trip to South Africa

ATLANTA, Jun 16, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- It sounds like a dream college course description: embark on cultural adventures against the backdrop of the world's biggest sporting event. No prerequisites, no professor, no syllabus, no books and no tests required. But for 21 students from 12 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), this "dream" is a real once-in-a-lifetime journey to South Africa later this month.

The students are winners of the Coca-Cola "Open Happiness Tour," a video contest that sought creative and inspirational answers to the question: How does the Coca-Cola RAIN program inspire you? As part of a multifaceted sponsorship program inspired by the first FIFA World Cup(TM) being held in Africa, Coca-Cola is inviting consumers to join its football-themed, global Coca-Cola RAIN "Water for Schools" initiative to help provide safe drinking water for schoolchildren in Africa and around the world.

"The Open Happiness Tour allows Coca-Cola the opportunity to engage and inspire young African Americans while connecting them with their roots," said Yolanda White, assistant vice president, African American Marketing, Coca-Cola North America. "We hope experiencing the diverse culture and meeting people who will be in South Africa for World Cup will inspire these students to view the world differently and make a commitment to creating a better place for everyone to live."

The 21 winners will head to South Africa on June 25, where they will spend five days soaking up the South African culture and learning more about Africa's water crisis. During their visit, the students will meet with executives from Coca-Cola South Africa, who will share what the Company is doing in support of the RAIN project as well as learn about other initiatives throughout Africa, including HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention, access to education, job creation and humanitarian assistance. In addition, the students will see first-hand the extreme need for potable water when they visit a local orphanage whose water system is in dire need of repairs. The Company will make a donation to assist with the repairs of the water system and, once the project is completed, the orphanage will have clean running water for cooking, bathing and other necessities.

The students also will have the opportunity to explore more facets of South African culture when they take a trip to the Nelson Mandela National Museum, go on a Safari and attend a FIFA World Cup match. The students will get another perk during their time in South Africa -- meeting with actor Idris Elba, whose father is from Sierra Leone and mother is from Ghana. Elba will spend time with the students throughout the trip, discussing water stewardship and its importance to Africa and his passion for the World Cup, as well as providing his unique perspective on the local culture.

"I look forward to sharing my love for Africa with the students," said Elba. "Through experiencing Africa's rich history and the wonderful diversity of its culture, the students will be amazed and enriched. I hope they grow to love Africa as much as I do."

"This tour, just like drinking a Coca-Cola, is a refreshing and simple moment of pleasure that we're able to give to these students. To be able to have this once-in-a-lifetime experience during FIFA World Cup is something they will never forget," said White.

For more information about the Coca-Cola water stewardship programs, including the RAIN program, please visit www.coca-colacompany.com/citizenship.

Meet the Student Winners

       STUDENT                    HBCU                STUDENT HOMETOWNS -----------------   -----------------------------   -----------------    Funbi Oluwole       Clark Atlanta University         Atlanta, GA                              (Atlanta, GA) -----------------   -----------------------------   -----------------     Alisa Routh         Florida A&M University        Tallahassee, FL    Justin Smith            (Tallahassee, FL) -----------------   -----------------------------   -----------------   Tatiana Mosley     Fayetteville State University     Charlotte, NC  Junious Smith III        (Fayetteville, NC)         Fayetteville, NC -----------------   -----------------------------   -----------------  Jasmine Singleton    Ft. Valley State University       Atlanta, GA   Graylin Taylor           (Ft. Valley, GA) -----------------   -----------------------------   -----------------    Jelyse Dawson      Grambling State University       Grambling, LA   Derrill Miller            (Grambling, LA)          Richton Park, IL -----------------   -----------------------------   -----------------     Lael Clark        Johnson C. Smith University      Charlotte, NC   Tremone Jackson           (Charlotte, NC)

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