Having reached his 36th birthday in September, Brandon Pendarvis Brown is a testament to the old adage that age is just a number, based on the many accomplishments Brown has garnered in such a relatively short period.

He’s about to add one more accolade to the long list of achievements. In good company, Brown, along with CNN Anchor Soledad O’Brien and other distinguished individuals, will receive the national Legacy Award for outstanding service to higher education during the UNCF NAC/PAC Leadership Conference, Friday, February 3, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. The Conference, held annually, features college presidents, educators, alumni, students and philanthropists who gather to learn how to better render support to UNCF institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

When the South Carolina native was named Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Paine College in 2008, the job appointment could have been hypothetically titled, “The Return,” if speaking of Brown’s matriculation where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in History in 2000. He would later go on to earn a Master’s degree in Human Resources from Webster University of St. Louis.

For Brown, the Paine experience is personal and significant, considering that he is following the legacy footsteps of his father, Bennie F. Brown Jr., a chemistry major who graduated from Paine College in 1969. The older Brown would go on to enjoy a successful career as a high school math and science teacher, in addition to continuing the family funeral home business in the Brown homestead of Greenville, S.C. The Browns are also proprietors of Brown Rentals and Properties. The younger Brown has also provided his expertise to ensure both family businesses have continued to remain viable.

Brown says he is honored to have the opportunity to return to his alma mater. “It’s a special privilege to work with Dr. Bradley to move my alma mater forward,” he said. Dr. George Cleveland Bradley was named President of Paine College in October 2007.

As Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Brown is charged with raising in excess of $14 million for the institution’s Health Education Activities Learning Complex (HEAL), which is currently under construction on the Paine campus. The new facility will in part replace the historic Randall A. Carter Gymnasium which has been part of the Paine campus for the past 60 years. “The HEAL will also include classrooms, laboratories and a 2,400-seat arena with new amenities Paine athletes have gone without for way too long,” Brown said

He is responsible for fostering scholarships, endowments, furthering the institution’s strategic plan and helping to move the Campus Master Plan forward.  Of particular note, the College has witnessed an upsurge in capital improvements and support.

Fundraising and friend raising are comfort zones for Brown, considering his 2006 experience as State Deputy Political Director for Senator Joe Biden’s Presidential campaign. Biden would go on to become Vice President of the United States in President Barack Obama’s administration. Brown continues to cherish a warm relationship with VP Biden and his staff.

Brown’s commitment to making higher education accessible to students is unparallel. He served as a recruitment officer at Claflin University, in Orangeburg, South Carolina for 3 years and went on to create the Greenville HBCU Basketball Classic in 2003. The HBCU Classic was one of a kind in the Upstate and is credited with spurring enrollment at several HBCUs throughout the country. Later, in 2004, he founded the HBCU Football Classic in the Upstate and brought the Battle of the Bands to half-time that was a sidebar to the College Fairs and Recruiting sessions that were forefront.

Brown comments that the Greenville HBCU sports classics were born out of his desire to make college affordable and accessible to his community.  “I wanted to give young people access to a quality education at valuable institutions that are credited with producing many of the nation’s leaders today,” said Brown.

Having caught the political bug, Brown became the first African-American South Carolina candidate for U.S. Congress (age 28) in the Fourth Congressional District and won the Democratic nomination.  Needless to say, Brown leads the Governmental Relations initiatives at Paine College and as a result, the College is witnessing an increase in federal and state funding and support.

Constantly at the forefront of social justice issues, Brown was an organizing member of the Greenville Technical College Multi-cultural Diversity Board that was formed after a senior member of the Greenville Tech Administration made insensitive statements about Katrina Evacuees. Brown contributed heavily to the healing process and went on to serve as an advocate on many fronts.

Rooted in community service, he served as Executive Director of the Allen Temple Community Development Center that catered to at-risk children; and co-founded the Upstate (S.C.) Black Family Reunion, which promotes community unity.  He remains active in civic and social organizations in both Georgia and South Carolina and has served on the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce Advocacy Committee; the Augusta Symphony Board of Directors; and the Greer,
SC Hospital Advisory Board. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and a member of the John Wesley United Methodist Church, Greenville, Ssouth Carolina.

The fall of 2011 marked a personal milestone in Brown’s life who had been a longtime committed bachelor. On October 29, 2011, Brown and Augusta TV news anchor/personality Kimberely Scott of WJBF-TV, exchanged marriage vows during distinguished ceremonies that attracted well-wishers from near and far.

“Obviously, this is an exciting time of my life in more ways than one,” said Brown.

“I fully believe in the vision and leadership of our president and feel absolutely certain that Paine College will continue to evoke positive changes locally and nationally — from now and into the future.

“Frankly, I’m having the time of my life,” he added with a smile.

Helene Carter, Assistant Vice President at Paine College and long-time associate of Brown said, “I’ve watched Brandon mature into an exceptional servant leader who is committed to higher education and he’s just beginning to reap some of the benefits of his dedication to servant leadership and his conviction to social justice.  He is a walking testament of the power of exercising positive vision and anyone who is in his company is inspired to reach for greatness.”

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Wake services will be held at 6 p.m. Friday and funeral services will be held at noon Saturday at St. John AME Church in Marion.

Samuel was born on June 2, 1921, in Bishopville, a son and one of nine children of Robert Sr. and Mary Margaret Samuel Bradley. The Bradley home, in the Red Hill community, strongly emphasized learning wisdom from both Christian and formal education. Samuel’s parents required regular family attendance at New Zion AME Church to learn that, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” among other religious instruction.

Samuel’s formal education included Cooper Mill, Rosenwall School, and Lincoln High in Sumter. He started his freshman college year at Morris College in Sumter before going to Allen University on a football scholarship. He began a more than 65 year membership with Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity during his undergraduate years. Before graduating in 1947 with a bachelor’s degree from Allen University, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Samuel often said that, “The best thing I got from Allen University was meeting and marrying Beulah Mae Taylor,” his wife of 62 years. She passed away in March of 2009.

Samuel and Beulah were blessed with two daughters, Deloris Bradley Harris and Cathy Bradley Page, both of whom had successful public school teaching careers like their father and mother. Residing in Marion, Samuel abundantly provided for his family via a 38-year distinguished public school teaching career involving Terrell’s Bay High School, Centenary; Lincoln High School, Sumter; and Poynor Middle School and Wilson High School in Florence. He was a faithful longtime member of St. John AME Church in Marion and served many times as a delegate to important AME church lay organizations and general conferences. Similarly, Samuel provided many years of loyal service by helping to recruit new college students to his beloved alma mater, Allen University. In 2010, he was inducted into the Allen University Athletic Hall Of Fame.

In addition to Deloris of Durham, N.C., and Cathy of Columbia, Samuel is survived and loved by his brother, Robert (Lottie) Bradley Jr. of Bishopville; his sisters, Blanche (Isaac Sr.) Joe and Lillie Mae Mickens, both of Bishopville; his grandchildren, Sonya Harris of Durham, Charles Harris II of Chicago, Ill., Samuel Murphy of Columbia, and Jennifer Harris of Durham; his great-grandson, Zion Murphy; his brother-in-law, Seabrook (Willie Mae) Taylor; his sisters-in-law, Merlene Montgomery, Lucille Taylor and Jessie Bradley; and a host of wonderful nephews, nieces, cousins, relatives and friends.

Interment will be at New Zion AME Church Memorial Garden, Bishopville.

Professional services entrusted to New Life Funeral Services LLC of Bishopville.

Techno pioneer Saunderson recently relaunched influential US techno outfit Inner City, whose first two albums had combined sales of more than six million, for a new album due early next year. We find out more about the 47-year-old New York DJ.

He really wasn’t cut out to be a pop star.
‘It was a bit bizarre, because I had no intentions in that direction. I just wanted to produce music. I didn’t want to be on Top of the Pops. I didn’t see myself as any kind of typical band, but all of a sudden I was being looked on as typical because I had commercial success. I made it very clear in the beginning to my managers that I didn’t wanna do this, and they were like, “You’ve got to do this, this is important to the record, and this is how it works.” So even now, I’m not gonna be on every tour with Inner City. I’m gonna be at home making music, while they might be out performing. I’ve grown, and if we can’t do it this way, I won’t do it. That’s the difference between then and now. I was young, a little naïve.’

He hasn’t updated his equipment much since the old days.
‘I might work with two or three plugins, until I wear them out. It’s easy to say, well, that sound doesn’t work, let me try that one, or this one. That’s the more conservative approach. It’s not easy – it takes time, but when it comes you appreciate it. Some people never experience that, so they never know that.’

He doesn’t listen to music much any more.
‘People would be surprised, but I don’t listen to music like I used to. I play a lot of music, because I’m DJing, but I don’t sit at home and put on my favourite tracks. That’s not to say there’s something wrong with the quality of what’s out there, it’s just not my thing. If I run into a track I love, I’ll ask who it is, but I don’t generally follow music.’

Britain’s early-’90s acid house revolution blew his mind.
‘I saw things move so quickly, coming to the UK in the early part of 1988 and then later that year: it transformed. It blew me away. It was like a virus! Truthfully. This big phenomenon started happening around it. It was very special. That’s something that just doesn’t happen. You can’t just go out and say, I’m going to make something like this happen!’

He doesn’t think that could happen again unless something else happens first.
‘We would have to have some massive thing happen. If half the world got blown up and society was recreated, that’s what it would take for us to come up with something like that, because your experience was so deep that you were on another level of recreating humanity and yourself through creativity. That’s the only way something like that’s gonna happen. I ain’t saying it’s not going to happen, but we should hope that it ain’t happening, ha ha!’

He thinks black people have been deleted from house history.
‘Definitely. I don’t know how much it was remembered in the first place! Because when this music was first created, it was all black people dancing to it. A black people. It’s amazing how it went from all black people to no black people. I was in a college fraternity called Phi Beta Sigma, we did these parties, a thousand black kids on campus partying. They were all progressive. They weren’t into what was on the radio, they were getting it! All these black kids, smoking these German cigarettes, calling themselves preppy, dressing all cool. Between when I released “Big Fun” [in 1988], and about ’92, it totally flipped. And now on the college circuit, all the white fraternities, they’re booking Tiësto and David Guetta!’

The General Board of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., unanimously voted to authorize the Fraternity, in concert with the International President, to expel any member found guilty of hazing. The decision was made on January 7, 2012 at the winter of the General Board in Memphis, Tennessee.

International President Jimmy Hammock has expressed deep concern over the effects of hazing on the Fraternity: “There are members of Phi Beta Sigma, and other fraternities who have pretty much ignored the anti-hazing, no pledge policy for new membership intake, as state by the member organizations of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Underground pledging has overshadowed a system designed to eliminate hazing and reduce the liability pledging and/or hazing has on Black Greek Letter Organizations. No one wants to be a called a “paper” brother, or to allow someone to “skate” into the fraternity, or be accused of being “soft”; so the madness continues. We must work to change this culture, by taking the lead on the enforcement of the anti-hazing policies set by all Black Greeks”

The General Board also unanimously adopted the following procedure measure to the expulsion process: After investigation by Regional Director, and upon the recommendation to the International President, members found guilty must receive notice via US mail to their known address. Members will be given 30 days to respond to that letter; if there is no response within this timeframe, then the General Board will expel the member(s) pending verification at the next Conclave.

These decisions are the beginning of a series of anti-hazing actions and initiatives implemented by the General Board. Members of Phi Beta Sigma will receive more information on risk management matters in the near future.

“Sigma will become the global brand reference for fraternities and community service organizations,” shares President Hammock. “A major threat to our brand today is the threat of hazing. We are determined to seriously address and eradicate this culture of hazing.”

Johnny Gorman, 77, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, at his home surrounded by his loving family.

A home-going celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14, at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Niles. The visitation will begin at 10 a.m. and run until the time of service. Pastor Bryant L. Bacon Sr. will officiate. Burial will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 16, at Rose Hill Cemetery in Berrien Springs.

Johnny Gorman was born April 12, 1934, in Marks, Miss., to the late James and Sarah (Gates) Gorman. He was the youngest of seven children.

He served in the U.S. Army. He was a science educator for 43 years collectively for Quitman County Public Schools, Long Branch (New Jersey) Public Schools, Benton Harbor Area Schools and Detroit Public Schools.

He was a member of the following organizations: Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., John W. Moore Lodge No. 42 P.H.A., Al Zabir Temple No. 81, P.H.A., Homer E. Gaines Consistory No. 112, Miriam Chapter No. 56 OES, P.H.A, NAACP, Retired Teachers Association, and National Science Foundation.

He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Eva Gorman; a son, Johnny A. Gorman of Owings Mills, Md.; a daughter, Tenisha Gorman-Henry (Paul) of South Bend, Ind.; a sister, Ruby G. Martin of Chicago; a grandson, Paul Javaun Henry; a brother-in-law, Mr. Charlie A. Thompson of Blairs, Va.; two sisters-in-law, Wylean G. Thompson of Blairs and Eva Gorman of Clarksdale, Miss.; and a host of nephews, nieces, cousins, godbrothers, godsisters, godchildren, and godgrandchildren and friends.

Arrangements are entrusted with Hoven Funeral Home, Buchanan.

In the wake of a college drum major’s death in Florida, a lawmaker from the state plans to introduce anti-hazing legislation when Congress returns in mid-January.

The bill would strip financial aid from anyone sanctioned by a university for hazing or witnessing hazing and failing to report it – including the victim, said Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson.

“Hazing is demeaning, dangerous and, sadly, deadly,” Wilson, a former school principal, told the Los Angeles Times, adding that the death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion warrants a federal response.

Florida has toughened the penalties against hazing, but Wilson said in an interview that, under her proposal, if anyone witnesses hazing – “including the victim, they will tell because they don’t want to lose their federal aid.”

Florida officials have ruled Champion’s death in November a homicide. The incident has drawn national attention and generated soul-searching on college campuses throughout the country.

Wilson, who has yet to draft the legislation, said she also wants the U.S. attorney general to set up a commission to examine ways to stamp out hazing.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in 2005 signed legislation making hazing that results in serious injury or death a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, even if the victim consents. The bill, the Chad Meredith Act, was named after a University of Miami freshman who drowned in a campus lake while trying to join a fraternity in 2001.

Wilson said that, notwithstanding the new law, “we have had a plethora of hazing incidents,” but prosecutions have been difficult because “you can’t find any victims to talk.”

“We’ve got to take a tougher stance,” added Wilson, who said that she became known as the “haze buster” while serving as South Atlantic regional director for the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. “It’s time to stop it.”

Congress has been considering legislation aimed at bullying, including requiring states to report bulling incidents and expanding programs for teachers, administrators and counselors on strategies to prevent bullying and harassment.

In November 2010, I watched “HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” and saw a piece on the hazing antics at several historically black colleges and fraternities. I took to Twitter to share my thoughts on the issue.

Much of the report focused on Southern University, and man, did the floodgates open as a number of students from the university angrily tweeted me back, cussing, yelling and screaming, with some defending hazing, while others were angry at the national attention focused on their university.

For hours we went round and round, and were joined in the discussion by members of several black fraternities, including my own Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. A number of these individuals actually supported hazing, or “pledging hard” and not becoming a “paper” member who “skated” into the fraternity.

Despite the anger and vitriol, I refused to back down, making it clear that getting beaten for being in a band or fraternity was absolutely dumb.

Here was a young man who went off to college, planning to earn a college degree while leading one of the nation’s most colorful and exciting bands, only to be returned home to his parents in Georgia in a coffin.

While hazing immediately was suspected, we could only speculate about the cause of the 26-year-old’s death. That is, until Friday, when the medical examiner released details of his autopsy, concluding that Champion “collapsed and died within an hour of a hazing incident during which he suffered multiple blunt trauma blows to his body.”

News of the death has rocked the Florida A&M campus, angering its students and alumni, triggering multiple state investigations and leading Gov. Rick Scott to call for the suspension of school President James Ammons. That prompted FAMU students to march to the governor’s mansion on Friday and camp out on his lawn, demanding he rescind the resignation call.

Champion’s death isn’t the first time we have seen individuals in a band or fraternity die. It is incredible that some folks have given their lives — literally — for just being a part of a student group.

State laws have been passed, organizations have been kicked off campuses and national fraternal and sorority groups have paid millions in settlements because of hazing, but we continue to see these stories.

“Why?” is a consistent question that is asked, and at the end of the day, it boils down to power and a desire to demand others kowtow to someone else’s demands in order for them to be accepted.

A decision not to follow through means you can be ostracized, ignored and marginalized. That’s the last thing any young person wants to experience when in an organization.

Every one of these organizations is overseen by adult leaders or advisers. But in truth, fellow students run the show. Normally in a band, a drum major sits at the top of the food chain, but Champion clearly had to bend to the band’s culture to be fully accepted as a member of FAMU’s “Marching 100.”

So what you have is a bunch of students between the ages of 18 and 22 calling the shots and making it clear who is accepted and who isn’t, who gets in and who doesn’t. You aim to please them and no one else. Oftentimes they are leading based on how they were led, and it has been indoctrinated into them that this is the way of life, take it or leave it.

These are powerful forces that can only be changed by peers. Hazing will only be brought to a close when members of organizations make it clear the vile hazing traditions will not go forward. No one today can be hazed if the student leaders make it clear that it’s unacceptable. Yet because of the natural turnover in student organizations, that mindset has to be created and passed on for it to succeed.

When I was about to pledge Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. in spring 1989, I met with my four other pledge brothers and made it clear: I’m not getting hit, I will never use alcohol and I will not agree to be hazed.

Even though my older brother pledged the same fraternity at Texas A&M two years earlier without any nonsense, I was making it clear that such shenanigans were idiotic. All five of us agreed and in the four weeks, two days, 16 hours, 38 minutes and 39 seconds I was on line (yea, having to recite such specifics was a part of our process), the behavior that we often heard was associated with pledging didn’t exist.

Yet because of that, we weren’t always as accepted by other fraternity members at other campuses. Our chapter was called soft; we were criticized as not “pledging the right way” and had to constantly defend our manhood.

Me, I didn’t give a damn. I would look others in the eye and say, “In the history of our chapter, only one brother has failed to graduate, and we do nothing with him. Are you guys on the six- or seven-year plan, and can you match our graduate rate?”

From my perspective, we were supposed to be in college to graduate, not to pledge. And if my fraternity was founded as a study group at Cornell University on December 4, 1906, why would we eschew academics?

Even though we pledged the right way at Texas A&M, that peer pressure was still unbearable for some. That summer at our national convention in San Antonio, hazing was on the agenda, and I made it clear I was going to speak. Some other brothers in my chapter pulled my coattails and said, “Don’t tell the brothers you didn’t take any wood (that’s being paddled).”

I yelled, “If we pledged brothers the right way, why in the hell are we afraid to say it?”

Since those days, I’ve never wavered from my anti-hazing position. It is deplorable and shameful to think that someone would beat another person for them to prove something. Prove what? They can take a punch? No. I prefer to challenge his mind, his intellect.

Our goal as fraternity men is to take young men and mold and shape them to be better men. It is not our aim to take young men and train them to be collegiate mercenaries, hellbent on inflicting as much pain as they got onto the first person they have control over.

Is there tremendous value in fraternities, sororities, bands and student organizations? Absolutely. The leadership opportunities are tremendous, and the lifelong relationships are vital.

But what has to be preached and preached and preached to every student, whether they are white, black, Asian, Latino, male or female, is that if they love that frat, sorority, drill team or band, they shouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it for the next person.

Do we need tougher hazing laws? Yes. Do we need universities to take punitive action, including kicking students out who break the rules? Yes. Do we need national organizations to ban chapters for years for egregious behavior? Absolutely. Should fellow student leaders turn in others who break the rules and haze? Of course. There must be a zero tolerance attitude from every state official, administrator, student leader and organization member. To hell with tradition, rituals and “the way we do things.” All that must end. Now.

But we also must raise a generation of young people who have enough confidence in themselves to say, “I will not take a beating just to be accepted by you. I’d rather not have your affection or support if it means putting my life on the line.”

And if that means other students calling you out or teasing you, fine. I’d rather you talk about me like a dog today than be hazed and have my friends search to figure out what to say at my funeral.

Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards is a man of his word. And because he is, 100 students are going to college on his dime. In 2007, Edwards promised 100 Cleveland high school students that he would pay for their college tuition—a total value of $1 million—if they maintained grade point averages at 2.5 or higher and performed 15 hours of community service. The students lived up to their end of the bargain, and now Edwards is living up to his end, according to CBSSports.com and the Detroit Free Press.

“As the 2nd most hated man in Clev & a man of my word, today I will honor a promise made to 100 students in Cleveland years ago,” Edwards tweeted. “The last of my Advance 100 students will graduate from my program and head off to college on scholarships that I will provide them with. Guys, enjoy and embrace your new beginnings and remember your promise to me, to reach back & help someone else along the way.

Edwards, who caught 53 passes for 904 yards and seven touchdowns last season, is currently unsigned but says he would like to return to the Jets.

The Braylon Edwards Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing and meeting the needs of under-served youth in the concentrated area of education. The Foundation’s goal is to emphasize the importance of education by providing scholarships and incentives to youth who demonstrate strong commitment and effort to excel in academics, conduct and community volunteerism. The Foundation also supports and contributes to organization’s whose programming includes health and hunger prevention. “It is in our service to others that we achieve true greatness.” – Unknown

http://www.braylonedwardsfoundation.org/home

It is time to remit dues for fiscal year (FY) 2012!  NPHC, Inc. operates on a fiscal calendar of January 1 to December 31. Annual dues are to be remitted by January 31 of a given fiscal year.

Undergraduate councils are responsible for dues in the amount of $150, Graduate councils with 1-9 Chapters in the amount of $250,  Graduate Councils with 10-19 Chapters in the amount of $300, Graduate Councils with 20-29 Chapters in the amount of  $350.00, and  Graduate Councils  with 30+ Chapters in the amount of $450.

Members remitting dues after February 15 must include a $25 late fee with annual dues. (1) If a council has not been financial in the previous fiscal year that council is responsible for remitting dues for the previous and current year, as well as a $50 reactivation fee (Ex. Undergrad councils = $350.00; Graduate Councils with 1-9 Chapters = $550.00; Graduate Councils with 10-19 Chapters = $650.00;Graduate Councils with 20-29 Chapters = $750.00;Graduate Councils  with 30+ Chapters = $850.00); and (2) if a council has not been financially active within a five year time period, that council must be re-chartered.

Again, you are advised not to wait until the last minute to remit your dues.  Should you have questions or concerns as to your council’s financial status and/or account balance, please contact NPHC National Treasurer at  treasurer@nphchq.org.

Attached is the link to the remittance form http://www.nphchq.org/docs/2012Remittanceonline.doc

Also use this link if you would like to remit payment online  http://nphccouncildues.eventbrite.com