As we approach the last three days of voting in The Home Depot's Retool Your School grant program, OU? Oh, Yes! recently interviewed Oakwood alumna Amber Burrows Coopwood (ABC), about her having attended both Oakwood University, and our closest competitor, University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

OUOY: What years did you attend Oakwood? UMES?

ABC: I attended Oakwood from 2001 to 2003.  I left Oakwood and went to UMES from 2003 to 2005. I was a Pre-Physical Therapy major at Oakwood and decided against doing the 3+3 program at either Andrews or Loma Linda. Instead, I transferred to UMES which had a DPT program. That way, I could finish undergrad and then begin physical therapy school.

  

Oakwood University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore have occupied the top two slots on the list of 75 competing HBCUs in this year's Retool Your School campaign. Voting ends on April 15, 2013.

 

OUOY:  How different from, or similar to, Oakwood is this fellow-HBCU-now-archcompetitor, UMES?

ABC: University of Maryland Eastern Shore is a small HBCU on the eastern shore of Maryland, about 20 minutes away from Ocean City, Maryland.  The campus is similar to Oakwood's in that it is vast and lush.  My first year at UMES, three new buildings were erected on campus.  It became immediately clear that state-run universities benefitted from state dollars MUCH faster than private institutions.

The student enrollment was only slightly larger than Oakwood's when I left.  The student body population was primarily composed of minorities, with the vast majority of students living on campus. The nurturing environment that was present at Oakwood, was also present at UMES.  The culture, however, was quite different, mostly because Oakwood is a private, Christian-based institution, while UMES is a public institution.  The biggest differences in culture were noted during Homecoming Weekends - activities on Friday night and Saturday, etc.

OUOY: Against all the other competing HBCUs, why do you think UMES is doing so well? For example, in what way(s) has UMES reached out to you as an alum and graduate, to support its campaign?

ABC: While I personally have not heard from UMES regarding this Home Depot Retool Your School campaign, I believe the school is doing so well in the voting because the student body is so close-knit.  Similar to Oakwood, UMES feels more like an intimate college versus how most state universities feel. 

OUOY: Against all the other HBCUs, why do you think Oakwood's doing so well?

ABC: I have always heard that the Adventist network is strong and I believe that that is the reason that Oakwood, one of the smallest schools with one of the smallest alumni bases, is doing so well in this Retool Your School competition. 

OUOY: Beside your freshman and sophomore years at the Oaks, what else ties you to UMES' main competitor?

ABC: While I was not a graduate of Oakwood, I am a PROUD supporter of this school - MY school.  Two sisters were '09 graduates, another was an '08 graduate.  My husband Therron graduated from Oakwood just last year, after completing the LEAP (Adult Continuing Education) program in Psychology. To achieve this while living and working in Atlanta, he would drive once a week to Huntsville for his classes.

(l-r) Phil Burrows, Amber and Therron Coopwood, Joanne and Chelsea Burrows, at Therron's graduation from OU in 2012.

OUOY: In Alabama, we're accustomed to seeing, for example, one spouse as an Auburn grad, with the other having graduated from the University of Alabama, implying that they have "A House Divided." Is yours a divided house? Why, or why not?

ABC: House Divided?  NOT A CHANCE!!!  We're both Oakwood supporters!  To be fair, I did go back and forth about voting for UMES.  But I believe that a state-run college has a much better chance of obtaining funding for projects such as the ones presented in the Retool Your School program, than does a private institution.  For that reason, my voting has stayed in Huntsville, Alabama!

I am thankful to have experienced college at both Oakwood and the Unversity of Maryland Eastern Shore.  I believe that BOTH schools helped mold me into the woman I am today, and for that I am thankful.  But I will ALWAYS bleed Blue and Gold.

UMES for then, Oakwood for LIFE!!

by Vern Gohanna - School of Business Beat Reporter

A photo opportunity for Oakwood's Enactus team (l-r): Faculty Advisor Shaunda Roach; students Alex Mereius; Kinah Hibbler; Brittany Hughes; Samuel Thomas, Jr.; Faculty Advisor Jean Lai Hing.

The Enactus Oakwood University team was named a Regional Champion at the Enactus United States Regional Competition held April 2, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. The event is one of 10 Regional Competitions being held across the United States in March and April.  

"We've come first-runner up and second-runner up over the past eight years I have been a sponsor of the team, but this is the first time for me that we have won. The last time the Oakwood team won regionals was in 2002," said Shaunda Roach, Faculty Advisor.

Oakwood's is one of more than 500 programs in the United States. Participating students use business concepts to develop community outreach projects, transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world.

During this academic year, the Enactus Oakwood University team organized the M.O.T.I.V.E project - Moving Others Toward Independent Valuable Economics, targeting physically abused women needing to escape from their abusers. These women are abused not only physically but also emotionally and are held hostage with no financial means of their own. Oakwood University Enactus offered seminars on gaining financial independence including how to create bank accounts and buying a house. The curriculum was provided by the Allstate Insurance Company using its financial empowerment modules. The team worked in conjunction with the Crisis Service Center of North Alabama to reach their target audience.

The culmination of the Enactus program is an annual series of competitions that provide a showcase for teams to present the results of their projects and be evaluated by business leaders serving as judges.Teams compete first at the regional and national levels, then at the international level when the national champion teams from each country meet at the Enactus World Cup.

As an Enactus U.S. Regional Champion, the Enactus Oakwood University team now advances to the 2013 Enactus U.S. National Exposition in Kansas City, Missouri, May 21-23.

Enactus is a community of student, academic and business leaders committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to enable human progress. We establish student programs on college campuses across the nation. Enactus students apply business concepts to develop community outreach projects, transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world.