Oakwood's Aeolians Minister in Jamaica

Rather than tour from city to city to present concerts as they usually do, the Aeolians are spending time ministering to children and teenagers suffering from HIV in Jamaica, during their Spring Tour.

Their priority this week is to bring as much joy as possible into the children's lives, spending quality time, sharing words of encouragement and love, playing group games, and singing songs.

Student Jim Williams said that he couldn't "put into words everything that we saw or experienced. We went from one place to the next - giving back. But here's the plot twist: we seemed to be the REAL ones on the receiving end... Pictures don't do justice.

At one particular place, we weren't even allowed to capture photos or videos. Nevertheless, what we experienced was real and will stick with me for the rest of my life."

Oakwood University and CFDRC sign $1.7M Mentor-Protégé Agreement

Kevin Byrnes, vice president and site executive for Raytheon Huntsville, and Joseph Cosumano, Jr., president and chief executive officer of CFDRC (Photo: Lucy Berry | lberry@al.com)

On February 25, just before last week's snowstorm in north Alabama, Raytheon Missile Systems and CFD Research Corporation (CFDRC) came together in Huntsville to sign a $1.7 million Mentor-Protégé agreement approved by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

The three-year contract allows Raytheon to provide mentoring to CFDRC in the areas of product development, commercialization and other business systems and processes.

Oakwood is supplying engineering support (from our students in the dual engineering program), technical and business services in support of the Department of Defense Mentor Protégé Program. Evangeline Rivers-Lang, contract analyst at Oakwood University, is the project coordinator.

Click here to read the rest of reporter Lucy Berry's story on al.com.

Oakwood Honors Anti-Violence Activist Sybrina Fulton

On February 28, the culminating Sabbath of Black History Month, the Oakwood University Church honored Ms. Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, as the 2015 Black History Achievement Award Recipient.

February 26 marked the three-year anniversary since Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla. Out of this tragedy, Ms. Fulton has become an activist, speaking against violence towards children and the need to build better, safer communities for all.

Click here to read al.com reporter Kay Campbell's story.

Voting Continues in The Home Depot's Retool Your School Competition

This year, the Retool Your School Grant Program is using a new grant structure which will award a total of $255,000 in grants to nine accredited HBCUs in $50,000, $25,000, and $10,000 grant denominations. Based on student enrollment, schools will be categorized into one of three clusters:

schools with 4,000 students or more,
schools with between 3,999 and 1,201 students, or
schools with less than 1,200 students.

"This is a very exciting year for The Home Depot's Retool Your School program," says Melissa Brown, manager, Multicultural Marketing, The Home Depot. "For the first time, student bodies are competing for grant money against schools their same size. This allows for larger and more impactful improvements to be made to the winning schools."

Online voting began on February 27, and continues through April 20, at www.retoolyourschool.com/vote-now/. You can cast one vote per day per computer and/or electronic device! Also remember to use Oakwood's designated hashtag, #Oakwood_RYS15, as often as possible on all social medial.

More voting, more tweeting - let's show them the power of the Oakwood network!

Alumni Notes

Tia D. Jeffery, Ph.D., '03, was honored by the Washington Wizards on February 24, during their Black History Month spotlight of individuals who are making a difference in their communities. She is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist and Certified Health Educator, and believes the development of a healthy mind and body empowers our youth to overcome obstacles in life. Her passions include adolescent health, minority health, and faith-based wellness initiatives.

Tia is currently an adjunct professor of nutrition and health education at Towson University, and serves as a nutrition and health education consultant for several healthcare agencies in Washington, D.C., and suburban Maryland. Jeffery earned a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from Oakwood University, a Master of Science in Human Nutrition (with a cognate concentration in Exercise Science) from The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in Public Health (with a specialization in Community Health Promotion and Education) from Walden University.

Tia enjoys providing health screening and health promotion services at local churches and non-profit run/walk fundraisers. She has traveled to Tanzania to build housing for children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic. Dr. Jeffery's mission is to be an advocate for full-access to health services, nutrition education, healthy foods, and physical activity in underserved communities.

Pollard's Places

This past weekend, we had the privilege of attending the Adventist Health Mission Conference in Orlando, Fla. The conference was attended by more than 600 employees of Adventist Health Systems. The theme for the entire weekend dealt with the wholeness of our Adventist Health physicians, focusing on the journey toward physician well-being. Pictured above is the president of Adventist Health and Oakwood University Board of Trustees member, Dr. Donald Jernigan. The Thursday evening gala provided a wonderful opportunity for celebrating employees who deliver outstanding service to the mission of Adventist Health.

OU Picture of the Week

Shyenne Butler's photo accurately captures how still and quiet the campus is while our students are gone, during Spring Break. We wish our students a safe and warm week of relaxation and ministry, and trust they will return to classes on March 9 with a renewed determination, to complete the semester.

About Oakwood

The mission of Oakwood University, a historically black, Seventh-day Adventist institution, is to transform students through biblically-based education for service to God and humanity.