Oakwoodites Attend Vaccine Advocacy Summit

(L-R) Steffany Mupfawa (OU), Andre Marks (OU), Ruth Munene (OU), Annalyse Keller (Legislative Assistant at Representative Mo Brooks' office), Denise Finley (OU) and Guidalia Dormeus (OU).

Four Oakwood University students and one staff member learned more about vaccine advocacy on March 2-4, in Washington, DC, at the Shot at Life Champion Summit. They participated in expert-led sessions, and heard from authorities in the field including United Nation's Foundation's CEO Kathy Calvin, and Global Parenting Expert and TV Personality Jo Frost.

The "take aways"from the 2015 Summit were:

Vaccines work,
Vaccines save lives around the world,
Vaccines are cost-effective and beneficial as primary prevention, and,
Every child everywhere deserves a Shot at a chance for a healthy, normal productive life!

Highlights included:

High-level key note speakers were: Kathy Calvin, President & CEO, United Nations Foundation; Nicole Bates, Deputy Director, Global Policy & Advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Dr. Henri van den Hombergh, Senior Advisor Immunization UNICEF; Dr. Rebecca Martin, Director of the Global Immunization Division, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention; Peter Yeo, Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy, United Nations Foundation and President, Better World Campaign (moderated); and, Assistant Secretary Anne C. Richard, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department of State. The grand finale keynote speaker was Her Excellency Liberata Mulamula, Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United States.
Meetings with congressional offices on Capitol Hill to share the importance of global childhood immunization programs.
Breakout sessions with issue-experts focusing on global health, vaccine preventable diseases, advocacy, media outreach, and much more.
Network opportunities with peers from across the country.

Oakwood University to support Tec-Masters and Paragon Mentor-Protégé Agreement

Tec-Masters of Huntsville held a kickoff ceremony on March 3 to mark the beginning of its new Mentor-Protege relationship with Paragron, a local woman-owned small business. (Photo: Lucy Berry | lberry@al.com)

Dr. Marvin Carroll, CEO and president of one of Huntsville's most diversified government contractors, who founded Tec-Masters in Huntsville 27 years ago, continued his passion for collaboration last week during a kickoff ceremony for a three-year Mentor-Protégé agreement with local woman-owned small business Paragon Research Corporation.

Established in the early 1990s, the U.S. Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé program helps small businesses boost their participation in prime and subcontract awards by creating long-term relationships with larger companies. The program allows protégés like Paragon to work with mentors under individual, project-based agreements.

Approved by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the nearly $1 million agreement will allow 5-year-old Paragon, which has 15 employees, to mature under the guidance of the MDA and Tec-Masters, Paragon Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist Kelly Falter said. Oakwood University supports the program.

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

More Voting, More Tweeting -- Harnessing the Power of the Oakwood Network!

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.

"These days, I begin my day as usual with prayer and Bible study - then, I pick up my smartphone, PC and tablet to vote for our school, and, so do many, many others," said Kisha Norris, CFRE, Oakwood's executive director of advancement and development.

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 media.

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

Alumni Notes

The OU Nursing Advisory Council invites all nursing alumni to its annual meeting on Friday, April 3, at 9:30 a.m. in the Cooper Complex, Building #3. The $100 yearly dues help further their mission to provide assistance to current students in the OU Department of Nursing.

For further information, contact

Mrs. Udel Darville, RN, MSN

President, Nursing Advisory Council

(770) 639-0250

Department of Nursing

(256) 726-7287

Immediately following at 12:00 noon will be the Association of Black Seventh-day Adventist Nurses (ABAN) continuing education presentation on Ethical Issues in Nursing, with presenter by Dr. Charlie Jo Morgan.

This continuation education activity will provide an opportunity for nurses to explore ethical dilemmas they may encounter in healthcare and in their nursing practice, and will include a suggested approach to resolving those issues. The Association of Black Seventh-day Adventist Nurses is accredited as a provider of continuing education by the Alabama Board of Nursing. Provider Number ABNP0538. This is a .2 CEU or 2 hour course. The Alabama Board of Nursing requires full-time attendance for CEU credit.

For information and pre-registration, contact

Charlie Jo Morgan

7026 Camrose Lane NW

Huntsville, AL 35806

909-754-1792

charliejomorgan@gmail.com

Click here to see the list of other events planned during Alumni Homecoming Weekend.

Pollard's Places

This past weekend, we had the privilege of joining with thousands of other Americans to honor the memory of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama. A busload of Oakwoodites traveled from Huntsville to Selma to participate in the Selma Jubilee march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The group is pictured here at a stop on the National Historic Trail outside of Selma. (Photo: Anthony Chornes II)

OU Picture of the Week

Yesterday, special guests stopped by the Dining Hall to experience our vegetarian cuisine. Pictured (left to right): Oakwood University Church Senior Pastor Carlton Byrd; Judge Lynn Sherrod; Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle; Oakwood University President Leslie Pollard. (Photo: Kenny Anderson)

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.