Oakwood Exceeds "Giving Tuesday" Goal

 
On December 1, Oakwood University supporters demonstrated the spirit of giving and generosity by participating in Giving Tuesday, a worldwide celebration fueled by social media and collaboration. Yesterday, alumni, students, employees and supporters around the world overwhelmingly helped Oakwood exceed its $25,000 goal for the day. Kisha Norris, M.Ed., CFRE, executive director of advancement and development, happily reported that Giving Tuesday 2015 brought in a total of $29,965.
 
Donors were able to go online and choose which fund they wanted to support. Some of the funds included: 
  • Annual Fund
  • Capital Campaigns
  • UNCF North Alabama
  • Endowments and Scholarships
  • Student Philanthropy
  • 4HIM
  • Miss UNCF 
  • WJOU 90.1 FM
In 2012, Giving Tuesday was created by the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Oakwood University is now one of 30,000 companies, non-profits, businesses, and universities involved in this selfless event. Last year, Oakwood joined the Giving Tuesday program to not only get support for student scholarships, but also to instill a lifelong mindset of giving into current students. "We're hoping that we can build in the minds of students to give back," shared Lewis Jones, assistant director of development.
Oakwood University Wins $50K Home Depot Grant in National Competition 
 
 Sabrina Cotton, Oakwood's vice president  for financial administration, demonstrates  tries out one of the exercise machines.
In May, Oakwood University won a Tier 1 grant of $50,000 in The Home Depot's Retool Your School competition. Representatives of the competition toured Oakwood's campus today, December 2, as well as to help install exercise equipment purchased from the winning grant.
 
According to Home Depot officials, the judges liked Oakwood's grant proposal for a two-mile long circuit with outdoor exercise stations emphasizing the benefits of physical activity. The stations are a part of the Healthy Campus 2020 initiative that Oakwood officially launched this past August. The competition rules also encouraged participating schools to utilize social media to help with voting numbers.
 
The Retool Your School competition is not new for Oakwood. In 2013, Oakwood won the Tier 1 grant of $50,000, which allowed the University to construct an outdoor pavilion by its Unity Pond. In 2014, Oakwood won the Campus Pride Grant, which allowed the University to enhance the Unity Pond area with an additional pavilion as well as additional benches and tables around the campus.
 
"We thank everyone who voted, tweeted and posted images on Facebook that allowed us to win this grant," said George Johnson Jr., integrated marketing and public relations director of Oakwood University. "Truly the network that Oakwood has developed helped us to win and we wouldn't have been able to do this alone with just the amount of people we have here on our campus," he said.

Note: Huntsville's WHNT also reported on today's Home Depot Event.
Oakwood Provides Stress Release Event for Students Before Finals



The end of an academic semester is generally a stressful time for students at a university. Knowing that stress doesn't help students to successfully complete finals, Nia Darville, academic vice president of Oakwood's United Student Movement, thought of a fun way for the students to release their stress right before the finals.
 
Therapy Partners of Huntsville were on campus this afternoon to provide stress relief to the students with "therapy dogs." According to its website, Therapy Partners, Inc.� is a program comprised of certified owner-and-pet teams who work as a therapeutic tool for several organizations in the community.
 
Interactions with therapy animals are designed to benefit people by reducing stress and anxiety, diminishing pain, normalizing the environment, providing unique sensory stimuli, and assisting in meeting treatment goals. Studies have shown that playing with or petting an animal can increase levels of the stress-reducing hormone oxytocin and decrease production of the stress hormone cortisol.
 
The last day for instruction for the Fall 2015 semester at Oakwood is December 2. Final exams are scheduled for December 6-10. (Photo by Teymi Townsend)
WJOU 90.1 FM Sponsors "Angels Among Us" Campaign 
 
WJOU 90.1 FM, in conjunction with New Beginnings at Oakwood University, will kick off its second annual "Angels Among Us" campaign on December 3. Through this initiative, the Huntsville and Oakwood communities will have the opportunity to help the children and single parents of the New Beginnings program by becoming an angel among us.
 
Each angel on the tree represents items for a deserving child or parent. These items are not just toys, but include the essentials such as diapers and clothes, as well as items such as education toys and Bible storybooks, that will truly make a difference in the lives of the families.
 
Angel Among Us trees will be located at the studios of WJOU-FM, Garden Cove Produce, TownePlace Suites by Marriott, Dynamic Performance Physical Therapy, and Mangos Caribbean Restaurant in Huntsville.
 
The students at Oakwood University are also involved. Lauren Eaton, Miss Oakwood (left) and Jameela Hall, Miss UNCF (right) are the official spokespersons for the campaign. Also, Oakwood University's Pre-Alumni Council in partnership with Thompson Hospitality will sponsor a tree located in the cafeteria at Blake Center on campus to encourage participation from students, faculty and staff.
 
New Beginnings, a Christ-centered program, is designed to assist single parents with their unique challenges, to connect them with available community resources, to model and teach wholesome Bible-based parenting techniques, and to provide tools to help them to become better parents, friends, students and children of God. New Beginning provides life skills workshops, tuition scholarships and textbook grants; support groups and child care assistance.
                                                           
Community participation is important to make WJOU's Angels Among Us campaign a holiday success. You can drop by one of our Angel Among Us tree locations to select your angel or visit our virtual tree online at www.wjou.org. The campaign dates are December 3 through December 21.
 
"We are excited to once again make a difference in our community with our Angels Among Us campaign. We are also blessed to have additional tree locations that will allowed us to double the number of families we are able to help this holiday season," according to Reggie Hicks, WJOU general manager.
Nathan L. Anderson Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Inc. Scholarship/Grant Awards Cycle for 2015 

The Nathan L. Anderson Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Inc. completed the calendar year 2015 Scholarship Awards Cycles, providing a total of $14,000 in scholarship assistance to seven students at Oakwood University (OU). For the spring semester, Claudia Brown, Veeron Flemming, and Alice Merelus received assistance. For the Fall semester, scholarship assistance was also given to Mallory McHenry, Farrah Melidor, Avery Seymour, and Tiffany Saunders.
 
This small, independent, private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) foundation was established in 2010, in memory of Nathan L. Anderson. He was a 2005 graduate of OU, as are both of his sisters, Nicole A. Anderson, B.Mus. (2008), and Nichelle G. Anderson, BSN, R.N. (2011). The Foundation is primarily focused on providing scholarship support to students pursuing college degrees in computer science, nursing, music, and aviation. Although the Foundation does provide scholarships to approved applicants from other institutions, applications from Oakwood students receive a higher priority-level of consideration. The total amount of support to OU students over the past four years is $68,000.
 
The foundation is funded by donations given in memory of Nathan. Proceeds of a dual CD set of Nathan's music "Love Lifted Me," available online at iTunes, Amazon.com, and CD Baby, are helping generate funding for future scholarships. Further information regarding donations, scholarship eligibility, or CD sales, is found at http://www.rememberingnathananderson.com.
Ford Hall and Media Center Dedication Scheduled for December 6

The dedication ceremony of H.E. Ford Hall and the Leroy and Lois Peters Media Center is scheduled for Sunday, December 6 at 10:00 a.m. Ford Hall is the home of the Communication Department. Both the Communication Department and Oakwood University Broadcasting Network share space in the Lois and Leroy Peters Media Center to help educate students studying communication as well as produce programming for and from Oakwood University. The brick sidewalk that leads from Ford Hall and Peters Media Center to the rest of the campus is called the Legacy Walkway, which features the names of donors, loved ones, special remembrances, and favorite sayings.
Oakwood Students Serve on Thanksgiving Day
   

Students from Oakwood University embodied the value of service on Thanksgiving Day, as they prepared and served meals at the Downtown Rescue Mission homeless shelter in Huntsville. Pictured (l-r, back row) are Tino Mkorombindo (USM Administrative Assistant), Cradaja Paige, K. David Hicks, Kyle Smith (USM President 2015-16), and Khaleel Clarke. (Front row) Kaylah Joseph, Social Work Club president; James Williams, Mr. Oakwood 2015-2016; Miss Black Alabama, Chenice McQueen, and Kevin Mendez.  
December's STANDOUT Focus 

The health principle emphasized in the month of December in the 2015-2016 STANDOUT calendar is nutrition, which is a vital component of mental and physical health. We are what we eat! A nutritious diet increases brain function and reduces many risk factors of disease. For instance, studies show that eating a nutritious breakfast is associated with improved memory and learning. Fuel up for success!
 
Alumni Notes
  
The Executive Committee of the Lake Region Conference has invited Samuel Thomas, Jr., '81, to serve as senior pastor of the City Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit, Michigan. Elder Thomas' installation service is scheduled for December 5, 2015.







Kelly (Darby) Holder, Ph.D., '98, is now Author Kelly Holder. Her new book, titled Playdate with God, is a devotional book for kids and families. 
Picture of the Week

  
The vision-inspired mission for Leadership Academy at Oakwood University is to empower, support and deploy high-impact supervisory leaders. Members of the Academy have a unique opportunity to build their skills through interactive training, thought-provoking exchanges, and engaging applications that demonstrate understanding. Members are pictured here in their new polo shirts, branded with the iLEAD logo, at the end of the Fall semester's training. iLEAD serves as a spiritual benchmark for members, reminding leaders of their accountability to God and His authority as the supreme leader in life and work.  (Photo by Anthony Chornes, II)

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.
 

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In This Issue - 12/02/15
  
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Click here to see the Fall 2015 issue of Oakwood Magazine, or visit
insideOakwood is published by the Office of Integrated Marketing & Public Relations
Editor: George Johnson Jr. | Managing Editor: Debbe Millet | Student Writer: Naomi Coggs | Student Photographer: Teymi Townsend