**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
CONTACT:
Crystal A. deGregory, Ph.D.
Executive Editor
HBCUSTORY, Inc.
615.601.1866
cadegregory@HBCUstory.com
Nashville-Based HBCUSTORY Announces Distinguished HBCU President as Keynote for Inaugural Symposium
Symposium will also feature 15 scholars from across the nation
NASHVILLE, TN – March 18, 2013: Nashville-based HBCUSTORY Inc. announces that Michael J. Sorrell, Esq., president of Paul Quinn College in Dallas, will serve as keynote speaker for the inaugural HBCUSTORY Symposium, scheduled Saturday, April 27, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Main Nashville Public Library at 615 Church Street.
Presented in partnership with the Nashville Public Library and the Nashville Public Library Foundation, the 2013 HBCUSTORY Symposium, themed “Inspiring Stories of the Past and Present, For Our Future” will also feature fifteen scholars from across the nation. These academicians and practitioners will share original research on emerging topics in the fields of history, information science, fundraising, partnerships, LBGTQ studies, athletics and wellness.
“This historic event provides an opportunity for members of the HBCU community to support positive stories reflecting the great work HBCUs have done and are doing,” said Dr. Crystal A. deGregory, HBCUSTORY Founder and Executive Director. “Our HBCUSTORY Symposium encourages HBCUs to craft their own stories and encourages academicians to consider HBCUs as subjects worthy of serious study. And, perhaps, even more importantly, the Symposium compels HBCU supporters to take an active role in ensuring a bright future for these giants in the pantheon of American educational history.”
Named by HBCU Digest as its “2012 HBCU Male President of the Year,” Sorrell is leading Paul Quinn College into one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of higher education, which includes the college being named by its peers as HBCU Digest’s “2011 HBCU of the Year” and being selected as a finalist for the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
“This type of symposium is long overdue,” Sorrell said. “Kudos to Dr. deGregory for creating a venue for scholarly discourse around a topic about which so many of us are passionate. Paul Quinn College and I will always support efforts that are committed to analyzing, debating, and celebrating both the history and the future of HBCUs.”
To register for the 2013 Symposium, please visit www.hbcustorysymposium.eventbrite.com. Registration is required. Limited on-site registration is available.
To learn more about HBCUSTORY, visit us online at www.hbcustory.com/
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Founded in 2012, HBCUSTORY, Inc. is a nonprofit advocacy initiative, preserving, presenting and promoting inspiring stories of the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) community’s past and present, for our future. Every day, the HBCU community is writing the HBCUSTORY. We, as believers in the mission and vision of HBCUs, must leverage our HBCU stories as compelling evidence for the future of these educational, cultural and social treasures. At HBCUSTORY, we’re making memories matter.
The success of the 2013 HBCUstory Symposium depends on the gracious support of companies, institutions and people just like you!
$2,500+ Presenting Sponsors – The Presenting Sponsors of the 2013 HBCUstory Symposium are the Nashville Public Library and the Nashville Public Library Foundation who graciously agreed to host the day-long event.
$1,000-$2,499 Booker T. Washington Sponsor – Named in honor of African-American race leader, educator, businessman, author of Up From Slavery and Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now Hampton University) and Wayland Seminary (now Virginia Union University) alumnus, who lead Tuskegee University as president from its founding 1881 until his death in 1915 and served as adviser to several Republican presidents.
$500-$999 Mary McLeod Bethune Sponsor – Named in honor of master teacher, college president and Scotia Seminary (now Barber Scotia College) alumnus Mary McLeod Bethune ’94, who founded Bethune Cookman College, was the eighth president of the National Association for Colored Women from 1924 to 1928 and served as an adviser on race matters to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
