2021 Newsletter
| Akron/Canton Celebrates One-year Anniversary, Hosts “Toxic” Film Screening |
| Akron/Canton Alumni celebrated its one-year anniversary as an EBN affiliate on Feb 15. Ebony Bobcats from Cleveland helped launch the group, and were on hand for the kickoff, along with Ohio University President Duane Nellis and other Athens campus staff.Tracy Carter is President of the EBN Akron/Canton network.
In November, the affiliate hosted a film screening of the film, Toxic: A Black Woman’s Story in recognition of National Prematurity Awareness Month. The film was directed by OU alumnus Devon Collin and immediately following the film, Freddie Collier, Director of Planning for The City of Cleveland, and Sabrina Roberts, Administrator of Health Policy and Programs for Cuyahoga County Department of Health and Human Services Division, discussed additional causes and solutions to prematurity and the Black infant mortality crisis. |
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| Washington D.C. Enjoys Homecoming Bash, Salutes Bobcat “Storyteller” | Cleveland Welcomes Alumnus Telling Stories of Black Life at OU in the ‘60s |
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EBN WashingtonDC held a virtual pre-Homecoming Bash via Zoom in October. “We wore our favorite Bobcat shirts, shared our favorite OU stories, and toasted to EBN and Ohio University,” said LisaEarley, affiliate president. “Bobcats from the DC area and Philadelphia participated, and the sharing brought plenty of laughter and smiles!” On November 19, the DC affiliate hosted a virtual event highlighting the four-decade career of Bobcat Dr.Milbert(Milt) O. Brown, a gifted storyteller, artist, photojournalist, and writer. Early in his career, Dr. Brown worked as a picture editor and photojournalist at the Boston GlobeandChicago Tribune. He earned the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism in 2001. Learn more @www.milbertbrown.com |
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OU graduate Dr. Martin Tyler joined EBN Cleveland at its January Zoom meeting to discuss his published writings and share the highlights of his four-volume autobiography, Hurdling in My Heat. The collection chronicles his time at Ohio University participating in track and field in the late fifties and early sixties. He explained how it was such a time of uncertainty for black students that Blacks would not put their names on test papers for fear they would not receive a fair grade…and how he had to travel to Parkersburg just to get a haircut. Yet there were good memories: Black students were tightly bonded and supportive, and he was one of the charter members of the Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. |
| Cincinnati/Dayton Spotlights Civil Rights Legacy of OU Alumna and Family | |
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EBN Cincinnati/Dayton alumni hosted a February interview and discussion with OU graduate Karen Gray Houston, author of Daughter of the Boycott: Carrying on a Montgomery Family’s Civil Rights Legacy. Bobcat alumnus Lon Walls interviewed Gray Houston as she shared her family’s involvement in the Montgomery Bus Boycott—the protest that brought national and international attention to the civil rights struggles occurring in the United States in the 1950s. Gray Houston, a former broadcast journalist, talked about the many unknown facts concerning the boycott, inspiring a lively question and answer session among the 60 Zoom viewers. Following the discussion, Reynell Frazier, affiliate president, invited participants to donate to the Ebony Bobcat Network Urban Scholarship Endowment. Save the Date for EBN Cincinnati-Dayton’s next event: April 10 from 4 – 6 pm for “Cooking with Candice.” |
| Columbus Hosted its First Annual Game Night: Virtually | OU BLACK HERITAGE – THE FACTS |
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Nine OU alumni from throughout Ohio participated in EBN Columbus’ first annual Game Night on February 16. The gamers answered a series of questions compiled from these contests: “Name, Place, Animal, Thing”, “Black Card Revoked” and “Scattegories.” National Board President Valerie Biggs-Hill won the most rounds and bragging rights was her prize! Game night is the first of a series of monthly topics. Next up: Building wealth in the Black community. | 1829: John Newton Templeton receives his bachelor’s degree from Ohio University, becoming only the fourth black college graduate in America and the first in the Midwest.
1892: Edward Cornelius Berry purchases the J B. Allen building and begins renovation on the nationally famous Berry Hotel of Athens, Ohio. He was the first hotel owner to place a Bible, sewing kit, and closet in each hotel room. |
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Connect Your Business or Nonprofit to the OU Bobcat Neighborhood Get listed in the Bobcat Neighborhood, an online directory of alumni-owned and operated businesses and nonprofits. The registry was created by the Ohio University Alumni Association in partnership with Ohio University Corporate Engagement and the Center for Campus and Community Engagement. Register Business Here – Bobcat Neighborhood You can support the EBN Urban Scholarship today! Simply click on the link below, scroll down to “Turn Dreams Into Reality” and Give. |