Shaw University Bears and Lady Bears take the CIAA Championships

Shaw University's Men's Baskbetball team in Raleigh, NC defeated Livingstone College 72 to 69 to win the CIAA Mens Basketball this past weekend in Charlotte, NC.  Shaw University's Women's Basketball team also defeated Johnson C. Smith 62 to 56 to win the CIAA Women's Basketball Tournament.   Both the Shaw women's and men's basketball teams have been selected to play in the NCAA Division II Basketball Tournament.

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is an athletic conference consisting of thirteen historically African-American institutions of higher education: Bowie State University, Chowan University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, Johnson C. Smith University, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, Livingstone College, St. Augustine's College, St. Paul's College, Shaw University, Virginia State University, Virginia Union University and Winston-Salem State University, all working together to set an overall standard of excellence.

Established in 1912, the CIAA is the nation's oldest black athletic conference, rich in history and heritage. The CIAA is entering its ninety-ninth year of athletic competition in which they will continue to reap success and recognition on the field and on the court. The presence of the CIAA as a premiere member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II, continues to expand throughout the country. Expansion of television broadcasts has resulted in nationwide coverage of football and basketball contests, as well as the annual CIAA Basketball Tournament. Increasing competitiveness in other sports is also leading to recognition of CIAA member schools as athletic powerhouses. The reputation, in conjunction with the academic success of our athletes, is a proud legacy for the CIAA.

The conference is divided into Northern and Southern Divisions in all sports except baseball. The CIAA annually sponsors 16 men's and women's championships. The eight men's championships include football, cross country, indoor track, basketball, golf, tennis, baseball, and track & field. The eight women's champions are bowling, cross country, volleyball, indoor track, basketball, softball, tennis and track & field.


NORTHERN DIVISION

Bowie State
Chowan
Elizabeth City State
Lincoln (PA)
Saint Paul's
Virginia State
Virginia Union

SOUTHERN DIVISION
Fayetteville State
Johnson C. Smith
Livingstone
Saint Augustine's
Shaw
Winston-Salem State

For more about the CIAA, visit http://www.theciaa.com/.

The Highest Standards

On January 9 in Black History...

"the highest standards, not of Negro education, but of American education at its best."

In 1866, Fisk University opened for classes in Nashville, Tennessee. Barely six months after the end of the Civil War and just two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, three men - John Ogden, the Reverend Erastus Milo Cravath, and the Reverend Edward P. Smith - established the Fisk School in Nashville, name in honor of General Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmens Bureau, an abolitionist who helped establish the first free public schools in the south for white AND African-American children. General Fisk also provided the new institution with facilities in former Union Army barracks near the present site of Nashvilles Union Station. In 1954, Fisk became the first private black college accredited for its music programs by the National Association of Schools of Music. 

Famous Fisk alumni include Johnetta B. Cole, Mayor Marion Barry, John Hope Franklin, WEB DuBois, Congressman John Lewis, Nikki Giovani and Ida B. Wells.

In 1914, Phi Beta Sigma was founded at Howard University in Washington, DC. by three young African-American male students - A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse and Charles I. Brown. The founders wanted to organize a Greek letter fraternity that would exemplify the ideals of brotherhood, scholarship and service. the fraternity is the only one of its kind to aid in the creation and hold a consitutional bond with a African-American sorority. The Founders wanted its organization to be a part of the community as opposed to apart from the community. Their deep conviction for community service is embodied in its motto, "Culture for Service and Service for Humanity."
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_B._Fisk 
http://www.fisk.edu/
http://www.pbs1914.org/history/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Beta_Sigma