North Carolina HBCUs Legacy and Leadership: A Special Presentation of Black Issues Forum

Premieres Monday, February 19, at 9 PM, on UNC-TV

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, Friday, February 9, 2018 — North Carolina is second in the nation in the number of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). These historic schools of higher learning have cultivated some of our best and brightest minds—filling a need when predominantly white colleges and universities refused. Today, where some semblance of acceptance and opportunity exists at those state and private institutions, how are HBCUs doing in our state and how do they remain relevant and vital options for students today? Explore those and other timely topics during HBCUs Legacy & Leadership: A Black Issues Forum Special Presentation, premiering Monday, February 19, at 9 PM, on UNC-TV.

In this first-ever convening of top North Carolina HBCU leaders to be broadcast statewide, HBCUs Legacy & Leadership: A Black Issues Forum Special Presentation is designed to serve as a companion piece to acclaimed documentarian Stanley Nelson’s long-anticipated film, Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities (premiering statewide Monday, February 19, at 10 PM, on UNC-TV). As an ideal lead-in to the national program, UNC-TV’s HBCUs Legacy & Leadership: A Black Issues Forum Special Presentation surveys the historic, cultural and economic value and contributions of these educational institutions to our state. UNC-TV Producer Deborah Holt Noel leads a dynamic discussion featuring a distinguished panel of leaders from our state’s historically black colleges and universities and affiliated institutions.

Roundtable guests (pictured above from left to right) include:

• Dr. Johnson O. Akinleye, chancellor, North Carolina Central University
• Dr. Dorothy Browne, provost, Bennett College
• Dr. Paulette Dillard, president (interim), Shaw University
• Dr. James A. Anderson, chancellor, Fayetteville State University
• Dr. Jimmy R. Jenkins Sr., president, Livingstone College
• Dr. Elwood L. Robinson, chancellor, Winston-Salem State University
• Dr. Everett B. Ward, president, Saint Augustine's University

Participating audience members include:

• Andrea Harris, chair, HBCU Roundtables of North Carolina
• Dr. Jim Johnson, William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship; director, Urban Investment Strategies Center at UNC-Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School
• Larry Hall, NC Secretary of Veteran Affairs; former NC State House member; NCCU MA and Johnson C. Smith alumnus

The compelling discussion features the experience, insights and opinions of these educational leaders, along with their candid assessments of the state of HBCUs and their constituencies. In an exchange exploring the continuing role and relevance of HBCUs among African-American students, Livingstone College President Jimmy Jenkins stressed that:

“Education is our civil rights struggle of today. And we need to make sure that as we educate more of our people, they can move into those tables and places around the city…and represent us where decisions are being made, that's really what it's all about.”

HBCUs Legacy & Leadership: A Black Issues Forum Special Presentation will premiere Monday, February 19, at 9 PM, followed by the premiere of Independent Lens Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges & Universities, at 10 PM, on UNC-TV. HBCUs Legacy & Leadership: A Black Issues Forum Special Presentation will also air Wednesday, February 21, at 9:30 PM on the North Carolina Channel.

HBCUs Legacy & Leadership will also be simulcast on the following HBCU radio stations @ 9 pm on Monday, February 19:

I-Bronco Radio (Fayetteville State University)

WRVS 89.9 FM (Elizabeth City State University)

WLJZ 107.1 (Livingstone College)

WNCU 90.7 (North Carolina Central University)

WSHA 88.9 FM (Shaw University)

WSNC 90. 5 FM (Winston-Salem State University)

About UNC-TV

UNC-TV, Public Media North Carolina, provides people of all ages with enriching media through its distinctive array of programs and services online and via four digital channels: UNC-TV—PBS & More, UNC-EX—The Explorer Channel, Rootle—UNC-TV’s 24/7 PBS KIDS Channel and the North Carolina Channel—Stories with a Local Accent. UNC-TV’s 12 stations comprise North Carolina’s only statewide television network, made possible through a unique partnership of public investment and private support. Additionally, UNC-TV provides emergency services support for the state and free educational services and resources for teachers.

UNC-TV is committed to producing, broadcasting and sharing content for and about North Carolina, making it the most important source of information about the state. Visit unctv.org and join the conversation by connecting with us at facebook.com/unctv, @unctv on Twitter and instagram.com/unctv.

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Contact

Rebekah Radisch, UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina, Marketing Communications & Engagement, 919-549-7177 or [email protected].