Dear Graduating Senior:
THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Special 35th Anniversary Graduation IssueStop by your campus careers office to pick up your free copy now THE BLACK COLLEGIAN joins your friends, family and teachers in congratulating you for your momentous achievement. What you've just accomplished may not be the last, only, or greatest success you'll earn in your life. Yet, we know that attaining this goal was not easy.
As we wrote in the special After Katrina section in our Second Semester Super Issue, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine was launched 35 years ago with the conviction that earning a higher education was among the most important, transformative and uplifting opportunities in a young person's life -- and the most challenging. This is as true today as it was for those young African Americans we set out to serve in 1970. You can be justifiably proud, and gratified – it's something no one can ever take away from you.
We also know that for a new grad, it can seem that you've hardly had a moment to breathe after earning your degree before the grind starts right up again. Whether you're going straight on to grad school or forging ahead into the job market, a whole host of new challenges and experiences, sometimes thrilling and sometimes scary, awaits you just around the corner. So, we have prepared this special graduation message to help you make the most of this site in your transition.
Keep It Fresh
We encourage you to POST or REFRESH your resume and contact info with us to highlight your recent degree and accomplishments, and stop back later to add any valuable summer experiences you have. By occasionally returning to update your resume, you ensure that your resume is well positioned to shine to potential employers. Furthermore, doing so also has a practical benefit: Keeping your resume "fresh" by modifying and saving it in a database boosts its prominence over other resumes in employers' resume searches!
"Graduate" to IMDiversity
We further invite you to "graduate" to our sister-site, IMDiversity.com, where you can create a second, free MY JOB TOOLS account to access the world of new, wider opportunities opening to you. While TBC has been committed to helping African American students strive for academic excellence and prepare for a career, IMDiversity.com is similarly open support diverse professionals moving forward throughout their careers, from entry-level to senior positions. If you've already used MY JOB TOOLS at BCO, you can hit the ground running at IMDiversity.com. Using our new FLASHPost shortcut, you can generally open an account, post a standard resume, and start finding and applying for job opportunities in minutes.
If you are interested in finding a summer opportunity but still don't have one, visit our annual Summer Gigs special, which lasts until mid-May. Even if you already have summer plans, this links to QuickSearch sections that make it easier to find Entry-level positions, as well as Internships with current deadlines for the fall and next year. Why not drop by and bookmark it for when you're done chilling out, bumming around Europe, working at your summer job or internship, and so forth? As Dr. Philip Gardner observed in our Second Semester edition, the indicators show that a "Strong Labor Market Greets '06 Grads," so be aggressive pursuing your career goals.
Thinking of Going On?
If you're considering Grad School, visit our Grad School Channel, where you can research different institutions nationwide who have expressed their interest in building a diverse student body, read good advice about advanced degrees, and learn about fellowships and other aid.
Visit Your Career Office...Again and Again
DON'T FORGET to make use of your campus Career Office while you can! We hope you already appreciate this rare and invaluable, free resource. Keep in mind that the Office will not only help you put your best foot forward while you're in school, but it is also an all-too-frequently underutilized resource for alumni as well. Before you leave campus, why not visit your counselor to find out about their alumni services, pick up the 35th Anniversary edition of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN, and perhaps ask them to help you polish your resume a last time before you post it? Alas, in the so-called "real-world," having a staff of professionals so dedicated to your success, generous with advice, and eager to provide free services to aid your advancement is a very, very rare luxury.
Keep it Coming
You can always continue to pick up THE BLACK COLLEGIAN at a local college campus. If you like, however, you can also keep it coming through a low-cost personal subscription conveniently shipped right to you. Although we don't sell subscriptions directly, you can get your personal subscription set up easily through Amazon.com.
Keep in Touch
Finally, we hope you'll continue to visit this site and keep in touch with us. In preparing our 35th Anniversary edition, we were gratified to hear from readers who "grew up with us," including some who found their first jobs through us decades ago and have gone on to fantastic professional careers with major employers in all kinds of sectors! If you find an opportunity through THE BLACK COLLEGIAN, we hope you'll let us know, as we'd like to be able to feature you in some way!
Again, congratulations on reaching this educational milestone. You have our very best wishes for your continued success in whatever you choose to do!
The Staff and Editors of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN and IMDiversity
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Black College Wire Prepares Interns for Media Careers
On her first working day as a newspaper reporter, Tiesha Henderson took an assignment that looked easy and heartwarming: Go talk to a Dallas charity about its upcoming fund-raiser.
"I thought it would be a quick little good-feeling human interest story," Henderson said, catching her breath between calls to the Internal Revenue Service and scholarship winners. "My first story is turning into a huge lesson in journalism."
The Dallas Examiner summer intern had discovered a story behind the story: Despite its good works, the charity might not be legally incorporated and its fund-raising might not be tax deductible.
Henderson found her story by checking public records, as she had been urged to do during her just-completed training at the Black College Wire's annual summer journalism institute. She is one of 15 student journalists who began reporting June 5 for black-owned print, radio and online publications as Black College Wire interns.
"With generous grant support, we continue to prepare students for careers in media," said Pearl Stewart, Black College Wire founder and coordinator. "Now, with our online and radio partnerships, we are able to expose students to a wider range of career options."
In a new partnership for Black College Wire, one summer intern will write and edit for IMDiversity.com, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine, and THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online. In another new partnership, one intern will write and record original articles for PopandPolitics.com, the Web site of author and National Public Radio commentator Farai Chideya.
Two will report and write for Black College Wire, a nonprofit news service linking the newspapers of the historically black colleges and universities.
Others will report, edit, design or take photographs for black-owned newspapers including the Dallas Examiner, the New Pittsburgh Courier and the Atlanta Daily World.
During the first week on the job, many found themselves in the thick of breaking news.
Armed with his notebook and camera, W. Hassan Marsh of Morehouse College covered a union demonstration for a same-day deadline at the Atlanta Voice. The newspaper published his report and one of his pictures on its Web site.
Intern Shana Pinnock, a Spelman College student writing for the New York Amsterdam News, covered a controversy about cutbacks in New York City's homeland security funding. She tracked down law enforcement officials to get comments.
"I think the hardest thing so far is getting call-backs from sources," Pinnock said. "You have to be persistent and keep calling. When I couldn't get the commissioner on the phone, then I started calling the deputy commissioner."
The interns began their summer with training May 31-June 4 at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. There, the interns received instruction in the fundamentals of interviewing, research and newswriting. They attended courses on digital photography and digital recording, to prepare to be all-around journalists.
Guest lecturers included John Seigenthaler, founder, and Gene Policinski, executive director, of the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center; Dwight Lewis, columnist, and Christian Bottorff and Ailene Torres, reporters, at the Tennessean. The students also toured African American historic sites in Nashville and quizzed community leaders as part of their training for covering communities for the black press.
Black College Wire's summer internship program is possible thanks to grants from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Black College Wire, www.blackcollegewire.org, showcases the work of student journalists at the historically black colleges and covers issues of interest to readers on those campuses. The news service has supplied articles to collegiate newspapers, the nation's black press, and many other newspapers, Web sites and news services including AOL Black Voices, the Miami Herald, Dow Jones College Journal, BlackAmericaWeb.com, and KRT Campus. Through recent partnerships with THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine, its student writers have covered Hurricane Katrina's effect on Gulf region colleges.
Black College Wire is a project of the Black College Communication Association, which supports the development and improvement of journalism education at historically black colleges. Partners include the National Association of Black Journalists and the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.
The 2006 summer interns are:
Carla Aaron-Lopez
North Carolina Central University
Internship: New Pittsburgh Courier
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Anthony Anamelechi
Florida A&M University
Internship: Black College Wire
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Drew C. Costley
Howard University
Internship: The Washington Informer
Hometown: Arlington, Va.
Ashley R. Harris
University of Houston
Internship: Houston Defender
Hometown: Missouri City, Texas
Tiesha Henderson
Hampton University
Internship: The Dallas Examiner
Hometown: Dallas
Ashley Hindsman
Albany State University
Internship: The Atlanta Daily World
Hometown: College Park, Ga.
Ebonie Ledbetter
Florida A&M University
Internship: Capital Outlook (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Hometown: Fairburn, Ga.
Shauntel Lowe
University of California at Los Angeles
Internship: Black College Wire
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
John W. Marsh
Florida A&M University
Internship: The Michigan Chronicle
Hometown: Detroit
W. Hassan Marsh
Morehouse College
Internship: The Atlanta Voice
Hometown: Atlanta
Vanessa Mizell
Howard University
Internship: PopandPolitics.com
Hometown: Irvine, Calif.
Shana Pinnock
Spelman College
Internship: New York Amsterdam News
Hometown: Bronx, N.Y.
Alexia R. Robinson
Florida A&M University
Internship: IMDiversity.com/THE BLACK COLLEGIAN
Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla.
Ciara Walker
University of Mississippi
Internship: Mississippi Link
Hometown: Oxford, Miss.
Melaney Whiting
Tennessee State University
Internship: Dallas Weekly
Hometown: Dallas
"I thought it would be a quick little good-feeling human interest story," Henderson said, catching her breath between calls to the Internal Revenue Service and scholarship winners. "My first story is turning into a huge lesson in journalism."
The Dallas Examiner summer intern had discovered a story behind the story: Despite its good works, the charity might not be legally incorporated and its fund-raising might not be tax deductible.
Henderson found her story by checking public records, as she had been urged to do during her just-completed training at the Black College Wire's annual summer journalism institute. She is one of 15 student journalists who began reporting June 5 for black-owned print, radio and online publications as Black College Wire interns.
"With generous grant support, we continue to prepare students for careers in media," said Pearl Stewart, Black College Wire founder and coordinator. "Now, with our online and radio partnerships, we are able to expose students to a wider range of career options."
In a new partnership for Black College Wire, one summer intern will write and edit for IMDiversity.com, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine, and THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online. In another new partnership, one intern will write and record original articles for PopandPolitics.com, the Web site of author and National Public Radio commentator Farai Chideya.
Two will report and write for Black College Wire, a nonprofit news service linking the newspapers of the historically black colleges and universities.
Others will report, edit, design or take photographs for black-owned newspapers including the Dallas Examiner, the New Pittsburgh Courier and the Atlanta Daily World.
During the first week on the job, many found themselves in the thick of breaking news.
Armed with his notebook and camera, W. Hassan Marsh of Morehouse College covered a union demonstration for a same-day deadline at the Atlanta Voice. The newspaper published his report and one of his pictures on its Web site.
Intern Shana Pinnock, a Spelman College student writing for the New York Amsterdam News, covered a controversy about cutbacks in New York City's homeland security funding. She tracked down law enforcement officials to get comments.
"I think the hardest thing so far is getting call-backs from sources," Pinnock said. "You have to be persistent and keep calling. When I couldn't get the commissioner on the phone, then I started calling the deputy commissioner."
The interns began their summer with training May 31-June 4 at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. There, the interns received instruction in the fundamentals of interviewing, research and newswriting. They attended courses on digital photography and digital recording, to prepare to be all-around journalists.
Guest lecturers included John Seigenthaler, founder, and Gene Policinski, executive director, of the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center; Dwight Lewis, columnist, and Christian Bottorff and Ailene Torres, reporters, at the Tennessean. The students also toured African American historic sites in Nashville and quizzed community leaders as part of their training for covering communities for the black press.
Black College Wire's summer internship program is possible thanks to grants from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Black College Wire, www.blackcollegewire.org, showcases the work of student journalists at the historically black colleges and covers issues of interest to readers on those campuses. The news service has supplied articles to collegiate newspapers, the nation's black press, and many other newspapers, Web sites and news services including AOL Black Voices, the Miami Herald, Dow Jones College Journal, BlackAmericaWeb.com, and KRT Campus. Through recent partnerships with THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine, its student writers have covered Hurricane Katrina's effect on Gulf region colleges.
Black College Wire is a project of the Black College Communication Association, which supports the development and improvement of journalism education at historically black colleges. Partners include the National Association of Black Journalists and the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.
The 2006 summer interns are:
Carla Aaron-Lopez
North Carolina Central University
Internship: New Pittsburgh Courier
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Anthony Anamelechi
Florida A&M University
Internship: Black College Wire
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Drew C. Costley
Howard University
Internship: The Washington Informer
Hometown: Arlington, Va.
Ashley R. Harris
University of Houston
Internship: Houston Defender
Hometown: Missouri City, Texas
Tiesha Henderson
Hampton University
Internship: The Dallas Examiner
Hometown: Dallas
Ashley Hindsman
Albany State University
Internship: The Atlanta Daily World
Hometown: College Park, Ga.
Ebonie Ledbetter
Florida A&M University
Internship: Capital Outlook (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Hometown: Fairburn, Ga.
Shauntel Lowe
University of California at Los Angeles
Internship: Black College Wire
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
John W. Marsh
Florida A&M University
Internship: The Michigan Chronicle
Hometown: Detroit
W. Hassan Marsh
Morehouse College
Internship: The Atlanta Voice
Hometown: Atlanta
Vanessa Mizell
Howard University
Internship: PopandPolitics.com
Hometown: Irvine, Calif.
Shana Pinnock
Spelman College
Internship: New York Amsterdam News
Hometown: Bronx, N.Y.
Alexia R. Robinson
Florida A&M University
Internship: IMDiversity.com/THE BLACK COLLEGIAN
Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla.
Ciara Walker
University of Mississippi
Internship: Mississippi Link
Hometown: Oxford, Miss.
Melaney Whiting
Tennessee State University
Internship: Dallas Weekly
Hometown: Dallas
Reported at Black News: TBC's 35th at NACE 2006 Conference
New Orleans, LA (BlackNews.com) - IMDiversity, Inc., the publisher of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine and producer of the IMDiversity.com multicultural careers web network, celebrated THE BLACK COLLEGIAN's 35th Anniversary with a special May 31st ceremony honoring top employer organizations.
In the ceremony, held in Anaheim, CA during the 2006 Conference of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, founder and CEO Preston J. Edwards, Sr. presented a special "Wind Beneath Our Wings" award to THE BLACK COLLEGIAN's 35th Anniversary Super Advertiser Partners including The Aerospace Corporation, Direct Employers, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Northrop Grumman, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and Raytheon Company.
The award recognized these organizations' commitment to diversity recruiting and support of the company throughout its trying anniversary year, coinciding with the company's evacuation from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Recounting the challenges faced by his displaced staff, Edwards expressed his gratitude for the honorees' support during the crisis.
As THE BLACK COLLEGIAN's 35th Anniversary Super Advertiser Partners, Edwards said, their faith in the company and continued sponsorship provided crucial support to help IMDiversity keep going - and even expand its publishing schedule. Despite the devastation of their city, a flooded headquarters, and communications difficulties, the dispersed staff produced an extra, Special Anniversary Issue, which was shipped to college campuses in time for graduation.
"We call this award 'The Wings Beneath Our Wings' because that's what the honorees were for our company when we needed them," Edwards said. "We couldn't have done it without them."
After representatives of each company were presented with a beautifully engraved eagle statuette recognizing them as Super Advertiser Partners, the formal ceremony gave way to a real New Orleans-style party. Because the hurricane had interrupted his original plans to hold the celebration in Louisiana, Edwards brought a heaping helping of New Orleans with him to Anaheim. A Bayou smorgasbord, a good bar, and a thumping live jazz band had the diverse, 200+ attendees dancing late into the night, making the event one of the most talked-about highlights of a particularly festive event for NACE, celebrated its 50th Anniversary.
In addition to hosting the ceremony, the company also participated as an exhibitor at the NACE conference, taking the opportunity to share plans for its new multicultural student recruiting initiatives and talk up the 10th anniversary of its online diversity recruitment network at IMDiversity.com, upcoming in 2007.
In the ceremony, held in Anaheim, CA during the 2006 Conference of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, founder and CEO Preston J. Edwards, Sr. presented a special "Wind Beneath Our Wings" award to THE BLACK COLLEGIAN's 35th Anniversary Super Advertiser Partners including The Aerospace Corporation, Direct Employers, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Northrop Grumman, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and Raytheon Company.
The award recognized these organizations' commitment to diversity recruiting and support of the company throughout its trying anniversary year, coinciding with the company's evacuation from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Recounting the challenges faced by his displaced staff, Edwards expressed his gratitude for the honorees' support during the crisis.
As THE BLACK COLLEGIAN's 35th Anniversary Super Advertiser Partners, Edwards said, their faith in the company and continued sponsorship provided crucial support to help IMDiversity keep going - and even expand its publishing schedule. Despite the devastation of their city, a flooded headquarters, and communications difficulties, the dispersed staff produced an extra, Special Anniversary Issue, which was shipped to college campuses in time for graduation.
"We call this award 'The Wings Beneath Our Wings' because that's what the honorees were for our company when we needed them," Edwards said. "We couldn't have done it without them."
After representatives of each company were presented with a beautifully engraved eagle statuette recognizing them as Super Advertiser Partners, the formal ceremony gave way to a real New Orleans-style party. Because the hurricane had interrupted his original plans to hold the celebration in Louisiana, Edwards brought a heaping helping of New Orleans with him to Anaheim. A Bayou smorgasbord, a good bar, and a thumping live jazz band had the diverse, 200+ attendees dancing late into the night, making the event one of the most talked-about highlights of a particularly festive event for NACE, celebrated its 50th Anniversary.
In addition to hosting the ceremony, the company also participated as an exhibitor at the NACE conference, taking the opportunity to share plans for its new multicultural student recruiting initiatives and talk up the 10th anniversary of its online diversity recruitment network at IMDiversity.com, upcoming in 2007.
Black Collegian Celebrates 35 Years of Publishing
It's sort of astonishing to think that the company now called IMDiversity (formerly Black Collegiate services, by way of many other name changes) has been publishing THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine for over 35 years. It's astonishing not only because it started with zero money from a "shotgun shack" in New Orleans and so very few magazine start-ups manage to survive, but also because we launched it at a time when there were very, very, very few substantive national publications bothering to address African Americans.
It was like riding a time machine, observing how our country's notions of "Blackness" and identity and race itself have changed over the decades. These changes were reflected in our archives superficially, through cover fashions and lingo ("Right on!") and the different types of "futuristic" technology careers we covered. But less superficially, it was reflected in the ideas expressed by so many of the best Black writers and thinkers and leaders we found in the pages, many of whom have contributed since the beginning.
All of it reminded us how cultural innovation and professional success and fulfillment are constantly moving targets. And further, how the challenges and passions and needs of African American students today are in many ways not all that different from those of students 35 years ago. This is a theme we are interested in exploring further in upcoming editions, and will look to air on our site again in the future.
It was like riding a time machine, observing how our country's notions of "Blackness" and identity and race itself have changed over the decades. These changes were reflected in our archives superficially, through cover fashions and lingo ("Right on!") and the different types of "futuristic" technology careers we covered. But less superficially, it was reflected in the ideas expressed by so many of the best Black writers and thinkers and leaders we found in the pages, many of whom have contributed since the beginning.
All of it reminded us how cultural innovation and professional success and fulfillment are constantly moving targets. And further, how the challenges and passions and needs of African American students today are in many ways not all that different from those of students 35 years ago. This is a theme we are interested in exploring further in upcoming editions, and will look to air on our site again in the future.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Brand New Day at THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine
This site is being prepared as a companion toTHE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online, the Web-based version of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine, published by IMDiversity, Inc. in New Orleans at www.black-collegian.com.
Published for over 35 years, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine is distributed for free on college / university campuses nationwide, primarily through career services, student services, multicultural affairs and similar offices. Since 1970 TBC has provided substantive feature articles on educational topics, career development issues, job opportunities and employment trends for African American college students and others who are interested in entry-level, internship, co-op and similar opportunities for college students and recent graduates.
Launched 10 years ago, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online significantly expanded the magazine's content offerings, adding a robust, fully featured, custom-searchable jobs database containing free job listings posted by employers committed to building a diverse workforce. Additional job hunting, resume creation, salary calculator and other tools have exponentially enhanced the jobs database center since those days, but the full suite of job-seeker tools remains free and easy to use by anyone seeking employment opportunities.
Visit it at www.black-collegian.com, or for those out of college more than 2 years, try our sister site, IMDiversity.com.
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