Southern U. Weighs Prospect of First Black U.S. President

“Will he or won’t he?” After so many months of asking that question, Obama-watchers at Southern University are now asking “Can he or can’t he?” … win the Presidency, or at least his party’s nomination.

In a report on Black College Wire, Kim Butler, a student at Southern University who writes for the Southern Digest, interviewed students and faculty about Illinois Senator’s chances – especially against Hillary Clinton.

On the whole, most people interviewed concluded that Obama’s relatively short time in high-level politics was an asset.

"If anything, his inexperience is an advantage because he has had less time for corruption," said Niiobli Armah, president of Southern University's Student Government Association.

Excitement over Obama as a “fresh face” in politics is consistent with the findings of a 2006 study by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

While voters’ weariness with a culture of corruption certainly contributed to last November’s increased turnout and party seachange, the CIRCLE found that a lack of confidence in government was pronounced among youth voters and particularly among young African Americans.

Fifty-four percent of African American youth surveyed responded that government is “almost always wasteful and inefficient,” which was up 20 points from a similar survey conducted in 2002. This attitude was high among all youth voters surveyed, but highest among African Americans. (Report in PDF here.)

For more, see Butler’s “Southern U. Weighs Prospect of First Black U.S. President”.

Resume Techniques for Students and New College Graduates

Calling attention to an article in our archives with good advice for advance-planners out there.

Although originally posted as a graduation feature, we're highlighting it again first as a way of announcing that the author, resume writing expert Abby M. Locke of Premier Writing Solutions, has joined the team as new regular columnist on THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online's sister-site, IMDiversity Career Center.

We're also resurrecting it now, though, because the editors have been going through drafts of an upcoming feature, providing advice from college career services professionals from all over. Among the countless great tips and cautions, a number of the career office directors observed that students frequently fail to make use of the office's resources available to help them craft the best strategies for presentation to a recruiter -- whether in a resume, an on- or off-campus interview, a cover letter or even, for that matter, in a graduate school application. Even among those students who do consult these reources, many don't do it early enough.

One important lesson in Locke's article is that even students who have had little formal job experience do have real accomplishments and quasi-work experiences that can be made into compelling evidence of skills and potential on a resume. A counselor at your career center can help you recall and craft these items in such a compelling fashion. Similarly, a number of the career directors contributing to TBC point out that the earlier a student starts making use of their career planning assistance -- even in freshman year, and certainly well before second semester of senior year -- the more successful they usually are come the post-graduation job hunt.

So, with graduation coming up sooner than you think, take a look at Locke's advice for your winning student resume.

Of Interest: Knocking Down Affirmative Action - What It Means for America

Q&A with Ellis Cose, a contributing editor with Newsweek magazine and author of the report "Killing Affirmative Action: Would Ending It Really Result in a Better, More Perfect, Union?" published by the USC Annenberg's Institute for Justice and Journalism.

Cose discusses with Brian Shott of New America Media the impact of the initiatives by Ward Connerly to end public affirmative action programs. Michigan voters approved such a ballot intiative during the November midterms, and Connerly says he'll attempt to replicate the initiative in nine other states.

Read the Q&A with Ellis Cose in the Workplace Diversity section of IMDiversity.com Career Center.

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Fresh Idea: Convocation for AND by Students at FAMU

In the last edition of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN, U.S. Senator Barack Obama spoke forcefully of the need for established African American politicians and leaders to get more students involved in political leadership as an important part of a long-term strategy for progress.

"[It's critical] in every institution, whether it’s a law firm or church or what have you, [to make] sure that young people are given entree and opportunity to exert their leadership – and to do substantive work, not just licking envelopes or fetching coffee..." Senator Obama said.

"In the African-American community in particular..." he continued, "sometimes we have a tendency for our leadership to be very protective of their turf and not invite young people in until it’s way too late. The earlier we’re grooming young people and giving them leadership opportunities, and pushing them up front, the better."

A good example of the Senator's sentiment was illustrated ina recent article by Carnell Hawthorne Jr. in Florida A&M University's FAMUAN newspaper: First student keynote speaker at convocation.

For the first time, a student -- 21 year old Student Body President Phillip B. Agnew -- served as the guest speaker before hundreds of listeners at the 30th Annual MLK Convocation ceremony on Jan 11. Rather than inviting a big-name outsider to give the keynote, the move to have a student to hold such a prominent ceremonial position was inspiring to many young people. It was a good example of how institutions can create opportunities for students to develop leadership experiences and voice the concerns unique to their conditions as young people and collegians.

HBCU Newspaper Conference coming to Tallahassee in February

HBCU NEWSPAPER CONFERENCE
When: Feb. 15-17, 2007
Where: Ramada Inn and Conference Center
2900 North Monroe, Tallahassee, FL 32303, (850) 386-1027

For more information about registering / attending, and the nplanned programming for the conference, visit the conference website by the Black Colleges Communications Association.

More Katrina woes for some N.O. students

Black College Wire reports that hundreds of Dillard University dormitory residents who received assistance payments from the federal government after Hurricane Katrina are being asked to repay the money because according to federal officials, they were ineligible for the aid.

Specifically: "Students who lived in a dormitory owned or managed by the school will not qualify for housing assistance because dormitories are not considered a primary residence," said FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Rodi. Instead of applying to FEMA, she added, the students should have first tried to receive compensation for their losses through the school's insurance company, which was National Student Services, Inc. at the time of the hurricane.

Meanwhile, the Tom Joyner Foundation is continuing its drive to raise money to help the city's HBCUs rebuild and to help students stay in school. In a release, the Foundation has set has goal to raise $1 million dollars in a drive to run throughout January, with proceeds going "directly to the rebuilding of Dillard, Xavier and Southern University at New Orleans."

January at BCO

BCO wishes everyone a happy new year, and invite our readers to stop in for some of the recent additions to our site.

As we head into the season for on-campus interviews, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN's staff's attention is turning toward our traditional focus on providing information about how students can make the most out of interview opportunities and, as importantly, avoid its pifalls.

In a new Q&A feature, Paul Freyer of New York asks, "Do campus career centers [and college career fairs] really help students find jobs?" As the advice columnist Diane Hess puts it, "Many career centers can be a treasure trove. But as with college itself, what you get out of it depends on what you put into it."

We couldn't agree more, and we've planned a series of strong, practical advice pieces by knowledgable contributors to run in our upcoming Second Semester issue on the related topics of how to get the most out of (unfortunately underutilized) campus career centers and on-campus opportunities, as well as how to prepare for an interview, on-campus or off-campus.

Meanwhile, we refer you to a few advance features posted on BCO, such as a new addition by College Journal's Shawn Graham on How to Walk a Recruiter Through Your Resume and Mike Wilson's feature from our current edition, What Recruiters Look for in On-Campus Interviews.

We'll be adding more throughout the late winter and spring, so be sure to stop back frequently.