Page 1Vol. III, No. 6October, 2009

Tougaloo Mourns the Loss ofTwo Freshmen

On Friday, October 2, 2009, the Tougaloo family said goodbye to two of its most promising eaglets, Kiara Taylor and Shanna Whitt. The two freshmen from Greenville, MS were returning to campus with their friend, Jamilia Haywood, a sophomore, also from Greenville, when they were involved in a fatal automobile accident, just moments from the College.

Jamilia, who was critically injured in the accident, has returned home, finally, to recover from her extensive injuries. Meanwhile, the entire campus was thrown into a state of shock. Shanna, a Presidential Scholar, was majoring in biology, while Kiara was a sociology major.

A memorial service was organized by the students and held on Friday, October 9, 2009 in Woodworth Chapel. Students also prepared cards and scrapbooks for the families of the two students, which they delivered to the memorial services and funerals that were held in Greenville. (A bus was chartered by alumnus Precious Martin ‘94 to carry Tougaloo students and

other members of the Tougaloo College family, to the funerals.)

During Founders’ Week activities, on Wednesday, October 14, students gathered to celebrate the two lives cut short by planting two Leland cypress trees in the courtyard at Holmes Hall (photo below). A brief ceremony was conducted by the Comprehensive Academic Resources (CAR) program, where Dr. Margarette Butler read Joyce Tilmer’s poem, “Trees,” prior to the planting. The two cypress trees were donated by Allen and Mimi Martinson of GardenWorks (Ridgeland, MS).

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Kiara and Shanna, and we wish Jamilia and her family our best as she continues to recover from her injuries.

Dr. Loye AshtonChair, ICOHM and Religious Studies

2009-2010Humanities Council Teacher of the Year

Left to right: Kiara Taylor and Shanna Whitt

The two Leland cypresses are planted in the courtyard of Holmes Hall and will serve as permanent reminders of the two young ladies who were virtually inseparable.

2009 - 2010Mississippi Humanities Council

Tougaloo CollegeTeacher of the Year

Dr. Loye AshtonChair, ICOHM & Religious StudiesDr. Loye AshtonChair, ICOHM & Religious Studies

Congratulations, Dr. Ashton

Page 2 Vol. III, No. 6October, 2009

Students Present Summer Research During Founders’ Week

After their exciting and educational summer research ex-periences, members of the Jackson Heart Study scholars presented oral and poster presentations of their research at the Kincheloe Society’s Sixth Annual Symposium dur-ing 2009 Founders’ Week. The Kincheloe Symposium was held October 16-17 this year, and a total of eighteen

students participated, ten in poster presentation and eight in oral presentation.

The meeting has been a forum for both students and faculty to share their achievements. The collected data ranged from nano technology to cancer treatment and the students and faculty of Tougaloo College have been heard at renowned institutions across the country. The research experiences were funded by the Kincheloe Soci-ety, HBCU-UP (Historically Black Colleges and Univer-sities-Undergraduate Programs), Jackson Heart Study,

MFGN/REO (Mississippi Functional Genomic Network/Research Excellence Opportunity) and RIMI (Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions).

Presenters in the poster category included Marketta Blue, Francesca Branch, Carensa Cezar, Shawn Cole, Joshua Green, Kimystian Harrison, Phoebe Penamon, Brittney Robinson and Yolanda Ross. In oral presentations, the participants included Tennisha Buckner, Amber Clark, Janae Jones, Brittany May,

Roderick McDowell, Channing Sly, Marla Washington, and Adreince Wells.

Shawn Cole, Wanaki McDuffy and Yolanda Ross won first, second and third place for poster session. Tenni-sha Buckner, Amber Clark and Brittany May won first, second and third place for oral session.

Amber Clark in the lab at the University of Rochester diligently work-ing on her Western blots....

Yolanda Ross (center) at Brown University with her mentor, Dr. Reichner (left) and Courtni Newsome ‘00

Top: Amber Clark receives award for second place, oral presenta-tion, from Congressman Bennie G. Thompson; Bottom: Yolanda Ross receives the first third place award for poster presentation from Con-gressman Thompson, while Kincheloe Society President, Dr. Michael Reddix (seated) and Dr. Jinghe Mao (at podium) look on

Page 3Vol. III, No. 6October, 2009

Natural Sciences Faculty Research Projects Build Strong Partnerships

Dr. Bettye Sue HenningtonThrough the Proteomic/Mass Spectrometry center she established, Dr. Hennington is researching hypertension among adults who had low birth weight versus those who were born at normal birth weight. Along with Dr. Barbara Alexander (Physiology and Biophysics) at The University of Mississippi Medical Center, she is working toward the development of hypertension in a unique intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) or low birth weight rat model.

Dr. Jinghe MaoDr. Mao, through the Genomic facility she developed, is exploring the lipidomic profile of normal pre-diabetic and diabetic patients from different races. The Mao lab is also performing microarray analysis from peripheral WBC to compare up/down gene regulation between Caucasians and African-Americans, as well as among different types of Type 2 diabetes. She has mentored more than a dozen students, most of whom have presented their research at national and regional conferences and seven of whom have gone on to graduate school.

Dr. Raj RajnarayananDr. Rajnarayanan has established a medicinal chemistry and drug discover facility to design synthesis and perform basic pre-clinical biological testing of anti-cancer agents. He is collaborating with Drs. Cholanayakanahalli R. Vinayaka (Georgetown University), Dr. Pradip Biswas (Tougaloo College) and, on the drug discovery projects, with Drs. Hari H. P. Choly and Raphael Isokpehi at Jackson State University.

Dr. Yeufeng LuDr. Lu will focus her research on the disruption of the serotonin system during early brain development.

Working in collaboration with Dr. Rick Lin (Anatomy) at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Dr. Lu is exploring the effects in different brain areas after per-natal anti-depressnet drug treatments, using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). In addition, Dr. Lu is working collaboratively with Dr. Gregory Chinchar (Microbiology) at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, through a National Science Foundation (NSF) supplemental training grant, to employ genetic and molecular technologies to facilitate the study in Dr. Chinchar’s neuroscience project. Undergraduate students with research potential are being recruited for both projects.

Dr. Pradip BiswasDr. Biswas has established a computational biophysics and bioengineering group to perform biomolecular modeling, development of force-field,classical and multiscale molecular dynamic simulation and docking. He is developing the project in collaboration with Dr. Valentin Gogonea of Cleveland State University, Dr. Robert Latour of Clemson University and Dr. Raj Rajnarayanan of Tougaloo College. Several undergraduate students are working on the project and two recent graduates have gone on to graduate school.

Dr. Santanu BanerjeeDr. Banerjee has focused his research around building a Nanoscience lab on campus. He is growing nanoparticles, nanorods and nanoprisms, characterizing these nanotools and using these nanosystems to develop nanosensors for sensitive detection of environmental contaminants and also in biomedical applications. Dr. Banerjee’s work includes an integral partnership with Jackson State University (particularly with Dr. Paresh Chandra Ray, Chemistry) that allows use of the JSU microscopy lab. Undergraduates are able to work in the Banerjee lab and continue their work in the JSU microscopy facility, thereby strengthening the research bond between the two HBCUs, as well as growing our national net of researchers for the future.

Humanities Division Presents “Humanities Speaks” Symposium

As a part of Founders’ Week this year, the Humanities Division introduced its “Humanities Speaks” Symposium. The inaugural presentation took place in Woodworth Chapel on October 13, 2009 and featured three lectures. Dr. RoSusan Bartee ’97 presented an informative discussion about “Capitalizing on the Currency of Thinking, Acting and Being.” She is currently an educational consultant, program evaluator, motivational speaker and associate professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Candice Love Jackson ’92 followed Dr. Bartee with a presentation on the role of blacks in the making of “Gone With the Wind,” entitled “Askin’ Ain’t Gettin’.” Dr. Jackson is

chair of the English Department at Tougaloo College, as well as director of the Honors Program. Finally, DeAnna Tisdale ’08 presented a slide show and brief overview of her visit to Rome, Italy where she performed with the Operafestival di Roma this summer. Ms. Tisdale concluded her presentation with a performance of folk

songs, spirituals and excerpts from operas. In addition to her musical endeavors, Ms. Tisdale is associate publisher of The Jackson Advocate.

Dr. RoSusan Bartee in a lighter moment during her symposium presentation.

Page 4 Vol. III, No. 6October, 2009

A Message from the President...Re: Campaign for Advancing Excellence

We are doing something a little different here at Tougaloo for the next two years.

We are changing our approach to fundraising because we are changing our focus to what our students and our larger community need at this particular time. The economic recession has touched us all, and Tougaloo College is no different. As a result, we are establishing priorities because we cannot afford to lose students who need the Tougaloo experience, who need a quality college education, and who need the quality of preparation we can give them to enter the job market. We are shifting our fundraising focus from long term capital projects to the short term aim of helping our students more directly. We want to provide them more scholarships and financial aid, improved technology to enhance their learning through classroom settings and online education and more challenging academic programs of excellence in teaching, research and service. We are calling this initiative the Campaign for Advancing Excellence.

We are inviting you to support this Campaign. We do not believe in maintaining the status quo here at Tougaloo College. We believe in moving ahead, even in difficult times. Our existing students need this support, as most certainly do our prospective students. Let me tell you why this is important to you as a leader in our state.

Since 1869, Tougaloo College has earned an enduring legacy of academic excellence and social responsibility. It has provided educational opportunities to thousands of men and women who are ethical, thoughtful leaders prepared to meet the challenges of informed citizenship in a global society. Traditionally, Tougaloo College has produced forty percent of the African American physicians, forty-five percent of the African American attorneys and thirty-five percent of the educators practicing in the state of Mississippi. The National Science Foundation lists Tougaloo among the top fifty institutions whose graduates earn their Ph.D. degrees in the science and engineering disciplines. Tougaloo is among the top fifteen historically black colleges and universities in the graduation of females with degrees in the physical sciences. And, the College has produced more graduates who have completed their Ph.D. degrees through the UNCF-Mellon Doctoral Fellowship Program than any other institution in the nation.

Today, Tougaloo College is nationally recognized as an institution of excellent academic quality and as one of the most civically engaged colleges in the nation. Its legacy, historic significance and present day relevance for educating the future leaders who make new discoveries that change the world are truly significant. The College continues to distinguish itself as a critical educational and

community resource for the state of Mississippi and the nation.

Our Campaign for Advancing Excellence is a campaign to raise $5 million for each of the next two years. The proceeds will go towards enhancing the opportunities we offer to students to attend Tougaloo College. We have developed a prospect list of individuals, businesses, firms, foundations, trustees and alumni who we will ask to commit to contribute at least $10,000 each year to this two year targeted campaign. We are working hard and smart, untiringly to transform our campus through the restoration of our historic properties and the construction of a new academic buildings to accommodate our growth, to establish a student and faculty development fund that will enable us to recruit and retain qualified students and faculty, to strengthen our library holdings, to stay current with leading edge technology and to build a lasting endowment. But all of that pales in comparison to being able to provide students what they need to enroll and graduate and what our faculty need to create and maintain an exciting and challenging learning environment to achieve the outcomes of responsible citizenship and prepared leadership that our global society requires.

I hope you will consider supporting our campaign. This campaign is one of the most important initiatives we have undertaken at Tougaloo College, and I am giving it my primary attention. Your support will help ensure the legacy and future of Tougaloo College.

Beverly W. Hogan President

To give today,click here.