Golden Jubilee Alumni Choir to Perform March 3

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UVI's Reichhold Center for the Arts celebrates the University's 50th Anniversary with a performance by the UVI Golden Jubilee Alumni Choir at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 3, 2012.
Dedicated to the late Dr. Arthur A. Richards, UVI’s second president, the evening will feature the voices of more than 100 UVI alumni from the Virgin Islands, wider Caribbean and United States. Choir members include some of the top vocalists in the community, including Lorna Freeman, Lawrence Benjamin, Rev. Ambrose Gumbs, and many more. Music will be provided by the Louis Taylor trio, the UVI Steel Pan Orchestra and string musicians from Puerto Rico. Selections include gospel, classical, and Caribbean music. The choir will be directed by Dr. Gloria Quinlan. Monet Davis will be the accompanist.
Call the Reichhold Center box office at (340) 693-1559 to order tickets. Purchase online at http://www.reichholdcenter.com/.

Ticket outlets: Urban Threadz, VI Bridal and Tuxedo, Home Again, Essentric Shoe Boutique, Dockside Books, and the UVI Bookstore.

View a Golden Jubilee Charter Month Poster

 
See a detailed Golden Jubilee events calendar at this link: http://www.uvi.edu/sites/uvi/Pages/About_UVI-golden_jubilee.aspx?s=CS

Kidjo Performs at Reichhold Center Feb. 25

Angelique Kidjo, one of the greatest forces in World music, will perform at UVI’s Reichhold Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25. A native of Benin, Kidjo's music is steeped in the tribal and pop rhythms of her West African heritage. Her earthy voice spans musical boundaries, blending funk, salsa, jazz, rumba, makossa and souk. She has 11 albums to her name. More information and tickets are available from the Reichhold Center website – http://www.reichholdcenter.com/.

Innovative Awards UVICELL $26,000 for Territorial SAT Prep Program

UVI’s Dionne V. Jackson, left, and Ilene Garner, right,
accept a check from Innovative’s Jennifer Matarangas-King.

Ky’Jahna Gerard and De’Moi Lettsome
are participants in SAT Prep Course.

Innovative presented a $26,600 check to the University of the Virgin Islands - Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning Center (UVICELL) on Feb. 14, 2012, to fund the Innovative SAT Prep Program. The program provides 40 public high school students in the U.S. Virgin Islands with instruction and materials to prepare them for the SAT Test, which is used for college admission.

“We are extremely delighted that Innovative has once again sponsored the SAT Prep Program,” said UVICELL Director, Ilene Garner.

Now in its eighth year, the three-year program assists college bound students who want to improve their SAT scores. The program is unique in that it tracks the progress of students from their freshman through senior years.  Using a variety of educational tools and mock exams, the program assists students in reducing testing anxiety, building confidence and improving their test-taking ability. The program boasts an average increase in overall scores of about 10 percent each year. 

“Innovative is committed to education, literacy and programs that augment our educational system,” said Innovative Vice President for Public Relations and Governmental Affairs Jennifer Matarangas-King. “We are very proud that we have been able to fund such a successful program. We are pleased that over 300 students have participated in the initiative over the last seven years.”

Once basic requirements are met, students can enroll in the course at no charge.   The next series of courses will begin on March 10, 2012, however interested students must register by Friday, Feb. 17, 2012 to be considered for the program. 

Applications are available http://cell.uvi.edu or from each public high school’s Guidance Counselor.

CES Marking 40th Anniversary During Agrifest 2012

Official 2012 Poster

The 2012 edition of the Agriculture and Food Fair of the U.S. Virgin Islands - Agrifest - takes place from Feb. 18 to 20, on the grounds of the Rudolph Shulterbrandt Agricultural Complex in Estate Lower Love on St. Croix. Agrifest is sponsored by the V.I. Department of Agriculture, the University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service – which is marking its 40th anniversary – and the V.I. Department of Tourism. More information, contest details and entertainment schedules are available from the 2012 V.I. Agrifest website - http://www.viagrifest.org/.

MAN UP, Real Men Talking Reach out to V.I. Youth

Actors, from left Roderick Slocum, Josef Mitchell, Anthony Heard, Mark Simmons and Kamal Bostic Smith presented the multi-media stage play Real Men Talking for four different audiences at Man Up male empowerment conferences held at UVI on St. Croix and St. Thomas this week.

For the second consecutive year thousands of grade school and high school age youg men converged on UVI's campuses for MAN UP male empowerment conferences held on Feb. 7, on St. Croix, and Feb. 9, on St. Thomas. An addition to this year's youth-oriented programs, evening conferences were held in both locations for adult men and community members.

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MAN UP St. Croix

The main attraction for MAN UP 2012 was the multi-media stage play Real Men Talking, featuring a cast of professional actors - five African American men spending an evening talking and arguing and sometimes celebrating the challenges, fears and struggles they face on the path to becoming real men. The show was directed by Flemuel Brown III, who co-wrote the production with executive producer Marlon Smith.


MAN UP St. Croix

The conferences were followed, on Feb. 8 and 10, with "Living With Purpose" professional development training sessions for community leaders, parents, mentors and others working directly with young people in the community.

MAN UP St. Thomas

16 Join Brothers With A Cause on St. Thomas

BWC members take the “Manhood Pledge” at the installation ceremony. Click to enlarge.

On UVI’s St. Thomas campus, 16 male students took the “Manhood Pledge” as they were installed into the University’s Male Initiative Brothers With A Cause (BWC), on Feb. 3, 2012. With chapters on both campuses, BWC’s goal is to attract more male students to the University and provide tools and support to help them graduate.

President Hall pins BWC
member Heath George.

Basil C. Ottley, Jr. of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs was the keynote speaker. Ottley’s message chronicled his struggles with his post-secondary education. After graduating as salutatorian from Antilles School in 1984, he received a full-scholarship to an institution on the U.S. mainland, where as a Black man, he was confronted with challenges that had nothing to do with scholarship, he said.  No one understood his struggle, he said, noting that BWC members should never experience that feeling of isolation.

“You here are developing a fellowship of brotherhood,” he said. Ottley’s driving point was encouraging the young men not to pick up unnecessary baggage which he described as drug use, criminal activity and unintentionally becoming fathers. “The more baggage you pick up along the way, the more difficult it becomes to carry and it strikes out possibilities and options,” he said. Ottley told the young men to make the best possible choices.

Speaker Basil Ottley, Jr.

“Choices along the way can severely limit your opportunities that you may not be aware of today.” He ended with a passage by Virgin Islander Hubert Harrison, a writer, educator and political activist who is said to be a founder of the Harlem Renaissance.

In his remarks UVI President Dr. David Hall said that bright, strong and committed young men will make a difference in the territory. “What you are embracing is a commitment to leadership, a commitment to service and a commitment to do your best,” Dr. Hall told the young men.

VI Senate President Ronald Russell also offered remarks.