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Lifestlyes/Entertainment
May 1, 1993
Black College Round-Up
Clark Atlanta Student, T.W. Williams has his own promotions company and is making strides in the entertainment industry.
Rapper Def Jeff performing at last year's Black College
Round-Up Tour.
By Chandra R. Thomas
Lifestyles/Entertainment Editor
T.W. Williams said he has
got a tour worth seeing.
As President, founder, and
promoter for the 1993 “Black
College Round-Up Tour”
1993, Williams is busy mak
ing the final preparations for
his tour that will begin June
1 in Sacramento, Calif, and
wrap up in the Virgin Islands
in mid-August.
This year’s round-up in
cludes rappers Yo-Yo, Too
Short, and The Gov., along
with other local acts. Will
iams also hopes to include
groups SWV, Supercat, and
The Pharcyde.
He describes it as “a trav
elling soul train” and essen
tially a “party on wheels” cre
ated by Atlanta University
Center students.
According to Williams, a
California native, the whole
concept was bom last sum
mer when he met with other
AUC students from Califor
nia. The group decided to
throw a party to add a little
excitement to the long, bor
ing summer, “We all just met
up over the summer to net
work and to get to know each
other better. Then one thing
led to another," he said.
The party was a success,
so they threw another. Soon
they were throwing parties
regularly. “There was not
much going on during the
summer. A lot of the college
students were bored. So we
began throwing parties al
most every week. We just
got the sororities and frater
nities involved,” he said.
With radio advertisement
and flyers, bought with Wil
liams’ personal savings, the
parties drew larger crowds
and became the social
events of the summer.
Motivated by the success
of the parties in Sacramento
he began moving the par
ties to San Diego and Oak
land. Eventually local rap
pers began contacting Will
iams about performing for the
parties, thus began his ex
pansion.
Williams described the
black college market as
“boomin;” and said his goal
is to increase the visibility of
black colleges. “People don't
know the benefits of attend
ing a black college. It’s an
environment where everyone
is generally concerned about
you. It’s seeing successful
people that look like you,” he
said.
Produced by his own com
pany Tecnicolor Produc
tions, Williams plans to make
the tour an annual affair.
He said he is avidly looking
for more student participa
tion, particularly in the ar
eas of public relations, mar
keting, promotions, and tal
ent.
The tour is presently be
ing sponsored by the Cross
Colours clothing line and a
percentage of the proceeds
will be donated to the United
Negro College Fund.
By Luqman Farid
Staff Writer
The Pan Hellenic Council
of Clark Atlanta University
serves as a mediator for the
eight national African-
American Greek letter orga
nizations.
The council was created
to act as a governing body
for these organizations and
act as a medium for collec
tive service.
The organizations that
form the council include
eight fraternities and sorori
ties; Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa
Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma
and Omega Psi Phi repre
sent the fraternities and the
sororities Alpha Kappa Al
pha, Delta Sigma Theta,
Sigma Gamma Rho and Zeta
Phi Beta.
Each organization rotates
its position on the executive
board yearly.
“It gives us a chance to
collectively work in the com
munity and make a stronger
impact,” Roderick West, rep
resentative of Phi Beta Sigma
and Pan Hellenic committee
chair of Social Action.
This year, the Council
sponsored a Greek Sympo
sium for the students and a
Halloween party for the fami
lies in the surrounding com
munity.
The Emmaus House, a
local community children’s
center which had a day of
activities that Pan Hellenic
attended, is a project that
one of the members believed
had a lasting effect on the
community.
“I feel our most significant
work was done at the
Emmaus House, “ Derrick
E. Getter, representative of
Alpha Phi Alpha and presi
dent of CAU’s Pan Hellenic
Council, said. “One of the
kids who was at the event
took one of my Alpha broth
ers on as a big brother,” he
added.
However, Keidra Taylor,
representative of Alpha
Kappa Alpha and ,the Pan
Hellenic treasurer, said the
Halloween party had a great
impact on her.
“Some of the children
wanted us to become their
big sisters and showed in
terest in coming to CAU,”
she said.
The Council is now con
centrating on community
service, Getter said. “Right
now we’re going to concen
trate on the community and
the campus,” he said.
“Maybe we will work on a
step show next semester, but
right now we’re just trying to
establish a foundation.”
He added that the council
is trying to achieve the sta
tus it once had. “We lost a
lot of notoriety in the past
couple of years due to lack of
leadership in the organiza
tion,,” he explained.
The Council has had some
run-ins with administration,
as well as internal problems.
Getter explained that the
process of requisitioning
space in the University is
discouraging and the stipu
lation on painting the blocks
on campus is another deter
rent.
“I believe that some of the
negative press that some Greek
letter organizations brought'
to the campus is why we fell
from grace with administra
tion,” Getter added.
Pan Hellenic’s social action
committee is dying to reverse
some of that negative press with
a booklet that describes each
organization and what they do..
“People need to know what
we’re about. That’s the only
way we’re going to receive the
respect we want." West said.
From the director of “New Jack City