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The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925 ™ e MAROO Morehouse College • Atlanta, GA April 4 -10, 2012 Volume LXXXVI, issue 19 Speakers for 2012 Baccalaureate and Commencement Announced Journalism Program to Host ESPN sponsored HOUSEsports Weekend WANT TO TALK SPORTS'? TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE! Lance Dixon Managing Editor ldixon2012@gmail.com I t’s been a while since you’ve probably heard about a big event from the Journalism and Sports Program. Well, the wait will be over soon. ESPN sports columnists JA Adande and Jemele Hill, Morehouse’s most celebrated athletic alum nus Edwin Moses, and former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Reeves will all be making their way to our campus this month - why? They’re coming to par ticipate in “ESPN Presents HOUSEsports Weekend,” a three-day sports conference from April 12-14 at Sale Hall. It was conceived and orga nized by journalism program director Ron Thomas, along with Morehouse students Devin Emory and John Smith, the co-founders of the student organization HOUSEsports. The conference is totally funded by ESPN, and all workshops are free and open to the public. Founded in 2007 through the efforts of alumnus Spike Lee ’79 and the late ESPN col umnist Ralph Wiley, the jour nalism and sports program has been able to make great strides in a short amount of time. The program officially became a minor in 2010, three years after its inception, and has become a part of the aca demic culture. It has brought numerous guests to the school such as ESPN’s Michael Wilbon, CNN and ESPN’s LZ Grand- erson, Olympics track legend Tommie Smith, along with other notable figures in the sports and journalism worlds. Those have included Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Les Payne and Wash ington Post national editor Kevin Merida. But, HOUSEsports Week end is the journalism pro gram’s largest and most con centrated effort. “I’ve never done anything this big. We’ve never put six workshops and a dinner into essentially two days,” Thomas said. The weekend of events be gins on Thursday and features a watch party of a Miami Heat-Chicago Bulls game at the Microsoft Store in Lenox Square Mall. At the party, stu dents can participate in an Xbox 360 contest, snack on good food and write columns on the game to be judged by Hill and Adande. Hill noted that her participation in this event stems from her expe rience with mentors who helped her achieve success. “I had phenomenal men tors and I’ll never forget the things they taught me...I’ve always felt a responsibility to give back,” Hill said. “I believe in the idea that it’s really im portant for people that have ‘made it’ to maintain a rela- tionship with those that aspire to be in this industry.” A major goal for the week end is not only to focus on ca reers in journalism but to also provide insight into many op portunities afforded to people who have an interest in sports. Sessions include discussions about entering the world of being a sports agent, athletic director or general manager, and international sports ca reers including sports tourism and sports economy. “I think the most important thing is students getting a lot of knowledge about sports,” Thomas said. “The variety of panelists is international ... you can’t find that elsewhere. I hope [the weekend] opens some students’ minds to the wealth of opportunities in the sports world.” This is a sentiment that Hill also shares, and hopes to ex press to students. “Working at ESPN can be a goal, but it shouldn’t be a ca reer goal,” Hill said. “I’d like to see more young journalists focus on honing their craft, instead of worrying about be ing on TV’ Beyond the workshops and talks on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, there are other fun events in the works. A pow der-puff football game and pool party for students will precede the most formal event in the conference: a closing dinner and tribute to multiple prolific figures. This dinner will be hosted by NBA TV’s Rashan Ali and will honor New York Times columnist Bill Rhoden, the author of “Forty Million Dol lar Slaves,” as journalist of the year. This event is invi tation only, and will culmi nate a weekend of events that aims to raise money for both HOUSEsports and the jour nalism program; a program that both Thomas and Hill consider vital to the future of sports journalism. “The conference fits with the program’s initial mission,” Thomas said. “The percent of black sports reporters on newspaper staffs is 6 percent and black people only make up 7 percent of front office staffs in pro sports.” This figure is a troubling one, but has shown slight im provement; improvement that this conference hopes to pro vide a springboard towards. “When I was at the Orlando Sentinel [in 2005] I was the only black female sports col umnist in America,” Hill said. “While I see more women of color in sports, it’s been slow, incremental progress.” Tre’vell Anderson Campus News Editor anderson.trevell@yahoo.com I t is often said that when a Morehouse Man is empow ered, so is the world. This will be the case on May 20 when the class of 2012 becomes Morehouse Men and receive their final words and em powerment as a class from S. Truett Cathy, Dr. Elaine Tuttle Hansen, and Tom Joyner. Each speaker will give a separate charge to the new Morehouse Men based upon their years of experience in their various fields at the Commencement ceremo nies on Century Campus at 8 a.m. Cathy is the founder and chairman of Chick-fil-A, Inc. and a close friend of the College. Hansen serves as ex ecutive director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth and presi dent emerita of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Joyner is the host of the nationally acclaimed “Tom Joyner Morning Show” and founder of both REACH Me dia, Inc. and the Tom Joyner Foundation. After their words of encouragement, each pre senter will be presented with honorary degrees of the Col lege. The tenth president of Morehouse College, Dr. Rob ert M. Franklin ‘75, will be the main commencement speaker as he graduates his final class of Morehouse Men. At the end of the academic year, Franklin is slated to step down as presi dent, provided the board of trustees has found a replace ment. The class of 2012 will also receive a stirring message from Rev. A1 Sharpton at 3 p.m. on May 19 at their bac calaureate service, which will be held in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Cha pel on Morehouse’s campus. Though Sharpton has spoken at Morehouse before, this will be his first time operating in such a capacity. Guests are encouraged to arrive at both events early due to limited seating and antici pated crowds. r ^ WHAT’S HAPPENING ON CAMPUS? Q H ff 4 ^ — 6 j| §*|| n April 2-6 Academic Advisement Week April 6 Good Friday, School Dosed April 9-12 27th Annual Martin 1 uther King Jr. College of Ministers & Laity, King Chapel April 9 Web Registration Opens for Fall 2012 April 20 Miss Maroon and White Pageant- King Chapel, 8 p.m. April 21 Spelman & Morehouse Freshman Step Show, Forbes Arena, 7 p.m. April 26 Senior Crown Forum May 2 !. ast Day of Classes May 7-1 1 Final Exams, See Exam Schedule May 14-20 Senior Week May i9 201/ Baccalaureate King Chapel, 3 p.m May 20 2012 C ornmencement, Century Campus. 8 a.m. To have /our event placed here, email all information to anderson.trevel!@ yahoo.com by Saturday to have it printed in the following week's issue. L ^ inside track News 1 World & Local 3 Business & Tech 4 Features 6 Opinions 8 A&E 10 Sports 12 HOUSESports Weekend Schedule AUC Underdog Best Hip-Hop Labels Part 2 _ p. 2 p. 7 p. 11 on the web % www. them aro outi ge r.co m www. twitter, corn/1 hema roon t i ger Saturday {jf Recycle The Maroon Tiger