By Tonya Dixon / 03/04/2022

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 4, 2022) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will welcome business mogul and NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson to the Chancellor’s Speaker Series, “Building Black Businesses,” Tuesday, March 29, at 6 p.m. Johnson will deliver a tailored keynote address to a captivated audience of students and community members in Harrison Auditorium, located on the university’s campus.

This event comes on the heels of the “Building Black Wealth” speaker series, which featured financial expert Mellody Hobson. Both conversations bolster the university’s continued goal of cultivating an intellectual climate and offering a platform for creative exchange of ideas. “Building Black Businesses” is an opportunity for participants to gain foundational principles and glean from Johnson’s lived experiences as a leading businessman.

Having left the basketball court for the boardroom, Johnson has successfully parlayed his skills and tenacity from the court into the business world as chairman and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises (MJE). MJE provides high-quality products and services that focus primarily on ethnically diverse and underserved urban communities.

Still a commanding presence in popular culture, Johnson made history in 2012 when he became co-owner of MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers. He also co-owns the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club, and eSports franchise Team Liquid. He continues to expand his influence through his many businesses that include EquiTrust Life Insurance Co. and SodexoMAGIC, a food service and facilities management company.

The Lansing, Michigan, native is constantly evolving and remaining relevant in a dynamic digital age by broadening his scope into infrastructure improvement in the United States and technology. He is one of the leading investors in several minority-owned technology companies that include Uncharted Power, a power and data infrastructure technology company; Jopwell, a diversity and hiring recruiting platform; and ShotTracker, a company that makes wearable technology for basketball players that helps track player and ball movement.

In 2021, Johnson was appointed to the board of directors for Fanatics, a sports licensing company, and Cameo, a company that lets celebrities sell personalized messages to fans. With his unique positioning as a businessman spanning multiple industries and generations, he aims to help companies expand and foster a positive impact domestically and globally.

The speaker series event is open to the public. Free tickets will be available beginning March 15 at the University Ticket Office located in Brown Hall.

Media inquiries should be sent to Jackie Torok, university director of media relations, at jtorok@ncat.edu.

Media Contact Information: tddixon1@ncat.edu

By Jackie Torok / 07/31/2021 Athletics

Next up for Stewart is round 1 of the men’s 4×400-meter relay, where he will be joined by U.S. Olympic and Aggie teammate Randolph Ross Jr. on Friday, Aug. 6.North Carolina Technical and State University’s Trevor Stewart has secured a bronze medal for the United States in the Olympics’ inaugural mixed 4×400-meter relay in Tokyo, becoming the first Aggie in nearly 30 years to compete in the Summer Games.

Stewart, 24, of Lorton, Virginia, is also the first historically Black college or university student to medal in the 2020 Olympics. He led off for a team that included Kendall Ellis, Vernon Norwood and Kaylin Whitney. Together, they ran a 3:10.22 behind the goal medalists for Poland and finishing .01 behind the silver medalists for the Dominican Republic.

Next up for Stewart is round 1 of the men’s 4×400-meter relay, where he will be joined by U.S. Olympic and Aggie teammate Randolph Ross Jr. on Friday, Aug. 6. Randolph Ross Jr.

Stewart finished fourth in the 400-meter Olympic trial race with a time of 44.90 on July 27 in Eugene, Oregon, to earn his place on the U.S. track and field team. Ross Jr., 20, of Raleigh, North Carolina, finished third in that event with a time of 44.74.

With the top finishers in the Olympic trials moving on to represent Team USA, Stewart and Ross Jr. joined World Champion Michael Norman (44.07) and three-time World Champion silver medalist Michael Cherry (44.35).

Ross posted a 45.67 in his first Olympic event in Tokyo, but Norman (45.35) and Cherry (44.82) advanced to the 400-meter semifinals after the open race in six heats on Sunday, Aug. 1.

“It’s a special class that you’re in when you can say you’re an Olympian,” said Duane Ross, father of Ross Jr. who has coached North Carolina A&T’s track and field teams since 2012.

Ross knows firsthand – he competed in the 110-meter hurdles in 2004 when the Olympics were held in Athens. He also won a bronze medal at the world championships the previous year.

Both Stewart and Ross Jr. headed to Tokyo as NCAA champions.

Ross Jr. won the men’s 400-meter title at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships where he ran the world’s fastest time – 43.85 – and the second-fastest ever for the NCAA race to win the Aggies’ first national championship in an outdoor event. He is the third-fastest 400-meter runner in NCAA history.

Likewise, Stewart has had a stellar athletic career that includes a second-place finish in the 400-meter race at the 2019 NCAA championships.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA’s 2020 outdoor season was canceled and the 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed a year.

But that did not stop Stewart and Ross Jr., who along with Akeem Sirleaf and Daniel Stokes, captured the 4×400-meter relay NCAA national championship in June with a time of 3:00.92 for the Aggies.

The last Aggies to compete in the Olympics were Troy Douglas and Ruth Morris for the games held in Barcelona in 1992.

Media Contact Information: jtorok@ncat.edu

By: Lydian Bernhardt / 03/10/2021 Alumni, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University alumnus Michael S. Regan ’98, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and an alumnus of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, was confirmed today in a historic Senate vote as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The earth and environmental sciences graduate becomes the first Black man and first alumnus of a historically black college or university to lead the agency.

During his tenure as the North Carolina’s top environmental official, Regan, 44, led a landmark multi-billion dollar coal ash cleanup by Duke Energy. He also worked with a largely Republican General Assembly on such projects as extending the power grid to rural communities and rebuilding the state’s eastern agricultural operations in the wake of several devastating hurricanes. Under his leadership, the DEQ also levied a $13-million fine against Chemours Co. for allowing the chemical GenX into the Cape Fear River.

https://www.ncat.edu/news/2021/03/regan-confirmation.php

https://www.ncat.edu/news/2020/12/pope-accounting-women.php

By Jackie Torok / 12/18/2020 Alumni, College of Business and Economics

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University alumna Kelly Richmond Pope, Ph.D., has been named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting for 2020 by The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and CPA Practice Advisor.

Her research led her in 2017 to direct and produce the award-winning documentary “All the Queen’s Horses,” which explored the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history and screened on Netflix. It premiered as the No. 1 on-demand documentary on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play and DirecTV when it debuted on those platforms in April 2018. She also delivered a TED Talk, “How whistle-blowers shape history,” in 2018.

Pope received her B.S. in accounting from N.C. A&T in 1996 before earning her Master of Accountancy in 1997 and doctoral degree in accounting in 2001 from Virginia Tech. She is an associate professor in the School of Accountancy and Management Information Systems at DePaul University in Chicago, where she teaches managerial and forensic accounting

The money is a gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, a novelist and former spouse of Jeff Bezos, founder of online retailer Amazon, who announced more than $4.15 billion in donations Tuesday to 384 organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Scott listed the recipients of that money Tuesday and her reasons for selecting those organizations in a post on Medium.com.

https://greensboro.com/news/local/education/n-c-a-t-receives-45-million-donation-the-largest-in-university-history/article_72e580f8-3f25-11eb-9904-9b2b51e29538.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

Due to practicing social distancing our March meeting is cancelled. Our leadership and the Scholarship & Recruitment team will be meeting online on this date to discuss, review and vote on the current scholarships received.

Our chapter leadership has discussed conducting meetings online and we will be evaluating the following meetings on a case by case basis

As of now March meeting is cancelled. April’s meeting is being considered to be hosted via online (Google hangouts, handshake, etc..)
If there are any questions please let us know

The Capital Campaign Event on 3/21/20 has been cancelled due to
COVID-19. We will reschedule at a later date. 

For any questions or concerns, please contact the N.C. Office of Alumni
Relations at alumni@ncat.edu or
call 336-433-5570.    

Show your Aggie Pride in person for our 1st of the year meeting. See email for address in Union, KY, this Saturday st 6PM. There’s so much to get excited about.

We hope to see you there!