Livingstone College

  Livingstone College observed the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in the way it was intended: A Day of Service. The college fed homeless individuals of Rowan County at the Salisbury Civic Center on Friday, providing hot meals, toiletries and conversation. The college gave away 41 packaged lunch boxes of turkey and cheddar sandwiches, roast beef and Swiss sandwiches, cookies, chips, fruit and water. They also served homemade chicken noodle soup with crackers. Each person also received a bag filled with hand sanitizer, toothbrushes, tooth paste and other personal hygiene items. The N.C. Counts Coalition, a nonprofit organization, were on hand distributing bags filled with hats, gloves, hand warmers and COVID-19 tests. Livingstone College Culinary Arts students, under the leadership of chefs Elizabeth Marquez and Carl Brown, prepared and packaged the meals and served them from the college’s impressive and branded 53-foot mobile food unit. The event was in partnership with the Salisbury Police Department’s victims/homeless program, in which Dennis Rivers is the program liaison. “We reached people, but the goal is to reach more,” Rivers said. “We made an impact because if we feed one, that’s one less hungry person. We will continue to collaborate with Livingstone College and Rowan Helping Ministries to tackle homelessness.” Social work majors, student leadership, football players, faculty and staff joined Livingstone President Dr. Anthony J. Davis throughout the two-hour event. “Everybody can be great – because anybody can serve,” said Livingstone President Dr. Anthony J. Davis, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Today …

Livingstone College welcomes Mr. Anthony Brooks as vice president of enrollment management, and Mr. Robert E. Bedford as dean of students/housing and residence life. Brooks returns to Livingstone College after 17 years, when he served as assistant vice president for enrollment management and strategic planning from 2001-2005. He has more than 25 years of higher education experience, having most previously worked with Atrium Health’s Carolinas College of Health Sciences in Charlotte as dean of student affairs and enrollment management. Brooks’ higher education experience spans across historically black institutions within and outside of North Carolina, including N.C. Central University in Durham, Saint Augustine’s and Shaw University in Raleigh, and Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC, where he broke enrollment records at each institution. Additionally, he has served as a consultant and executive recruiter in higher education. Brooks received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from N.C. Central University and earned his Master of Business Administration degree in management and marketing from Claflin University. In his free time, Brooks enjoys traveling, reading and all aspects of fashion including shopping for others. One could typically find him relaxing on the couch reading a Ralph Lauren fashion book or other fashion magazines, he said. He and his wife, Sherri, have one son, Christian. Bedford Bedford has a dual master’s degree in counseling psychology/student development in higher education. Among his accolades are former Administrator of the Year at Northeastern Illinois University; Alpha Man of the Year of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; and …

Livingstone College has added another distinguished member to its family of honorary degree recipients. Wells Fargo’s Georgette “Gigi” Dixon received an honorary doctorate degree from the historic black college in Salisbury on Dec. 9 during Livingstone’s ninth annual December Conferral of Degrees. Livingstone President Dr. Anthony J. Davis, by authority of the college’s Board of Trustees, conferred upon Dixon the honorary doctorate degree in humane letters, following her commencement address to the graduating seniors. Dixon serves as executive vice president and head of External Engagement for Diverse Segments, Representation and Inclusion for Wells Fargo. She received the honorary doctorate for her work with the company and as a champion for diversity, equity and inclusion. She is also a member of the national NAACP Board of Directors; vice chair for the NAACP Foundation; vice chairman of the U.S. Black Chambers Inc.; a corporate advisory board member of UnidosUS; a trustee of the Trust for the National Mall; a member of the Rainbow Push/Coalition Board of Directors; and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. “This has been a very emotional and moving day for me and my family,” Dixon said. “Never would I have thought that I would receive this honor.” She thanked Davis for the invite and the honor as she mentioned how proud her mother would be if she were alive to witness this because she believed education was the great equalizer. Dixon spoke to the graduating class about resiliency, relevancy and readiness – three branding points of …

One arrest has been made in the shooting incident that occurred on the campus of Livingstone College and more arrests could be forthcoming. Capt. P.J. Smith of the Salisbury Police Department announced Tuesday that Talib Latrell Kelly, 21, of Salisbury, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, discharging a firearm on educational property and possession of a firearm by felon. The alleged shooter is also a victim and remains at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte. Kelly is not a Livingstone College student. The Salisbury Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in this ongoing investigation. Anyone with videos of the shooting incident is urged to send them to Salisbury Police. Send videos as a private message to the Salisbury Police Department’s Facebook page; email them to the Rowan Regional Crime Information Center at rrcic@salisburync.gov; or call the criminal investigation division at (704) 216-5262. You do not have to reveal your identity. Livingstone College’s 13th President Dr. Anthony J. Davis spoke at the historic press conference along with Mayor Karen Alexander. This is the first time in recent history, if ever, that Livingstone College has held a joint press conference with the Salisbury Police Department. “I want to thank all of you who are standing with the ‘Stone – Livingstone Stone,” said Davis, naming Salisbury Mayor Alexander and the city of Salisbury, the first responders, law enforcement agencies, and Catawba President Dr. David Nelson, who had to deal with an act of violence on his campus this past …

The ‘Empire’ actor is taking his honorary degree seriously In May of this year, “Empire” actor and director and serial entrepreneur Dr. Malik Yoba was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Livingstone College for his work in real estate development, education and community capacity building. During the ceremony, Yoba committed to partnering with Livingstone College to continue to help equip students with the resources they need to be successful in life, particularly in the areas of entrepreneurship and real estate development education. One way he’s honoring that commitment is through his company, Yoba Development. Yoba Development has partnered with Charlotte based, Libra Management Group, and its CEO Stacey Mollison, a real estate investor/developer and Prime contractor for Amazon, to offer jobs to current and former Livingstone College students as Amazon delivery associates/delivery drivers. Yoba Development and Libra Management Group will host a career fair at Livingstone College on Sept. 27 from noon to 4 p.m. to provide students with jobs and internship opportunities. “I started my real estate development company, Yoba Development, in 2017 with a mission to not only make money but to build people, places and things in that order. For us, young people and our disenfranchised community are always at the center of our work in development and building human capacity by providing education and access to the process for not only how cities and towns are built, but also how businesses are built,” Yoba said when asked about the partnership. Commercial real estate is …