Feb. 22, 2010

Garden City, N.Y. - Photo Gallery

On Saturday, February 13, Adelphi University hosted its 8th annual Black History Month Celebration in the Campbell Lounge of the Center for Recreation & Sports. Approximately 100 students, alumni, faculty and staff were on hand to listen to great guest speakers and be entertained by LS JazzSounds.

Suzette McQueen, Assistant AD and Senior Woman Administrator, opened the program, followed by a message from President Robert Scott. After a brief invocation, the guests saw a memorial video of Cecil K. Watkins, followed by an announcement of a memorial scholarship award, funded by the Panther Club in his name. The first two recipients were Amy Williams '10 and Norron McDonald '12, two student-athletes that embody what was most important to Mr. Watkins, which was scholarship and community service.

Mr. Lawrence Smith'74 made a grand entrance before providing a brief history of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. as the first African-American Greek organization on campus. As a performing arts major, he also gave some background on being a pioneer at Adelphi in a department that was not that diverse in the 1970's.

The keynote speaker of the program, Mr. Rudy Keeling, told the crowd of his road to success which began in the streets of Harlem, before taking him to Indiana, Illinois, Vermont and Maine.

Finally, the guests were treated to a musical set by LS JazzSounds which included a solo by Mr. Smith.

It was a day celebrating pioneers, from Cecil Watkins and his quest to use sports in the innercity to bridge the gap, to Mr. Smith on the stage and Mr. Keeling at the helm of the largest conference in the country. All in all, it was a wonderful event.