Garden City, N.Y. -  The Adelphi University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is excited to announce the date of its 23rd annual Black History Month Celebration, which will take place on Thursday, February 6, 2025 starting at 6:00 p.m. inside the Performing Arts Center Concert Hall.

Headlining this year's event as guests will be former men's soccer player Issa Tall '13 and men's basketball alum William Ampofo '96. 

Tall was named General Manager of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew this past June. As the Black & Gold's Chief Soccer Officer, he oversees all the Club's immediate and long-term sporting strategies from the First Team through the Academy, including player personnel, scouting, analytics, player performance and medical, and soccer operations and administration. Under his leadership in 2024, the Crew won their first Leagues Cup championship and finished the MLS regular season with a franchise-record 66 points (19-6-9). 
 
Since joining the Crew as Assistant General Manager of Player Personnel & Strategy in 2019, Tall has been pivotal to the team's personnel decisions and roster planning that resulted in two MLS Cup titles (2020, 2023) and a 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Final berth. Additionally, he has been instrumental in ensuring Crew players, coaches, technical staff and their family members have top-notch resources and amenities to succeed on and off the pitch, particularly with his direction to establish the OhioHealth Performance Center in June 2021.
 
A native of Mulhouse, France, Tall graduated from Adelphi, where he made 41 appearances and posted 24 goals from 2009-2011 before working as an assistant coach for the Panthers. In his career with the 'Cats, he was a two-time Atlantic Soccer Conference Champion, and Player of the Year in his first season. He went on to work for Major League Soccer Headquarters, Toronto FC and FIFA Headquarters before starting with the Crew.

Ampofo currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Parts & Distribution Business and Supply Chain for Boeing Global Services. He has been at Boeing for nearly nine years, and has more than 30 years experience in the aerospace industry. As leader of the Global Services Supply Chain function, a division with operations in over 70 countries and more than 300 locations around the world, he manages all aspects of the supply chain function, including distribution and component and engine maintenance, repair and overhaul, and is responsible for delivering high-quality, efficient and repeatable service offerings to the end customer.

Ampofo has a bachelor's degree in finance from Adelphi University and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University. A four-year member of the men's basketball program (1992-96), the Panthers went 74-45 overall and his junior season kickstarted a nine-year run to the NCAA tournament.
 
The conversation will take place on Adelphi's Garden City campus and be streamed live here for those who cannot attend. 

For more information, please contact John Curto at jcurto@adelphi.edu or (516) 877-4241. To register, click here.