North Carolina Central University News Thursday, September 16, 2010 Centennial Scholars Program to Receive Grant from the Lumina Foundation North Carolina Central University and five other prestigious institutions each have been awarded $20,000 grants from the Lumina Foundation to participate in Lumina's Institutional Excellence for Black Male Student Success project. North Carolina Central University will use the grant to support its Centennial Scholars Program, an initiative designed to increase the retention and graduation rates of African-American male students. Centennial Scholars is a comprehensive living-learning community whose goal is to produce skilled, knowledgeable African-American male citizens who understand the importance of academic readiness and community responsibility and can contribute to their own and society's economic and social well-being, program officials said. The cohort program is intended to provide support and enrichment to selected incoming freshmen as they advance through their studies at NCCU. It was established in 2009 under the leadership of Dr. Kevin D. Rome, vice chancellor of student affairs and enrollment management. Rome has set high expectations for NCCU's program. "My goal is to have African-American males who can hold their own against any males coming from anywhere in the world," he said in a recent interview. The Lumina program is a two-year initiative aimed at improving the persistence, engagement and outcomes of black undergraduate men on their campuses. Other campuses that received the award include Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Illinois at Chicago and UCLA. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/meeting-form.html for the October 24-26, 2010 HBCU Library Alliance 4th Membership Meeting and the "Conference on Advocacy" pre-conference in Montgomery, AL. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.