Howard University News April 5 , 2011 Howard Signs Memorandum with University of Pretoria, KHI Howard University signed a Memorandum Understanding (MOU) with the University of Pretoria (UP) and the Kara Heritage Institute (KHI), in South Africa to collaborate in promoting community engagement through raising awareness, effective training, and scholarly research. The three parties will work together in applying for research and development funding from national governments, research support institutions and other organizations to fund initiatives such as research chairs or centers of excellence. Howard University has had an enduring relationship with South Africa. "We will continue to engage in the exchange of faculty and students through HURSAP and other projects, to foster scholarly and interdisciplinary research with South African institutions to address their economic and social development needs in Youth and Family "We will continue to engage in the exchange of faculty and students through HURSAP and other projects , to foster scholarly and interdisciplinary research with South African institutions to address their economic and social development needs in Youth and Family Development, Inclusive Education, Information Technology, South African Archival Research, Public History, and Chemical Sciences," said Jean Bailey, Ph.D., graduate professor of Human Development. Howard University has also been selected to coordinate the Centennial Celebration of the African National Congress in 2012. The African National Congress (ANC) - the South African national liberation movement that led the struggle against racism and oppression in organizing mass resistance, mobilizing the international community, and taking up the armed struggle against apartheid will celebrate its 100-year anniversary at sites across South Africa, the United States and other countries in the African Diaspora. Howard, as the premier institution in studies of the African Diaspora, will coordinate the celebration of the ANC in the United States in collaboration with the Embassy of South Africa. The Howard University Republic of South Africa Project (HURSAP) will direct these efforts under the leadership of Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Department of History, Joseph Harris, Ph.D and Dr. Bailey, who is also chair of HURSAP. Each institution will contribute in their respective areas of expertise over a contractual term of five years. The signing ceremony was held at the Office of the President on Howard University's campus, and Mathole S. Motshekga, Ph.D. represented both the UP and the KHI. Mostshekga is the founder and director of KHI, which is a partner institution with the UP, the Chief Whip of the African National Congress, and the Majority Party of the South African Parliament. Immediately following the MOU signing, Howard University President Sidney Ribeau hosted a reception for His Excellency Ebrahim Rasool, Ambassador to the U.S. from South Africa and Chief Whip Motshekga. About Kara Heritage Institute (KHI) KHI is recognized for its expertise in African heritage and indigenous knowledge systems as well as the influence of heritage in social cohesion and nation-building, particularly in South Africa, but also throughout the African continent, and across the Diaspora. University of Pretoria (UP) UP carries a strategic position in the development of South Africa in encouraging social dialogue and community engagement. The university's Department of Geography, Geoinformatics, and Metereology plays a unique role in world class research development and training in the atmospheric sciences, geoinformatics and remote sensing, geomorphology, and social geosciences in South Africa, the African continent, and beyond. 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 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 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.