UNC Pembroke hosts BranchEd Alliance Board of Directors
Through a three-year grant opportunity, the School of Education at UNC Pembroke has partnered with a national professional services organization––Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity (BranchED) –– and with local school districts to prepare highly effective and diverse future educators. BranchED’s board of directors and leadership team recently visited UNCP and spent the day engaging with students, faculty and public school partners to understand the impact and how their efforts transform the communities it serves.
UNCP students organize first-ever TEDx event
A Forbes contributor, the owner of a global training firm and a professional actress are among the national speakers featured in the first-ever TEDx conference at UNC Pembroke on Saturday, February 11. UNCP faculty will also take the Upchurch Auditorium stage during the James A. Thomas Hall sold-out event. The talks will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be available via live stream.
UNCP student designs Old Main Stream Academy mascot
A UNC Pembroke senior art student is the creative mind behind the sleek design for Old Main Stream Academy’s digital mascot. Preston Coker designed the Firebird mascot for the K-5 charter school. Scott, a senior, is the digital content developer for UNCP’s Office of Online Learning. He is also a standout student-athlete on the track and field team.
Lenore and Dick Taylor Scholarship to support UNCP student-athletes
Since her childhood on the family farm in Tabor City, N.C., Lenore Taylor has been involved in athletics and has seen the difference sports can make in the lives of young people. "My entire family was into athletics, and from the time you were old enough, you would run and play behind the stands at the high school football games on Friday night," Taylor said. "And then when you were a little bit older, you joined all the teams you could," said Taylor, a cheerleader, softball and basketball player during her youth.
Brewington, Fox named Maynor Honors Scholars
Justus Brewington and Riley Fox exemplify all the qualities that UNC Pembroke values in the Esther G. Maynor Honors College, which is designed to attract top students. They are both well-rounded student scholars, highly driven and community focused. Fox, a student-athlete, not only excels in the classroom but on the field as a member of the softball team. Both are entering their second year. Brewington hopes to make a difference in students’ lives as a school social worker. Fox plans to apply to medical school after graduation and become a dermatologist.
College of Business and Economics to offer free tax income assistance
The Thomas School of Business at UNC Pembroke will launch its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program on Friday, Feb. 3. The program is free for community members who need assistance filing their income tax returns. Services will be offered in James A. Thomas Hall, Room 124, beginning at 8 a.m. The new VITA program represents the university's outreach beyond campus in providing various support services to the communities it serves.
Alumni to headline UNCP Distinguished Speaker Series
The upcoming guests for the 2022-2023 Distinguished Speaker Series at UNC Pembroke features a trio of former student leaders turned successful alumni. The series continues on February 7 with North Carolina Supreme Court Judge Trey Allen, Calstain Ganda, Real African Art museum founder, and Veronica Hatton, an educator with the state’s public schools.
UNCP senior’s personal battle inspires career in healthcare
Anthonia Oladeji dreamed of becoming a child and adolescent psychiatrist. But after being diagnosed with an endocrine disorder when she was 17, Oladeji discovered a new career path. Frequent trips to the doctor piqued her curiosity about pharmacy. “It prompted me to want to learn more about the drugs I was being prescribed,” said Oladeji, a senior chemistry major at UNC Pembroke. “My long-term goals are to create better treatments for endocrine diseases and help improve the lives of others.”
UNCP alumnus among first Peace Corps volunteers to return overseas
UNC Pembroke alumnus Cedric Turner-Kopa is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020. The Peace Corps suspended global operations and evacuated nearly 7,000 volunteers from more than 60 countries at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Turner-Kopa will serve as a volunteer in Madagascar in the health sector. The mission will last two years. Madagascar, the world’s fifth-largest island, is located off the coast of southern Africa.
Grad Student Kaitlan Smith Reflects on Lumbee Heritage While Embarking on Curiosity-driven Science
From UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine Newsroom: "Pharmacology graduate student Kaitlan Smith [UNCP alumna] was recently awarded a diversity supplement from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to study the effects of aging and necroptosis. She shares her resilient journey into scientific research while reflecting on her Lumbee roots."