Latest news with #VirginiaUnionUniversity
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
HBCU championship coach finds new program
HBCU women's basketball is gaining another veteran leader. Virginia Union University has named Alico Dunk as the 10th head coach in the history of its program. Dunk, a longtime presence in HBCU athletics, replaces Tierra Terry, who took the Winston-Salem State job in April. The university will introduce Dunk at a press conference on Friday, June 13, at 12:00 p.m. The event will be held at Barco-Stevens Hall on Virginia Union's campus in Richmond, Virginia. Dunk brings more than 20 years of coaching experience at HBCUs. He most recently spent eight seasons as the head coach at Stillman College. In 2025, he led the Lady Tigers to a 26-6 record, the best in school history. That season included an HBCU Athletic Conference regular-season title and the school's first win in the NAIA National Tournament. Dunk won 112 games at Stillman-more than any women's coach there in the past 40 years. Before that, he coached the women's team at Elizabeth City State University. Over five seasons, he led the Lady Vikings to an 83-56 record. They won two CIAA Northern Division titles during his tenure. In 2013, he was named CIAA Coach of the Year after a 24-4 season and a 15-1 mark in league play. Dunk also coached the ECSU men's team and served as an assistant during their 2007 CIAA Championship run. A native of Ayden, North Carolina, Dunk was a standout in football and basketball at Ayden-Grifton High School. He began his college career at Tennessee, then transferred to East Carolina University. He was a two-year captain at ECU and earned a degree in Exercise and Sports Science in 1999. After graduation, he taught and coached high school basketball before playing professionally in Asia. He later earned a master's degree in Sports Management from Virginia State University. [/Dunk's return to the CIAA adds another seasoned voice to HBCU women's basketball. The post HBCU championship coach finds new program appeared first on HBCU Gameday. Copyright HBCU Gameday 2012-2025
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
HBCU HC returns home as keynote speaker at HS alma mater
HBCU head football coach and associate athletic director at Virginia Union University, Dr. Alvin Parker, is set to return to his roots in Washington, D.C., to deliver the commencement address at Ballou High School-his alma mater in Southeast D.C. This event marks a full-circle moment for the veteran HBCU coach. Parker's leadership at Virginia Union University has elevated the Panthers to the top of the CIAA, earning back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024. Now, he will step off the football field and onto the graduation stage to inspire the Class of 2025. Parker's return to Ballou High School is more than symbolic. It's a homecoming to the very place where his academic and athletic journey began. His story reflects the life-changing opportunities that HBCUs provide for students who are committed to growth, excellence, and purpose. Since taking over the Virginia Union football program in 2018, Dr. Parker has recorded more than 50 wins. Under his guidance, the team has become a dominant force in HBCU football. His success has not gone unnoticed-he was recently named Black College Football Hall of Fame National Coach of the Year. More than wins and titles, Parker's work highlights the broader mission of HBCUs: to develop leaders on and off the field. His journey from a Ballou graduate to a nationally recognized head coach at an HBCU exemplifies this mission in action. Ballou High School has long been recognized for nurturing talent beyond athletics. Notable alumni include comedian Earthquake and former NFL player Marvin Austin. Dr. Parker's upcoming address adds to the school's legacy of excellence and impact. The Ballou High School commencement ceremony featuring Dr. Alvin Parker is scheduled for next week. Local families, students, and supporters of both Ballou and Virginia Union are expected to attend and celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2025. The post HBCU HC returns home as keynote speaker at HS alma mater appeared first on HBCU Gameday. Copyright HBCU Gameday 2012-2025
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Local educator reflects on Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy with signed Bible
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lives on 56 years after his untimely death. Dr. King, a powerful speaker and civil rights activist, showed perseverance in the face of racism and extreme violence. From the Southside to the Peninsula, Dr. King's influence on our area is visible. In Norfolk, an 83-foot granite Martin Luther King Monument towers over the intersection of Church Street and Brambleton Avenue. Just off of Interstate 664 in Newport News, the Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Plaza displays 'the unfinished march' with a life-like statue at the corner of 25th Street and Jefferson Avenue. The memorial is near the former location of the First Church of Newport News, the oldest and largest Black church, where Dr. King visited in January 1958 and June 1962. Cecelia Tucker, 85, a beloved Norfolk educator and community activist, reflects on witnessing the 'I Have a Dream' speech during the March on Washington for jobs in August 1963. 'We drove up to Washington [D.C.], on that day, got there very early so that we could get a good seat, I can't remember exactly where we were stationed. But it was wonderful,' said Tucker, who was a student at Virginia Union University at the time. 'When I went to the March on Washington, and he spoke, I can tell you everybody just thought, 'Oh, that's a great sermon!' That was the 'I have a Dream speech. That's the way we looked at it. It was a great sermon. But who knew the I have a dream speech… how important it is in our lives today? And all of the things that he had to say are still things that we are looking forward to one day, one day our children and their children, they will all be together.' 'I have never in my life seen that many people,' Tucker continued. 'Reading back over the years, 250,000 people were assembled there and they were from everywhere… I saw movie stars! I remember Lena Horne, a beautiful African American actress and singer. She was standing out there screaming 'freedom, freedom.' I will never forget that. I saw Sammy Davis Jr… these are people that you knew about, but you never thought you'd ever see. But they were all right there, during that time! It was an all-day event.' 'Coretta King did speak also. She was a fabulous lady. I remember when she came to Richmond and to the Virginia Union with her husband. She was so ladylike and with her gloves. We just stood there and admired her. She had lots of wonderful things to say,' said Tucker. During undergrad at VUU, Tucker recalls the King couples visit while working to get more Black people registered to vote and staying for a 'week of prayer.' 'We all went up and got our Bibles signed because we wanted him to sign his name,' Tucker said. 'I have a Bible signed by Martin Luther King, his wife, Coretta Scott King, and President of Virginia Union, who was Doctor Samuel DeWitt Proctor at the time. We were extremely proud to have this because he was such a famous person, especially Black, because in that in those days, you didn't see a lot of Blacks on TV.' Ahead of her graduating from the historically Black University, Tucker was one of the many students part of a 1960 protest at a popular department store. 'When I was marching in Richmond in front of Thalhimers, Miller & Rhoads, there were people who spat on us, to get us through that… we not only had our Bibles… but we were told how to behave when someone did something to you. So, when you're spat on, you don't retaliate. You just take it,' Tucker said. 'We sat in little booths in Thalhimers where they had a little luncheonette, I guess you would call it, and people would walk behind these little stools and say ugly things, and you just kept right on,' Tucker continued. 'You had your book or your Bible in front of you and never did anything to them. We were taught that you cannot retaliate. But you know what I say to people? I don't know if I could have been that strong today. I don't know, if someone spat on me, I would have to have said something or react in some way. But we didn't. I had evenings when people would come by my room and ask if I had any change, because some of my friends had been locked up for walking or protesting or whatever. The teachers, even at Virginia Union, helped us get students out of jail.' Tucker's parents warned her to stay away from sit-ins and protests. 'My parents told me 'don't you get involved in that!' My daddy told me 'you're going to get yourself killed.' Yeah, and of course, I didn't pay any attention to him,' Tucker said. 'I did what I wanted to, however, I had to run from TV cameras because in the little country town where I grew up, anything that happened in Richmond would be on the television in my little country town. So, if I saw a TV camera come in, I had run, and I'll get out of the way.' 'I just didn't want him to know what I was doing. But I was out there with picket signs and protesting, sitting in places where I shouldn't have or wasn't supposed to,' Tucker continued. 'I wanted to be a part of it and I'm so happy that I did! I'm very happy that I had the spunk to just go on and do what I felt I had to do.' Tucker taught at the all-Black schools Maggie Walker High in Richmond. 'I did student-teaching at Maggie Walker High School, which was right next door to Virginia Union. Who would believe that Arthur Ashe would be in my homeroom? I knew him,' said Tucker. Then, years later, Tucker joined the teaching staff at Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk. 'I tried to teach them what I knew and how to be a good person, a Christian, is what I am. We were able to get through it. At that time, that [Booker T. Washington] building housed maybe 1,200 students, and it was not built for that. They were crowded. They didn't have things that they needed,' said Tucker. 'We encouraged them, go ahead and protest if you want. We couldn't come out and say that openly. But they did. They walked to the school board office and protested being in that crowded building and eventually Booker T, got the building that it has now. That building now is almost in the same shape it was when that occurred and that was many, many years ago.' WAVY-TV 10 photojournalist Kevin Romm asks Tucker: 'Do you remember where you were when you heard the news about Doctor King's passing?' Tucker said, 'Yes, I do remember. I was at Booker T. Washington High School. I just walked into the principal's office, and the secretary said to me, we just got a call that Martin Luther King has been killed. And I remember screaming. We have not gotten over the death of Martin Luther King. He was singled out, people actually hated him because he wanted to stand for what was right.' King had to cancel a Virginia tour to Norfolk and Suffolk, according to a Virginian Pilot article published on March 30th 1968. King was killed days later, on April 4. Veronica Alease Davis, Hampton Historian explains, 'Originally, he was scheduled to speak to the poor people, but the sanitation worker strike was gaining more precedence than what was happening here in the Hampton Roads area. So, he detoured to go to Memphis with the plan of coming back to us. But unfortunately, when he got there, he was met with an assassin's bullet.' Davis believes Kings vision is still attainable. 'I am the child of the dream. I am of that first generation that was walking into schools and sitting in classrooms, you know, with all of the races,' said Davis. 'What I would like to see moving forward is our young people appreciate we have so much to be appreciative for.' Tucker retired after 31 years at Old Dominion University working to improve community relations. At 85, Tucker's work continues in our community today, often working with the Urban League of Hampton Roads and Virginia Wesleyan University. 'My life has been one great experience. I've met so many wonderful people. I'm still working, trying to help people reach plateaus. I know it's God directed,' said Tucker. 'The only problem with the Bible now is I have three children, and each one wants this, [signed] Bible. I don't know what I'm going to do. It's a problem.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
