Howard University Clubs and Organizations

Whoever said college isn't for everyone lied. Here at Howard there are so many clubs and organizations, you're bound to find at least one that will interest you. We have everything from a Chess Club to state clubs to the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Alpha Chapter. So if you don't find something here that interests you, chances are you didn't look hard enough.

For my freshman Seminar assignment this week, I had to research five clubs here and tell a little about them here on my blog. I picked these five because they are each significant to my college experience in some way.

1. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Alpha Chapter

-My cousin, my sister, my grandma, and even my track and cheer coaches are members of DST.

-Here is where it all began. On January 13, 1913, 22 women founded DST under the principles of scholarship, sisterhood, and service. Today, the chapter centers its programming around Delta's Five-Point Programmatic Thrust: educational development, economic development, political awareness and involvement, physical and mental health, and International Awareness and Involvement. They are active in serving their university and their community and their network is strong and country-wide.

2. Ladies of the Quad Social Club

-I live in the Quad this year. Truth Hall, Room 404. AWWWW YEAH!!!

-The Ladies of the Quad Social Club is a club exclusively for freshmen girls. Its aim is to introduce these young women to the cultural and academic climate of Howard University. It promotes sisterhood among its members and encourages scholarly pursuits. Members do service for the university and the surrounding community and promote a positive image of the young African American woman.

-The brother social club to this one is the Gentlemen of Drew Social Club, based out of Drew all where the freshman boys, several of whom are friends of mine, live.

3. The Howard University Campus Pals

-The first people to officially welcome the incoming freshmen to Howard University are the Campus Pals. They plan trips and social gatherings during Freshmen Week, the week between the Move-In of the new freshmen and the arrival of the upperclassmen. The Campus Pals are a part of several other organizations on camps and encourage their pals to get involved, network, and meet new people. They show their caseload of around 30 freshmen the ways of Howard. If Howard University is one big family, the Campus Pals are the older brothers and sisters.

4. Psi Chi- The National Honor Society in Psychology

-I am a psychology major and an honors student, so naturally this group intrigues me.

-The Psi Chi honor society was founded in 1929 to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in scholarship surrounding and advancing psychology. Graduates and undergraduates are welcome to join. It is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies, therefore members get academic recognition simply by being involved. Members must be second semester sophomores in a psychology major or minor program with a grade point average over 3.0 and in the top 35% of their class.

5. California Club

-a club dedicated to the bestest state in the union!!!! I miss home.....

-This club is not necessarily as serious in nature as the other ones. It is mainly a social club that aims to help those students from California network with other people from California and acclimate themselves to the new and very different world of the East Coast. Members are also a part of various other clubs on campus and in this way they serve the university and their surrounding community.

The Information Literacy Tutorial

Growing up with two teachers for parents, I am no stranger to the library. Library trips were a bi-weekly excursion in my household. I love to read, too. One summer, I decided to conquer my local library's Classics section. I read Gone With the Wind for fun. Reading builds knowledge and knowledge is power.

So, Howard University has eight libraries!!!! I could try my hardest and still there is NO WAY I could finish all those books. Still, they will be very useful to me during my tenure here because this school is very research-oriented.

This week, for my Freshman Seminar class, I had to take The Information Literacy Tutorial, which taught me all about the different resources here and how to best use them. A lot of this stuff I already knew. But some of this stuff was new. For instance, I learned that when you use a search engine, if you truncate (put a * next to the root of) a word, you can search for all the words with the same root and their variations. For example, if you put in expos*, you can find exposition, expose, exposes, expository, and more.

 I will be honest, the tutorial was a bit boring. But the information was very useful. I feel like I will be able to use the libraries to their full extent. I even know how to read and find call numbers on books. Now my next objective is to go to the Library of Congress and another D.C. public library to get library cards....

First Monthly Learning Community Colloquia

*On Thursday, September  10th, we had our first monthly learning community colloquia in Cramton Auditorium. I only got to see a portion of the presentation because I had my Intro to Psych class form 3:40 to 5. But the presenter, Dr. Carr, was a really cool guy. He posted his Powerpoint on the Internet for us, and even posed for a picture with us after he spoke. The discussion was about the group research projects that we are soon going to have to complete.*

The Five Basic Steps in the Research Process

Step 1: Identify and Develop Your Topic

In this first step, the researcher tries to develop a question about their topic that can be answered through their intended research. The question should be such that the answer will be supportable by fact and narrow enough that the researcher can plausibly solve their piece of the puzzle and leave a clear place for others to continue from.

Step 2: State Your Research Methodology and Method

This step mostly involve identifying the academic field that will be useful in answering the question set out in Step 1. The researcher must decide what tools he or she needs to successfully complete their intended course of study and which academic field can most aptly supply them with those tools. In the case of our research projects, and many times in real life, a research question can and needs to be answered by combining knowledge from several areas of study. In that case, this step also involve figuring out how to effectively the tools available from each to serve the desired result.

Step 3: Look for Previous Research

This step ties in with Dr. Carr's first ground rule, which is to be present, meaning don't just be here, play an active role in your community and your education. Know your surroundings and your history. When doing research, the researcher should take notes and cite their sources (to avoid plagiarism) in the proper MLA or APA form. There are many kinds of sources: the various libraries, electronics databases; primary secondary and tertiary. The work that others have done is an excellent aid in new research, no matter what the topic because it can provide at least the background, and sometimes more, for the answers to the guiding questions.

Step 4: Evaluate Sources, Think, and Articulate Your Findings

The African word that Dr. Carr gave us for this step is hatata, which means "sifting". This step ties in with his second ground rule which is to read and write. At this point the researcher has all the information they need and must process it and present it in a coherent way. Their findings should try to create new knowledge, they should be searching for answers that have not yet been found or filling in missing links in the research surrounding their topic. Once they have figured all this out, they should write it in a clear and concise manner so that researchers that come later can use their new discoveries in further studies.

Step 5: Imagine What is Left for Others to Do?

This step ties in to Dr. Carr's third ground rule, called mekhet, which is speaking to the future. At the end, the researcher should include a small section where they explain where their findings end and another can begin. To do this, they should think of the ramifications of their research and future questions that it could help answer. They should also consider how this research will help them be remembered in their field.

HU History Lesson

1. What role did Benjamin Banneker play in the development of Washington, DC?

Benjamin Banneker helped design the street plan for the Federal District, now Washington, DC in 1791. He was a surveyor and a technical assistant who helped calculate and appraise the area.

2. What connection did Frederick Douglass have to Howard University?

Frederick Douglass, elsewhere noted for his work as an abolitonist, orator, and author, served on the Howard University Board of Trustees from 1870 to 1876. He was one of the first African-American members of the Board.

3. What connection did Booker T. Washington have to Howard University?

Booker T. Washington never actually taught Howard University; he actually worked for Hampton University in Virginia before opening his own school, the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, the premiere university to educate black youth at the time. He became the leader of the African-American race in the eyes of white America, and used his clout to build coalitions and opportunities for educated African-Americans. He also served on the Howard University Board of Trustees.

4. Choose 3 buildings at Howard that are named for famous people, and tell why those people are significant.

-Sourner Truth (Truth Hall, my dorm)

Truth was born a slave, but became an African-American abolitionist and a women's rights activist. She was especially prominent around the Civil War, when she helped get African-American recruits for the 54th Massachusetts Regiment (the all-black regiment). She also tried to secure land grants for former slaves, and met with successive presidents to present her points. She was a great orator, her best kown speech is "Ain't I A Woman?"

-Alain LeRoy Locke (Locke Hall, COAS headquarters)

Locke was the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, and graduated from Harvard University with degrees in English and philosophy. He came to Howard University as an assistant professor, and interacted with the likes of W.E.B. DuBois and Carter Woodson. He went back to Harvard for his doctorate degree in 1916, and received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1916. He then return to Howard as the chair of the department of philosophy, and kept the post until he retired in 1953.

-Ernest Everett Just (Just Hall, biology building)

Just was a forerunning African-American biologist. He spent his life collecting, classifying, and caring for marine specimen because he believed that scientist should study cells intheir natural states, not just break them down in laboratories. He was famous for discovering the essential role that a cell surface plays in the develoment of an organism. After his graduation from college, he came to work at Howard University, and then-president Wilbur Thirkield put him in charge of the biology department. He was the first person to receive the NAACP 's Spingarn Medal in February 1915. He received his Ph.D. in experimental embryology in 1916. On a lighter note, he helped found the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. while teaching at Howard University.

5. Who is Thirkield? Why is Thirkield Hall significant? Why is this year important for Thirkield Hall?

Wilbur P. Thirkield received his Doctor of Divinity degree from the theology school at Boston University. He was dedicated to the cause of educating African-Americans, and served as president of Howard University from 1906 until June 1, 1912, when he was elected bishop.

Thirkield Hall is the former Science Hall and contains the Department of Physics and Astronomy. On Novembe 17, 1911, Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper, and Frank Coleman created the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. at Thirkield Hall with the help of Professor Ernest Just.

This year is important to Thirkield Hall because it is the 100 year anniversary of its dedication. In 1907, then-president Wilbur Thirkield was able to convince Congress to appropriate $90,000 for a new science hall for Howard University, and the building was dedicated 3 years  later.

Howard Heritage Trail

So, I just finished going on a cyber tour of the history of some of the buildings around my new school, and I found out some pretty interesting things along the way that I want to share.

First stop: The Howard University Hospital

-I'm definitely going to need to know about this place since im so accident prone. lol! I bet my friend India will be able to share more. She's in the school of nursing.

Did you know that from 1894 to 1898, the Howard University Hospital (then called the Freedmen's Hospital) was headed by Dr. Daniel Hale WIlliams? He was the first person to perform a successful open heart surgery! This school is so cool.

Next stop: Howard Hall

-This place is where General Oliver Otis Howard, a founder and the first president of my school lived. It was one of the first four buildings on campus, and is the oldest building that still exists in the school.

Did you know that in 1974 this building was deemed a National Historic Landmark? That means the buiding can never be torn down. It guarantees that the legacy of our founder and this school will live on. Wow!

Next stop: The Founder's Library

-Every good student knows that the library is the happenin' spot to be. My friend Shannon took me on a tour when I first got here and showed my this very cool place. But no real studying goes on here. For that, you have to pop into UGL- the undergraduate library.

Did you know that the same man who built the Founder's Library, Albert I. Cassell, also built The Quad where freshmen girls (like me!) live?

Did you know that the place where the library now sits used to be the site of the Main Building? It was torn down in 1936 to make way for the Founders' Library.

Did you know that inside of the Founder's Library are a museum of the history of the school, as well as changing exhibits on other aspects of history? There is also the Moorland-Spingam Research Center, one of the biggest repositories of the culture and history of descendants of Africa in the world.

Next stop: Miner Teachers College Building

- Now this building isn't actually on campus. It's acually a part of the University of the District of Columbia, and has been since 1977 when it merged with Wilson Teacher's College.

Did you know that when this Miner's School was first founded in 1851 by Myrtilla Miner, it was also known as the School for Colored Girls? After the Civil War, Congress chartered it to reopen as the Instituion for the Education of Colored Youth. So, of course, this was right up Howard's alley. The school was associated with this university from 1871 to 1876.

Did you know that Lucy Ellen Moten, a Howard alumna, was president of the school 1883-1920? She made it one of the top institutions in America during her leadership. That's grad power for you!

And my last stop: the Howard University Gallery of Art, established in 1928

-I have been inside Childers Hall before, but I never knew that right beside me was a collection of breathtaking artwork. I will definitely have to check this out in real life (not just cyperspace)! This assignment really was useful....

Did you know that before the Gallery of Art came to be in its current location, taking over one-third of the Fine Arts Building in the College of Arts and Sciences honoring Lulu Vere Childers, it was on display in the bottom floor of the Rankin Chapel, and then in 1941 moved to Founder's Library? It has been in Childers Hall since 1961.

Did you know that this collection started with donations of African artifacts donated by a Howard professor? Alain Locke (the COAS builing is named after him!) started the gallery with gifts from his own collection..

Howard's history is so great and its reach is so outspread. Never should it be said that black people just don't care about a certain subject, because as we can see here, African Americans have been and can be prominent in any field of study that they set their mind to. I am in awe of the legacy surrounding me.

This journey has sparked a few questions:

-Do graduate medical students do their internships and practicum work in the HU Hospital? Could i go  their one day and have a classmate working on me? That might be cool.

-Do graduate medical students do their internships and practicum work in the HU Hospital? Could i go there one day and have a classmate working on me? That might be cool.

-Was The Quad always a dormitory? Because it seems that a lot of the buildings here are not what they used to be.

-What led Howard University to sever ties with the Miner's School?

Introduction

Hi! My name is Cheryl Roxanne. I am a freshman at Howard University from Los Angeles, California, majoring in psychology.