In honor of Black History Month, Wittenberg is celebrating the achievements of many of its African-American alumni throughout the month of February. Today's featured alumnus is Fred Mitchell, Wittenberg class of 1969, who received the Alumni Association's most prestigious recognition, the Class of 1914 Award in 2016.
Currently an adjunct professor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Mitchell has had an illustrious career as a sportswriter and columnist for the Chicago Tribune for more than 40 years covering the Chicago Bears, Cubs and Bulls. He has written 11 sports books and routinely appears on local and national TV and radio.
While attending Wittenberg, Mitchell was a member of student newspaper, The Torch, staff, the Pi Delta Epsilon Journalism Honorary Society and Concerned Black Students. He also excelled on both the football and track teams, which earned him a place in Wittenberg's Athletics Hall of Honor. Despite traveling all over the country, he has stayed actively involved with Wittenberg by serving on the Alumni Board for nine years and now on the Wittenberg Board of Directors for the last eight years. He was named a Wittenberg Fellow in 2000. Read more about him at http://www.wittenberg.edu/news/2016/prestigious-recognition.
Check back every week in the month of February for additional Wittenberg alumni features http://www.wittenberg.edu/administration/university_communications/blackhistorymonth2017.
The Multicultural Student Programs and Concerned Black Students at Wittenberg University invite the campus community to attend the following programs in honor of Black History Month:
Today, Multicultural Student Programs will host Rayshawn Wilson to tell his story of struggle and triumph as a young African American man. The event will take place at 4:30 p.m. in Hollenbeck Hall's Ness Auditorium. Learn more about Wilson’s journey here: http://www.riseandroar.com.
On Wednesday, Feb. 22, Concerned Black Students will sponsor speaker Clarence Bozeman. Bozeman is a retired high school history teacher who, as a young college student in Alabama, became the driver for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Bozeman was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement. The talk will be held at 7 p.m. in Shouvlin 105. Learn more about Bozeman here: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/01/clarence_bozeman_of_maple_heig.html.
Then at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, Concerned Black Students will sponsor a showing of the film Race: The Incredible True Story of Gold Medal Champion Jesse Owens. This film chronicles Owens' life leading up to and immediately after the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin under Hitler's Nazi regime. The showing will take place in Founders Pub. Learn more about the film here: http://www.focusfeatures.com/race.
#WittProud #BlackHistoryMonth #LifeAfterWitt
About Black History Month
Black History Month, or National African American History Month, is an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans. Recognized in the United States since 1976 and also in many other countries around the world, including Canada and the U.K., the month grew out of "Negro History Week," the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans.
