African American Male Congress baccalaureate to feature Grammy-winning artist, acclaimed professor

African American Male Congress baccalaureate to feature Grammy-winning artist, acclaimed professorNovember 07, 2007SU News ServicesSUnews@syr.edu

The African American Male Congress (AAMC) at Syracuse University will begin a yearlong celebration of its 10th anniversary with its annual baccalaureate, featuring Grammy Award-winning gospel artist Kirk Franklin and acclaimed Princeton University professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Friday, Nov. 9, at 4 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. The event is open to the public; free tickets are available at the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center Box Office.

“This year’s baccalaureate is particularly special for the congress as we reach our 10-year mark with excitement and reverence for the past, and look toward the future with a renewed fever to embody our aims,” says Michael Cox, AAMC president.

Franklin, a multiple Grammy Award winner, is the top-selling contemporary gospel artist of all time. His debut album became the first gospel album to sell more than one million copies. Franklin’s most recent album, “Hero,” received two Grammy Awards, including Best Gospel Song and Album. He recently began a youth outreach initiative under his Fo Yo Soul, Nu Nation Ministries LLC.

Glaude is a professor of religion and African American studies at Princeton. He has held previous positions at Bowdoin College and Amherst College. Glaude’s research interests include American pragmatism and African American religious history and its place in American public life. He received his B.A. from Morehouse College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton. A widely published author and frequent media commentator, Glaude has written several highly acclaimed books, including the recent bestsellers “Exodus! Religion, Race, and Nation in Early 19th Century Black America” (University of Chicago Press, 2000), “Is It Nation Time? Contemporary Essays on Black Power and Black Nationalism” (University of Chicago Press, 2002) and his latest work, “In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America” (University of Chicago Press, 2007).

A protege of Cornel West, Glaude is a recipient of the Modern Language Association’s William Sanders Scarborough Book Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Study of Black Cultural Life and is a founding member and senior fellow of The Jamestown Project.

The baccalaureate is sponsored by Esquire Magazine; Macy’s; Usher for Men by Liz Claiborne; Clinique Skin Supplies for Men; SU’s Office of Research, Center for Career Services, LGBT Resource Center, Office of Residence Life and Office of Learning Communities; The College of Arts and Sciences; the AAMC Alumni Society; the Kaleidoscope Project; and the SU student fee.

“The AAMC has evolved from an honor society to a lifestyle for a select group of high-achieving, African American male undergraduates and scholar-athletes at Syracuse University,” says Larry P. Thomas, SU alumnus and founder of the AAMC and AAMC Alumni Society. “Through ongoing personal and professional development experiences that cultivate multiple intelligences, strengths and skills, the AAMC will reinvent itself over the next decade as a prosperous student and alumni organization that is student centered and results driven.”

Thomas founded the African American Male Congress in 1998, with the goal of making it the premier organization for high-achieving, African American male undergraduates of SU. The honor society’s mission is to stimulate intellectual growth, to engage members in personal and professional development, and to cultivate a diverse network of domestic and global partners. The AAMC baccalaureate is an ecumenical service inclusive of song, dance and readings from sacred texts.

For further information, contact Michael Cox, AAMC president, at michaelgcox2@gmail.com.