(Fort Worth, TX – Nov. 30)  The Hazel Harvey Peace Scholarship Fund will hold a press
conference to kick off  “The Ultimate T-Shirt Challenge” at 11 a.m. Friday at 1103 E. Terrell Avenue in Fort Worth, TX , the home of the legendary Fort Worth educator.

“The Ultimate T-Shirt Challenge” is a statewide effort designed to honor Peace, and her
more than five decades of community service, and friends and neighbors to say “thanks”. 

Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast, Carly Patterson, local, city and county officials, former students and teachers are scheduled to attend.

The 16-year-old scholarship fund raises money to provide scholarships for low-income high school students who need financial assistance to attend college. The I.M. Terrell High School Class of 1965 created the scholarship fund to recognize Peace, because she touched so many lives in the 49 years worked at the school. In 2000, the Fort Worth Public Library Foundation named a newly constructed 33,000-square foot youth center after Peace. In 2004, the University of North Texas School of Library and Information Sciences began a campaign to raise $350,000 for an endowed professorship to honor Peace.  In 2007, the first Hazel Harvey Peace Professorship was presented to Dr. Barbara Stein Martin at the University of North Texas .

As part of its fundraising effort, the scholarship fund is enlisting volunteers throughout
Texas to sell T-shirts emblazoned with a variety of inspirational messages, such as “Teachers Are Our MVPs” and “Education Is Big in Texas”.  Proceeds from the sales will benefit the scholarship fund.  Top sellers will win attractive prizes.

The Ultimate T-Shirt Challenge is just one of four events over the next six months
designed to raise money for the scholarship fund.  On February 22 -24, 2008, there will be an Education Fair in the Food and Fiber Pavilion at Fair Park in Dallas; on April 12, there will be a 5K “Walk for Tomorrow”. and on May 3rd a gala will take place at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center.

To donate to the Foundation and learn more about The Ultimate T-Shirt Challenge, go to
http://hhpscholarshipfund.org or call 972-274-FUND.

For Immediate Release

(Dallas, TX – November 16, 2007)  Four Edward Waters College students are winners of the Tom Joyner Foundation® “Brothers on the Move” Scholarship program, designed to help increase the number of black males enrolled in Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs).

The Edward Waters recipients of the “Brothers on the Move” $2,500-scholarship are:

** Cody Puntal, a sophomore business management major from Jacksonville, Fl. This “Brother on the Move” is an honor student who plans a career in baseball and as an entrepreneur.  Puntal is a second year starter on the Edward Waters baseball team, a Presidential Academic Achiever, a peer tutor and a volunteer at a local youth center.

** Cedric Denson, a junior public health major with a political science minor from Schenectady, NY, is an honor student who plans a career in the  World Health Organization .  Denson wants  to make a difference in closing the world wide health gap. At Edward Waters, he is the Secretary of the Student Government Association, a resident assistant in the Honors Village, and he is a peer tutor.

** Brian Fitzpatrick ,a sophomore sociology major from Jacksonville, FL, is an honor
student who plans a career in professional baseball and as a youth counselor. At
Edward Waters, he is a member of the baseball team, a peer tutor and coaches
baseball at a local youth center.

** Shane Younts, a junior computer information systems major from West Palm Beach, FL.  Younts is an honor student who also plans a career in baseball followed by politics. Younts is a member of the college baseball team, and the Student Government Association. He is also a peer tutor and volunteer at a local community center. 

Joyner, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute, said that the scholarships are greatly needed.  On average, the black male student enrollment at an HBCU is about 37 percent.  To be a candidate for the scholarship, students must attend a Foundation “School of the Month”, have a grade point average of  at least 3.0, and be a campus leader involved in the community with a career goal toward making a difference in the quality of life for his race.

Cheney State University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia was the ‘School of the Month’ in August, followed by Tennessee State University in Nashville, Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, FL, and Savannah State University in Savannah, GA in November. 

For information about the scholarship program, students should contact their school administrators.

The “Brothers on the Move” scholarships will be announced every Thursday on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, which is aired in 120 markets and reaches nearly eight million listeners every week.

The Foundation offers scholarships to students attending its Schools of the Month throughout the week. On Mondays the focus is on students who are single parents, and on Wednesdays general scholarships are awarded. 

Founded in 1998, the Tom Joyner Foundation has raised more than $55 million to help keep students enrolled in black colleges.  It has assisted more than 14,000 students and worked with more than 100 HBCUs. 

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Less than two weeks ago, Dr. Donda West stridently advised a seminar of single parents/students at Atlanta’s Spelman College, “Know who you are and where you are going.”

Now, she is  dead in Los Angeles at the age of 58.

West, wearing a crisp white suit, was the keynote speaker at the Nov. 2 Single Parent
Student Summit, sponsored by Denny’s and the Tom Joyner Foundation.  West joined
syndicated radio personality Tom Joyner, Nelson Marchioli, president and CEO of Denny’s, and several others to offer advice and inspiration to the students at the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center.  Earlier in the day, Joyner and Denny’s announced the restaurant chain’s $80,000 sponsorship of the Foundation’s single parent scholarship. 

Myra J.,  a personality from the Tom Joyner Morning Show, who offers her tips for single mothers every Monday, hosted the event.  The other featured speakers were Ericka Dunlap, Miss America 2004, Rev. Charles White, deputy chief of field operations for the NAACP, and Debra Smithart-Oglesby, chair of Denny’s board of directors.

West reminisced about her days working at Spelman, and later at Morris Brown College.  She worked in the admissions office at Morris Brown as a recruiter, and later as an English professor.  She met Ray West, a photojournalist, who later became her husband and the father of  successful recording artist, Kanye.  She recalled how she and Ray divorced after Kanye was about 18 months, but she has now regrets.

“I look back at those days and wonder how I made it,” she said. “I’d have to decide whether to pay my light bill or my gas bill.  … I knew I would make it because my mom was feisty.  We grew up in Oklahoma City … and I remember she was the kind of woman who didn’t let anything get to her.  She’d take me into the ‘whites only’ bathroom or drink form the ‘whites only’ water fountain and just wait for someone to say something.”

The bespectacled West fumbled with her notes throughout her presentation and kept a
watchful eye on a colleague who kept track of her time for her. As she apologized for taking a bit longer than the time alloted, West remained focused on completing her speech.

West urged single parents to stay in contact with the father or mother of their children.  Then she offered then tips:

1) Know who you are and where you’re going. 
2) Don’t let nobody stand in your way. “Get the terrible toilers out of your way. 
Surround yourself with positive people.”
3) Expect the best, but always be prepared for the worse.
4) Determine early on who and what is important to you.  “Growing up I never said I
wanted children.  So I set out to be parent there was and be the best parent you
could be. .. I was passionate about being a mother. … Find your support and reach
out.  And you’l be surprised how people will reach back.” West recalled something her father told her, “We’ll make a her a masterpiece.”   “Be conscious of what you say to your children because they remember everything you say.”
5) Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
6) Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. When doors are shut in your face, open another
door.
7) Be passionate and get fired up.  Find out what your passion is and do it. Do
whatever you need to get what you want.
8) Have no fear.  “Every time fear raises its ugly head, push it down,” she said
motioning with her hand in a downward direction. “That’s right push it down.”
9) In all y getting get understanding.  “I don’t know if that’s in the Bible or not, but
get into your kids heads.  Make them talk to you.  Make a connection with them.
Your kids will always be your kids; get tight with them.  Remember, your spouse
may not always be your spouse, but your kids will always be your kids.”
10) Have unshakeable faith.  “Don’t have any doubts.”

(Dallas– Nov. 11th, 2007)  Tom Joyner, the nationally syndicated radio personality, hosted a celebrity golf tournament and party in Dallas, TX to pay tribute to his late father and to celebrate his wife’s birthday.

Joyner’s dad, Hercules L. Joyner, passed away two weeks ago, and his wife, Donna “Donnamite” Richardson Joyner, a renowned fitness guru and star of “Buns of Steel”, celebrated her 45th birthday.

The ‘Donnamite Golf Tournament’, which took place at the Four Seasons Resort in Las Colinas, featured such celebrities as Eddie Levert and Walter Williams of The O’Jays; Rocket Ismail, former Dallas Cowboys star; Dominique Dawes, Olympic Gold medalist and Renee Powell, one of only three African-American women to  ever play in the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour.

“My dad loved golf and played for nearly 50 years and now my wife, Donna, has taken up the sport with a passion” said Joyner, whose radio show airs in 120 markets and reaches nearly eight million listeners every week.   “So, this tournament is just one way to honor my Dad and my wife. It will raise funds to help keep kids in school.” Founded in 1998, the Tom Joyner Foundation has raised more than $55 million to help keep students  enrolled in historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Joyner’s dad, Hercules, was an avid golfer during his years in Tuskegee, AL. In later years, when he moved to Dallas, he introduced the history of golf and training tips to his Richardson Joyner. “I was so elated, right before  my birthday, Pops [Hercules’ nickname] gave me the putter he played with back in the day. It has since become  my lucky charm,” Richardson Joyner said.

Richardson Joyner said her goal is to grow the annual golf tournament into a major celebrity-pro am event to raise funds for the Tom Joyner Foundation. She also will continue to play in celebrity golf tournaments and introduce the game of golf to women of color, especially, African American women.

Richardson Joyner’s love of golf has caught the attention of her husband, Tom.  Last year, he gave his wife a set of golf clubs, a pink golf bag and a personalized pink golf cart. This year, Joyner organized her golf tournament  and gave her a golf simulator and a VIP pass to NASCAR at the Texas Motor Speedway.

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