The University of Akron Hosts the 5th Annual Black Male Summit, April 13 & 14

AKRON, Ohio, March 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Akron's Office of Multicultural Development will be hosting its 5th Black Male Summit on Friday and Saturday, April 13th and 14th. The event will be held in the university's Student Union. Friday's activities will begin at 12:00 p.m. and Saturday's sessions will begin at 9:30 a.m. Keynote speakers throughout the summit include author and reality TV show winner of The Apprentice, Dr. Randal Pinkett; Pastor of The Word Church in Cleveland, Pastor R.A. Vernon; and Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at The University of California Irvine, Dr. Joseph White, among many more. 

Since its inception in 2008, The Black Summit has aimed at bringing important topics relevant to the success of African American males to the attention of education practitioners.  This event was the first of its kind in Northeast Ohio and has been featured on CNN Headline News and other media outlets. Its notoriety has led to more than 1,000 participants over the two-day schedule. The Black Male summit features several key note addresses from some of today's leading research experts on African American male success. More than 30 concurrent sessions will be offered with topics including retention and graduation, career and professional development, mentoring, health issues, fatherhood initiatives and identity and masculinity. 

One unique presentation will be provided by Orrin "Checkmate" Hudson as he brings his Atlanta-based Be Someone Inc. program to Akron for the two-day event. Hudson, a former Alabama state trooper who was at one time an at-risk inner-city youngster, uses the game of chess to teach life lessons. As Hudson instructs his students, for every move there is a consequence in the game of chess and so it is in life. One bad move without proper thought can be a game-changer.

The Black Male Summit is free to UA faculty, staff and students and $50 for non-university participants. All participants must register by March 31. To sign up, call 330-972-6446 or visit the University of Akron website at www.uakron.edu/omd/bms.

About Be Someone Inc.: Be Someone Inc. was founded by Orrin "Checkmate" Hudson, a former Alabama State Trooper and author of "One Move at a Time," to help at-risk youth make better life decisions using a very unusual tool: a chessboard. In 2001, Hudson learned of an incident in which seven New York Wendy's employees were shot, five of whom died - for a mere $2,400. This tragic incident inspired Hudson to quit his job and use his life savings to found Be Someone.

Now, Hudson travels the country mentoring children to value KASH - Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Habits - over cash. Since its founding in 2001, Be Someone has touched the lives of over 20,000 students across the country and has had amazing success with increasing grade point averages, classroom participation and attendance through the mantras, "Brains Before Bullets; Think It Out, Don't Shoot It Out; Heads up, Pants up, Grades up and Never Give up!" By 2017, Be Someone hopes to have made a difference in close to one million students' lives.

For more information about Be Someone and Orrin "Checkmate" Hudson, visit http://www.besomeone.org.

Video:
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2011/03/06/whitfield.chess.moves.for.life.cnn

Photos:
http://www.ereleases.com/pic/Be-Someone.jpg
http://www.ereleases.com/pic/Be-Someone-2.jpg

Contact: Kim Rice, 770-465-6445, [email protected]

This press release was issued through eReleases(R).  For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Be Someone Inc.