SPC Hosts Guests from NAACP

July 17, 2018

Public Information Officer

HAPPENING NEXT WEEK: WITH ST. PHILIP'S COLLEGE PART OF THE APPEAL IN NAACP'S 2018 NATIONAL CONVENTION IN SAN ANTONIO, COLLEGE HOSTS YOUNG VISITORS ON JULY 16

St. Philip's College is mentioned in the online web page sharing details of the NAACP's 2018 national convention in San Antonio---with 120-year-old St. Philip's College as an education sponsor of the national convention that begins on Saturday.

A few convention guests of college recruiting age will visit the college July 16 at 2 p.m. for a tour that includes a visit to its hub of student government, leadership and entertainment---the St. Philip's College Turbon Student Center at 1801 Martin Luther King Drive in the city's Denver Heights neighborhood---a facility where the best practices in student leadership and social life will be shared with the visitors from out of town.

The association's 109th Annual Convention is held July 14-18 in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center at 900 E. Market St. http://www.sahbgcc.com/, about three miles from the multi-campus institution's 100-year-old (1918-2018) flagship campus property (campus marked on the interactive map http://aplrealestate.com/spc/imaps), and just steps from the La Villita Historic District http://www.lavillitasanantonio.com/ that served for 20 years (1898-2018) as the original campus for the nation's most-westerly located Historically Black College and Universities member institution in 1898.

The event is key as it establishes NAACP policies and programs of action for the ensuing year.

In an excerpt from the NAACP's online announcement of its convention in San Antonio, the college is mentioned directly and indirectly: "Known as one of America's friendliest cities, San Antonio is a culturally rich and exciting city with plenty to do and see. It's home to the Alamo, the infamous River Walk, the Buffalo Soldiers and St. Philip's College, the only college in the U.S. with distinct dual designation as a Historically Black College and a Hispanic Serving Institution…San Antonio is one of two cities in the U.S. to be named a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. So be sure to come with a big appetite as this grand city has a large variety of amazing restaurants and cuisines to enjoy. San Antonio will provide an unforgettable convention experience and is the perfect city to host our 109th Annual Convention."

Potential students are interested in seeing this campus.

The college was a contributor to the city's 2017 cultural designation as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World City of Gastronomy http://en.unesco.org/news/64-cities-join-unesco-creative-cities-network partnering to ensure the city obtained the world-class designation in October. As a result of the partnership, San Antonio is a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, elevating its global visibility as a leader among culinary destinations where culture and creativity are strategic factors for sustainable jobs and urban development. The St. Philip's College hospitality programs typically graduate 100 students annually, and expansion is expected later this decade when the college opens its $30 million Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts Center of Excellence building funded as part of a $450 million bond package approved by voters in May 2017 to both construct new Alamo College District facilities and renovate existing college buildings. This growth will allow the college to contribute to a 300-year-old city with a unique cultural designation and a promising future that includes excellent education, urban development, and visits by such major organizations as the NAACP.

The potential students are forecast to visit the current culinary facilities in addition to the college's renown automotive technology lab.

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has been an enormous advocate for the success and diversity of St. Philip's College since a local branch was organized in 1918, 20 years after the college was founded. In 1950, the local branch advocated for better educational support from the local community for African-American college students and their college. The branch's tradition of revenue-generating testimonial dinners began in 1954, the year of the Supreme Court decision that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. In 1955, one year after that 1954 Supreme Court decision and the branch's first Freedom Fund dinner, local U.S. Air Force members who were not African-American became the first to rise above an institutional ethnicity barrier and enroll to benefit from study in what is nationally recognized as one of the nation's earliest established community colleges. Fifty years later, the college hosted local NAACP guests and The Honorable Julian Bond, statesman and former NAACP Chairman (1998-2010) as part of its 2014-2015 St. Philip's College President's Lecture Series season of seminars and free public lectures. The college's legendary history dates to its origin when Saint and revered President Emeritus Artemisia Bowden dedicated 52 years to growing a school for six entrepreneurial children of former slaves into what is now the nation's largest Historically Black College and University member institution with 13,000 students of considerable ethnic diversity and a thriving entrepreneurial, tech-oriented community. Nine-years of dedication to the systematic improvement of its organizational effectiveness (2009-2018) earned St. Philip's College top-tier quality status and validating acknowledgement from the state's governor last month. For several years of strategic planning, honing and focusing in on its core competencies of quality instruction, student engagement and community engagement---roughly 36 business quarters---St. Philip's College won a Governor's Award for Performance Excellence award that separates the best of the best organizations in Texas from the merely outstanding.

Find event details online at the NAACP web page, its convention page http://www.naacpconvention.org/ and its Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/naacp/. (Images by Julysa Sosa)