Bethune-Cookman University

www.cookman.edu

Greetings,

Dr. Trudie Kibbe Reed

In the four years since I became president of this great institution, we have achieved University status and enjoyed record-breaking enrollment. Our stewardship covenant ensures that B-CU stands on strong financial footing, with balanced budgets, strong financial ratings and an endowment that has nearly doubled since 2004.

Our students are academically accomplished, multi-talented and spiritually engaged. Through the Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life, our students embrace their faith while they attend B-CU. Many of this year’s graduates are pursuing advanced degrees, and all of our graduating nursing students had secured jobs by the time of commencement. Nine student musicians were tapped for the Florida Music Education Association 2008 Intercollegiate Band and one was selected for the first-ever Fox Music Experience Internship in Los Angeles.

Everyday, our faculty and staff inspire students to fulfill their God-given potential. Many are involved in professional development programs that bring innovation and a global perspective to our campus. Others are receiving accolades for research – such as Dr. Michael Reiter whose work in environmental science led to B-CU being selected for a prestigious federally funded research program.

On campus, we are committed to creating an effective learning environment. This year, we opened the new L. Gale Lemerand School of Nursing Building which includes state-of-the-art technology-equipped classrooms and skills labs and expanded capacity for increased enrollment.

Finally, interwoven in everything at B-CU is a commitment to leadership development and civic engagement. Through programs like the Black Male Think Tank and the President’s Beachside Chats, students learn to play an active role in their education. They look outward with efforts like the Black Male Explorers Program which provides support to young black males in the community and the Odessa Chambliss Wellness Center, our nurse-managed community health clinic.

I am so proud to lead an institution with such a proud history of touching lives.

--Dr. Trudie Kibbe Reed

B-CU Graduates First-Ever Master’s Degree Class

The program is geared toward working adults who complete their requirements within three semesters by taking three online courses each semester. A residency requirement at the beginning of each semester orients students to new processes, technology, and the course offerings and allows them to make personal connections with faculty and fellow students.

The launch of the program in 2007 allowed Bethune-Cookman to achieve University status. Additional master’s degree programs are currently under development.

Meet Bethune-Cookman University’s Student Leaders

When Samuel Heath, the current president of B-CU’s Student Government Association, first came to campus, he already had a long list of accomplishments of which he could be proud. He was president of his freshmen class at Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, president of the New Central Association Youth Congress of Florida, third vice president of the Progressive Missionary and Educational Youth Convention of Florida, and he became a licensed minister his sophomore year of high school. It’s no surprise that he has continued in a similar fashion during his years at B-CU. Heath served as president of the B-CU freshmen class in 2005, as president of the Religious Life Association from 2005 – 2008, and as Homecoming King in 2007. A political science major, Heath is the recipient of the Take Stock Scholar Award and is a resident of the Zimmerman Scholarship House which requires students to meet the highest academic standards. Heath hopes to pursue advanced degrees in law and seminary at Emory University in Atlanta Ga.

The reigning Miss B-CU, Tempestt Stubbs is a senior majoring in education. She first learned about B-CU at a college fair in her native Freeport, Bahamas. She maintains a 3.5 GPA and balances her academics with a wide range of leadership activities. Before being selected to serve as Miss B-CU, she was Miss Homecoming in 2006. She is the president of the Physical Education and Recreation Club, secretary of the Student Advisory Council for education and the Student Government Association, and a member of the National Council of Negro Women, Federation of Bahamian Students, and Caribbean Student Association. After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school to pursue a degree in educational leadership.