News

As the CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament brings championship excitement to Baltimore, a parallel celebration of literacy and youth achievement took place February 26, 2026 at Federal Hill Preparatory School through the CIAA and Friends Literacy Circle. Johnson C. Smith University was front and center. President Valerie Kinloch was on site.

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the nation’s oldest Historically Black Athletic Conference, announces the brackets for its 2026 Food Lion CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament. The single elimination tournament will be held at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, Tuesday, February 24 through Saturday, February 28. Championship Saturday will feature the women’s title game at 1 p.m. followed by the men’s championship at 4 p.m. 

Get free admission to the Charlotte Museum of History, a Smithsonian Affiliate, and celebrate Charlotte’s Black history and culture on Saturday, Feb. 28, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the museum’s ninth African American Heritage Festival featuring exhibits from JCSU. 

A busy weekend for Johnson C. Smith University Golden Bulls athletics, as seven teams will be in action over the next four days.



Events kick off on Friday as the JCSU softball team travels to Hardeeville, South Carolina, to participate in the Sand Shark Invitational hosted by the University of South Carolina Beaufort. The Golden Bulls will take on the Sand Sharks, the host school and UNC Pembroke in the three-day event. The single game will take place at the Richard Gray Sports Complex. The softball team is looking for their first win on the season after falling to North Grenville, 23-1 and 15-0.
 


Before careers, before marriage, before having daughters and decades together, Kemuel Murray, Class of 2000, and Eunice Emmanuel(Murray) , Class of 1998,  were two students with singular paths finding their way across the sprawling campus of Johnson C. Smith University. Eunice was a business major with a concentration in accounting.  She had her eyes on the prize, graduating with honors.  Kemuel was a history major, ready to learn and mingle.

For the Love of Music sent a joyous noise throughout the campus of Johnson C. Smith University the evening of February 12, 2026 inside Grimes Lounge in the Mary Joyce Taylor Crisp Student Union. Dr. Shawn-Allyce White, Professor of Music, served as Director alongside Dr. Barbara Buck as vocal consultant and Mr. Frank Williams as piano accompanist.

North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) celebrated an important milestone this weekend as student teams from across the state gathered at the North Carolina Legislative Complex for the 15th Annual Ethics Bowl. This year’s competition, centered on the theme “Ethics in Leadership,” culminated in a historic first as Johnson C. Smith University became the first Historically Black College/University (HBCU) to reach the finals and prevail as champion.

A conversation with Dr. Joseph L. Jones, Author of Black, Not Historically Black: Toward a Pan-Black College and University

What does it mean to build wealth in a society where access has never been equal—and how do education, sacrifice, and community shape what is possible for the next generation?
 
That question framed the Queen City News Black History Month Special: Black Wealth, filmed February 5, 2026, on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University inside the historic Jane M. Smith Memorial Church. The panel convened leaders in higher education, finance, professional sports, and civic engagement for a wide-ranging discussion on wealth creation, equity, and intergenerational responsibility.