News

Johnson C. Smith University is proud to announce its distinguished speaker for the 2025 Commencement Ceremonies. The University’s 152nd Commencement will take place on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at 11 a.m. at Bojangles Coliseum, featuring acclaimed television personality, comedian and philanthropist Sheryl Underwood as the keynote speaker. 

The Johnson C. Smith University Music Program presented the 2025 Faculty Recital and Percussion Ensemble Concert on the evening of May 1, 2025 inside the historic Jane M. Smith Memorial Church.  The event featured performances by accomplished faculty and students, alike.

Johnson C. Smith University proudly celebrates its 15th president, Dr. Valerie Kinloch, on receiving the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2025 Scholars of Color in Education Distinguished Career Contribution Award.

The Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) College of Business and Professional Studies is proud to announce that it will serve as the host institution for the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) Evaluator Training & Access Accreditation Conference. The conference will take place on Thursday, April 24, and Friday, April 25, 2025, in New Science Center on the JCSU campus, located in Charlotte, North Carolina.

At the National Association of Black Journalists Region III Conference held April 10–12 at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC, more than 100 journalists gathered for a series of dynamic discussions. Among them was a standout panel titled “How to Power Forward in Political Reporting,” moderated by Walter Smith Randolph, Executive Producer of Investigations at CBS New York.

August 6, 2025, was a momentous day that echoed the bold spirit of August 7, 1867, the day of Johnson C. Smith University’s founding, originally the Freedmen’s College of North Carolina, later Biddle Memorial Institute, Biddle University, then Johnson C. Smith University. 

In 2025, the African drummers and the robed promenade of faculty, staff, students and dignitaries signaled back to the auspicious day 158 years prior.

Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jewell Hoover to the College of Business and Professional Studies Dean’s Executive Advisory Board (DEAB), effective April 1, 2025.

Johnson C. Smith University sent five students—Holiness Mhlanga, Dejha Canty, Shaun Moore, Amauri Hampton and David Santos—along with staff advisor Jerrica Turner, to Austin in mid-March to compete in the 2025 HBCU Battle of the Brains.

In honor of Social Work Month, JCSU will spotlight a student from the Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work programs each week in March. Today’s spotlight features Starlacha’ (Star) Hurst, a Chesapeake, Va., native and a 2025 graduate of the JCSU Master of Social Work program. 

Johnson C. Smith University faculty member and alumna, Shakoya Brown, is on a mission to raise awareness and funds for women’s heart health as a nominee for the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Woman of Impact campaign. As a stroke survivor, Brown is using her platform to educate, empower and advocate on behalf of women’s heart disease and stroke.