Follow Up On NO BLACKS with CSU Board PR Contract
This new blog today is to follow up on the piece I posted yesterday regarding the fact I that I was very upset when I learned that The Board leaders of Chicago State University (CSU) had allegedly by-passed the excellent existing PR Department at CSU to contract with an extra PR Firm to strategically speak for the Board leadership of this historic majority Black university BUT HAD NO BLACKS in their firm to publicly represent the Board! Hell yes I was, am still ticked off at this. I think this is a damned insult to the existing PR professionals in the CSU PR Department, and an insult to the many qualified CSU graduates like a R.J. Dale who are in the PR business!! When I first started posting blogs about my feelings about CSU and the leadership challenges currently going on with President Wayne Watson and all, many many people told me to TALK to people AT the university and back up my personal feelings with some real facts which I have done, and here is what I feel about what I have been hearing.I have learned that the major source of some of the leaks in the media about the private personnel matters involving Dr. Watson and other serious university issues have been done through this new PR firm led by Jescular Terman.for the Board was hired by the CSU Board Chairman, Gary Rozier, described by some as a young elitist, who is a vice president at Ariel Investments. While Rozier may be a Vice President with John Rodgers company this current process and actions by Rozier clearly shows that he has not learned how to move and shake with every corner of Chicago as his boss John Rodgers. I am sure John would have handled things differently.Now, while I do not have relationship with Board Chairman Rozier, this act by him to select this PR Firm with NO BLACK MANAGEMENT or Black partners of spokespeople I could find, this shows just how out of touch Rozier with how things are done in Chicago. He hires this downtown firm as a "hidden hand" to plant the seeds in the media to assassinate the reputation of President Wayne Watson and this great South Side university at the worse time of the year. He has not sensitivities to the impact this would have on students and prospective students and pending accreditation, etc. The students are days away from their midterms, and the seniors at just weeks away from graduating. This is the time when prospective students are deciding if they want to attend Chicago State. Surely, this negative publicity has not helped the recruiting efforts, as I see and hear this same CSU Board Chairman Rozier complaining that enrollment is down under Watson when many who are contacting me with information know why it is down. Dr. Watson had to remove students who were not longer meeting academic standards versus just maintaining them on the rolls just for increased numbers sake.I decided to check out this PR firm that has been retained by Rozier. Surprising, NONE of the executives they feature on the website are African American. I could be wrong so readers of this please do like I did and go to the link word for it. Just go to the link http://jtpr.com and look for the banner "Our Team." You would think a firm that does so much business with our government agencies would meet most guidelines for diversity and inclusion and would come to this historic Black institution and show their Black managers and staff which should have included some of the great qualified media professionals who are CSU graduates.But more importantly, you would think the chairman of the board of trustees for a predominantly black school, which trains students in communications, journalism and PR, would invest money in a firm that presents the best opportunity to hire or provide interns for his students, and from the very community that this historic Black institutionFrom what I have seen thus far, This chairman Rozier may be good for his business, but he is clearly out of touch with the Black community and the kind of sensitivity one would expect from the Chairman of a majority Black institution like CSU and I would urge the local and state Black elected officials that directly represent CSU to strongly urge Governor Quinn not reappoint him on the board.
MARK S. ALLEN, Veteran Activist
marksallen2800@aol.com
included in the 2012 edition and nominated again for the 2013 edition of Who's Who In Black Chicago as "One Of Chicago's Most Influential Black Voices"
Chairman, National Black Wall Street Chicago
Founder and Lead Organizer, Illinois Voter Restoration Project
Chief of Staff to National Chairman, National Black Wall Street USA
"And The Ordinary People Said" News Blog, www.chicagonow.com
Chairman, Community Reinvestment Organizing Project of The Monroe Foundation
Board Member, Chicago Gospel Music Heritage Museum
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The Rev. Al Sharpton calls Mark Allen "one of Chicago's legendary political activists and one of the best organizers of his generation"
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