VOICES Page 6
When life gives you
lemons, make ‘Lemonade’
Gramblinite editors
bid goodbye to all
8 Page 4
ART &Page
STYLE
TRIBUTE Page 8
Paying homage
to soul legends
who are gone now
Thursday, April 28, 2016
VOL. 87, No. 28
Businessman to be graduation speaker
STAFF REPORT
Thomas Allen Moorehead’s
career has taken him down
many interesting paths, but his
road map on life has remained
consistent: Look for ways to
help others.
A visionary business professional, Moorehead is a mentor
to hundreds of African Americans interested in careers in
the automobile industry and a
philanthropist who has funded
scholarships for college students
and supported charities targeting underserved communities.
Moorehead, a Grambling
State alumnus, will speak at the
graduation ceremony at 10 a.m.
Friday, May 13, in the Fredrick
C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
Moorehead earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting
from then Grambling College
in 1966. In 1971, he earned a
master of social work degree
from the University of Michigan, where he is six credits
short of completing a doctoral degree program.
Moorehead began his career at the Mobile Corporation
and later at the Chrysler Corporation. In 1972, however, he
shifted the focus of his career
and accepted a position as director of Community Service
at the University of Michigan.
There, he was responsible for
programs that promoted civic
participation, built community
capacity and enhanced the education process.
In 1985, Moorehead’s career
took a major turn when he was
selected for the General Motors
Dealer Training Program. After
learning the tricks of the trade
at a dealership for three years,
he pulled out on his own, opening Moorehead Buick/Isuzu in
Omaha, Nebraska.
He sold the Omaha store
in 1995 and opened Moorehead Buick-GMC Trucks in
Decatur, Illinois. There, he
developed a national sales
campaign and entered into
contracts with two national
rental car agencies. The revenue-increasing move ushered
the dealership into an elite status among African American
automobile dealers.
In 1998, Moorehead set his
sights on higher ground: the
BMW brand, the No. 1 foreign luxury car manufacturer.
His timing was impeccable.
The National Association of
Minority Automobile Dealers
(NAMAD) was looking for
new dealership sites and minority dealer candidates for BMW.
Moorehead was awarded
one of the three sites identified
in the NAMAD report. BMW
had not awarded a franchise in
a new territory in two decades.
From there, Moorehead acquired a seven-acre site in Sterling, Virginia, often referred to
as the Silicon Valley of the East.
Moorehead encountered
numerous challenges and called
upon the fortitude and persistence instilled in him at an early
age to endure and conquer the
obstacles he confronted daily.
He built a 38,500-squarefoot state-of-the-art facility
with two separate showrooms
for the BMW and Mini Cooper
brands. The Moorehead store
Moorehead
was among the first 70 BMW
dealerships in the United States
selected to sell the revitalized
Mini Cooper brand.
See MOOREHEAD, Page 3
Message of hope at Spring Convocation
MINIYA SHABAZZ
The Gramblinite
James Cole Jr. visited
Grambling to emphasize the
importance of getting a historically black college education. The last convocation of
the spring semester took place
in the Black and Gold Room
on Tuesday. The event was
titled, “The President’s Spring
Convocation”.
Cole currently serves as
the delegated duties of deputy
secretary,
chief operating officer
and chief
legal officer for the
Department
of Education. He
Cole
was the first
in his family
to graduate from college and
is very active with ensuring
others, particularly minorities,
graduate.
Cole began his speech by
addressing some of his hardships growing up. His mother
died of a heart attack and his
father had Alzheimer’s disease.
“Someone made the choice
to be my keeper,” said Cole.
He talked about how there
was no hope for him, yet with
the help of his high school
teacher being his motivation
he was able to get a degree in
higher education.
KANESHA DOUGLAS/The Gramblinite
James Cole, deputy secretary of the Department of Education, talks to Grambling State students and other audience members
about the place that HBCUs hold in producing African American degree holders.
Cole wants graduates from
HBCUs to be competitive
for whatever job they want to
attain. “Our nation’s HBCUs
make up only 3 percent of all
colleges and universities. They
produce 27 percent of African
Americans with bachelors
degrees,” said Cole.
He touched on how HBCUs are addressing the needs
of students and are essential
to the advancement of the
African American race. He
wants HBCUs to be known for
the wonderful things they have
accomplished from their rich
history, graduates, and contributions to STEM and society.
Cole wants to make the
education and teaching field
more diverse, specifically more
African American male teachers, to give a quality education
to students.
“The Obama administration has invested billions of
dollars each year in HBCUs to
help expand their work in institutional research, community
outreach, and providing a more
high quality college education
to all students,” said Cole.
Not enough minorities are
attending college. His message
encouraged the students to
FEMA sharing costs of $7M repairs
n Woodson to
be open by fall;
natatorium set
for demolition
June 1.
YA’LISHA GATEWOOD
Contributing writer
The director of Facilities,
Safety and Risk Management
said that Grambling State, with
the help of Federal Emergency Management Agency, is in
the process of repairing the
$7 million in damage caused
by the March 9 flood.
“We are only in Phase
One, which is remediation
and tear-out of all damages,”
said Kevin Tallasken, the new
director