WSSU a finalist for 10 HBCU Digest Awards for 2019

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is a finalist for 10 2019 HBCU Awards, including the top categories of "HBCU of the Year" and "Male President of the Year."

WSSU is tied for third for the most finalists for the awards this year, which were announced through a video on HBCU Digest's website on Monday, June 17.

WSSU is a finalist in these categories:

• HBCU of the Year (also a 2018 finalist)
• Male President of the Year, Elwood L. Robinson (also a 2018 finalist)
• Female Faculty of the Year, Dawn Hicks Tafari, assistant professor of education
• Alumna of the Year, Tish Guerin '05, a 2019 WSSU Young Alumni Council “Forty Under 40” honoree, and the in-house mental health clinician for the Carolina Panthers.
• Best HBCU Marching Band, The Red Sea of Sound
• Best HBCU Choir, The Singing Rams (also a 2018 finalist)
• Best Fine Arts Program, Diggs Gallery
• Best Research Center, the Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Health Disparities (CEEHD)
• Best Nursing Program (a 2018 winner)
• Best Social Work Program (2017 and 2018 finalist and 2018 winner)

According to HBCU Digest, The HBCU Awards is the first and only national awards ceremony honoring individual and institutional achievement at historically Black colleges and universities throughout the country.

Finalists were selected based not only on excellence but on how effectively the story of that excellence was shared with the general public through media relations.

This is WSSU's biggest showing in the nine-year history of the awards. Last year, WSSU was a finalist in seven categories, including "HBCU of the Year" and "Male President of the Year," and won awards for nursing and social work programs of the year. 

WSSU is the only North Carolina-based HBCU chosen as a finalist for "HBCU of the Year." Other finalists are: Benedict College, Central State University, Howard University, Kentucky State University, Morehouse College and Tennessee State University. 

The HBCU Digest 2019 winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Aug. 2 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in downtown Baltimore.

About Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State University fosters the creative thinking, analytical problem-solving, and depth of character needed to transform the world. Rooted in liberal education, WSSU’s curriculum prepares students to be thought leaders who have the skills and knowledge needed to develop innovative solutions to complex problems. Founded in 1892, WSSU is a historically Black constituent institution of the University of North Carolina with a rich tradition of contributing to the social, cultural, intellectual, and economic growth of North Carolina, the region and beyond. Guided by the motto, “Enter to Learn, Depart to Serve,” WSSU develops leaders who advance social justice by serving the world with compassion and commitment.