West Virginia University Sport Management Associate Professor Floyd Jones and Vice President for Student Affairs Kenneth D. Gray will be recognized at the West Virginia All Black Schools Sports and Academic Hall of Fame event later this month at the Charleston Marriott Hotel.

Jones, along with his family members, will receive special recognition for their induction in the Hall of Fame. On Saturday, the group will honor Gray, the first and only African American General Officer in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps since its inception in 1775.

On Thursday, Aug. 25 activities will include a recognition ceremony for the historic Park Central, WV championship track teams. The Bluefield school was the first and only all black school to win four integrated state championships in the 1960s.

On Friday evening, the WV ABSSA will collaborate with the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame and the Charleston Blues Society to present a special tribute Bobby Womack and the Womack Family. Other activities include a museum, presentations featuring West Virginia sports historian Dr. Bob Barnett, dinner and a tribute to Wayne Casey, the WV State University first black quarterback to play on an integrated team.

Also on Friday, Hall of Fame co-hosts Bobby Womack and the Womack Brothers will be among this year’s inductees. In the early 60s Bobby Womack and his four brothers Friendly, Jr., Cecil, Harry and Curtis formed the Womack Brothers and began touring the gospel circuit. The group signed with Sam Cooke and SAR Records and was renamed the Valentinos. Shortly afterward, they made two hits, “Looking for a Love” and “It’s All Over Now.”

On Saturday, Aug. 27, the Black Tie, Red Carpet Induction Ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. Co-host, Captain (ret) John M. Bailey, Jr., former Delta Air Lines Pilot, will introduce the new inductees, including 51 academics who achieved a master’s degree or higher or comparable experience.

Other inductees include 40 sports persons who achieved all state or higher or comparable experience; individuals who achieved sports and/ or academic standards; the first or the last to achieve on the local, state, national or international level and more than 30 posthumous inductees, among them actor Howard Porter (Park Central) who played the Tin Man in Broadway Production, The Wiz.

A Black Tie Banquet will begin at 5 p.m. To close out this historic event, a Farewell Gala will be held at 8 p.m. with music by the Bob Thompson Trio.

WV ABSSA board members with WVU connections include Dr. Dana Brooks, dean, CPASS and Professor of Sociology Ron Althouse.

For more information or to order tickets, call 304-748-7116. All tickets must be purchased in advance; there will be no tickets sold at the door. Payment may be sent to Helen L. Jackson-Gillison, Esq., president, WV ABSSA, 3139 West Street, Weirton, WV 26062.

-WVU-

08/22/11

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CONTACT: Kimberly Cameon, CPASS
304-293-0827, Kimberly.Cameon@mail.wvu.edu