Dr. Reginald Sherard Academic Cookout‏ Chris Zona The WSSU Department of Athletics is hosting the inaugural Dr. Reginald Sherard Academic Cookout in the Clarence E. Gaines Center on campus at WSSU. This cookout is a three-hour event that begins at 11:00 am and concludes at 2:00 pm and is, for all intents and purposes, exactly what it sounds like…an indoor cookout. The purpose of this event is to attempt to bridge the gap between athletics and academics that occurs at every institution of higher education. The creation of WSSU Director of Athletics, William “Bill” Hayes, this event is an invitation-only event that will support interaction between the WSSU student-athletes, coaches and staff members with the WSSU faculty. A brief synopsis is as follows: Each student-athlete was given the same amount of invitations as they have professors for their classes. They were instructed to invite their professors to this cookout and to introduce the professors to their coaches. The professors, coaches and student-athletes are then to have lunch with one another, thereby strengthening the bond between these groups and allowing the coaches to spend time reviewing academic progress with the instructors. Since his arrival as Director of Athletics, Mr. Hayes has emphasized the importance of both retention of our student-athletes and academic progress, and we here at WSSU feel this is a pioneering event in the strengthening of that bond.   Photo WSSU AD Bill Hayes