The NCAA has a new Cinderella in Queens University. Plus, Temple Grandin tours North Carolina and bipartisan lawmakers get behind public education.
As a Connecticut native who moved to North Carolina at 8 years old, I can testify to one big similarity between my childhood home and the one I’ve lived in for more than 30 years now: a deep love for college basketball.
The reasons differ, of course. Up north, an invisible line split Nutmeggers between pro sports franchises based in Boston or New York. What brought everyone together, however, was their love for the UConn Huskies.
I don’t need to tell you as a Cardinal & Pine reader that, down here, no one team brings people together. College basketball is everything in North Carolina because our state is home to so many storied programs, starting along Tobacco Road and branching out from there.
The first time one of my teachers rolled out the ol’ classroom TV and let us watch the ACC tournament, I knew I would fit well into my new home. As we enter another March, a new Carolina Cinderella has already entered the chat. What better way to start off a Good News Friday?
Queens University goes dancing for the first time
Established as the Charlotte Female Institute in 1857, the existence of Queens University technically predates the NCAA men’s basketball tournament by 82 years, so it’s pretty unbelievable that the school will make its first appearance in the tourney next week.
OK, so it becomes more believable when you consider that the college didn’t field its first men’s basketball team until the 1989-90 season, nor did that team earn its way into Division I play until just three years ago, but big news, nonetheless! The Queens men upset the top-seeded Central Arkansas Bears 98-93 in overtime on Sunday to claim the first Atlantic Sun Conference title in program history.
Students and fans will gather at the Levine Lawn on the campus in Charlotte on Sunday at 4 p.m. to begin festivities leading up to Selection Sunday, during which they’ll find out what team they’ll face off against next week and when.
Elsewhere in North Carolina, High Point University doubled up this week, taking its second consecutive Big South championship right alongside the women’s team, with both earning a spot in their respective tournaments.
As the men’s teams in larger conferences continue playing into the weekend to decide if and where they’ll be seeded in the Big Dance, the Duke women’s team has already punched its ticket, winning its ACC championship game on Sunday.
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Temple Grandin tours North Carolina sites
Producer Emily Gerson Saines, right, and Temple Grandin collect the award for outstanding made for TV movie for “Temple Grandin” during the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010, in Los Angeles (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Nationally known autism activist and animal behavior researcher Temple Grandin, Ph.D, will visit a number of sites in the Greensboro area over the weekend, ending with a “Sunset Signature Series” talk in downtown Asheboro on Saturday evening.
One of the most accomplished and well-known adults with autism in the world, Grandin’s story reached millions when she was depicted by Claire Danes in HBO’s full-length biopic about her life.
This morning, Grandin toured Victory Junction, Richard Petty’s free camp for chronically or seriously ill children in Randleman. It is there that Grandin discussed how she built her confidence despite her experience with neurodivergence, as she did in her 2010 TED Lecture, “The World Needs ALL Kinds of Minds,” and her bestselling book, Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions.
Good News Friday: This NC church gives away free prom dresses
Considered a philosophical leader of both the animal welfare and autism advocacy, Grandin began her scientific career publishing papers on animal behavior and advocating for the humane treatment of livestock. She eventually became one of the few professional livestock-handling equipment designers and a consultant to the livestock industry.
She may be offering up some advice to the zoologists during a private tour of the North Carolina State Zoo this afternoon. She told us about a recent trip to another zoo where the staff was having issues with a giraffe who would get nasty during feeding time.
“I told them, ‘You have to make sure you’re not accidentally rewarding that behavior … If this giraffe kicks, then it does not get fed, it does not get the treat. You don’t want to reward bad behavior like that.”
Grandin will wrap her NC stop with a speaking engagement at the Sunset Theatre in Asheboro at 7 p.m. on Saturday, where she’s likely to touch on all the topics on which she’s a trusted expert.
State leaders announce new committee to boost public education
In this 2019 file photo, educators and their supporters protested low education funding at the state legislature in Raleigh. (Shutterstock)
In recent years, public education — like so many other issues — has become a political football. That’s what makes it such welcome news that Democratic NC Gov. Josh Stein on Tuesday joined two Republican NCGA leaders in announcing the formation of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education.
The 28-member commission was appointed by Stein, NC House Speaker Destin Hall and NC Senate Leader Phil Berger. According to a release on Tuesday, the commission will be tasked with “examining teacher training and student advancement, administrative operations, educational leadership, and accountability.”
“Excellent public schools create meaningful opportunity for every North Carolinian to succeed,” said Stein in the release. “This commission represents a bipartisan commitment and an opportunity to make North Carolina’s public schools the best in the nation.”
