Share the Experience at CIAAsBy Danielle Smith Oh my Gosh!! Are CI's here already? It feels like the semester just started and the bookstore just opened. Well, get ready, because the good times are here and the fun is about to begin! Bowie State University will travel south once again to unite with various colleges and universities to participate in the annual festivities. The CIAA tournament will be taken place in Charlotte, N.C. from Feb. 24-28. Get ready for the live excitement, the friendly and social atmosphere between different schools, and most of all, get ready to show that big Bowie State Bulldog pride! Every year around this time, several of the students, alumni, and fans, from a collection of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), travel to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Tournament to watch and enjoy the great experience. The CIAA tournament does not only involve activities for sports fans, but the CIAA tournament embodies loads of the other fun that includes events like the annual step show, educational career fairs, workshops, and many other forms of entertainment that will keep you busy while enjoying the great and wonderful environment of Charlotte. Along with the fun and excitement that will accompany the tournament, our very own Miss Bowie State University, Shanel Gaither, will also be traveling to the tournament to find out the results of the Miss CIAA election. Who will win? Only you can decide. Continue to go online and vote to support Shanel and the school spirit of the university. And let's not forget about the Greeks! Nine Greek fraternities and sororities will step it out to see who will be this year's CIAA Step Show Champion. The Epsilon Sigma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated will represent Bowie State University in hopes to win! This year should be a great year to remember. With both of our men's and women's basketball teams on their way, the Lady Bulldogs will strive to meet and continue their ultimate goal and carry on their awesome winning streak. This event is sure to win the crowd over with the exceptional talent that will appear on the courts. The schools that have also been invited to the tournament include Bowie State University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, Johnson C. Smith University, Livingstone College, Shaw University, Saint Augustine's College, Saint Paul's College, Virginia State University, and Virginia Union University. Come down to Charlotte and show your Bulldog pride. Become a part of an event that will leave a long lasting memory, never to be forgotten. Also, the Student Government Association Elections are on its way, so look out for the flyers and postings of your fellow students and encourage them to bring about change to the student life environment. And last but not least, please do not forget about our Mr. Bowie State University, Jermaine Rawlings, as he and some of the member of the royal court proceed to Missouri to compete in the 5th Annual Mr. HBCU Kings' Conference and Competition pageant at Lincoln University of Missouri. | 
In October 2008, Nikki E. Owens, a junior at Bowie State University, received a Milton Pericles Darden III Memorial Scholarship from the Scott Lee Foundation during its First Annual Nicole Lynette Scott Lee Memorial Scholarship Awards Reception. 
Dr. Marion Harris currently serves as Chair of Management, Marketing and Public Administration in the School of Business at Bowie State University. She was Acting Vice President for Administration and Finance Division the University for nearly two years. 
Sherece West has risen far from her youth growing up in a public housing project in inner-city Baltimore. She is the president of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation in Little Rock, AK, a $150 million philanthropy founded by a former Arkansas governor.
