Since 1975, EBONY has celebrated Black colligate women—poised to make a positive change in the African American community—through its editorial franchise EBONY HBCU Campus Queens, which is, this year, presented by CLEAR SCALP & HAIR BEAUTY THERAPY™ ULTRA SHEA.
 
With only 36 hours left and nearly 1.5 million votes cast, EBONY has revealed the top 20 HBCUs whose Queens are in hottest contention for the 2012 contest.
 
The schools, in alphabetical order are:
 
 Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical   
  Albany State University   
  Bennett College   
  Cheyney University of Pennsylvania   
  Delaware State University   
  Fayetteville State University   
  Florida A&M University   
  Fort Valley State University   
  Hampton University   
  Howard University   
  Jackson State University   
  Miles College   
  North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University   
  North Carolina Central University   
  Texas Southern University   
  Tougaloo College   
  Tuskegee University   
  Wiley College   
  Xavier University of LA  

This year’s contest featured more than 40 HBCU Queens from across the country vying for the top 10 spots and a chance to appear in a September 2012 issue spread styled by CLEAR SCALP & HAIR THERAPY™ celebrity stylist Oscar James.
 
Voting ends tomorrow night, Thursday, May 31, at 11:59 p.m. CT and its still anyone’s contest to win—there is no limit to how many votes can be cast. 

Go to EBONY.com/campusqueens and VOTE! 

Beauty Supply Institute will be holding its 3rd annual Beauty Supply Entrepreneurship Summer Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on August 4, 2012.

Since 2010, Beauty Supply Institute has been holding conferences that specifically train aspiring beauty supply store owners how to open beauty supply stores. The beauty industry is a $15 billion industry with low African-American representation as owners. Beauty Supply Institute was founded in 2007 to educate and engage entrepreneurs on the aspects of the industry in order to increase ownership among African-Americans.

Devin Robinson

Since the conference has been established, attendees have opened stores in places like Florida, Virginia, Ohio and Georgia, some within three months of attending. The conference is an all-day conference consisting of 6 classes, a lunch buffet, and take-home materials. Attendees will have an opportunity to intimately interact with staff and get their specific questions answered and concerns addressed. Courses taught include, "Avoiding Industry Pitfalls", "Lease Negotiation", "Uncovering Hidden Revenues", "How to Raise Capital" and more.

This year’s conference guest speaker will be Maggie Anderson, founder of the Empowerment Experiment, who, for one year, only made purchases from black-owned businesses. When asked what inspired Devin Robinson, the founder, to start this organization and conferences, he says, "In 2005, I was threatened with a golf club and kicked out of a store by a Korean owner for no reason whatsoever. This inspired me to open my own stores, and I quickly learned how many other people wanted to have stores of their own. I soon realized this problem was bigger than one city and this industry needed more black owners. I decided to do whatever I could to make that a reality."

Robinson led a one-week national boycott against non-black stores in 2009. He started his own beauty supply store chain, with one store putting two Korean-owned stores out of business. He employed an all-black staff before selling his stores to other Blacks in order to train individuals across the country. His team continues to develop stores nationwide and deliver them to other entrepreneurs.

Devin Robinson and Beauty Supply Institute has appeared on many national media platforms to include Radio One, CBS, Sirius XM radio, Ebony magazine and syndicated Michael Baisden and Rev Al Sharpton radio shows.

Seats are limited. Registration begins May 15, 2012. More information can be found at www.beautysupplyconference.com orwww.beautysupplyinstitute.com or by calling 404-551-4398.