TSU raises $1M at gala with guests Tamron Hall and En Vogue
Texas Southern University set the bar for how institutions of higher learning should throw a gala.
The university’s annual Maroon & Gray black-tie event not only broke records, raising $1 million for scholarships with more than 1,500 guests, but it also featured Emmy Award-winning journalist and native Texan Tamron Hall as the keynote speaker, a welcome by Mayor Sylvester Turner and a performance by the legendary R&B group En Vogue.
The festive affair was held April 28 at the Mariott Marquis hotel in downtown with emcees Deborah Duncan ,of KHOU, and comedian and TSU alum Billy Sorrells. Held for the first time in 2017, the event is brainchild of TSU president Austin and Loren Lane.
Hall’s keynote remarks were brief but moving. A native of Luling (near San Marcos), she alluded to her departure from NBC’s “Today Show” in early 2017. Hall had announced she was leaving the show just days after learning she’d be losing her 9 a.m. time slot because of incoming former Fox News star Megyn Kelly.
“I was born in a shotgun shack on a street that wasn’t paved,” Hall said. “I never imagined I would go on to be the first black woman to host the ‘Today Show.’ … I will find my own path. I don’t have to take the meal that is served; I can cook my own.”
The event also honored TSU students Aaron Dallas and Camille Mills and alums — state Rep. Senfronia Thompson and Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis.
After the program, guests took to the dance floor as En Vogue, featuring Houston native Terry Ellis, proved its members still can harmonize and work the stage like they did in the 1990s. The group performed a set of their R&B hits, including “Hold On,” “Free Your Mind,” “My Lovin’ ” and “Give Him Something He Can Feel.” Last month, En Vogue released “Electric Café,” the group’s first studio album in 14 years.
Guests included: Merele Yarborough, Kim Ogg, Licia Green Ellis, Fox 26 anchor Jonathan Martin, TSU Vice President for Advancement Melinda Spaulding, Anita and Gerald Smith, Argentina James, Terence and Diedra Fontaine, Monja Willis (mother of the Rockets’ James Harden), Dr. Judith Craven, Melanie Flowers, Shannon Buggs, Len Cannon and Bernadette Verzosa, Amanda Edwards, Heidi Smith, Marcus Smith and Dr. Melanie Johnson.