NASHVILLE, TN – A Morehouse student has started the Black Ivy League website under the auspices of the Tennessee Tribune’s website (www.tntribune.com) and won a scholarship at the National Newspapers Publishers Association in Atlanta last week.

For many college seniors, simply finishing school is their major priority, along with finding a job. But Clement Anthony Tull Jr. is a thoughtful, gifted young man with ambitious goals that go far beyond earning an English diploma from Morehouse. Indeed, Tull’s multiple skills include writing and art, and he’s combined them to start a new website under the auspices of the Tennessee Tribune, Nashville’s largest Black owned and operated weekly newspaper.

Tull’s future goals include pursuing a graduate degree in English and eventually becoming a college professor. He’s also interested in copywriting, advertising and has previously participated in advertising competitions. He is also working on a forthcoming graphic novel aimed at children ages four – eight. But his current duties include being an intern this summer at the Tennessee Tribune. There’s he’s helping develop something quite unique and special as part of the Tribune’s expansion into multiple media platforms.

Tull’s the creative force behind The Black Ivy League, a new website devoted to events and issues. Tull said the impetus for the new site came from Tennessee Tribune Associate Publisher William Miller’s desire to provide an online informational and inspirational tool for Black college students.

“He wanted something that would get more hits for the Tribune website, but also something that could help expand the audience for the publication,” Tull said. “The idea was to generate a site that could do a lot of different things in terms of attracting college students, but also still be interesting to general readers. We came up with the idea of “The Black Ivy League,” looking at some of the top HBCU’s and the things that are happening on those campuses.”

“The Black Ivy League” (tntribuneblackivyleague.com) will make its online debut later this month. It will include scholarship links, lifestyle segments and videos, links to different institutions and their websites, a Black Greek page and links to individual Greek organizations, a news page and links to the newspapers of various HBCU’s.

“I’ll be pulling material from Black newspapers across the country, as well as the HBCU publications,” Tull continued. “I’ll be looking for the kind of news that students want to know, and the types of things that they talk about on campus. It’s also going to have material that spotlights what makes the HBCU experience special. We’re going to make it interesting, but we’re also going to have a lot of different things on the site from around the country. Sometimes people who are going to Morehouse or Howard don’t always know what’s happening on other campuses. This will be a way they can stay informed on things of importance to everyone.”

When he returns to Morehouse in the fall, Tull hopes to make the school’s paper part of “The Black Ivy League” family, and also continue contributing to it. But he’ll also be completing his graphic novel, which is centered around the character of an albino lion.

“I want to be a positive influence on young children, and this novel talks about the difficulties of fitting in, finding your way and developing your own identity.”

Clement Anthony Tull’s diverse and multiple goals also include taking the GRE next year in hopes of attending graduate school. His number one choice is the University of California at Berkeley, because he wants to “see what the options are like out there.” But eventually he hopes to become a copywriter and later a professor on some college’s faculty, where he can help develop writing and illustrating talent in other young men similar to himself.

“I really see the Black Ivy League website as something that can not just benefit the Tennessee Tribune, but provide a service to the Black community as a whole,” Tull concluded. “There is so much happening now at the HBCU’s that doesn’t get covered or mentioned in many newspapers unless it is some type of negative thing. We’re going to spotlight the positive things happening on these campuses, and the good things that students are doing, as well as the news stories that they sometimes miss because they’re more focused on doing what’s necessary to graduate.”

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