THE CASH STUFF FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH, 2025

 ST. AUG. OFFICIALS GET

NC AG MESSAGE: CHANGE

$70 MIL DEAL OR ELSE

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

Officials at St. Augustine’s University (SAU) have capitulated to the demands of the NC Attorney General’s Office. The school’s $70 million 99-year land lease agreement with Florida-based developer 50 Plus One Sports - a deal that legally needed prior approval of the state attorney general’s office (NC AG) because SAU is a nonprofit - is being changed in order to pass legal muster in time for a Feb. 27th hearing SAU officials are scheduled to have with the SACSCOC (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission of Colleges) to have its probationary accreditation returned to permanent status.

By showing SACSCOC that it has now made a financial agreement that will satisfy its reported $32 million in debt (including several million in back taxes to the federal government), SAU hopes to demonstrate that it has its financial house in order to assure its stability into the future.

But getting the NC AG’s Office’s sign-off on a financial arrangement that will help SAU achieve that goal is the obstacle it must next overcome.

The original agreement had 50 Plus One Sports paying SAU a reported $60 million by the end of 2024, followed by another $10 million by June 2025.

Published reports say after the NC AG’s Office rejected that $70 million 50 Plus One Sports 99-year lease agreement because it involved virtually all of SAU’s over 100 acres of property, and also because it severely undervalued the property by $128 million, SAU officials are going back to the drawing board, reportedly selling only half of the historically Black private university’s acreage.

"Based on our review of the documents submitted thus far, we are concerned about SAU’s ability to continue to operate and fulfill its mission if this proposed lease agreement is finalized without substantive improvements,” wrote Senior Deputy Attorney General Kunai Choksi to school officials in a recent letter. 

That letter also expressed Choksi’s concern about "SAU's ability to continue to operate and fulfill its mission if this proposed lease agreement is finalized without substantive improvements."

What the new assessed land value will be, and for how long the new land lease agreement will be for is still to be determined. But once those new numbers are arrived at, SAU officials are expected to notify the NC AG’s Office with the details, in hopes that they will get approval in time for the Feb. 27th SACSCOC hearing.

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UNC STUDY REVEALS

“ALARMING” SUICIDE

TREND AMONG SOME

BLACK MIDDLE SCHOOLERS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

If you’re the parent of an African-American middle school student, please take note.

According to a new study from UNC researchers, one-in-four Black middle school students have had thoughts of suicide, 1-in-6 “made plans to take their own lives, and 1-in-10” actually made a suicide attempt.

These are just some of the findings recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 

Based on information derived from 7,643 “self-identifying” Black youth for the study titled “The Factors Associated with Suicide Risk Behavior Outcomes Among Black Middle School Adolescents,” researchers further found that “…28% of Black middle school students nationally have reported suicidal thoughts or behaviors…”

From the “Plain Language Summary” of the report, Suicide rates have alarmingly increased for early adolescent Black youth, and exploring factors that inform suicide risk behavior outcomes is necessary for this population.

…the authors found that approximately 28% of Black middle school adolescents reported some form of suicidality with higher odds experienced among female participants. Other factors associated with suicidality included carrying a weapon, being bullied, being cyberbullied, and reporting lower grades in school.

The stunning report adds that Suicide rates for early adolescent self-identifying Black populations, aged 10 to 14 years, have extraordinarily risen in the United States over the last 2 decades, resulting in suicide becoming the second leading cause of death for this population. From 2003 to 2017, researchers noted significant upward trends in suicide rates for Black youth aged 5 to 14 years.Furthermore, Black youth aged 5 to 12 years were twice as likely as White youth to die by suicide. 

These alarming increases have resulted in the acknowledgment and amplification of Black youth suicide as a national public health crisis. Researchers attribute these increases in suicidality to the disproportional experiences of racism, gendered racism, discrimination, and racial trauma found to increase suicide risk outcomes among Black youth populations. 

Altogether, data indicate an increased risk of suicide for self-identifying Black adolescents, where race is acknowledged as a social construct. Despite the increased suicide rates for Black youth populations, less is known about the early adolescent or middle school population, necessitating an examination of this younger population.

The report summary continued, Among Black youth aged 13 to 19 years, sex-based differences were identified with male suicidal thought and behavior (STB) rates increasing by 60% and female rates increasing by 182% between 2001 and 2017. These rates are alarming as individuals who have engaged in STBs are at high risk for future death by suicide. Specifically, among Black adolescents aged 12 to 14 years, researchers found a significant upward trend in suicide rates, with Black girls experiencing an annual percentage rate twice that of Black boys.

The UNC researchers add that because Black youth suicide is an “understudied’” area of research, a ground-level approach aiming to build a more encompassing understanding of suicidality is necessary.

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