Winner will be revealed at Eagle-Aggie Football game on Sept. 25
North Carolina Central University and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s longtime rivalry will now include a battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Eagle-Aggie Crush COVID Competition, held July 1 to Sept. 17, will encourage faculty, staff and students to do their part by getting a COVID-19 vaccine to ensure the campuses are ready for a healthy fall 2021 semester. The campus with the most members vaccinated will be rewarded with a trophy and ultimate bragging rights at the Sept. 25 Eagle-Aggie football game at Truist Stadium on the N.C. A&T campus.
“North Carolina Central University is proud to continue to do our part in the collective effort against COVID-19,” said NCCU Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye. “In the midst of the pandemic, our university stood strong in maintaining a 2.1% average positivity rate, which was well below the local and national average that continually soared prior to the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccines.
NCCU and A&T are among 16 University of North Carolina System campuses distributing vaccines to faculty, staff, students and members of the community. NCCU’s campus clinic began in March in partnership with the Durham County Department of Health and Human Services. A&T opened its campus clinic in February in partnership with Cone Health and Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services. To date, both campus clinics have administered more than 14,600 vaccinations combined.
“The health, safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff is of utmost importance to us. We continue to educate our campus community about the vaccine, and were among the first constituent universities in the UNC System to establish a COVID-19 vaccine clinic for the North Carolina A&T campus and surrounding community,” said A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. “We will continue offering resources and are looking forward to a successful and healthy 2021-22 academic year.”
According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, North Carolina ranks 12th-lowest in the nation in the number of vaccines administered per capita. Less than half of North Carolinians eligible for a COVID-19 shot are fully vaccinated, despite the presence of more than 2.1 million doses waiting on shelves for residents to take.
For more information about the Eagle-Aggie Crush COVID Competition, please visit www.nccu.edu/crushcovid or www.ncat.edu/crushcovid.
About North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University (NCCU) prepares students to succeed in the global marketplace. Consistently ranked as a top Historically Black College or University, NCCU’s flagship programs in the sciences, education, law, business, nursing and the arts prepare students for professions ranging from clinical research to information science. Founded in 1910, NCCU remains committed to diversity in and access to higher education. With a mission to investigate health disparities, the university’s two state-of-the-art research institutes give students real-world experience working alongside faculty researchers and pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry professionals. The university’s Strategic Plan 2019-2024, Charting a New Landscape for Student-Center Success, focuses on four areas: student access and success; innovation, research and entrepreneurship; collaboration and partnerships; and institutional sustainability. Visit www.nccu.edu.
About North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is the nation’s largest historically Black university, as well as its top ranked (Money magazine, Best Colleges). It is a land-grant, doctoral university, classified as “high research” by the Carnegie Foundation and a constituent member of the University of North Carolina System. A&T is known for its leadership in producing graduates in engineering, agriculture and other STEM fields. The university was founded in 1891 and is located in Greensboro, North Carolina.
