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CIAA SWEEPS INTO CHARLOTTE

Charlotte
CIAA SWEEPS INTO CHARLOTTE
Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph at the Charlotte Chamber luncheon for CIAA
The Charlotte Chamber hosted its first-ever CIAA kickoff luncheon last Wednesday. The CIAA is a basketball tourney of traditionally African-American colleges. It marked its 100th anniversary last week. The Chamber's sold-out event was a Who's Who of African-American college and university leadership. But actress and activist Sheryl Lee Ralph, who starred in ?Dreamgirls? on Broadway, may have stolen the show when she explained that, in her (rather grim) personal observations, students have two majors: Sex 101 and Drugs and Alcohol 101. ?How you participate in those two courses will determine how you make it or not make it,? Sheryl told the overflow crowd of more than 200. Uptown Charlotte this past weekend hosted the tournament for the sixth straight year. An estimated 200,000 attended, dwarfing the 35,000 expected to attend September?s DNC Convention. Last year's CIAA local economic impact was more than $44M.