Courtesy of Talledega College
Students at Talladega College, get ready to meet your challengers! The heat will be on during intercollegiate academic competitions like the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, Model United Nations, Esports, and HBCU Battle of the Brains.
Talladega College has a long and proud history of offering intercollegiate programs like these to its students. The college recently named alumna Tanaira Rounds (Class of 2016) as Assistant Director of Intercollegiate Academic Programs and Recruiting. She is the first to hold a position at Talladega dedicated to intercollegiate academics.
President Gregory J. Vincent said of Ms. Rounds’ appointment, “We want to reinvigorate and strengthen our intercollegiate academics programming as participation and competitions bring many benefits to students such as honing skills in leadership, teamwork, communications, and critical thinking. Additionally, it is a good way for students to network with peers at other institutions of excellence and to attract top students to Talladega.”
Along with its recently elevated admissions requirements, the college’s new goal is to have 70 percent of students participate in athletics, band, intercollegiate academics, and honors.
President Vincent cites Georgia Congresswoman Nikema Williams (Class of 2000) as a stellar example of a Talladega alum who was active in intercollegiate academics. Williams participated in the Honda Campus All-Stars Challenge program when she was a student in the late 1990s and was inducted into that organization’s Hall of Fame.
As a student Ms. Rounds also was an active participant in intercollegiate groups like the chess club, Mahogany Nights, the poetry club, and Beta Beta Beta, the national biology honor society. She also pledged Alpha Zeta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Rounds, who hails from South Central Los Angeles, attended Talladega on a volleyball scholarship and majored in biology. She explained, “I participated in intercollegiate programs as a student because I wanted to be well-rounded. I was more than an athlete. I wanted to be a part of other things that supported my interests.”
Rounds added, “Everyone is competitive. Some students need an outlet other than athletics.”
Four years after graduating from Talladega, Rounds joined the College in 2020 as the Head Volleyball coach. Even during her years as a coach, she was dedicated to enriching the learning experiences of the students. “Playing chess with my students has become a highlight of my Wednesdays,” tweeted Rounds.
Under Rounds’ leadership, Talladega College will restart, implement, and develop several new competitive programs. These include:
- Honda Campus All-Star Challenge
- Model United Nations
- Speech and Debate
- Chess
- Esports
- HBCU Battle of the Brains
- Symphonic Band
- Jazz Band
- Choir
- Collegiate 4-H
- Cybersecurity Leagues
- HBCU C2
- NASA Challenges
- DECA
- College 100
Currently, Esports is one of the most popular intercollegiate academic programs. It is also the most misunderstood. Contrary to what people may think, Rounds explained, “it’s about more than just playing video games.”
Esports, or video gaming, provides an opportunity for students to engage in healthy competition with peers from other universities while sharpening their skills in teamwork and strategy.
“These students are competing against schools like Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Georgia Tech and winning,” said Rounds. “And oftentimes, our students have to build the systems they’re using to compete, which speaks to their brilliance and ingenuity.”
