SU wins 2-Week HBCU Challenge

It was announced on March 22, 2019 that Southern University was the winner of the 2-Week, Metamucil challenge and $10,000. In a competition that pit the students, alumni, and faculty of historically black colleges and universities against each other, registrants took Metamucil once a day for two weeks. The university with the most registered participants would receive $10,000 towards an on-campus health program of their choosing.
The competition was a success according to the Brand Manager for Metamucil, Amy Hoffman.
“We’re thrilled to extend our congratulations to the students and faculty of Southern University and A&M College, along with their alumni and supporters who signed up for the Metamucil 2-Week Challenge. Metamucil has always been a brand that stands for helping people make small, meaningful improvements to their health and wellness routines, and we can’t wait to see how Southern University and A&M College will use this grant to propel that same mission on their campus this year,” said Hoffman.
Word of the competition spread thanks to Southern University’s network of dedicated alumni. The president of the Cincinnati Alumni Chapter, John Montgomery, and his wife, Dwylett Montgomery, brought the competition to the attention of Director of Alumni Affairs and Executive Director of the Southern University Alumni Federation, Derrick Warren, who, along with the Southern University Alumni Federation National President, LaQuitta Thomas, and alumnus, LaDonte Lotts, created videos and other promotional items to spread awareness of the challenge.
Derrick Warren credits Southern University’s success in this competition to the determination of the entire Jaguar family saying, “Our SUS Family came through! Thanks to the support of the greatest Alumni in the world, our student body and other supporters, we will receive $10,000 in support of health related initiatives for the SU System.”
Thanks to the support from the alumni, students on campus were able to hear about competition.
Sophomore Chemistry major and participant of the Two-Week Challenge, Destiny Banks, was very excited to hear that Southern was the winner.
“The health center on-campus does so much, so I’m just glad that we were able to get more funding for it,” said Banks.
The good news was announced by the international president of Zeta Phi Beta Inc, Sheryl Underwood, on the Steve Harvey Morning Radio Show along with co-host J. Anthony. Sheryl Underwood is an avid supporter of HBCUs and helped support the competition on her social media.
This news comes in the middle of another, similar, consumer-brand interaction competition, Home Depot’s, “Retool Your School” which has participants either voting via the website https://retoolyourschool.com/vote/ or by using the hashtags, #southernu_rys19 and #rys10strong, in a post on Twitter. The difference between the two competitions is the price: Home Depot is giving away ten different grants worth $50,000 apiece.
Partake in helping Southern University win the Retool Your School competition by using the hashtags above.