The Charles Gilpin Players have been an integral part of the history, heritage and reputation of PVAMU since 1929. Named after one of the most highly regarded African-American actors of the 1920s, the troupe is one of the oldest performing minority theatrical companies in Texas. The Gilpin Players are renowned for their component units of mime and movement, theatre for youth, church drama, singing, dance and variety. They have consistently won awards and accolades for their performances, including the Spirit of KC/ACTF Award (2006), 15 awards including a Respondent’s Choice, Director’s Choice, Excellence in Ensemble Acting. These awards were for the production of Lend Me a Tenor, directed by Rachel Dickson Prairie View was the only school in the Kennedy Center American College Festival to receive such a vast array of honors.

PVAMU Named to InfoWorld Magazine’s Top 100 Most Innovative Corporate IT Solutions in education in 2006. The annual award honors 100 Information Technology projects that demonstrate the most creative use of cutting-edge technologies to further business goals. The University was honored for its WAN optimization and wireless project, which focused on providing wireless high-speed Internet for student residential facilities. Nearly 4,000 students gained Internet access and 420 access points were placed in 44 buildings around the campus.

PVAMU’s School of Architecture earned its second consecutive win in the 2006 American Institute of Architects sand castle competition. For close to two decades, the Houston Chapter of the AIA has hosted the spirited competition for Houston area architects, designers, engineers and contractors on Galveston Island. The professional competition allows design firms and architecture schools to compete for the best sand castle design in several categories.

The team’s sand sculpture was a low relief mock floor plan design of the Notre-Dame-du-Haut in Ronchamp, France (shown below). Other schools that participated include the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, the Art Institute of Houston and the University of Houston, College of Architecture.

The 2006 team was composed of 13 architecture students: Lindsey Slay, Ogunenika O. Akingbade, Marco P. Ramirez, Amy E. Taylor, Myriam A. Tinoco, Yolanda Ford, Robert Jimenez, Claudia Pacheco, Chris Hall, Cleandria Chevalier, Joshua Aaron, Wilfred Mensah and Daryl W. Flaggs Jr. Faculty members who assisted were Barry Norwood, Dan Bankhead, Brad McCorkle and Juanita Jimenez.