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Chancellor’s Town Hall at N.C. A&T to Focus on Healthy Relationships with Celebrity Couples

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will welcome celebrity couples Boris and Nicole Ari Parker Kodjoe, Lance and Rebecca Gross, and Tatyana Ali and Vaughn Rasberry as guests to the Chancellor’s Town Hall – Relationship Goals, at 6 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018, in Harrison Auditorium. Alumna Kim Gatling will moderate the conversation.

The couples will draw from personal experiences to discuss relationships and touch on topics like navigating relationship challenges, trust and communication, how to know when you’ve met the “right one” and intimacy issues, all in the context of developing and maintaining healthy interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships. Ultimately, attendees should walk away with a greater sense of how to “level up” in their relationships.

The Kodjoes are best known for their breakout roles as Damon Carter and Teri Joseph in Showtime’s award-winning original series, “Soul Food,” which earned them a combined eight nominations for NAACP Image Award nominations. Boris’ other television credits include “Last Man on Earth” and “Undercovers.” This year he will appear as a series regular in the ABC ensemble “Station 19.” Nicole currently guest stars as Giselle Barker on the Fox hit show, “Empire,” and on Amazon’s series, “The Romanoffs.” The couple started Sophie’s Voice Foundation, in honor of their daughter Sophie who was diagnosed with spina bifida at birth.

Lance Gross is currently a series regular on Fox’s “Star” as Maurice Jetter and the creator, producer and star of the MACRO digital series, “I Turned My Camera On,” in which he combines his photography with a series of interviews with celebrities. He is the first actor to win four NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne.”

Rebecca Gross is a Los Angeles-based wardrobe stylist who works primarily with celebrity clients on red carpets, editorials and television. Her credits include working as a key stylist on “E! News” and with such clients as Kelly Rowland, Giuliana Rancic, Kris Jenner, Future and Catt Sadler.

Tatyana Ali is best known to millions worldwide for playing Ashley Banks in the iconic comedy series, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” She has appeared in numerous television, film and theatrical projects over her career. The five-time NAACP Image Award winner, Harvard Aspiring Minority Business Leader and Black Girls Rock! honoree was named one of the most beautiful women in the world by People Magazine en Español and People Magazine.

Vaughn Rasberry is associate professor of English at Stanford University, where he teaches African-American literature and the intellectual history of the African diaspora. He is the author of “Race and the Totalitarian Century: Geopolitics in the Black Literary Imagination,” which won the American Political Science Association’s Ralph Bunche Award. As a Fulbright Scholar, he taught at the Humboldt University of Berlin and lectured on African-American literature throughout Germany.

Launched in March 2017 and created on behalf of Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr., the series was created to bring nationally distinguished guests to Greensboro for campus dialogue on matters of current and abiding importance to the university community and the world beyond. It is part of the university’s commitment to creating an intellectual climate that encourages the creative exchange of ideas.

The Chancellor’s Town Hall is free and open to the public. Students must present their valid Aggie One card to receive a ticket. A limited amount of tickets will be made available to the public through the University Ticket Office located in Brown Hall, beginning Wednesday, Nov. 7.

For more information about the Chancellor’s Town Hall Series, contact University Relations at 336-256-0863 or visit Chancellor’s Town Hall Series online.