Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • SUMMER 2018 • PAN PIPES 17 Music. Outside of her music studies, Johnson cheered for the Illini as the University's first female African American cheerleader, and she was a member of Mortar Board, the national college senior honor society. Graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education with Honors in 1970, Johnson began teaching music at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., while developing a private violin studio of more than one-hundred students. In 1975, she founded Young Strings in Action, a group of aspiring musicians whom she took on several international tours, including a stop in Jordan where they performed for the then king and queen. Soon thereaer, Johnson was named U.S. Information Agency Cultural Liaison to the Middle East, and from this position she helped establish the National Music Conservatory of Jordan. is was the first conservatory of its kind in Jordan, and Johnson was given the country's highest civilian award for her efforts in education. In 1979, Johnson co-founded Black Entertainment Television (BET), the first network to focus on African American culture. A pioneer in modern television programming, she created the award-winning program, Teen Summit, an issues-oriented talk show for the network's youth viewers. By 2001, Johnson and her BET partner sold their interests in the network, making her the wealthiest African American woman in history at that time. Over the next four years, Johnson saw many changes in her personal life, including divorce. She also unexpectedly reconnected with "the love of my life," remarrying in 2005. Johnson and her current husband, the Honorable William T. Newman, Jr., first met three decades earlier when they acted in a play together. In 2005, Johnson founded and became CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts with luxury properties currently in several states. In 2006, she was appointed the Global Ambassador for CARE, a humanitarian agency fighting global poverty. With philanthropy at her core, Johnson has given major gis to many organizations and institutions, and has served on numerous boards and councils, including the University of Illinois Foundation. Johnson has repeatedly and publicly credited her violin and music education studies at the University of Illinois as the foundation for all of her achievements, which led her in 2007 to endow the Daniel J. Perrino Chair in Music and the Susan Starrett Violin Scholarships in honor of her teachers. In 2010, Barack Obama appointed her to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. By then, Johnson had already embarked on another venture as a film producer. Since 2008, she has produced four documentaries: Kicking It (2008); A Powerful Noise (2008); Ella es un matador (2009); e Other City (2010); and one feature film, Lee Daniels' e Butler (2013). Her film production activities led her to launch the Middleburg Film Festival at her Salamander Resort in Virginia. Johnson also serves as Vice Chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment and is President and Managing Partner of the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the first African American woman with ownership in three professional sports franchises: the Washington Wizards (NBA); the Washington Capitals (NHL), the 2018 Stanley Cup Champions; and the WNBA Washington Mystics. It is exceedingly rare for a woman to hold such a position within the world of professional sports. e time spent with Sheila Crump Johnson is certainly something those of us fortunate to hear her speak will remember for a long time to come. It's not every day you are able to be in the presence of one of the most successful businesswomen in the world. She was kind and gracious with a quick wit and good humor - a wonderful role model for our young women. Among the many pearls of wisdom Johnson gave to us on May 12 were the following: "Don't rest on your laurels. ere's always going to be someone behind you who is going to be better than you. You need to get out there and keep working." "Don't ever lose sight of who you are and your own power. Never give your power to anyone else." And while she may have deviated from her original career path, Johnson made sure to let everyone know that she continues to use the skills she learned in her violin lessons and music education curriculum to forge forward as an American trailblazer. e next day, Johnson made sure to reiterate this message to an entire class of music graduates as she served as our invited speaker for the University of Illinois School of Music convocation. Linda R. Moorhouse, DMA and SAI Member Laureate, is an initiate of Delta Gamma at the University of Florida. She is the Associate Director of the School of Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. MEMBER LAUREATE Johnson conducts the commencement band in the University of Illinois March by John Philip Sousa.

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