North Carolina A&T

Crystal Bailey, a Detroit native, is a Six Sigma Black Belt engineer at General Motors and owner of Shine Productions LLC, an A/V and media service company. At Cass Technical High School,  Crystal showed her athletic prowess on the basketball and softball fields. Although she desired to play collegiate basketball, an injury shattered that dream. 

It, however, allowed her to focus more on bowling, where she participated in the Saturday youth leagues. An HBCU college tour left Crystal enamored with the idea of attending North Carolina  A&T. After returning for an official tour, she felt it was fate that her tour guide happened to be the assistant bowling coach, Mr. Donald Fox. Once introduced to the head coach, Vernell "The  Gipper" Stallings, she knew A&T was her only choice! 

Life as a student-athlete was unique. The bowling team was transitioning from a club sport to entering the NCAA, allowing them to participate in intercollegiate tournaments and the MEAC.  The team gelled instantly and was a dominating force in the MEAC, clinching the championship from 1998-2000. A&T became a name to remember in intercollegiate tournaments, beating major teams like the University of Florida and Tennessee. 

The team's most significant accomplishment was entering the 2000-2001 USBC Intercollegiate  Team Championship, making A&T the first HBCU to qualify! As the bowling captain for three years, Crystal was blessed to make significant contributions to the team. She earned all-tournament honors, was a member of the All-MEAC team, was a MEAC stats leader, was the first bowler in the MEAC to bowl a 750 series, and was A&T team MVP in 1997, '98, and 2000. 

Since graduating from A&T, Crystal has dedicated time to mentoring youth in Detroit. She has coached girls' basketball at her middle school alma mater, Gesu School, and coached and mentored children in the Saturday youth bowling leagues. In addition, she is an advisory board member for the Police Athletic League non-profit sports organization. 

Crystal received the Michigan Chronicle 40 under 40 awards for continued community involvement with youth. She is a member of the Aggie Alumni Association and a faithful donor to the A&T bowling team. None of this would have been possible without the constant love and 

support of her parents, Rev. Ronald Bailey and Rosetta Bailey. Her grandmother, the late  Mozell Kennedy, was her number one fan. Coach Stallings always believed in her, even now;  and lastly, the 1997-2001 A&T bowling teams, for being the pioneers of the awesome bowling program A&T has now. God has always been favorable over her life, and for that, she is grateful.