2 • BENNETT BANNER • FEBRUARY 9, 1996
OPINION
Student Opinion Poll:
BtWtSpeak
Photos by Tahja McVav
Banner Sports Editor
1996 is a presidential elec-
tion year, and the political par
ties are gearing their strategies
of acquiring the crucial Afri
can-American vote, as well as
the Generation X vote. There is
even talk of holding one of the
debates on an HBCU campus.
How would you feel about a U.S. presidential debate held on a HBCU campus?
BRENDA DRAYTON
i
SENIOR
SOCIAL WORK
HOME STATE: FLORIDA
It would be interesting for the
students. It would bring about a
good atmosphere for them.
SHANIKA CHOO-YESG
FRESHWOMAN
BIOLOGY MAJOR
HOME STATE: NEW YORK
I think it is a good idea. The
president will hear what the
students have to say. Maybe it
will have an influence on his
decisions.
RITA MOORE
SENIOR
EDUCATION
HOME STATE: NORTH
CAROLINA
It would be educational and infor
mative because most young black
students do not get involved in
political issues on campus.
Morehouse student campaigns
for the future of HBCUs
Historically Black Colleges
and Universities are not only
educational gems, but national
treasures. As a tribute to their
legacy, Clark Atlanta University
freshman Sean Gardner has
initiated a petition urging the
American
political
parties to
converse
one of the
1996
Presidential
debates at
an HBCU.
This would be a first for Ameri
can politics. Since Oct 2 more
than 20,000 signatures have been
collected. After collecting
100,000 plus signatures,
Gardner will then mail the
petitions to the Commission on
Presidential Debates, the League
of Women Voters, the Demo
cratic National Committee, the
Republican National Committee,
the Rainbow CoaUtion, and Ross
Perot’s Reform Party, among
other political entities. Assisted
in the early stages by Herman
Reese, board member of the 100
HBCUs...have a long
track record of academic
excellence"
--Sean Gardner
Black Men of Atlanta, William
Boone, chair of CAU’s political
science department, and Kelly
Walton, a CAU student, Gardner
has since enlisted the help of
people and organizations from
around the country and through
out the
Adanta
University
Center
(which
includes
Clark
Atlanta
Univer
sity, Spelman College, Morris
Brown College, Morehouse
College, Morehouse School of
Medicine, and the Interdenomi
national Theological Center).
Because all 117 HBCUs per
sonify the concept of “the Global
Village,” and have a long track
record of academic excellence,
Gardner believes that they are
uniquely quahfied to host a
Presidential debate. Furthermore,
because 1996 marks the 100th
anniversary of the wretched 1896
Supreme Court case, Plessy vs.
Ferguson (which stated that
African Americans and whites
were “separate but equal”),
choosing an HBCU, would be a
great way of showing how far
race relations have progressed in
a century. It is Gardner’s hope
that this endeavor will bring
HBCUs permanently into the
international spotlight by
demonstrating that they are not
only ready to meet the challenges
and configurations of the 21
century, but determined to
remain a major force throughout
the next millennium. Gardner is
organizing a major press
conference for Feb. 14, to be at
the Robert Woodruff Library, in
the heart of the Atlanta Univer
sity Center. It will bring together
various local and regional
student leaders to voice their
support for this project, and
consternation for the proposed
cuts in student financial aid and
the threat to eliminate federal
funding for public HBCUs.
Sean Gardner, a freshman at
Morehouse College is doing his
part to preserve the financial
future of our HBCUs. He also
plans to organize a presidential
debate on an HBCU campus.
ANDREA JENERETTE
FRESHWOMAN
POLiriCAL SCIENCE
MAJOR
HOME STATE: NEW JER
SEY
The issue is definitely something
to think about because the
majority of college students do
vote and it’s only fair that they
get to hear the issues for them
selves.
LATONIA FORD
FRESHWOMAN
HOME STATE: SOUTH
CAROLINA
A debate would let young
black students know that the
president wants to know their
opinions and then know him.
THE
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