OP-ED
Organization tries to derail
'Underground Railroad'
Students at Bennett College
and N.C.A&T State University
were mailed letters from the
“Underground Railroad (PAC)
Political Action Committee”
last week warning them that
their vote in the May Primary
and November election “would
be challenged and they could be
arrested” if they are registered
in Guilford County and at
home. These letters were sent
from individuals who hijacked
the “Original” Underground
Railroad’s name (registered the
“Underground” name as their
own) with the State Board of
Elections and is using it to
deceive students and the
Greensboro community.
The letter should be regarded
as UNTRUE and the organiza-
April ‘96
Johnson (a Bennett Belle) in
November 1995. Individuals
involved with the phoney
organization unsuccessfully
challenged 1,000 students at
A&T in 1990 who voted in
Guilford County.
DON’T BE MISLED! YOU
CAN VOTE AND SHOULD
EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO
DO SO! There is a lot at stake
for you as students in North
Carolina and as citizens of this
country. You can only make a
difference by participating in the
electorial process.
The Guilford County Board
of Elections has verified that
students are eligible to vote in
the May 7 Primary and the
November Election if they are
registered in Guilford County.
conduct a full investigation into
the bogus “Underground
Railroad” Political Action
Committee. An investigation is
currenUy underway.
The Underground Railroad in
which Bennett students were
involved this fall, has now
reorganized as ‘THE ORIGI
NAL UNDERGROUND
RAILROAD TO THE POLLS.”
Don’t Get On Any Other Train.
Bennett Belles should continue
doing, what they do so well-
participating in the governance
of your community and nation.
You can take part in denouncing
this horrible action by being at
the polls on Election Day, May
7. Your Polling Place is Reid
Memorial Church on Bennett
Street. Rides will be available to
#risinal
Underground Railroad to the Polls
MA\ 7
cmoN nAv. TtiFsnAv
MAY
I I K'I ION DAV. IIIFSDAV
False
Allegations
Against
Underground
Railroad
f 1| cvcral iodtvidimls arc
^^^1 supported by the const
I I righl wing cicmcn
being
conscrvalivc
element i n
(;reensbin) l> disuibulc false
inform.ilion targeted al the black
community, especially students of N('
A^I Slate University and Bennett
College. Me aware of these false
allegations by fraudulent would-be
leaders.
Hie people responsible for these attacks
on the Original Undergrotmd Railroad to
the Polls are calling themselves the
Underground Railroad PA('in an attempi
tocapitali/e on the success o( the effort
that was organized in the black
community of (ireensboro last Pall.
I hey are aware that the students at A& l
and HenncH have the voting pow-er to
dccitle the outcome of the electim in
their precinct without help from any
other voters.
I heir tactics are designed to confuse and
scare black voters away from the p(dls.
What makes this crime so despicable is
that the stvealled leaders of this group
are blacks being controlled by the
conservative whites -• black men who
would trade in the rights of their entire
racc for their own political gain.
The statements that these individuals
have distribuled are nothing but lies. It
IS important that we not let these people
keep us from exercising our
ctmstitulional right lo vole.
You Can VOTE!
(wilA I IK) WK S I AN» ro I.OSK ?|
I his may be the most important election
in our lifetimes. These aie some issues
that will be affected by Ihe outcomc of
this election.
• Redrawing of congressional
districts will eliminate many black
('ongrcss people.
• A Republican version of Welfare
reform will leave many children and
disabled with no resources and no
hope.
• Cuts in Sx:ial Security w'ill make it
impossible for the elderly lo care
lor themselves and imptissible for
families already struggling to care
for their elders.
• Do you want .lesse Helms again?
• A Republican ('ongrcss and
Republican President will mean the
end tif many of the adv ances we
made in the last .*>() years
(affirmative action, anti-
discrimination laws, minority
business development, prison
reform).
• The President is solely resp{»nsible
for the appointment of federal and
Supreme ('ourt Justices (lifetime
appointments). ( onservalive
Presidents appiint conservative
lustices that may affect the lives of
our children’.s children and licyond
with the rulings they pass.
Paid for by the Original Underground Railroad lo thi Polls
Ef you are registered in (iuilK'rd
County, you can vote in the MAY
7 primary electii'n. Yes, your
college or university may be closed f('i
the semc.ster by thal time, but yt>u can
still vole in Guilford C'ounly. It is legal
and it is your right to cast vour vote
here, if you choose.
DO YOU NEED A RIDE?
Van.s will be available to lake studeiUs
lo the polls luesday. May 7 form 11:.10
am until 4:10 pm.
GET YOUR RIOK in front of the
I>avid D. .lones Student Union. Vans
will depart every minutes.
Ixx)k for the vans marked Original
Underground Railroiul to the Polls.
LET VOUR VOICE HE
HEARD!!
CAST VODR VOTE!!
Student at NYU learns
'grass not always greener...'
It was a great pleasure for
me to come back and visit with
most of you during my Spring
Break from New York
University. As many of you
know I am an exchange
student there for this semester,
along with Stana Fields, also a
junior at Bennett.
My experience so far in
New York has been over
whelming. The cultural
diversity, the city, and oppor-
mnities for networking have all
had an influence on me. My
main purpose for writing this
letter is to encourage those
students that have lost faith in
Bennett College.
Bennett is dear to my heart,
and I too once felt that Bennett
was not doing what it needed
to do to truly make us women
of the new millennium.
Bennett College is a
competitive school, fighting
right along with the best
colleges and universities. True
it was hard for me to see this at
first and I felt that Bennett was
not pushing me hard enough. I
now realize that it was not so
much of a push that I wasn’t
receiving, but a nurturing hand
that I was getting.
I also realize that many of
these faults come more from
size than lack of effort from the
administrators,which makes me
come to the realization that a
school is only as strong as its
students. If we had a school of
more than 40,000 students, and
had every student giving
money to Bennett after they
left here, then we too could
have many of the things we
want here at Bennett
NYU with all of its facilities,
renowned teachers is missing
one important ingredient that
Bennett has: Faculty and staff
that not only care about their
work, but also have a deep
ambition to work for the
students.
I thank Bennett College and
all of you for giving me the
self-esteem and self-awareness
for achieving there now.
Amanda Pecchioni
Junior
FREE
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