VOL. 8, NO. 7
North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, N.C.
MONDAY, JANUARY 29,1993
'tk
Forum examines King’s dream
Participating in a panel at Wesleyan College during the Jan. 18 celebration of Martin Luther King
Jr.’s birthday were (from left) Andre Clanton, Joanna Holladay, Rev. Kirk Oldham, Tim McDowell,
and Sam Gray. (Photo by Chris Taylor.)
Variety of events at Wesleyan
honor Martin Luther King^ Jr,
By KIMBERLY CURSEEN
North Carolina Wesleyan Col
lege sponsored many activities on
Jan. 18 in conunemoration of
famed Afro-American civil rights
leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The day started off at Wes
leyan with a reception beginning
at 10 am. in the Student Activi
ties Center. The Black Student
Association activity was well at
tended by several students and
faculty. Following the reception
a chapel service was held in re
membrance of Dr. King.
The service enlightened at
tendees about the still very racist
procedure of the “Church” by
Rev. Shuller. Also the North
Carolina Wesleyan Gospel Choir
gave an exceptional performance.
The inspirational service was
ended by the collective voices of
the congregation singing “We
Shall Overcome” in full verse.
Wesleyan’s
success rate
shows jump
The day came to a close with
a public forum held that night in
the Chapel. The forum was en
titled “How to Keep the Dream
Alive.” Several faculty members,
students, and Rocky Mount com
munity members were in atten
dance.
The panel consisted of Sam
Gray, community relations; Tim
McDowell, vice president of En-
(Continued on Back Page)
By CECILIA CASEY
“The average success rate (of
the student body) increased from
54 percent to 68 percent,” accord
ing to a report provided by Dean
Charles Bennett. This means 68
percent of North Carolina Wes
leyan students earned a grade
point average of 2.0 or better dur
ing the fall semester. The number
of suspended students was down
as well, along with students on
probation.
Bennett happily explained
some of the reasons he thought
were responsible for the increase
in G.P.A.’s and lowering of sus
pensions and probations.
“Active learning has been the
key to the increase of academic
success that many of Wesleyan’s
students are enjoying. More fac
ulty are placing a greater empha
sis on students’ participation in
{heir classroom objectives and
help students take more responsi
bility with their studies,” Bennett
said.
Bennett cited the elimination
of L.S.S. and its replacement with
College lOl as a reason for the
improvement made by the fresh
man class. When asked if he
thought that the college was los
ing its focus on liberal arts and
becoming more of a trade school,
Bennett replied, “We’re moving
in just the opposite direction. All
freshmen will have to complete a
36-hour liberal arts core.”
Bennett is also awaiting sev
eral reports from different task
forces and committees — none
of which now include any stu
dents — which are looking into
the problems of how to increase
student willingness to expound on
the liberal arts side of their edu
cation. Bennett wants to see stu
dents augment their education for
themselves, and not have to be
pushed into activities and studies
because it is required of them. He
said that is the heart of active
leaming.
As for plans concerning the
future, Bennett hopes that in two
years, NCWC wiU have become
more effective in helping students
completing their education. He
sees standards being improved,
as well as a greater cultivation in
the relationships between students
and their faculty advisors so that
students go to see their advisior
more than once a semester.
Edgecombe Hall proud of accomplishments
By CECILIA CASEY
“Awesome!” is Sue McCor
mack’s word for Edgecombe
Hall, the residence hall where she
serves as Residence Director. She
feels this hall has always been
awesome and now she has the
numbers to prove it
During the third mandatory
hall meeting for Edgecombe,
McCormack announced that
Edgecombe has the highest re
tention of all four residence halls,
the lowest percent of students on
probation, the lowest community
damage, has 22.9 percent of the
freshman class with a grade point
average over 3.0, and has eight
residents who are on the Dean’s
Honor List and 16 residents on
the Dean’s List.
McCormack then reviewed
hall policy in a very lively way;
she played a game. Numbers were
given out at the door to the S .A.C.,
tlien McCormack would ask ques
tions, call out a number, and the
Edge’s inhabitant with the num
ber would answer the question or
pass. A correct answer would win
an Edgie a small prize.
In the middle of the game
Cheryl McKenzie and Betty Anne
Whisnant came in and talked a
bit about room swap. McKenzie
mentioned the forms to fill out
and made a note of the fact that
there are not many private rooms
to go around, so everyone needed
to pick out a roommate instead o6
having one assigned. Whisnant
talked about some of the ways to
get along with a roommate, and
cautioned everyone against roOTi-
ing with their best friend, as it
can lead to fighting.
McCormack challenged
Edgies to bring down hall dam
age even further until “We have
no community damage at all.”
After the meeting she said “You
have made me so proud, if I could
hug every single one of you I
would!” She kidded around about
the fact that her mandatory meet
ings were all fun and games, and
not that bad after all, and most of
the people who were interviewed
aftCT the meeting had a positive
feeling as well.
“I was very impressed that
Edgecombe had a very high re
tention. I hope we can keep it up.
Way to go Edge!” was Jackie
McCullough’s response.
Erica Weiss said, “1 was happy
to see that G.P.A.’s were about
2.4 and that we’re improving so
much. I guess this makes me
happy to be living in Edge
combe.”
Ashley Cormen noted that “it
was a fun mandatory meeting for
once.”