since 1960 “of, by, and for the Wesleyan community”
October 12, 2007
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA 27804
What Happened to
Wesleyan’s SGA?
By James Randolph
Decree Staff Writer
Students have speculated for
months as to the reasoning for
Wesleyan not maintaining a student
government association.
New Dean of Students Bob Perkins
said that SGA “was not disbanded”
but that a lack of students willing to
run for office last April is the “real
reason” the student government is now
inactive.
“I inherited an SGA that didn’t
exist,” Dean Perkins said.
Only Courtney Brown, last year’s
secretary, had declared her intention to
run for office, according to Tina Sirois,
the 2006-07 president.
Upon his arrival in July, Dean
Perkins hired employees for a number
of positions, including new resident
directors and an intramural sports
coordinator. Additionally he was
charged with revamping the student
government organization.
“We should be planning and careful
Brittany Insley leads a young
Bishop's volleybail team.
See Sports in page 3. Sports
Information Photo
and not rushing,” the dean said. He said
that forcing fall elections or trying to
install a temporary SGA may present
unforeseen troubles and said he prefers
to wait for the next scheduled elections
in March.
Jennifer Evans, the new coordinator
of Student Activities, and Dean Perkins
have both expressed concerns with
last year’s SGA, which, they said,
concentrated on student activities and
fundraising.
In separate interviews, both Evans
and Dean Perkins said that last year’s
SGA had been taking on the responsi
bilities of the Campus Activities Board
(CAB) instead of being a representative
voice of the students.
Dean Perkins said that he wanted
“to see a healthy and vibrant student
body and student government. [I want
to see] students having a voice through
the student government and I want all
students to have a voice... a voice that
speaks for all equally.”
Evans said that budget proposals for
student organizations will be submitted
through CAB and that she and Dean
Perkins would oversee the allocation of
funds. “The money is not just floating
free somewhere,” Evans said.
She stated that students who are
seeking resolution for problems
concerning student affairs should “get
involved with CAB. Start writing down
ideas. Don’t be discouraged.”
Both Evans and Dean Perkins
expressed a willingness to hear from
students and asked that students with
questions or ideas feel free to come and
speak with them. Evans said that she
and Dean Perkins will soon decide on
a vehicle, such as a public forum, for
soliciting input from students as they
seek to improve SGA.
Dean Perkins compared the revamping
of SGA to planting a garden. “One, you
have to make sure the soil is right; that
there is careful planning watering, etc., to
make sure that the garden is healthy.”
Kala Childress watches her iodine solid change to a gaseous state and then crystallize on the bottom
of an evaporating dish. The college completed significant upgrades to the chemistry lab, one year after
a similar modernization project was finished in a biology lab. Decree Photo by Kathleen Penrod
Students Decry Lack of Voice
By Chris Ochoa
Decree Staff Writer
Where is SGA?
Around campus, students are not sur
prised to hear that the Student Government
Association is not in session. SGA will be
revamped in the spring, and several students
feel there should be some drastic changes in
order for the organization to be successful.
Upon hearing SGA won’t be back until
next semester, Tina Sirois, last year’s SGA
president, said, “It’s disturbing that there is
no voice for the students on campus.”
Junior Samantha lams had a similar
reaction. “I completely disagree with the fact
that we don’t have an SGA,” she said. “SGA
is where a large portion of the students’
concems about the college are voiced.”
Agreeing, William Boyd, last year’s SGA trea
surer, said, “I feel not having an SGA is wrong
because the students are supposed to have some
way to talk with the college’s administration.”
Kelvin Clark, SGA president during
Drought, Lower Enrollment Lead
To NCWC Carlton House Closing
By Joyce Collins
Decree Staff Writer
Many students are wondering: What
happened to the Carlton House? The
main reason the off-campus residence
closed is because of the drought.
Dean of Students Bob Perkins said
that the city of Rocky Mount asked
Wesleyan to cut down on water usage
by 10 percent. According to the Rocky
Mount News Topix, “Area com
munities are implementing different
methods to deal with shrinking water
supplies amid a drought.”
Dean Perkins noted that it was
an easy decision to shut down the
Carlton House. “With enrollment being
down and there being enough room
on campus to accommodate all the
students, it was a no-brainer. By clos
ing the Carlton House, we cut a little
more than 10 percent of water usage. It
was either close the CH or cut off the
sinks in the dorm rooms. People have
no idea how severe this drought is.”
Former Carlton House Resident
Assistant Richard Tibbs said that it
was clear that students would like to
continue to live in the Carlton House.
‘There are Facebook groups and other
things that support students’ interest in
the CH,” he said.
According to Dean Perkins, there
is a good chance of the Carlton House
reopening, just not for the spring
semester. As of right now, the Carlton
House is Undergoing electrical and
plumbing renovations; also the roof is
being repaired.
Dean Perkins said the occupancy
rate on campus is 91 percent right now.
“It will take a very big enrollment for
the CH to open next semester,” he said.
“The (chances) for it being open next
semester are slim. Hopefully, it’ll be
open next year.”
The Carlton House was donated to
North Carolina Wesleyan College by
Boddie-Noell Enterprises, which used
the facility as a motel and restaurant
for 43 years. It’s located at 215 North
Church Street, in downtown Rocky
Mount. The housing complex is near
the Braswell Memorial Library, the
Imperial Centre, along with a slew of
churches, banks, shopping centers and
gas stations. It is about 10 minutes
from campus.
Tibbs said that living in the Carlton
House allowed Wesleyan students to
interact with the community. “It would
have been a great idea for the com
munity,” he said, noting that the only
interaction he recalled was the time that
water from the residence “ran over into
the neighboring yards.”
Former residents enjoyed the
concept of being away from the col
lege. “I liked that it was off campus,”
said senior Cas Hooks. “You didn’t see
the same thing every day. And it forced
you to be responsible because you had
to get up on your own to go to class.”
The Carlton House opened fall
2(X)5. The facility has about 55 spaces
used for housing. It has a full kitchen
equipped with a refrigerator, stove and
oven, and microwave. A laundry room,
computer lab and swimming pool
are also available to students living
there. One special feature that attracts
a lot of attention is that residents only
share a bathroom with their roommate.
There is a bathroom with a tub and
shower in each room. If students have
a single room, then they have their own
restroom. “I miss my own bathroom,”
said junior Alecia Butler. “I didn’t have
to wear shower shoes, nor did I have
to walk down a hallway full of people.
And it stayed clean.”
Unlike the main campus, the Carlton
House has a security fence with gated
access around the property, which
allows residents to enter by passing
their ID cards over an electromagnetic
strip. Former residents favored the
more secure atmosphere. “It was safe
over there because it was a gated
community,” Sureka Barnes, a senior,
said. “I didn’t have to worry about my
car being vandalized.”
The college expects to hire a new
resident director and resident advisors
when the CH reopens.
According to Dean Perkins, “When
the CH reopens, it will mainly be
seniors and a few juniors with high
grade-point averages because staying at
the CH is a privilege.”
He added, “I would like to increase
enrollment and retention, and if that
happens then hopefully we can reopen
the CH and have it remain open.”
2005-2006, is not surprised by SGA’s cur
rent position and puts responsibility on the
students, ‘The lack of an SGA is a blatant
example of the lack of leadership among
the student body,” he said. “I believe it
highlights the lack of initiative. As students,
we often complain, but when it comes to
leading, we are speechless, which is evident
by the absence in this office.”
Wesleyan’s administration has noted that
a lack of student interest led to the suspen
sion of SGA this semester. Only one student,
Courtney Brown, declared her candidacy for
office—secretary. Nobody else decided to
ran for other positions.
After last year’s revision to the SGA
constitution, the execufive board consists of
five members. There is the president, vice-
president, secretary, treasurer, and social
chair. The social chair is reserved for the
CAB (Campus Activities Board) president.
lams said that the SGA rales prevent
most students fi'om ranning for office. “I
wanted to ran, but I didn’t meet the require
ments,” she said. “The SGA constitufion
requires that students must have previously
been involved with SGA in some way in
order to run for office.”
Last year, SGA went through two
advisors, and now the new dean of students.
Bob Perkins, oversees the organization in
conjunction with Jennifer Evans, the new
student activities coordinator Gabe Raynor
was the advisor for SGA at the beginning
of last year before his resignation. Sarah
Ashworth succeeded Raynor, but she lasted
less than six months on the job. Then Peter
Phaiah, the previous dean of students,
oversaw SGA until his departure in May.
Sirois, finding fault with the high
turnover in student life said, “SGA has no
successful stracture or power The advisor
for SGA has been changed over four times
in the last few years.”
Agreeing with administration, several
Wesleyan students also beheve the lack of
participation was the main reason SGA is
not in session this semester Richard Tibbs,
treasurer during the Clark administration,
said the low level of participation is a result
from “[SGA’s] ineffectiveness over the
years.”
Students are frastrated with the college
administration’s lack of support for the
student government. According to a few
former SGA executive board members, the
administration’s lack of support is the cause
of decreasing student involvement.
“One reason why I would not be a part of
SGA [in the future],” Boyd said, “is because,
no matter what the issue is, the administra
tion does not seem to understand.”
Clark believes that SGA “fell apart”
because “the administration was not
supportive. Last year, SGA had no advisor
for most of the year and the dean could
not provide the executive board members
enough attention.”
As a result of the lack of attention from
administration, former student leaders said,
an enormous strain was put on the SGA
executive board. “It is entirely too time
consuming and exhausting for only a few
individuals,” Sirois said.
Several students feel that SGA will
continue to suffer if the administration does
not increase its support. “The school needs
to listen better to what the students are
saying,” Boyd said. “Students are supposed
to have some true way to talk with the
college’s administration.”
Sirois feels students have not been able to
find SGA as an outlet to voice their concerns
to the administration. She said, “Students
don’t feel tiieir voice matters, and over the
years they have given up.”
Clark said that a stable SGA advisor
proved to work to the advantage of the SGA
executive board during the 2005-2006 school
year. “During my tenure as SGA President,”
he said, “we ran rather smoothly By no
means were we flawless, but we had an
overwhelming amount of student activity”
With a revamping in mind, Sirois
believes SGA should make changes to the
way it is operated. “SGA should not deal
with tile funding of programs,” she said.
“It should be a way to initiate change on
campus, and should have an elfective impact
on the administration.”
Tibbs wants tiie ability to voice student
concems tiiat will initiate change. He said,
“SGA should be focused on answering the
concems of the students.” He mentioned tiie
college’s hat policy and problems witii tiie
Hartness Center parking lot, among other
issues, as instances when students have
attempted but failed to bring about changes.
lams believes SGA should be operated
the same way it has been in previous years.
She said, “SGA should be exactiy what it
is—an association that is ran by the students
for tiie students.”
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2007 Homecoming Queen and
King; Shelly King and Kevin
Murphy. For more on Homecoming
see page 3 for sports, and 4 for
activities. Decree Staff Photo