PAGE 4
VOICE
DECEMBER 17, 1974
MONROE
FACULTY
JOINS FSU
Cheryl Mass
(Continued from Page 3)
Gibson High School,
Titusville, Fla.; Director of
Community Recreation
Center, Melbourne, Fla.; and
Physical Education teacher.
Belle Glade, Florida.
Monroe was cited as
“Teacher of the Year” at
Monroe High School, Monroe,
Florida; cited as “The Out
standing Alumni of the Year”
by Bethune-Cookman College
and he was given an “Ap
preciation Day” by the
citizens of South Brevard in
recognition of outstanding
community leadership and
service.
Dr. James E. Lyons Answers Queries
An Interview
""BLACK GOES OX WHITE CAMPUS”
By Cheryl Mass
VOICE Writer
Editor’s note: Miss Mass interviewed Dr. James Lyons, Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor for
Academic Affairs at FSU, recently regarding his views on the above named subject. Dr. Lyons has
written numerous articles on the subject and they have been published in many highly recognized
professional and popular magazines.
Q. Would you say the main problem of a black coed on a
predominantly white campus is socializing? Why?
A. Perhaps the main problem for most black-coeds on white
campuses is social. There are seldom enough black males on
campus to make the social life comparable to what the student
was used to.
Q. Didn’t these black coeds have some ideas of what it would be
like to stay on a white campus?
A. Many of the coeds attending white campuses did not think that
the social life was as it actually is. This has caused some
students to change their minds.
Q. What was the reaction of the coeds when they saw the white
females dating black men?
A. When you eliminate black males who are going steady, those
who go home each week-end, and those who date only white
girls, from the total number of black males on campus, it
makes for a highly competitive situation. This did cause con
siderable conflict between black and white females.
Q. What was the attitude of the white females toward the black
females?
A. Many black females have decided to date white males.
However, white males, for the most part, are afraid to date
black females openly. They seem to feel that the black males
might harm them.
Q. How did the white males react to the whole situation?
A. On most white campuses throughout the country, black coeds
have held meetings to determine their strategies. Their
alternatives are to date white males, go home on the week-end,
or struggle to win a male on a competitive basis.
Q. When the black males saw what was happening to these black
coeds did they change?
A. Many coeds caught up in the situation suffered severe
emotional strain. I know of cases where some have resorted to
drugs. Others subjective themselves to unfair treatment on the
part of those available makes.
Q. What happened or what did the coeds experience as a result of
not being able to cope with the idea of having to start all over
again and identity with this new environment?
A. The counselor tried to offer the alternatives, and help the coed
decide what she could handle. In many cases the coed really
needed to be heard.
Q. In what ways did the counselors help the coed?
A. The solution to the problem is for the white institution to admit
more black males. This would lessen the competition. If you
continue to have a black enrollment of 100 students, and 75 are
females, the problem will continue' . I might add that the
Women’s Liberation Movement complicated the problem
because many white females who had not previously dated
black males stated that they were doing so now because they
wanted to show society that they are Liberated. This of course,
eliminated a large number of available black males.
Q. Do you see any solution to the problem the black girl faces
when she stays on a white campus?
A. This problem may resolve itself because fewer black students
are going to white institutions. For one reason, financial aid is
no longer as available as it was a few years ago. Also, many
students have neard of the negative experiences that others
have had and want no part of that situation. Another reason in
the decline is that Community Colleges are attracting an in
creasing number of black students. A fin^l reason is that
traditionally black colleges have begun to recruit outside of
their areas quite a bit more. This has rejuvenated the interest in
black colleges that existed several years ago.
FSU Career Day Fair Held,- FSU Students (L-R) Ronnie Nichols,
Evelyn McPhaul, Pricilla Whitfield, converse with Ellen
Hargrove, Charles Willis, and Hector McEachern (FSU Photo
John B. Henderson)