Newspapers / Fayetteville State University Student … / Jan. 12, 1997, edition 1 / Page 9
Part of Fayetteville State University Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Rollers from pg. 2 well it should be as all students are responsible to and for their actions), but it should not over ride the fact that the Roller was incorrect or flat out wrong in their act or action. Second, have your evi dence in order. The university has a network just like any other job you may have worked on. Realize (1) that you are attempting to confront that network, (2) that Rollers know professionally (and in many cases personally) the people you will be talking to about them, and (3) that they will usually have some degree of influence. This is just a fact of life. But if your case is le gitimate, though these facts may scare you, they won’t (and shouldn’t) stop you. If there are witnesses, get state ments from them, have your facts in order, and be able to provide the hard evidence on call and discuss it specifically when called on to do so. Third, know your chain of authority and follow it exactly. Nothing frustrates an admin istrator who empathizes with your case more than to i5nd out that you “jumped the chain” because it often ties their hands. Generally, the chain goes like this: Roller, chair of department, dean of school, vice-chancellor, provost, chan cellor, General Administra tion. Immedi ately involve your advisor and mentor. If you’re lucky, they’ll know the ropes (or at least know how to pull the strings); it’s their job to help you in all ways, espe cially if you’re being academi cally assaulted. Protocol must be followed (the system, baby, the system) and you hamper the entire process when you don’t know it or follow it. There’s a two-sided edge to this Roller-blade. On the dull side is the very real fact that in most cases, not only is the Roller’s “professionally ques tionable conduct” well- chronicled and documented, but that it will also take an act of the gods to have them re moved. So if you’re looking to get a Roller fired, short of them raping (physically, not academically), burning a church (physically, not aca demically). or lynching (physically, not academically), forget it, it’s not going to hap pen; that’s just life in academic america. And the sad truth is that what punishments are ren dered to Rollers, in general, amount to little more than love taps on the tutu. But don’t let this fact daunt your vision or dampen your sight. If you’re right and you know it, then be like Spike Lee and fight the power. The sharp side of the blade is the fact that Chancellor McLeod has publicly stated that professors can’t hide be hind their tenure and that at FSU “the student comes first.” At last semester’s Chat With The Chancellor (November 96), Rollers were named by students and promptly taken down by the Chancellor’s staff. Let’s see at the next Chat what has been done about their status-quo. Obviously, the chancel lor can’t name the Rollers (pro tocol, baby, protocol) or the actions taken against them (if any), but he can state new policies (if any) developed to deal with their lot (because like Salem, they do exist). Chancellor McLeod can’t fire the Rollers, but he can assign them to all freshmen classes, assign them an early and late evening class, etc.: subtle yet direct hints that let them know that their con duct will not be tolerated. Stu dents can also write-in to the BRON(fOS* VOICE Q JANUARY 12-1997 y Broncos’ Voice, generate pe titions, have class walkouts or dropouts, or meet the press. There are options open to all players in this process. I address Rollers because they have addressed me, Jon Q. Student. Universities are gardens, professors (even Rollers) the caretakers, the stu dents the plants. Our intellectual growth and its aesthetic and commercial application are the nation’s fruit and harvest of our com bined labors. Rollers amount to a fertil ized poison that corrupts the root and infects not only the fruit that the plant would spawn, but also the seeds that same plant would bring forth. This act and action is aca demically criminal and must be known of to be recognized; understood to be evaluated, confronted to be eliminated. Any effort less than this concentingly amounts to aca demic side-stepping, accepts a societal prostitution, and con tentedly concedes america’s intellectually slipping into darkness. Anything less concentingly amounts to aca demic side-stepping, concedes a societal pros titution, and contentedly accepts america’s intellectually slipping into darkness. Because of the financial dilemma at hand due to the complications that arose from his birth, William Gary’s fam ily had to sell their 200-acre Mississippi farm. The Gary’s moved to Florida and became migrant farmers, following the seasonal transition of the southern crops they labored from Florida up through North Carolina, all tenacious in their will to survive. Many times the family (13 members strong) had to live in a tent and at one time in a shack with no running water, no electricity, and an outhouse. And although many times barefoot, William Gary yet cherished the short-lived mornings spent in school. Mornings that cruelly gave way to his grueling, yet sombering and necessary, sun- bit afternoons and moonlit evenings spent in the tobacco, bean, and sugarcane fields of his youth; summer-stilled hours and winter-chilled mo ments that left Gary wonder ing whether he would ever WILLIAM GARY: NO EXCUSES by Roger A. Harris learn to read or write. 49 years after his birth, William Gary has become one of America’s most successful personal-claims lawyers and a multimillionaire whose pro fessional integrity, work ethic, and philanthropy precede him like Indian Summers: a deeply warm and spiritual dawn cast ing long hope upon the shad owed canker of life’s wintered, silvering lawn. MEMORIES An old axiom reads that “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In America, the all-mighty dol lar represents that power, and William Gary has lots of those dollars...millions upon mil lions to be exact. Yet he crawling up and down those burning rows of bean fields with not a shade tree in sight...how hard my mommy and daddy had to work...as my jet climbed through the clouds, towards the stars, I thanked God as I thought to myself the sky is truly the limit.” Yes, strict and hard times that galvanized Gary’s will to achieve. And to this end, never giving in or giving up could easily be his epitaph, belief in self his banner, humility and respect his flagships. Indeed, his fiery eyes reflect the charged spiritSof a sincerely happy and authentic man smoldering within the burning embers of a unquenched and undying will to succeed. When probed as to the source of his desire to succeed, Gary con fided “I’ve never said this pub licly, but my Daddy was my role model. My Daddy had a sec ond grade education but every thing he touched turned to gold.” And it was this proud man’s subtle manner and quietly powerful way that provided the founda tion that Gary would use to reach his goals. “The bottom line was that I lived my daddy’s example every day...it rubbed off on me without him even saying it, he didn’t have to talk about it...because of him I didn’t know about quit ting,” His father’s mighty ex ample was the catalyst that drove Gary to establish his own lawn care business in high school, a venture that enabled him to buy his father a truck for his produce business. “We were very close and my daddy depended on me as he could not read himself.” Gary went on to become the first African- American from his town to at tend college. SHAW, LAW, AND SUCCESS high school football player and was offered a tryout at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, a tryout that fell through. His high school coach urged him to tryout at Shaw University where he had friends on the staff. But when Gary arrived at Shaw he found out that the roster was full. Gary stayed anyhow, sleeping on dormitory couches and eat ing food smuggled to him by members of the team. While the team practiced, he cleaned up the locker room. He finally received a chance to make the team when a lineman was in jured. Gary filled the void and within weeks his tenacious nature was rewarded with a scholarship. Gary married his childhood sweetheart, Gloria Royal, graduated from Shaw Univer sity, and went on to acquire his law degree from North Caro lina Central University. He then moved to Florida to be gin his law career but wouldn’t be hired by the white law firms in Stuart, Florida. Un daunted, Gary opened his own law firm, his wife Gloria teaching at Palm Beach Junior College during the day and perform ing clerical and administrative duties for the law firm at night. Gary was 27 years old with two sons. By Gary’s 29th birthday he was a millionaire. It didn’t stop there. Among many other victories, his firm has since settled for two other major cases, each estimated at $100 million. Most recent was Gary’s successful representa tion (1995) of small town See Gary, pg. 10 Gary was an outstanding ‘‘What must be captured and kept close to heart is that beyond the cars, the money, and the fame is the essence of a simple country boy who, through the love and guidance of a strong fam ily, was able to take the seemingly impossible and make it a very sure reality.”
Fayetteville State University Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 12, 1997, edition 1
9
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75