NEWS
November 7,2014
Israel leaving deanship after 13 years
COLLEGE WORKS TO
DEFINE IDEAL QUALITIES
FOR ISRAEL’S SUCCESSOR
BY BANNING WATSON
Staff Writer
On Oct. 22, President Jane Fernandes
announced that Adrienne Israel will
be stepping down from her post as
vice president for academic affairs and
academic dean after 13 years.
"The decision to step down was one
that I made several years ago," said
Israel. "I told our last president if he
wanted to me to serve, I would, and
I would help the next president make
the transition."
One of the earliest African-
American faculty members hired
by Guilford, Israel came to Guilford
in 1981. She was the first African-
American professor to receive tenure
and the only African-American to
become vice president and academic
dean.
Israel spoke of Guilford's future.
"I think one of the big challenges
going forward is deciding whether
we want to go to the next level of
excellence, and are we going to pursue
it sincerely," said Israel. "Do we want
to be well-known nationally for the
excellence of our program, or do we
want to stay a hidden jewel? We have
to decide whether we want to be great
or just good."
Israel will remain academic dean
until the end of the 2014 - 2015
academic year and then return to
her faculty position in the history
department. She will also oversee the
coming re-accreditation process by
the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools. Israel has led the school
through the process in the past with
extraordinary success.
"I expect we may have some
challenges with our next report, and
I thought that, since Adrienne already
has all the information we need, she'd
be in a good position to do that," said
Fernandes. "Because we have some
financial challenges, I want to make
t -r'i
Guilford’s academic dean, Adrienne Israel, is stepping down after serving 13 years
sure that we meet all the accreditation
standards, both required by the federal
commission and by SACS, and I think
she can be a big help doing that."
The search for the next academic
dean is currently in its conception
phase as Fernandes meets with the
faculty to determine what qualities
they would like to see in Israel's
successor.
"I would like a really positive
synergistic relationship with the
new dean, somebody who makes
the faculty feel more empowered
about working here than we have
recently," said Dave Dobson, clerk
of the faculty clerk and professor of
geology and earth sciences. "I think
it's an opportunity to refresh, renew
and move forward.
"I'm grateful for Adrienne's wisdom
and long service to the College, and
I wish her the best with what she's
doing next. I've enjoyed working with
her, but I'm also excited about who
we turn up with in the next phase of
Guilford's story."
Barbara Boyette, assistant academic
dean for academic support, also
voiced her hopes regarding Israel's
successor.
"(We need) someone who is a
great time manager, with great
communication skills, who can handle
multiple problems at the same time
while leading the college to do our very
best work," said Boyette. "This has
to be a person who dearly has spent
time in the classroom, knows what the
issues are with teaching, someone who
has leadership experience. Otherwise
I think it would be a bit daunting."
I
Happening now: new videos from
The Guilfordian s video department!
“People’s Climate
March, Part 1”
ii
Guilford Cheer!”
55 Guilford students attended the
People’s Climate March on Sept.
21, 2014. Follow their journey to
New York and hear their opinions
on the changes to the environment!
(Part 1 of a series)
BY VERONICA ZAMBRANO-COFFIE
Staff Videographer
Go behind the scenes with
the Guilford cheer team! View
practice footage, listen to exclusive
interviews with team members
and find out what makes the cheer
team what it is today.
BY NELLIE VINOGRAD
Staff Vioeographer
WADUD
I
!
Amina Wadud^s
words resonate
through campus
Dr. Amina Wadud gave her lecture on Tue. Oct. 28,2014.
Continued from page I
and dedicated much of her life to a pro-faith
perspective on feminism, writing books such as the
"Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from
a Woman's Perspective" and "Inside the Gender
Jihad; Women's Reform in Islam."
Seivior Mary Heisey introduced Wadud.
"I was freaking out," said Heisey. "I was really
nervous to introduce her. Her work is very impressive
to me, and I just didn't know if I could do her justice.
"Afterwards, I went to ask her to sign my copy
of her book, and I didn't even have to ask, she just
grabbed my book cmd started writing. I was struck by
now easygoing she was. She loved Guilford. She said
that Guilford students ask the best questions out of
all undergraduate student environments she's been
in.
Director of the Friends Center and Adjunct
Professor of Religious Studies Max Carter attended
Wadud's lecture out of an interest in Islam and its
impact on the world.
"I resonated with her presentation and have used
some of her insights in further conversations," said
Carter. "One quote, especially, resonates with me: 'Be
proactive; if you react to a thing, you empower that
thing.'"
Many professors teach about Wadud in their
classes, including Visiting Assistant Professor
of Religious Studies Betsy Mesard and Assistant
Professor of Religious Studies Jill Peterfeso.
"She has said and written many things that
resonate with me, but probably more significant
is her approach," said Mesard. "I think it is rare to
come across a person who combines serious scholarly
rigor, moral clarity and practical sensibilities in the
way that Amina Wadud does."
"In that class, (Religion in the U.S.), we investigate
how religion and religious identity are 'practiced and
performed' in an American context," said Peterfeso.
"Dr. Wadud's prayer is a wonderfully helpful
example of how some individuals who love their
faith tradition and who believe deeply challenge the
status quo in provocative and public ways."
The day after her lecture, Wadud sat in Abdo's
class on Arab and Islamic feminism. She enchanted
students with stories of her life, such as participating
in the March on Washington with Martin Luther King
Jr. when she was 10 years old.
"I remember it was hot, and we did not have a cool
sign," Wadud said.
One of Abdo's students, junior Naomi Madaras,
appreciated Wadud's interactions with her and her
classmates.
"Unlike other speakers I have known, Amina
showed no sign of patronizing or belittlement and
took our questions seriously," said Madaras. "I felt
she answered thoroughly, showing a deep care for the
dialogue."
Perhaps a story that exemplified her beliefs the
best was about how she wore her hijab. When going
through security in the airport, she would refuse
to take it off. Once on the plane though, she would
remove it. Wadud found that the hijab was a choice.
She had to take the hijab off sometimes but only when
she wanted to.
"American by force, Muslim by choice," she said.