Ttegsday, March 27, i 960
ELIZABETH CITY - As
Elizabeth City State
University moves toward
> full - status as a regional
' university, old myths of the
formerly segregated in
stitution are broken as
discovery is made by a
growing number of white
minority students that the
educational community
maintained by Black
If
.fa ‘
Mrs. Sandra Faircloth, 33,
housewife and mother of two
children, like many women
today, “felt she was not
accomplishing too much at
home, had time on my
hands.” With help of
husband and mother, she
attended the College of the
Albemarle, received an
associate degree in the
liberal arts and was
counseled to go to East
Carolina University for
degree in Business
Education. “Hie superin
tendent (Dr. John B. Dunn)
asked why, why not ECSU?
He was the one who would
be hiring me, so I came to,
ECSU.”
Teri Copeland, 4.9 student
from Hertford, attended
summer school classes
under Dr. Lois Green “and
was so energised” she
transferred from Greens-,
boro College and recruited
her sister, Karen Terrell of
Weeks vOle.
. . Uxoadening
educators for 88 years is,
indeed, a rich heritage for
all Northeastern North
Carolinians.
While the white minority
enrollment grew from 10 per
cent to approximately 15 per
cent during the past year,
those who are participating
in the highly marketable
degree programs in 12
academic departments say
too many are by-passing the
opportunities available to
area residents.
“Untapped Gold Mine”
“The community is now
on the verge of discovering
what they have in Elizabeth
City State University,” says
. Garry. Mickey,
senior. Garry is a full-time
’’Student'-majoring in the
social sciences before en
tering Southeastern Baptist
Seminary.
“There's a gold mine here
that has not been touched,”
he comments. “There is no
reason why ECSU cannot be
looked on the same as the
University at Chapel Hill or
N. C. State. A lot of my
friends went away to UNC
and State. They could have
gotten it all right here.” But
like his friends who went
away, the first thing Garry
did when he left the Air
Force in 1977 was to seek out
admissions information
from Chapel Hil and N. C.
State. It was his minister,
Glenn Greenway of Berea
Baptist Church, who
suggested ECSU.
Charles Crozier, 29,
returned to Powell’s Point in
lower Currituck County
when he completed eight
years with the U. S. Navy. It
was the career-oriented
Geoscience Department
that attracted him to ECSU
and he now travels 70 miles
four times a week as a
Wm '* iiflßpßHiHH| |n^p
It wu the career-oriented Geoscience Department that
attracted Charies Crosier to ECBU. He travels 7# miles, four
times weekly, to EUsaketk City from Powell’s Point ia lower
Currituck County.
second year student.
Crozier said the first thing
he wanted was a degree. “I
talked around, found many
people unable to progress,
although knowledgeable and
teaching people who have
degrees...increasing sala
ries for others, while
their own income and
position stalemated,” he
said. He feels many area
residents are by-passing the
opportunity for job ad
vancement by not taking
advantage of educational
programs at ECSU.
Holding an associate
degree in science from the
College of the Albemarle,
Ben Terry, Jr.,*24, was
working at Winn Dilie and
'saving' His money* to go to
another university, unaware
of the Geoscience Depart
ment at ECSU. “I always
had heard it was a second
rate institution. Then I read
a story about Dr. (Maurice)
Powers (Chairman of the
Geoscience Department),”
he recalled. Today he is a
rising senior with plans to go
on to graduate school after
receiving his degree...“and
a first-rate education in
geoscience.”
John Workinger, 29, faces
a choice of job opportunities
when he graduates in In
dustrial Technology in May.
He began while stationed in
Elizabeth City four years
with the U. S. Coast Guard,
taking advantage of the
extended day degree
programs. “This place (the
University) offers such a
good opportunity. People in
town just don’t use it like
they should,” he said.
Teri Copeland, a 4.0
history major from Hert
ford, said she entered ECSU
“after attending summer
school classes in Education
THE CHOWAN HERALD
and Psychology under Dr.
Lois Green, who really
energized me.” She trans
ferred credits from
Greensboro College and
immediately recruited her
sister, Karen Ferrell of
Weeksville. “Coming here, I
can work and carry on
activities, not to mention
that it’s cheaper,” she said.
Accommodations have
been made by agency heads
to assit Mrs. Axie White of
the Pasquotank County
Department of Social
Services and Mrs. Nora
McDougald of the Public
Health Department to allow
time for classes as they
have sf
sociaP work. - Mrs.- -Mc-
Dougald’s daughter, Denise
Lewis, is an ECSU graduate
now teaching Social Studies
and Language Arts at H. L.
Trigg School, across the
street from the university.
Mrs. Elaine Holland, 42,
walks only five blocks to the
school from her home at
1508 Crescent Drive. She
moved to Elizabeth City
four years ago from
Virginia Beach. Her
husband, Dale Holland, is
computer analyst with the
U. S. Coast Guard. After
receiving a degree in
business administration she
plans to take the CPA exam
and return to work.
For some, like Mrs. Laura
Forbes, 53-year-old grand
mother and former mill
worker, ECSU is “a
beautiful miracle and a
dream come true.” Mrs.
Forbes always wanted to go
back to school and last year
took the GED “and passed it
the first time round.” She
entered ECSU expecting to
need assistance in adapting
to studies through the Basic
Skills Program, but quickly
moved out of that assistance
to As and Bs. “I don’t know
just what I plan to do,
Ben Tory, Jr., a rising
senior at ECSU, plans to go
on to graduate
school..."after receiving a
first-rate education in
geoscience.” He had
“always heard it was a
second-rate institution.”
probably I’ll go into Special
Education,” she comments
Now in General Studies and
with the adventure of
education unfolding,
“anything is possible,” she
claims. With two of her six
children at home and of
school age. along with two
grandchildren, Mrs, Forbes’
husband, James E Forbes,
an electrical contractor,
chips in to make the
household chores easier for
his "college student wife
A daughter, Peggy
Williams, 33. also entered
the freshman class last fall
with her mother. “We made
the decision together." she
said. Peggy, has entered
campus life serving as
treasurer of the freshman
class.
“I’ve become a grand
mother figure,” Mrs.
Forbes commented “The
students have accepted me
and also confide in me.”
■i t * * WF
...
Expanded job opportunities have occurred for Nora
McDougald of the Public Health Department (left) and Axie
White of the Social Services Department. Both are working
toward degrees in social work at ECSU.
pkotoi S r £<22U
/Layout & tPetilyn Sy
Melina A Smith
For Laura Forbes, 53-
year-old grandmother and
former Elizabeth City mill
worker, ECSU “is a
beautiful miracle and a
dream come true.’’
With white minority
enrollment approximately
15 per cent at present, Mrs.
Elaine Williams, member of
the Elizabeth City-
Pasquotank School Board
and ECSU Board of
Trustees, sees a growing
number of first-year fresh
men entering the school
with the development of a
Graduate School in the near
future.
“There is a growing
awareness that ECSU is
changing into a regional
university,” she said. “I
know teachers throughout
the area are pleased to see
the development of a
graduate school. Once
teachers are participating
in our graduate program,
they will reflect to students
the quality of education
u ECSU and we look
tor many more first year
students in that event.”
For the present she said,
the economic feasibility of
having a regional university
should spur first-year
enrollment from area high
schools.
l
John Workinger, 29,
former Coast Guardsman,
faces a choice of job op
portunities when he
graduates in Industrial
Technology in May.
Garry Mickey calls ECSU
“a gold mine...that has not
been touched" by area
residents.
“Opening
~fiie *Poot Ofi
Opportunity
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