Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / March 4, 1993, edition 2 / Page 5
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Campus Corner UNC-CH, NCCU Could Both Benefit From Exchanging Personnel CHAPEL HILL. N C. ( AP ) ? North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - could both benefit from something that NCCU Chancellor Julius Chambers has pro posed. Under the idea, a small number of NCCU professors would be encouraged to teach in Chapel Hill, and a larger number of ? U NC -CM faculty-would take their Hi s iruc tion to Durham. "There is a need, in my view, for more "cooperation between N.C. Central and the University of North Carolina (at Chapel Hill)." Chambers, a long-time civil rights lawyer and activpit. told the UNC Faculty Council. ? "We can't afford ... to provide more. You have a wealth of scholarship." Chambers said. "And I don't understand why we can't sit down and map out some kind of exchange that w ill allow all institu tions to grow. "Wouldn't it be beneficial to both schools' students?" he asked. "I'm not sugi_ gesting by any means that it is all a one-way street. We have something to offer, too." UN.C Chancellor Paul Hardin wel comed further talks. "The proximity between Chapel Hill and Durham makes this possible." he said. "I look forward^ to continuing the conversa tion you have begun today." NCCU would not be the sole^bcne factor of the idea, according to Chambers. Despite attempts to recruit and to retain more minority professors, only 49 of about 1 .650 lenured and tenure-track faculty at UNC-CH are black. That, said Chambers, must send a curious message to minority students. "I often ask myself, 'How do my stu dents look at I'NC?"' he said. "And I have to wonder also. How do your minority stu dents look at Chapel Hill?' I am not suggest ing b\ any means that this exchange is a one-way street." The swap, if completed, would ho one of only a handful nationwide. "These agreements are not very com moii." said Aitsley Abraham, a spokesman at the Southern Regional Education Board. "And when they do occur, they are usually informal arrangements between two schools in one area ? not unlike L*NC and NCCt ' L Chamber j said the Los Angeles riots led him to reflection on the racial tensions still existing in this country- He- has- -served as the N A ACT's legal counsel and worked with the Legal Defense Fund on numerous race discrimination battles. "I developed an opinion that we really are nol doing enough." he said. Chambers asked what the counlrs 's institutions of higher education are doing. "I'm afraid, as I look around (his nation, one must aitswer: nol as much .in they haw -to. " One thing that UNC and NCCl I admin istrators can do is try to develop close work mg relationships between the mosih while Chapel Hill campus and I he historically black Durham school. Chambers said. "We have a number of stiulenls there suffering daily." .said Chambers, w ho received his law degree from the I'NC School of l.aw "There is no basis lor excluding, lo me. a significant part ol this pop ulalu >i \ Tro m t IreTe sources." One simple llungthal could Iv done is to get Ccntial's library on a computer net work ahead) linking I'NC's hbrai\ system with those at Duke llmver*il\ ;uul North Carolina Slate University. Chambers said l oi the long lange. I'NC and N.C. Cential could Consulei |oint icscaich pio jecls into the causes ami unpads ol segiega Hon. p? >\ ei I s and oihei taeial concents l.ic utg the counli s . he said "I belies e th.it people woikmg togethci can aililiess piopeil) the pioblenis I've Incd to tlraw mil." Chamlvis said "Thai's ins plea " UT Gives Priority To Minority Students And Faculty KNOXVILLE. Tcnn. (AP> ? The jjjiiversity of Tennessee's flagship campus, responding lo a report on race relations, is committed to increasing minority scholar ships and retaining black faculty, chancellor Bill Snyder said last week. The recommendations from the Commission for Blacks renewed goals out lined five years ago in a task force study prepared after a series of racist incidents on campus. "1 join the commission in working together toward the common goal we all seek of a true multicultural community." Snyder said. "I share the commission's concern about the high turnover rate (ol faculty), and that is an issue we will address quickly." The commission is composed of stu dents, faculty and staff. Dhyana Ziegler, a broadcasting professor, is chairwoman. "We need to lead by example. We need a commitment from the highest levels of the university," she said. In the 1989-90 academic year, 65 of 1,095 professors at UT-Knoxville were black. Today, there arc 30 fewer professors overall ? 15 fewer blacks, accordinglo the Office ol Instructional Research. The commission said ihe number ol scholarships lor black students has increased, despite tougher economic condi tions. The university gave 2 V) scholarships to minority students this year. Hut Ihe panel said more financial aid is - needed to recruit black students and assure, they don't drop out. Snyder said he has asked each vice chancellor to respond in detail on how the recommendations are being implemented. 1 Other areas of concern to Ihe commis sion: ? I ik' mm sing I lu* i) ii in ho r ? ? I hl.uk employees in ihe women's alhlelie depart men!. ? Improving pjirhc ip;il ion In minonly \ eiult >i s in bidding l?>i contracts. ? Ivx pending dialogue wilh community groups 011 campus race relations. . "There is very lilllc interaction with community leaders'," Ms /.icgler said. "There is ;i leelmg in some parts ol ihe ciiy thill I IT doesn't nurture ils students. Selling up a dialogue is easy lo I'ix." Alice Walker's Works Mark Curriculum At Mary Holmes WEST POINT, Miss. (AP) ? Visit Ihc Mary Holmes College campus and you'll find copies of it in hook bags and hack packs, topping stacks of textbooks and on professors' desks. During this semester, "The Color Purple" and some other novels hy Alice Walker arc required reading throughout the campus. As part of the latest edition of "Reading, Writing and Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum," all students are reading Walker ls works. They "will be taught at least one unit on the author and her works in each class, and will take a comprehensive test in March, said Clarcncc Simmons, coor dinator of the program at the West Point junior colicge campus ? "We want to involve the entire colicge in activities that would stimulate students' reading, writing and critical thinking across the curriculum on a selected book," he said. The program started three years ago with Richard Wright's "Native Son." Taking onp author each semester, the program has gone through Shakespeare's "Hamlet," Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time," "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Jubilee" by Margaret Walker and Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea." Students tackled John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" last semester. "This involves all disciplines and class es. All teachcrs develop a unit. Last ? semester, with 'The <irapejr of Wrath,* sci ence classes studied the conditions of the Dusi Bowl (hill caused Ihc Joad family to go lo California," Simmons said. "This semester, psychology classes may study Ihc psychological effects of Cclic's experiences in 'The Color Purple' and explain why a father would rape his daughter or why a husband would beat his wife." Religion classes will study how Celic viewed God, how she turned from Clod and saw him as a "while man's Ciod" and then turned hack to Ihc church. Nol only Ihc works hut Ihc life, travels and philosophies of Alice Walker will he studied, causing studcnls to sec ihc world through her eyes, the coordinator said. "I hope studcnls will see her as a writer comparable to many of Ihc great American writers and will sec her as a black woman expressing her views nt the World we live in and how she grew from her experiences. Her works are very readable, and I Ihink that everyone will enjoy studying her nov els." There will he essay .assignments, panel discussions, screenings of Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation of "The Color Purple" and a convocation ihis month. Simmons thinks ihe novel, along with works like "The Temple of My Familiar," "Possessing Ihe Secret of Joy" and "The Third Life of Grange Copelanil" will he dis cussed over soft drinks in ihe student union and lunches at the cafeteria by both faculty and students. -T im -w4U-g+ve~u*-aU somethov^ 44V common," he said. Alcorn Alumni Vow To Keep School Open Without Merger DETROIT (AP) ? The alumni of a historically blaclf Mississippi college vowed last week to keep the school inde pendent rather than support a state-pro posed merger with a predominantly white college. The Mississippi state College Board has suggested joining Alcorn State University with Mississippi State University as part of a U.S. Supreme Court order to desegregate public universities. But the nearly 300 Alcorn alumni, meeting in Detroit last weekend, said their school would he destroyed under such a plan. "I couldn't have gone anyplace if it hadn't been for Alcorn," said Rev. Hooker Davis, a retired United Methodist Minister from Keyport, N.J. Davis said some Alcorn students don't have the academic background needed to be accepted at the larger state schools, but succeed with the personal attention of Alcorn's faculties. He said other students can't afford to attend the larger Mississippi universities. Alcorn was founded in 1X71 and is the nation's oldest land grant collcgc for blacks, who compose 95 percent of the col lege's student population. Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Mississippi university system continues to discriminate against blacks. In October, the College Board proposed a restructuring plan which included the Alcorn merger and cuts of $27 million from the $186.3 million state allocation to eight public universities. Last weekend, Alcom president Walter Washington urged alumni lo light the merger. "Every Alcornite across this nation needs to make a contribution to that effort," he said. Washington said the college has per sonally contacted each member of the Mississippi legislature, asking that the school remain independent. "We're the shakers and the movers in our neighborhoods and our communities, in our states and our nation," he told the alum ni. "You strengthen the Alcom legacy."
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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March 4, 1993, edition 2
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