Par
UM president gratified by support
DETROIT (AP) - The hundreds of "friend of the court"
briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Univer
sity of Michigan's race-based admissions policy are "extremely
gratifying," the school's president said last week
"We believe that it demonstrates how much this principle of
Bakke ... has become a part of the fabric of our nation and how
l : : mivh u/p h;?vp In Iam if flint R:ikkt*
principle were abandoned." Mary Sue
Coleman said.
Affirmative action is getting its
biggest legal test in a quarter-century, a
challenge to admissions policies at
Michigan and its law school that is
before the Supreme Court. The case
will be argued April I. with a decision
expected by summer.
The case marks the court's first
statement on racial preference pro
grams in academic admissions since
the 1978 Bakke case, which affirma
tive action critics and backers alike say
has muddied the waters ever since.
In thai case, the court voted 5-4 to outlaw racial quotas in uni
versity admissions but left room for race to be a factor considered
in admissions. Michigan and many other public universities have
used the ruling to design programs that can help minorities who
might be rejected if only test scores and grades were considered.
The Supreme Court has granted the Bush administration time
to present its case at the April 1 hearing. U.S. Solicitor General
? Theodore Olson will have 10 minutes to argue that the affirmative
action policies are equivalent to illegal quotas.
But the court denied lawyers for minority student interveners
a chance to speak.
Chancellor delivers speech on diversity
in room with Ku Klux Klan mural
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Indiana University's chan
cellor delivered a speech on campus diversity in a classroom with
a controversial mural depicting a cross-burning by the Ku Klux
Klan.
Sharon Brehm's speech last week fulfdled a promise the
Bloomington chancellor made after she decided not to remove the
mural in Woodburn Hall 100 despite protests by black students.
Brehm planned a speech on the state of diversity at IU at the
start of each school year, but she postponed the speech last August
after she concluded there wasn't enough new information to war
rant one.
Brehm told an audience of about 200 that fewer black and
minority students are entering the Bloomington campus than 10
years ago, but the percentage that remain in school and graduate
has increased.
That suggests that IU needs to do better at recruiting minority
students, but it is doing a good job of keeping those it does recruit.
"Recruitment only works if we are successful at retention,"
she said.
Black students at the session had mixed reactions.
Carolyn Randolph, of the IU Coalition of Black Student Orga
nizations and Programs, said verbal support for campus diversity
is "almost a cliche," but is not always matched by action.
' She urged funding for groups that help retain minorities and
more minority representation in student organizations. But, she
said, IU needs to address not only the number of minorities but
also a campus climate that some find hostile.
IU Black Student Union President Gerald Mitchell said Brehm
had kept the promise she made following the dispute last spring
over the mural by Thomas Hart Benton depicting the Klan's role
in Indiana history.
"It's up to us to take the next step and hit the issues head-on,"
Mitchell said.
NFL's blacks form first formal organization
NEW YORK (AP) - NFL minority coaches and executives
have formed a group designed to ensure blacks receive equal
consideration for all league job openings.
The group was organized at a meeting of 125 people at the
NFL scouting combine in Indianapo
lis last month.
It was scheduled to be formal
ized Friday at a meeting in Washing
ton to honor Bobby Mitchell, the
former assistant general manager of
the Redskins and the NFL's first
black executive. In 1963, Mitchell
became Washington's first black
player, fully integrating the NFL's
12 teams.
While there has long been a loose
coalition of black nonplayers in the
NFL, this is the first time a formal
organization has been formed.
The group will be led by Hall of
Fame tight end Kellen winslow and
former Cleveland Brown guard John Wooten. and will be
named the Fritz Pollard Alliance after the first black coach in
the NFL.
The group will consist of one representative elected by non
. playing minorities on each of the 32 teams.
The group will be the connection'between blacks and the
league committee on minority affairs, headed by Pittsburgh
owner Dan Rooney.
It will recommend candidates for vacancies and run men
toring programs by older black coaches and executives.
Currently, there are three black coaches: Tony Dungy of
Indianapolis, Herman Edwards of the New York Jets and Mar
vin Lewis, the new head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.
There also are four minority football executives: general
manager Ozzie Newsome of Baltimore; Rod Graves, vice pres
ident of football operations for Arizona; James Harris, vice
president for player personnel in Jacksonville; and Ray Ander
son, vice president and chief contract negotiator for Atlanta.
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odicals postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C. Annual sub
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
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Mitchell
Coleman
w ?
Evangelist's widow strong in faith j
BY BOBBY ROSS JR.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
On weekday afternoons, 104
year-old Laura Keeble sits in
her nursing home room, con
tent to watch Oprah Winfrey
on television.
But at 3 p.m. on Sundays,
the widow of traveling evan
gelist Marshall Keeble
expects someone to wheel her
downstairs for worship serv
ice.
"I'm going as long as I'm
able to get up." she said.
Baptized in a Mississippi
creek 90 years ago, this gentle
woman known as "Sister Kee
ble" boasts a spiritual strength
that belies her wrinkles, white
hair and wheelchair.
For much of her life, she
lived in the shadows of her
husband, who baptized an
estimated 40,000 people,
started more than 250 Church
es of Christ - mainly black
congregations - and quietly
worked for integration.
But Sister Keeble, who
also became "Mama" to
dozens of young girls, has her
own story.
Born Aug. 6, 1898, Laura
Catherine Johnson was one of
seven girls and three boys in
her family. Her father, Luke,
worked in an iron foundry.
Her mother, Susan, was a
nurse.
Laura attended No. 2 High
School, the black school in
Corinth, Miss. Her great
granddaughter Gwen Cum
mings, 52, asked her one time
if she resented the segregated
education.
"We weren't taught that
way," Cummings recalled her
saying. "We stayed busy and
we stayed circled in Christian
ity."
When Keeble came along
he was already a well-known
minister. Laura was 35, work
ing as a nanny and wondering
if she might die an "old
maid."
Keeble, the son of slaves,
was a recent widower and 20
years older than Laura. His
first wife, Minnie, a Fisk Uni
versity graduate, helped teach
the preacher how to read and
write. In 36 years of marriage,
the couple had five children,
two of whom died in infancy.
"Some of you ought to find
me a good wife." Keeble told
friends after Minnie died from
an illness. "I can't live single
the rest of my life as young as
I am."
A relative suggested
Laura, and Keeble initiated
the courtship with letters. To
see a preacher "flirting around
with a woman" disgusted him.
he said, so he never spent
more than five minutes alone
with her before they married.
Keeble later said the rela
tive "told me I'd get the best!
rose in the Johnson flower!
garden, and I think I did."
Today, though she is some- ?
what forgetful. Sister Keeble's !
love for her husband still'
shines through.
"Ain't he a dandy?" shtf
says, holding a black-and
white photograph of her hus
band of 34 years. "He loved to
dress and go preach. He'd say,
'Come on. Mama, let's go to
church.'"
She chuckles as she recall^
their drawn-out honeymoon: a
three-month tent revival that
he preached in California.
See Keeble on A5
j:
AP PtKMu/Juhn Russclf* *
Laura KeebleZ*
104, smiles at 1
the Lakeshore J
Wedg wood >
nursing home ,
in Nashville, J
Tenn. Keeble is i
the widow of [
Marshall Kee- ?
ble, a black !
traveling evan- J
gelist who ?
baptized an ?
estimated |
40/000 people 1
before he died (
in 1968.
i
?
Army general gets prestigious award
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Brig. Gen. Ronald L.
Johnson received the 2003
Black Engineer of the Year
Award in the category of
professional achievement in
government at the 17th
annual Black Engineer of
the Year Conference in Bal
timore.
The Black Engineer of
the Year Award is presented
annually by US Black Engi
neer & Information Technol
ogy magazine, the Council
of Engineering Deans of the
Historically Black Colleges
and Universities, and Lock
heed Martin Corp. The
award recognizes and hon
ors the technical and profes
sional achievements of
African-American men and
women involved in engi
neering, science and tech
nology fields.
Awards are given in
more than a dozen cate
gories, including profes
sional achievement, techni
cal contribution and overall
leadership.
Johnson received the
award for accomplishments
he has made throughout his
27 years of service as an
Army engineer. He is the
commanding general and
division engineer. Pacific
Ocean Division, U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, which
has its headquarters at Fort
Shafter, Hawaii. He became
the 23rd commander and
division engineer of the
Pacific Ocean Division on
July 31, 200J.
"I'm honored to receive
this prestigious award,"
Johnson said. "I find this
moment humbling and
rewarding."
Johnson leads a 1,700
multiethnic, multicultural
and multinational work
force and is responsible for
engineering design, con
struction and real estate
management for the Army
and Air Force in Hawaii and
Alaska, as well as Depart
ment of Defense agencies in
Japan, the Republic of
Korea and Kwajalein Atoll
in the Marshall Islands.
His division also admin
isters the Corps' federal
water resource development
program and regulatory pro
gram, governing the work in
waters and wetlands of Alas
ka, Hawaii, American
Samoa, Guam and the Com
monwealth of the Northern ,
See Johnson on A10
Submitted photo
Brig. Gen. Ronald L. Johnson is presented his award by if. Gen.
Robert B. Flowers.
?*>
Homes 1 year and
older need to be
checked for termites
"A flea circus is a
good act put it takej
termites to bring a
home down."
Caii
Triad Pest Control
1535 S. Martin Luther King Drive
Winston-Salem, NC
INDEX
OPINION. .A6
SPORTS. B1
RELIGION... B5
CLASSIFIEDS. 89
HEALTH. C3
ENTERTAINMENT...,C7
CALENDAR. C9
Small business owners are part of our electric co-op.
?* o
North Carolina's
electric cooperatives
Touchstone Energy*