2A
NEWS/The CharloHe Post
Thursday, May 15, 1997.
i'iii
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W
'ti'
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Simms has groundswell of support
Executive quits amid false claims
about sports and academics
Continued from page 1A
reflect on how Simms - with
less than a year of college - rose
from a clerk’s job at
TransAmerica to head one of its
largest divisions.
Many wondered if Simms
would have gotten an opportu
nity at all without the lie,
adding a degree in computer sci
ence from the University of
Southern California to his
resume. Later, Simms added a
master’s in business adminis
tration and, eventually, an
Olympic gold medal from the
1968 Mexico City games.
Simms’ feeling that he had to
lie to get an
opportunity
shows society
is flawed, sup
porters say.
Many indi
viduals - and
small busi
nesses — never
get an oppor
tunity.
“They are
trying to get a
career opportunity, but can’t get
into the loop,” McCullough said.
Substance is more important
than credentials. We need to
start looking at people more and
more as human beings and
what they have to offer.”
Charlotte City Council mem
ber Malachi Greene compared
Simms’ predicament to that of
young men who head illegal
drug rings.
“People have heard us talk
about kids who run million-dol-
lar enterprises and the reason
they turn to that is that legiti
mate enterprises are closed to
them,” Greene said. “BUI Simms
turned to legitimate enterprise
and made things happen. What
does that say about society?”
First Union vice president
McCullough
Lenny Springs, noting Simms’
many accomplishments, said “a
degree does not make a man.”
“He rose from clerking to pres
ident of TransAmerica without
a degree,” Springs said. “That
means he has the intellect, ini
tiative and tenacity to do well in
life. You don’t have to have a
degree to make things happen.
“People of color are overlooked
for promotions in corporate
America every day, with all
kinds of degrees,” Springs said.
“They’ve got to be twice as good.
Twenty-five years ago, it is
highly probable (Simms) would
not have been considered if he
did not have that degree.
“Even today, with affirmative
action gone, no one really cares
about diversity in some corpora-
tions...even with a degree, you
can’t get in.”
No one, least of all Simms,
suggests that young people
should not get the training
needed to compete in the mar
ketplace, only that when too
much importance is placed on
superficial credentials, talented
individuals with potential often
lose out.
“Opportunity is missing in
many quarters of our society,”
Greene said. “In many cases,
people don’t get chances.”
Simms could not be contacted
about his plans, but many sup
porters said they hoped he will
stay in Charlotte.
A hastily-called news confer
ence on Tuesday drew about 50
African American leaders to
offer support, including former
mayor Harvey Gantt; city coun
cil members Greene, Patrick
Cannon and Ella Scarborough;
business persons such as
Springs and Ron Leeper and
community leaders like Black
Political Caucus chair Bob
Davis, Rev. Conrad Pridgen and
Sara Stevenson, coordinator of
Westside ceirietery gets a
facelift on Saturday
Plots had fallen
into disrepair
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
An historic cemetery will get a
facelift Saturday.
The Taylor/LaSalle Crime
Watch Community
Organization will clean the 19th
century cemetery located in a
wooded area off Hildebrand
Avenue across from University
Park Creative Arts School. The
cleanup begins at 9 a.m.
Saturday. Although the ceme
tery is hidden from view by
trees and shrubbery, the proper
ty is a symbol of
Taylor/LaSaUe’s past.
“The neighborhood has come a
long way, Roberts said.
“Although it still has a few
crack houses and a few boarded-
up houses, it’s in much better
shape than it was.”
The cemetery has seen better
days. Many plots, some with
tombstones that date back to
the early 1800s, have sunken
into the groimd and others are
overgrown with weeds and
shrubbeiy. Broken beer bottles
and syringes Uttler the ground,
signs of drug use in the 1-acre
area. Prostitutes and derelicts
also frequented the cemetery,
which outraged residents into
action. Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Police were called in to stem
crime and the county cleaned up
the property and manicured the
landscape.
Community leaders encourage
people with relatives buried in
the cemetery to help with the
cleanup or donate money to
beautify the site and buy fenc
ing, said Lillian Roberts, chair
person of the Taylor/LaSalle
organization. Because the prop
erty is out of view, she believes
many Charlotte residents have
forgotten it or never knew of its
existence.
Cljarlottc
For
Comments or
questions,
Please call us
at C704) 376-
0496 or
1 (888) 376-
POST
the Tuesday Morning Breakfast
Club.
Davis com
pared Simms
to the rags-to-
riches story of
Horatio Alger.
Declared
Scarborough:
“We love you,
we respect
you and we
will always
support you.”
Support
came from other community
leaders also, including
NationsBank CEO Hugh
McCoU, who said he would like
to see Simms come back to
Charlotte.
McColl
“What’s real to me is what he
has done for this city and for
this commimity,” McColl said.
“He came to town, he got
involved, he put resources
where they were needed - both
personally and through his com
pany.
“I like Bill when I first met
him. I Mked him then and I like
him now.”
Even McColl, who has cham
pioned diversity as few top exec
utives have, wondered about the
circumstances the lead Simms
to he.
“I would not presume to put
myself in the shoes of a young
black man 25 years ago who
was trying to get into the insrrr-
ance business.”
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