Welcome!!
Freshmen
archives
Bennett College
THE BENNETT BANNER
STUDENT PUBLICATION OF BENNl'TrT (X)IJ>ECK
Best Wishes
Class of ’52
VOLUME XVIII
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA, OCTOBER, 1948
NUMBER 1
K
Freshmen relax between classes. Welcome to the Bennett family, girls!!
New Personnel
Is Welcome
There it is, a whole new block of
beauty. The grass is slowly turninf
from its green carpet into a mass of
brown, the orange and red leaves
fall quietly to the ground and in the
midst is a sacred spot—the chapel. A
deep tran’‘> is suddenly broken with
the sound of hurrying feet and high-
pitched voices. The atmosphere of the
campus turns from one of hushed
silence to one of great excitement.
Gay-colored skirts flurred the cam
pus, shrills of laughter fill the air
and in a tone heard for a mile the oV
bell begins to ring, “welcome! wel
come: Bennett family!”
The echo of that dear ol’ bell is
still in our hearts as we take time out
to extend a hearty welcome to the
new members of the Bennett famliy.
To the faculty, freshmen and new
students we extend our greetings.
We welcome the faculty w'th the
hope that you will aid us in develop
ing our abilities to the highest pos
sible level. Through understanding,
friendliness and cooperativeness we
hope to establish a happy medium of
love and kindness between the fac
ulty and student body.
To the new students, we warmly
greet you. In making a new adjust
ment to campus life, we know tha'
you too will join us in creating a
pleasant campus atmosphere and de
veloping an active sisterly love.
Freshmen, our hearts go out to you
and we proudly welcome you to our
family. ’Tis true that you are stil
green but in the years to come, years
that are far too short, the green wil'
soon be gone. By that time a solid
foundation for your career will have
been built. Realizing your eagerness
to learn and strong determination to
achieve, this advice comes from our
hearts. The obstacles in your path
are only there to test your strength
Success is achieved by your determi
nation to defeat those obstacles.
To all new members of the Bennett
family learning to cope with, to ac
cept and share responsibilities is £
part of our philosophy. The true spir
it possessed by the wisest is to meet
challenges and defeat failures no
matter what problems confront us.
We are sure that you will agree
with us that the most beautiful spot
on the campus is our chapel. It is s
place for reverence, humbleness and
worship. As Bennett sisters we strive
to share the responsibility of keeping
(Continued On Page Two)
New Buildings
Well Underway
The New Jessie M. Reynolds Hal!
is rapidly nearing completion. This
dormitory will accommodate about
sixty-five anxious young women
around December first. The mos'
outstanding feature fo this building
will be the modern furnishings.
The lettering, “Jessie M. Reynolds’
will be attractively put in brass,
forming a semi-circle over the porch
The dormitory will be fronted by i
unique porch with square white
marble steps.
The interior finishings will be of
white plaster and well varnished
floors. The closets and dressers will
be uniquely built in the wall. The
bathrooms will be modernly equip
ped with showers and the entire
building will have all the equipment
to keep it well heated. Modern fur
nishings will be used in the parlor,
accommodating evening visitors and
guests. The spacious playroom will
be located in the basement to help
meet the recreational needs of the
students.
The entire student body and faculty
are overjoyed over the new Student
Union Building which is now well on
the way. There is a possibility tha
the building will be completed for the
Junior-Senior Prom in May.
The Student Union Building will
be as essential to the college as a
classroom is to instruction. The
Union Building will be “the cross
roads” of the campus—a place tc
meet, to eat, to chat, to have a sod^
or to rest.
In this building the modern dining
room and the kitchen will serve th
entire Bennett family. There will b°
rooms for student and faculty organi
zations. The recreation room wiiF
cater to those interested in bowling
ping pong, and the like. The ball
room will accommodate all student"
at dances and all other large func
tions.
Let us not think for a moment that
the faculty will be left out, for just
across the way on Lee Street, th”'
ground was broken for a facult'
apartment building. Hundreds o'
students and friends stood around t
witness this ground-breaking cere
mony Sunday afternoon, Octobe*
third at five o’clock.
These buildings were so planned
that every feature of them will
(Continued On Page Four
Dr. Ira Reed
Is Speaker
Dr. Ira Reed, professor at Hart
ford College, Hartford College, Pa.,
in his message to the student body,
spoke un the issue of choice. Two of
the great problems of social science
are that man thinks about what he
does and man relies upon other out
side forces other than himself, the
outside force being God, The answer,
he says, two ways in which one might
adjust to problems rest within one
self and God. Throughout his speech
he gave illustrations of American
students who are sincere and believe
in a true democracy, but, who are
greatly concerned with building up
a greater anomity between people of
the world, “America is being kidded
about international relations.”
A question that often confronts the
people of the world is “how to be a
Christian in an un-Christian world.”
Says Dr. Reed, “The answer is dif
ficult to find. There are three groups
of choices. One, refuge and security:
two, action and development, and
third, individual peace and quietness.
These choices will motivate what an
individual will do.
Dr. Reed raised the question: “Can
you as a student say you will be ac
tually prepared for a vocation?” This,
he said, is a question of choice—
whether one chooses to be interested
or disinterested, sincere or insincere.
“In order for one to make a choice,
one must know people, science, acti
vities, human relations; not as race
relations, but as one man to another;
one must understand religious be
liefs, schools and languages of every
nation. He emphasized again that ir
order for one to make a chaice of
what he believed in, one must be
equipped or empty, one must be ac
tive and dynamic. Through self-
motivation, man develops certain be
liefs and choices. With these beliefs
and choices man survives chaos with
dignity. Whatever one’s choice may
be, action and development, refuge
and security attribute to individua
peace and quiet.
Founder's Day Is
Set November 2
On November second, nineteen
hundred and forty-eight, we, the stu
dent body and faculty of Bennett
College will pay tribute to the foun
ders of our college. As this day draws
near we realize more and more the
work which has been done to make
Bennett the place it is. It makes us
feel closer together as the bonds of
friendship and sisterhood bind us.
We are proud to be students here,
able to honor these founders on this
seventy-fifth year of Bennett’s exist
ence.
The speaker of the day will be
Bishop Alexander P. Shaw of Balti
more, Maryland who is over the Bal
timore District of the Methodist
Church. Bishop Shaw has recently
returned from Amsterdam, Holland
where he was sent as a delegate to
the World Council of Churches. He
got his A, B. from Rust College, Holly
Springs, Mississippi; his B. D, from
Gammon Theological Seminary, At
lanta, Georgia; and his LLD. from
Rust College. He has also studied
elsewhere.
The music will be furnished by the
Bennett College Choir. Sometime
during the program the amount of
the Loyalty Fund will be announced.
Last year over a thousand dollars
was raised and this year the students
have set a goal of twenty hundred
dollars. To this amount will be added
the contributions of the faculty and
alumnae. The alumnae will be repre
sented by Mrs. Juanita Morisey, The
representatives of the student body
and faculty arc not as yet known.
The Loyalty Fund, through con
tributions each year,--hRs increased to
one million, forty-five thousand dol
lars. Of this amount the faculty has
contributed twelve thousand. This
fund is Bennett’s security for the
future,
Bennett College was founded in
1873, one of the few institutions of its
kind whose beginning was inspired
by Negro leadership. Its founder was
Lyman Bennett for whom the college
was named, Mr, Bennett gave the
first ten thousand dollars to the erec
tion of buildings.
Early in its history the Woman’s
Missionary Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church gave the Bennett
College plant for the use of society.
In nineteen hundred and twenty-
six the school was reorganized for
women students and since then has
had a phenomenal growth in physi
cal equipment and endowment.
To the founders of Bennett we
shall be forever grateful for having
helped shape our lives to be lights to
lure someone else here to enjoy the
things we enjoy.
Job Opportunities
Never before in this country has
there been such a variety of job op
portunities. There are countless new
fields being opened every day, many
of which hardly occur to the average
young man’s or woman’s thinking.
These job opportunities are so varied
that they are suitable to everyone
but it must be remembered that the
securing of these opportunities has
definite requirements. Hard work,
sacrifice, study, training, and prepa
ration are essential to job getting,
job holding, and job advancement.
The lines of color, race, or sex are
gradually being ignored because the
important thing is the employee’s
skill.
No doubt there are some of us who
have thought about the type of jobs
many Bennett graduates have re
ceived. Then there is the vast ma
jority of us whose chief concern if
NAACP Youth Conference
To Be Held In St. Louis
ST. LOUIS — Formulation of
a plan of action for youth on prob
lems affecting minorities will high
light the Tenth Annual Youth Con
ference of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored Peo
ple to be held here, November 10-13.
Representatives of 271 NAACP
Youth Councils, 60 NAACP college
chapters and college inter-racial, in-
ter-faith and social service groups
have been invited to convene at the
St. Louis Central Baptist Church to
consider the part of young people in
the struggle for democracy and for
equal citizenship rights for all Ameri
cans, Stressing the theme, “Youth on
the Team, Not on the Sidelines,” dele
gates will participate actively in dis
cussion of such vital current issues
as discrimination in housing, segre
gation in the armed forces, and the
need for equalization of educationa’
opportunity.
LeRoy Jeffries, Assistant Director
of Industrial Relations of the Nation
al Urban League, and Robert L. Car
ter, NAACP Assistant Special Coun
sel, will be among the principa’
speakers at the Conference, Speaking
on “Trends in Employment,” Mr.
Jeffries will discuss vocational guid
ance and training tor youth and wil
lead a seminar on job opportunities
in the U, S. today. “Youth and Civi'
Rights” will be the topic of the dis
cussion led by Mr. Carter.
In the course of the four-day pro
two major objectives:
1, To mobilize the strength, enthu
siasm and organized power of youth
to help carry out the program of the
NAACP and special projects which
are of particular interest to young
people on the campsu and in the com
munity.
2, To develop a personal interest in
the problems affecting the Negro in
America and to provide leadership
training for those on whose shoulders
will soon fall the full responsibility
for solving those problems.
Note to Students
1, Students who have done out
standing literary work in any field
and would like it published in the
BENNETT BANNER, mail it, (in the
Business Office-mail basket) to:
Lillian Murphy
Editor, Bennett Banner
Barge Hall
2, We welcome any other news of
interest and importance. Mail the
same to the preceding address.
College Calendar
First Reportins: Period
Expires November 1
Founder’s Day November 2
Mid-Semester Report Period
Expires November 22
IIon)ficomlnK November 25-28
Thankssiving Day, A
Holiday November 25
Last Day for Seniors to File
Applications for
Degrees
the type of jobs we will secure after
graduation. This is by no means a i gram of committee and regional i
matter of small concern because i meetings and plenary sessions,
there are numbers of us who want | awards will be made to the NAACP
and need to work after we complete Youth Council that has done the | Degrees November 26
our college training. It can not be most outstanding work during the Christmas Vacation
too greatly emphasized that many ' past year and to the young Negro Begins, 10:00 p. m. December 21
girls will have to accept the perma- | who has made the most outstanding Christmas Vacation
iient functions of breadwinners be- ; contribution to better human rela Ends, 8:00 a. m. January 4
cause of the great proportion of single tions. Miss Alice Coachman, of Al- Third Reporting Period
women caused by the war. Regard bany, Ga., winner of the Women’s Expires January 17
less of conditions that necessitate our Olympic high jump contest and th° Pre-Registration for the
working, since we must or desire to, only woman on the American track | Second Semester January 17-21
it should be the kind of work we find to win Olympic championship, wil' First Semester
desirable. We must enjoy our work be the recipient of a special NAACP ' Examinations January 24-28
"Our work, and in genera’ youth award. Final Reporting Period
(Continued From Page One) The Conference has the following ' (Continued On Page Four)
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