PAGE 4
Incidentally...
Why Locked Chans?
A point of growing concern since the beginning of the semester
has been the almost constant maintaninence of a locked chain at
the Washington street entrance to the main campus. This situa
tion has been the topic of many complaints, discussions, and ques
tions throughout the student body.
The problem is a seemingly ever present barrier set up between
the Bennett campus and the world beyond the rear of the chapel.
The big question is why is the chain locked? It’s understood that
the driveways will be locked at the campus closing hours. That
has been done for years. The confusing point of the issue is the
inabiliy, on the part of the student, to understand the rationale
behind the locked chains during the hours the campus is “open”.
When asked about the reasoning behind this action, the president’s
reply was to the effect that the locked gate would stop the heavy
flow of traffic through the residential part of the campus. Really,
now. Perhaps that is an effort of consideration for the campus and
students but, its* a well known fact that there is only one driveway
through the “residential” area of the campus. This single drive
can accommodate traffic only so heavy at any one time anyway.
The reason for locked chains couldn’t possibly lie in the idea
of keeping out fast moving traffic because the “speed breakers”
on the drive have mastered that possible problem. Could it be that
the gate has been locked in order to reduce the chance of a stu
dent being hit by a car as she crosses the pavement to another
part of the campus? If that be the case, then Gorrell street should
be chained off from Bennett street to Macon street during the hours
from 8 am. to 6 pm. so the students may safely cross Gorrell to
their classes held in the gym.
It was said that the parking area behind the chapel should be
used. Great! It has been used. If a person drives through campus
and finds no place to park, if he intends to park he’ll find a place
on Gorrell street or behind the chapel. Why must he be denied
the chance to get close to his destination? And what about the girl
who has to catch a cab, in the rain or with heavy luggage? Must
she drag her bag from Jones or Cone to Gorrell street or from
Barge to the rear of the chapel.
The locked chain can’t keep ihe trouble-makers off campus if
that is the purpose. Any pedestrian trouble-maker has a standing
invitation and ready access to any area of the campus.
Our Proposals:
What Happened To Them?
Excitement soared as everyone anxiously awaited the announce
ment of the final results of the 1969 spring and fall student leader
ship conferences. Everyone wanted to know how effectively the
faculty and administration had related to our needs.
When the official notice of the decisions was given by the Dean
of Instruction, our optimism and enthusiasm quickly dwindled.
The meager compensations we had been given only scratched the
surface of our basic problems. The only areas we received any
consideration in were; class attendance, pass-no record option,
and the discontinuation of Family Life 101-02. This was all that
came out of the labrous and tedious work of our student repre
sentatives.
Admist all of our disappointments few of us could actually say
that we were surprised. As students our goals had been to estab
lish “open lines” of communication at all levels on the campus,
to initiate needed changes for the betterment of the entire campus,
and to come to grips with the diverse problems on campus. As a
student body, we had taken the initiative to repeatedly bring grie
vances before the administration and faculty and in the process
received no significant reinforcement for our time and energy.
Vital issues such as equal representation of students on the cen
tral administrative committee, a new disciplinary system; a dean
of student affairs, extension of library hours, payment of certain
student officials, more office equipment, better transportation fa-
(See No. 1, Page 8)
RFIMNFTT BANNER
November 4, 1969
Banner Staff
The Bennett Banner is published by the students at Bennett
College, Greensboro, North Carolina 27420.
Editor-In-Chief "
Dimples L. Armstrong:
Managing Editor
Winona Griffin
Business Manager Hattie Carwell
News Edtor, Cartoonist Myra Davis
Feature Editor Darwin Prioleau
Fine Arts Editor - Betty Jones
Advertising Manager-- Myra Sampson
Photographers Dwight Davis
Grace Davis
Reporters Diane Dawson, Audrey Demp
Lynn Henton, Patricia Grimsley
Kay Patton, Juliet Sheperc
Typists - Ivana Trollinger, Carolyn Prince
Carolyn Everett, Cynthia McKaskill
Advisor - - Douglas McAdoo
/
^^Stay Out World
The Editor Speaks...
On behalf of the Bennett Ban
ner Staff, I would like to in
vite you to become a regular
member of our audience of rea
ders. It is our hope that during
this school year, and in future
years, the Banner will be read
and enjoyed by you.
Realizing that we have a long
way to go, it is our aim to make
the campus newspaper the of
ficial organ of communication on
and beyond our campus. In order
to make this dream a reality, we
need the help of you, the reader.
We ask that you remain not just
a passive reader but an active
participant in the workings of our
newspaper. You can do this by
becoming an active member of
our staff or simply by making
your ideas and responses to is
sues known through the Banner.
We heartily welcome every mem
ber of the Bennett community
to aid us in our never ending
stride for progress and success.
Viewing the sluggist state the
Banner has fallen into, we under
stand that ours will be a hard
uphill climb. But, with you behind
us, we feel we’ll have the con
fidence determination and sup
port to pull ourselves up by our
boot-straps.
As far as plans are concerned,
The
Banner
Needs
YOUR
Help!!
the staff has begun working on a
structure for the Bennet Banner
that we hope will aid in the ach-
ievement of our ultimate goals of
success. We hope to increase our
news coverage such that our pa
per can keep our students in
formed about important issues
on our campus, in our community
and on other Black campuses.
We want to cater to you, our
readers. We need your coopera
tion; we need your responses,
your ideas, your criticisms. This
can successfully be done through
our “Letters to the Editor” col-
umn. We ask only that you sign
your name to your letters because
we feel that what you have to say
is important enough to l)e printed
and letters can not be printed
if they are unsigned.
We also plan to add more
feature columns that we hope
will tie both enjoyable and in
formative. In an attempt to im
prove our present “Tell It To
Joy” column, Joy now answers
letters marked ‘ confidential’--
only the answer will appear.
This means your persoanl let
ters can be answered without
publishing your original letter.
For those of you who lean
toward the literary and enter
tainment border, in addition to
the poetry section, we intend to
include some interesting and in-
formitive book, play and movie
reviews from time to time.
These are some of the things
we hope you will enjoy in our
newspaper. As the school year
progresss we hope you will be
able to note other changes. As
said before, we aim to make
the Bennett Banner the official
voice of you, the Bennett Com
munity. Let us hear from you.
Dimples Armstrong
Editor
Meet The New
Bennett Ideal
By DARWIN PRIOLEAU
In the past two years Ben
nett College has achieved new
heights. Once such achievement
being the “Bennett Ideal.” The
Bennett Woman was always re
fined, cultured and proud; but
now she is a woman of black re
finement, black cultured, and
black proudness. She does not
enclose her sisterhood to just
her Bennett sisters, but to black
sisters everywhere^
The “Bennett Ideal” can be
stated in two words “black wo
manhood.” Black womanhood is a
state of mind. It is a state of
mind that can relate to the ti
mes. The Bennett Ideal is a black
woman who is interested in what
goes on around her especially
concerning her people. It is a
black w'jman who is curious a-
bout her background. It is a
black woman who can realize
the power of her people and
their achievements. It is a wo
man who can hold her head up
and say “I am black,” and truly
mean it. It is a woman who is
not discriminatory towards her
own. A sister with a natural
and a dashiki who discriminates
against another sister who has
none, is just as bad as a fair
sister discriminating against her
darker sister. These are ideals
of the past, they can no longer
exist in a true black woman’s
mind.
The new Beimett Ideal is an
ideal which will enable every
Bennett graduate to enter the
society without confusion or dis
illusions. The Bennett woman
will contribute to the proudness
of her people. She will stand hig^l
in this society but she will be
herself.