‘Reflections of an Old Urban Hand’
American Library Association President Spealcs in Cliapei Observance of Library Weel(
On July 1, 1976, a new figure
will take the position of president
of the American Library Associa
tion. That new president will be
Mrs. Clara Stanton Jones, the first
black and the first woman ever to
be elected to this position, who
spoke in the chapel on April 9 as
part of the campus-wide National
Library Week observance.
Mrs. Jones, who is presently di
rector of the Detroit Public Li
brary and whose entire career has
centered on several levels of li
brary work spoke on “Reflections
of an Old Urban Hand,” in which
she historically examined the
black movement for equality.
She feels that it is necessary
for black Americans, like herself,
to reflect on the peaceful move
ment of Dr. Martin Luther King
and its accomplishment as a mo
tive not to give up hope in the
face of today’s injustices.
Mrs. Jones credits King’s peace
ful ethics for her success in the
professional world, but declares
that “the masses of black people
have not reaped the benefits of
the peaceful protest.”
“The heart of King’s movement
was non-violence, so blacks en
dured police beatings, the water
hoses and the dogs,” she explained.
Mrs. Jones said that the con
science of America was touched
and the movement had popular
support from everybody until King
went to Chicago and “violence
was waged against the peaceful
marchers,” she recalled.
She added, “It was fine as long
as the nation was pointing its
finger at the ‘White Only’ signs
in the South and was ignoring the
North.”
In addition to her address in
the chapel, Mrs. Jones met with
students and faculty in an in
formal session the previous eve
ning in the Instructional Media
Center. Library/Media Education
students from both Bennett and
UNC-G had the opportunity to
talk with her at that time.
Mrs. Jones has served on nu
merous committees in the Detroit
area and has various membership
to many professional organiza
tions. Among the organizations of
which she holds membership are
the Michigan Library Associa
tion, American Civil Liberties
Union, NAACP, Association for
the Study of Afro-American Life
and History and Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority.
She was recently appointed to
the Board of Directors of the De
troit City National Bank.
Her husband, Albert D. Jones is
a Case Worker Supervisor at the
Wayne County Juvenile Court.
Mrs. Jones enroute to chapel before her speech.
photo by Cheryl E. Johnson
BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N.
VOL. XXXVll, NO. 10
Seven Co-Operative Education Seniors Are Honored
At Annual Banquet Celebrating Success in Assignments
HUD Official Will Speak to 76 Grads
by Joyce Bass
With the theme, “Do You
Know Where You’re Going To,”
the Cooperative Education De
partment of Bennett College hon
ored seven senior members of its
program Tuesday, April 27 in the
Holiday Inn-Four Seasons.
This banquet is held annually
to honor those seniors who have
successfully completed co-op as
signments. This year marked the
third year of the program’s exist
ence.
The program began with open
ing remarks by the master of cere
monies, A. H. Peeler, followed by
the welcome given by Mrs. Mae
H. Nash, director of career ser
vices and coordinator of the co
operative education program.
Peeler then introduced the guest
speaker for the evening, Jacque
line Means.
Ms. Means, a native of Atlanta,
Ga., is the director of CIMPEAT,
which is the Committee to In
crease Minority Professionals in
Engineering, Architecture and
Technology.
Following the address was the
presentation of co-op awards by
Mrs. Mae Nash. The seven hon-
orees were as follows: Esther Ly-
frock, special education; Teresa
Torrence, psychology; Gisele
Bounsell, social welfare; Phyllis
McCarley, business; Robin Jones,
business; Angela Richards, social
welfare and Fernaundra Ferguson,
political science.
(Continued on Page 4)
Glendora Mclllwain Put
nam, deputy assistant secre
tary of Housing and Urban
Development, will deliver the
baccalaureate - commence
ment address on Sunday,
May 9.
She is over the fair hous
ing and equal opportunities
section of HUD.
Having completed her un
dergraduate studies, she re
ceived the Juris Doctorate
from Boston University Law
School before assuming her
present position, Mrs. Put
nam served as chairman of
the Massachusetts Commis
sion Against Discrimination.
From 1963 to 1969, she was
assistant attorney general for
the Commonwealth of Massa
chusetts, chief of the Divi
sion of Civil Rights and Lib
erties.
Other activities for the out
door ceremony will include
special recognition of Ben
nett’s first graduates as a
college for women as part of
the celebration of Bennett’s
fiftieth year as a woman’s col
lege. Honorees include Mar-
(Continued on Page 6)
Miller: 'You Wouldn't See a Woman Any More Than You See Me'
bv Cheryl E. Johnson around the office of the presi- Miller, when Dr. Willa Player,
dent and other key adminis- a woman, was president all the
trators is, that before Dr. positions presently held by
Spelmanites Lock-up Trustees
“Regardless of whether the
president of Bennett is a male
or a female you would not see
that person on campus any
more than you see me,” says
President Isaac H. Miller, Jr.
He made this remark in re
sponse to an editorial that ap
peared in the last issue of the
BANNER and dealt with the
idea that Bennett needs a
woman president as well as
more females in key campus
positions.
Said Dr. Miller, who finds
being away from the campus
and representing the college
as a fund raiser, public rela
tions person and image builder
among the more distressing
aspects of the job, “my heart
lies in teaching and being with
the students.”
Prior to coming to Bennett
as president ten years ago, he
taught at Meharry Medical
College and was one of the
leading bio-chemists in the
country.
Dr. Miller would not com
ment on the history concern
ing the number of males in
key positions as the statistics
related to information about
his predecessors, nor would
he entertain negative ques
tions as he said he wanted
this to be a positive interview.
However the historical data
(Reprinted From AP)
Spelman College students re
leased 14 college trustees they had
locked in a room for 26 hours after
the trustees agreed Friday to dis
cuss student demands for a black
woman president.
Faculty member Millicent Dobbs
Jordan, a spokeswoman for pro
testing students, teachers and
alumnae at the predominantly
black woman’s college, said the
trustees agreed to meet with four
students and two representatives
each from the administrative
staff, faculty and alumnae.
Mrs. Jordan, aunt of Atlanta
Mayor Maynard Jackson, said the
board would discuss the possibil
ity of organizing a new search
committee and rescinding its ap
pointment Thursday of Dr. Don
ald Stewart, a black who is now
a dean at the University of Penn
sylvania.
The lock-in began Thursday
when the trustees named Stewart
to succeed Dr. Albert Manley, also
a black. The protesters lashed the
board room doors shut with a
rope after learning that the board
had ignored demands for a black
woman president.
An estimated 500 to 600 stu
dents at the 1,200-student campus
spent the night in the halls outside
the room.
“We’re going to make the trus
tees believe that Spelman women
mean business,” vowed Jeta Ed
wards, a senior majoring in phi
losophy.
Some faculty members and
alumnae brought food to the stu
dents. The captive trustees—seven
men and seven women—apparent
ly sustained themselves on snack
food they had brought to the board
meeting. The demonstrators sup
plied trustees with drinking
water, bedsheets, toilet paper and
trash cans intended for use as
toilets.
On Friday morning, the stu
dents allowed Manley and Board
Chairman Francis B. Rogers to
re-enter the board room and ne
gotiate with trustees. Both had
been allowed to leave Thursday
because of poor, health.
Manley is retiring at age 68
after 23 years as president. He was
preceded by four white women
presidents.
“Dr. Manley has been dedicated
to training young women for
leadership . . . and this school has
(Continued on Page 4)
men were also held by men
then.
He said that the “Lament
which I am making is that
the role of this office has be
come so much in the external
community and the role of
working to develop college
style and tone is too often
neglected and left to others.”
He added, “then these respon
sibilities become delegated
and in the process, the man or
woman who is president fre-
q u e n 11 y does not come
through to those whom ^ he
wants to communicate to.”
More Women Administrators
Specifically concerning the
matter of more women on
this campus in administrative
capacities he said, “As we
move ahead we would feel
that as vacancies develop that
more women would be recruit
ed for more administrative
roles. I see that more women
would be a sound investment
in terms of the impact which
they could have in adminis
tration and on the young
women coming along.” He al
so added, “I am aware that a
college for women needs to
have strong women in key
positions as well as other
positions.”
In searching for someone
(Continued on Page 4)
President displays sense of humor as
he remarks that everyone coming to
BC should not be ground through a
sausage press.
photo by Cheryl E. Johnson