Newspapers / Bennett College Student Newspaper / April 30, 1976, edition 1 / Page 4
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Page Four THE BENNETT BANNER FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1976 I-:. H Michigan Sociologist Probes Strengths of Black Marriages Dr. Rutledge explains the varying statistics on the women she polled to compile her study on which black marriages survive and why. photo by Cheryl E. Johnson by Diane Stevens If a woman is happy in general with her life, then she is happy with her marriage. This is the as sertion of Dr. Essie Manuel Rut ledge after conducting a study on some 256 women in a metropoli tan area of Michigan. Dr. Rutledge is an assistant pro fessor of sociology in African-Afro American Studies at the Univer sity of Michigan-Flint. She spoke on the topic, “Stress and Strengths of Black Marriages” in the last of a series of Women’s Studies Pro grams. It is Dr. Rutledge’s belief that four things generally cause stress in the marriages of black women: (1) a woman’s degree of general happiness (2) whether or not she lives in a stress area, that is an area of high crime, low education, etc. which bring about higher stress because of the environment (3) whether or not the spouse is working and (4) how many times the husband has been unem ployed. Other variables cited by the sociologist were the number of times separated, the number of children and how soon people have children after they are married. Although Dr. Rutledge discussed all of these factors and variables in some detail, she kept empha sizing that the degree of general happiness has the greatest impact on marital happiness. Some questions that were asked in Dr. Rutledge’s study were; (1) How much do you and your spouse Co-Op Honors Outstanding Employers as Well at Banquet (Continued from Page 1) Mrs. Nash also made several special presentations. The Out standing Co-Op Award went to Phyllis McCarley. This award is made on behalf of an anonymous benefactor and is given on the basis of academic achievement, demonstrated leadership and out standing co-op performance. Mc- Carley’s name will appear on a plaque which is displayed in the Career Services Office. The Outstanding Employer award went to General Electric of Lynchburg, Va., and Ciba Geigy of Greensboro. This award is given on the basis of provisions of ex ceptional experimental learning assignments, concern for total ad justment of the co-op student, in terest in all facets of the co-op program and provision of re sources other than employment. see eye to eye? (2) How often are you angry with your spouse? (3) How often do you get on each others nerves? (4) Do you wish you had never gotten married. If a person answered most of these questions in a favorable light they were scored as happy in their marriage. DST Give Typewriter by Joyce Bass “This act represents your love and loyalty to your Alma Mater.” This remark was made Tuesday, April 20, by President Isaac H. Miller, Jr., following the dedica tion of a new Olympic typewriter to the Holgate Library facility, by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The ceremony, which took place in the Holgate facility, began with comments by the sorority Presi dent Esther Canty. After the wel come and invocation, which were delivered by members of the sor ority, Ms. Canty presented the typewriter to Mrs. Edna J. Wil liams, who accepted the gift on behalf of the Holgate Library Staff. According to the statement made by Ms. Canty, the typewriter will be placed in the library, with a stand, for student use and will remain as a monument of the sor ority. The typewriter will be made available for use by students only within the library. Dean Chelsea Tipton was also present at the ceremony and said, “A word of thanks should really be extended for this generous of fer. To the senior members of the sorority, I say ‘thank you’ espe cially, and continue as you leave here, with these same humani tarian gestures.” Dr. Ewa Eko also made a few remarks. “I must commend these students. I hope this will improve the quality of some of our term papers,” he said jokingly. Bennett Represented At NABSW Meet In Baltimore by Cleo Branch Sherron Daye, Linda Roberson and Gail Morton represented Ben nett College at the annual con vention of the National Associa tion of Black Social Workers in Baltimore, Md. on April 14-17. Among the activities at the con vention were various workshops, a general session, a conference ball, and a benefit show. The workshops concerned topics such as “Black on Black Crime,” “Criminal Justice System,” “Youth in the Black Commu nity,” and “Alcoholism.” The objective of the conference ball and benefit show was to raise funds. All proceeds were given to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Cen ter in Atlanta, Georgia. The pur pose of the General Session was to elect new officers for 1977-78 to the National Association of Black Social Workers. All three of the Social Welfare majors were enthusiastic about the convention because they were given the opportunity to confer with individuals established in the field. “I was around a lot of social workers. It made me want to be come a social worker and a com petent social worker,” explained Sherron. The problems of blacks and their solutions were presented in cases by numerous professional social workers during the work shops. Sherron stated that she regret ted that no seniors from Bennett in the social welfare field attended the convention. “It would have given them the opportunity to talk with persons in the field,” she said. “I found the convention very inspiring because it taught not only people in the field a lot but those who were not, as well,” responded Gail Morton. Dr. Miller Ready for Abolishment of Aunt Jemima and Black Yassar Images at Bennett (Continued from Page 1) to fill the most recent admin istrative vacancy, the dean of the college, last year, the search committee selected a man. President Miller said that from one hundred responses only two applications were re ceived from women. When the committee narrowed the field of applicants down to six, both of these women were in that group. One of the women — a white woman — disqualified herself explaining that she did not think this was the time for a white dean in a black college and the other w’oman who happened to be black sim ply was not selected. Miller says that getting black women in key positions is easier said than done as many women have to consider the future their spouses might have if they move for the sake of her job or to consider whether they would be will ing to commute on weekends among other things. When the search committee was looking for a new dean for Bennett, Dr. Miller had no preference and all he wanted was to have a dean “who would be willing to shake people up and be a force in moving the academic program into new dimen sions,” he said. Remain Single Sexed and Abolish Aunt Jemima Miller feels strongly that the survival of Bennett as one of the sole colleges for black women depends on its being sufficiently distinctive aca demically. By distinctive he also means varied. “I don’t think everyone ought to come through here and be pressed in a sausage grinder and come out as' that same little stream of meat,” he laughed, “but we should also have traditional pi'ograms for those who de sire this” to go along with some of the college’s more unique academic offerings. And about Bennett’s ever going co-ed he said, “To be come CO - educational would cause Bennett to possibly be come a mediocre institution” as have some others. Although he is' preoccupied with moving Bennett forward, from time to time he discov ers students regressing. Take the time he ate lunch in the dining hall a few weeks ago. On his way out of the cafe teria he passed a young lady in a “bandana” as he de scribed her hair wear. He asked the young lady about her head fashion and told her, “I feel we ought to be trying to lead you away from peasant practices, as education and be coming a college graduate are middle and upper-middle class aspirations.” He then told her, “You re mind me of Aunt Jemima and we don’t need anymore Aunt Jemima.” Later as they continued to walk through the union she asked him if he wanted her to take her bandana off. He said yes, and she did so. He said he was “timid about raising the point with her for fear that she might feel that I was just being critical of her dress and person.” He contends, “It’s easier for women to deal with other women than it is for men.” “The men on this campus,” he continued, “are errand boys doing errands and carrying on a lot of the external responsi bility of trying to keep the college going. But I think that the blows of feminity must be struck by women wherever i Dr. Miller photo by Cheryl E. Johnson they are, and I don’t think they have to necessarily be the president.” Few Hard Core Decisions Realizing that his position is one of those offices that is expected to be filled with someone dictatorial and also recognizing that his being less than decisive at times “may be a weakness of mine,” he added, “Perhaps this is the reason I never made it to the top sergeant in the Army be cause my movement has al ways been let us do so-and-so and not you do this and you do that.” Instead of issuing mandates that say, “Thus says Lord Miller,” he prefers to keep his faith in the system. He said “It is important that we have and develop across-the-board cadres of leadership that are self-directing because I might not be here to issue the man date” that would keep things rolling. “This is the way I deal with people,” he admits, “and hke to be dealt with by my super iors. If the tone is set for the whole campus to sit down and designate objectives on paper then,” he concludes, “this pro tects everyone from arbitrary decisions and capriciousness.” Nonetheless, he says that many colleges have not come to this level of sophistication and self-direction. Issuing bossy directives is not his temperament, “but more importantly I like to re spect my colleagues,” he says. So much does he want to re spect everyone that he feels people should not move be cause he is president and says they should get hopping, but rather “because they see a need and respond,” he said. Long Range Hope Among the president’s long- range aspirations for the col lege is a plan to refine the new style of budgeting and regis tration operation to the point where students can become in volved in internships' for credit in Higher Education Administration here on the campus. He says there is a need for additional black college stu dents who have an interest in making college administration their career. No More Black Vassar One of the “compliments” that the president wished would cease immediately is comparing Bennett to a fa mous women’s college in New York. He said that sometimes when he is introduced as' the president of Bennett people say to him, “O’ the Vassar of the South.” Usually after those remarks he takes time to explain that they haven’t really paid Bennett a compli ment as his interest is to make Bennett the measuring stick by which others compare themselves. Spelmanites (Continued from Page 1) been here for 95 years,” one fac ulty member said. “To say there are no qualified black women to be president, well, you might as well close us down.”
Bennett College Student Newspaper
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April 30, 1976, edition 1
4
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