Mrs. Whitney Young to Speak to Grads
by Debbie Hodges
Mrs. Margaret B. Young will
speak to approximately 120 grad
uating seniors, their parents, and
guests at the May 8 commence
ment exercises to be held at 4
p.m. in the quadrangle. The exer
cises will be the highlight of a
weekend full of graduate and
alumnae activities.
The widow of Whitney M.
Mrs. Margaret B. Young, commencement speaker.
Vol. XXXVIII, No. 10
Friday, April 29, 1977 BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. C.
Festival Encourages Belles
To Try International Scene
by Joyce Bass
With the theme “In Cele
bration . . . International Vis
tas” the Humanities Festival,
co-sponsored by the Humani
ties Division, the Women’s
Studies Program and the
Women for Leadership Roles
in International Service Pro
gram got underway the week
of April 11 with lecturers, dis
cussions, a guitar recital and
various arts and crafts ex
hibits and demonstrations.
Audrey Colom. director of
the W'^omen’s Activities, Cor
poration of Public Broadcast
ing, and chairwoman of the
National Women’s Political
Caucus, spoke to an audience
on “The Role of the Black
Minority in International Af
fairs” on April 12. Later that
afternoon, a Folk Latin and
Spanish Classical guitar re
cital was given in the chapel
by Patricia Abud Dixon. Mrs.
Dion is a Chilean student of
Jesus Silva and attends the
North Carolina School of the
Arts in Winston-Salem.
The following day. Maxine
Wesphal gave an exhibition of
pottery and its making in the
campus quadrangle. Debra
McCarthy gave a demonstra
tion of international foods.
Vanessa S. Cottrell, manager
of Beautyrama by Snipes,
gave a demonstration of inter
national hair stylinir.
The third day of the festival
beean with a lecture on
“Women in Transition in the
International Arena.” given
by Dr. Constance Hilliard,
executive director of African-
American Scholars Council.
Inc. She very much favored
the participation of women in
the international scene and
emphasized this throughout
her lecture.
Later in the day, a demon
stration of make-up for pro
fessional appearances was
given by Herman Jones, artis
tic director for the La Verne
Players, Incorporated, from
Raleigh.
The fourth and final day
of the festival began with a
lecture by Sue Ford Patrick,
deputy country officer for Ni
geria in the U.S. Department
of State. Mrs. Patrick spoke
on the topic of “U. S. Policy
Young, former executive director
of the National Urban League,
Mrs. Young is an author and the
chairperson of the foundation
named in her late husband’s hon
or. She is an active member of
many organizations concerned
with education, social work, and
the arts including the Girl Scouts
of the United States of America.
She serves on the board of ti'us-
tees of Blythedale Children’s
Hospital, Valhalla, N. Y., the Pub
lic Policy Committee of the Ad
vertising Council, and the Rocke
feller Advisory Council. She is
also a director of the United Na
tions Association and the Lincoln
Center for the Performing Arts.
She is a trustee of the Metro
politan Museum of Art and is on
the board of governors of the Off-
the-Record Luncheon Series of
the Foreign Policy Association.
Mrs. Young acted as alternate
representative of the U. S. to the
Twenty-eighth General Assembly
of the United Nations in 1973. In
1974 she represented the U. S. at
a Human Rights Seminar in
Ohrid, Yugoslavia.
Under a cultural exchange pro
gram of the State Department’s
bureau of Educationand Cultural
Toward Africa; Prospects for
a New Relationship” and
geared her speech towards
background information on
the U. S. policy to South
Africa.
The festival ended with a
“Poetry Roundtable” in the
quadrangle conducted by De
nise Troutman. Student par
ticipants w ere: Christina
Green, Kay Dolberry, Marion
Johnson, Gwen Speight. Libby
Malloy, Pat Hudgins.
Affairs, Mrs. Young visited Ghana
and Nigeria, where she dedicated
the USIS Whitney M. Young, Jr.
Library, in memory of her hus
band.
Among the children’s books she
has written are the First Book of
American Negroes, The Picture
Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.,
The Picture Life of Ralph Bunche,
The Picture Life of Thurgood
Marshall, and Black American
Leaders.
Mrs. Young received a B.A. de
gree in English and French from
Kentucky State College and a
M.A. degree in educational psy
chology from the University of
Minnesota. She has taught at Ken
tucky State College, Spelman Col
lege, and Atlanta University.
Parents of graduating seniors
who are in the ministry have also
been invited to participate in the
exercises by giving the scripture
reading and the invocation.
During the exercises, senior
Mallika Maniam will present the
college with the flag of her coun
try, Malaysia. It is the tradition
at Bennett for students who are
naturalized citizens of a country
other than the U. S. to present
the flag of their country to the
college. These flags are then used
on high ceremonial occasions. This
year will be the first time a flag
from Malaysia will be presented.
Immediately after the receiving
of their diplomas, the senior class
will be inducted into the National
Alumnae Association by its presi
dent, Ms. Bernice Johnson.
Music during the commence
ment ceremonies will be provided
by the Bennett College Choir, un
der the direction of Dr. Charlotte
Alston, and by the Bennett Col
lege Band.
Commencement weekend activi-
Grant
The Development Office recent
ly announced that a grant of
$36,400 has been received from
the Board of Higher Education of
the United Methodist Church for
the refurbishment of Jones and
College Expects
To Award Degrees
To 121 May 8
by Cathy Young
There are 121 seniors who
are expected to participate in
the 1977 commencement ex
ercises.
There are 12 seniors who
expect to receive a bachelor
of arts and sciences in the
Interdisciplinary Studies.
Of these 12 seniors, there
is one math major, one po
litical science major, one com
munications major, two psy
chology majors, tw^o social
welfare majors, one pre-med
major, one early childhood
major, two home economics
majors, and one history
major.
There are 80 candidates for
the bachelor of arts degree.
Among these are majors in
early childhood education,
special education, political
science, music, social welfare,
English, history and Spanish.
There are 29 prospective
bachelors of science. Of these
there are majors in biology,
home economics, clothing,
chemistry, pre-med, foods and
nutrition, pre-dental and
math.
Mrs. Humphries stated that
97 per cent of the 1977 grad
uating class have applied for
graduate school or employ
ment. Those w'ho have been
accepted for graduate school
(Continued on Page 5)
ties will be kicked-off Thursday,
May 5, with an executive com
mittee meeting of the Bennett
Alumnae Association. Registration
for alumnae will take place at the
association’s headquarters, the
Holiday Inn, Four Seasons, Friday
and Saturday, May 6 and 7. At 9
p.m. on May 6 the alumnae will
host a “Sip and Chat” honoring
the reunion classes of 1922, 1932,
1937, 1942, 1947, 1952, 1957, 1962,
1967, and 1972.
An Alumnae White Breakfast
will be held Saturday, May 7 at
8:30 a.m. in the David D. Jones
Student Union Dining Hall. Be
cause the white breakfast had
been discontinued while they were
attending Bennett, last year’s
breakfast was the first such event
many of the new alumnae had at
tended. The event was such a suc
cess that, according to Miss Esther
Oliphant, alumnae affairs assist
ant, many of the alumnae re
quested it be held again this year.
Also on May 7, at 1:30 p.m., an
All-Bennett Luncheon will be
held at alumnae headquarters.
Here the various classes and alum
nae chapters will present their
special gifts to the college.
Nine alumnae chapters have
adopted special projects aimed at
the beautification of the college.
The Orangeburg, S. C. Chapter is
to help improve the entry and
recreation room of Pfeiffer Hall,
while the Long Island Chapter is
to help refurnish Pfeiffer’s parlor.
The Southern California Chapter
has pledged to help improve Jones
Hall’s kitchen. Merner Hall’s rec
reation room is to have new furni
ture with the aid of the West
chester County Chapter and cur
tains with the aid of the Chicago
Chapter.
(Continued on Page 5)
Hall
Pfeiffer residence halls.
Dr. Perry V. Mack stated that
of the seven residence halls, these
two are in need of immediate ren
ovation and refurbishment, Jones
Hall was built in 1922, but re
mains structurally sound. This is
also true of Pfeiffer Hall built in
1934.
“Because inflation has created
serious financial problems for the
private colleges, we have found it
difficult to provide adequate fund
ing for the proper maintenance of
these halls,” Dr. Mack said.
Areas to be renovated include
parlor areas, recreation rooms and
bathrooms. Dr. Mack also added
that some alumnae chapters have
adopted programs to assist in the
renovation.
“When we say renovation, we
are talking about a mammoth
task. Simply redoing of the parlor
in Jones Hall is estimated at
$3,500 and the recreation room at
82,750.”
He stated that the Delaware
Valley Chapter and Southern Cali
fornia Chapter are assisting in the
improvement of Jones Hall.
Alumnae in Orangeburg, S. C. and
Long Island, N. Y. have adopted
Pfeiffer Hall.
“Although some students are
pessimistic about what is going to
be done, we want to reassure them
that these projects are priority
items. When they return in
August, they will see much im
provement even in laundry room
facilities,” Dr. Mack said.
According to a recent issue of
the Belle Ringer, the alumnae
publication, other buildings will
also receive attention in the near
future. The Westchester County
Chapter has adopted Merner’s rec
reation room ($1,200) and are be
ing assisted by the Chicago Chap
ter ($100).
The Winston-Salem Chapter
($1,250), Norfolk Chapter ($550),
and the Richmond-Petersburg
Chapter ($200) are pledged to help
renovate the recreation room and
(Conitnued on Page 6)
Maxine Wesphal gives a pottery demonstration as group looks on.
photo by Joyce Bass
Aids Jones, Pfeiffer