Tj^e MenneU
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 1981 BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. C. VOL. XLII, NO. 8
Campus celebrates annual Senior Day
In old Japan it was believed that eating ginseng root
would help ensure long life.
Shelly J. Coston
The Bennett College Choir com
pleted the first part of their spring
tour March 6-10. The second part
will begin March 28 and will end
April 6. During the first tour, the
choir traveled through North and
South Carolina and to Florida.
The choir will perform in West
Virginia, Michigan, Ohio and Ten
nessee during the second tour.
This is the first year there have
been two tours during the spring
semester. “In recent years we have
experienced difficulties with the
weather, so we decided to post
pone going west until later,” says
Dr. Alston. Another reason for
two tours is that the students in
volved miss their spring break.
“We figured it would be aca
demically beneficial for students
to have some time off to catch up
on academic matters in addition
to having time for relaxation,”
says Dr. Alston.
In addition to the 37 choir mem
bers, Ms. C. Wilson accompanied
the group as the admissions coun
selor to talk with prospective stu
dents. Ms. M. Tucker, who has
traveled with the choir for many
years served as the business man
ager. Also Mr. A. Carter, college
organist, went as the piano ac
companist. Mrs. E. Miller will join
the choir during the Mid-Western
tour and will talk during the in
termissions about the role of Ben
nett in the education of women
and the continuing need for Black
college survival.
The program included com
positions ranging from the Ren
aissance period to the 20th cen
tury, Some of the special features
included interpretations of con
temporary works dealing with
various concepts of love in the
Japanese culture, selections by
the gospel choir and solos by Kim
Witherspoon, Angel Bynum, Jill
White, Freda Harris and Lauralyn
Peoples. Two compositions re
quired drums, which were played
by Parrese Wade.
a processional and recessional. The
other two formal convocations are
Founder’s Day and Baccalaureate.
Senior Day is one of the few tra
ditions that Bennett had kept
through the years.
According to Mrs. Mary Scar-
lette, of Special Events, the pur
pose of Senior Day is to “recognize
those students who have achieved
senior status and are anticipating
graduation from the college.” All
seniors who are expected to have
completed graduation require
ments by May are eligible to par
ticipate in Senior Day as well as
any student who completes the re
quirements in December or in the
summer.
Morehouse
Terri Ford
On Wednesday, March 18, 1981
the Morehouse College Glee Club
performed their annual concert in
the Chapel on Bennett College’s
campus at 8:00 p.m. The glee club
has been under the direction of
Dr. Wendell Whalum since 1953,
and assistant director and accom
panist Uzee BVown. Both are
former Morehouse Glee Club
members.
The glee club and Bennett’s
choir have an exchange program
which is usually not included in
the tour, but this year the per
formance happened to fall during
Shelly J. Coston
Dr. Helen Trobian, head of the
Interdisciplinary Studies Program
at Bennett, presented a paper and
slide show entitled “Feminism,
Humor and Religion,” at the an
nual meeting of the Southeastern
Women’s Studies Association.
The meeting was held March
4-7 at Georgia State University
in Atlanta and was sponsored by
the Women’s Educational Equity
Act Program of the U. S. Dept, of
Education.
The paper Dr. Trobian pre
sented was a revision of the paper
she presented at the International
Symposium on Women and Society
The highlight of the ceremony
came when Dean Tipton an
nounced the students eligible to
graduate with honors and with
high honors and presented the
Senior Class for robing. Tonni
Sullivan, class president, was
robed first. Her little sister gave
the robe to Dean Tipton who in
turn gave it to President Miller
and back to the little sister who
then robed her.
Following Sullivan, seniors were
robed in pairs in alphabetical order
by members of the sister class, the
sophomores, but there were some
exceptions. The attire consisted of
black caps and gowns. The cap is
the glee club’s tour. The Bennett
College choir will perform at
Morehouse on April 10, 1981.
The choir consists of 39 men,
both under and uperclassmen of
different academic disciplines, not
just Music majors.
When asked how she felt about
Morehouse’s choir Dr. Alston,
Bennett College’s choir director,
commented that, “Morehouse is
one of the most outstanding male
college glee clubs in the country.”
She also added, “I believe that
one of the advantages of the glee
club that many other college
choirs do not have is practically
almost uninterrupted leadership.
in 1979. The necessary research
was supported by a grant from the
Advanced Institutions Develop
ment Program.
The purpose of the SEWSA con
ference was to present knowledge
of and about women. “The aes
thetic, the cognitive and the social
are woven together to bring all
aspects of knowledge to bear on
gender-balancing the liberal arts
curriculum,” says Dr. Trobian.
Some of the other panels at the
SEWSA meeting were; The Future
of Women’s Studies, Black Wom
en’s Studies, Feminism and Polit
ical Action, Appalachian Women
and Patriarchy in the South.
the oxford cap with a band, two
buttons and four points.
The address was delivered by
President Miller, who issued a
challenge to the seniors and of
fered words of inspiration. Senior
Terri Wade spoke the words of
appreciation on behalf of the sen
ior class The sophomores gave a
floral tribute to each senior.
Class officers are Tonni Sulli
van, president; Alisia Coachman,
vice-presdient; Lynn Phillips, sec
retary; Sabrina Sturgis, treasurer;
and Audrey King, parliamentarian.
The colors were lavender and
purple. Following the program, a
dinner was given in honor of the
seniors.
The glee club has a continuity of
leadership that makes for a certain
level of performance.”
Traditionally the glee club
would be housed on the college’s
campus but now commercial hous
ing is available. Part of the tradi
tion is still intact which allows
the glee club to eat all their meals
in Bennett’s cafeteria, and vice
versa when Bennett’s choir per
forms at Morehouse College.
In many college choirs it’s be
coming very popular that individ
uals receive academic credit and
in some cases financial assistance.
But at Morehouse neither aca
demic nor financial assistance is
given to any member of the glee
club, even though the question
has been raised. The singers in
this glee club are motivated to
sing even though they do not re
ceive academic credit or financial
assistance.
The choir has a long-standing
tradition of singing old and un
usual music by black composers
and arrangers, from the period
representing Renaissance to the
19th century. Some of the selec
tions that were performed were
THE DIE ALLMACHT (THE AL
MIGHTY) — Schubert; INVOCA
TION—Claude Debussy; and two
compositions written by black
composers—a chorus from TRI
UMVIRATE— Ulysses Kay, and
(Continued on Page 5)
Myra Jewel George
“Remember the past, but live
for the future . . . open the road
to new horizons,” is the motto for
the Senior Class. With this theme
in mind, the college celebrated
Senior Day on Thursday, March
19 in the Annie Merner Pfeiffer
Chapel.
Senior Day is the second of three
formal convocations observed on
this campus in which the faculty
and staff wear the appropriate
academic attire and participate in
EF
LAY
Senior Day climaxes with the robing which symbolizes the sisterhood of the
sophomore and senior classes.
(Photo by Parresse Wade)
In old Japan it was believed that eating ginseng root
would help ensure long life.
College choir
Completes tour
The college choir completed its spring tour and plans the second tour for March 28-Aprll 6.
Glee Club perforins its annual concert
Trobian presents paper in Atlanta