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Friday, October 8, 1982
BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. 0.
Vol. XLIV, No. 2
Artist to bring beauty
A Woman of Vision: Frequently-honored painter Varnette P. Honeywood
is bringing her bold perspective to campus this month. Her art derives from a
deep emotional response to Impressions culled from the black community.
Honeywood’s goal is to give permanence to constantly shifting reality.
3 Belles excel
During program
b> Sharon Allen
and Jackie McNeill
Three Belles earned major
honors for their presentations
in the “Eighth Annual Eve
ning of Public Speaking” held
Sept. 28 in the Science
Assembly.
Lynda Jones, Vicelia How
ard and Melissa Mitchell were
winners in the competition
jointly sponsored by the In
terdisciplinary Studies Pro
gram (ISP), the SGA and the
Debate Society.
Jones distinguished herself
with the oration “Stumbling
Blocks or Stepping Stones”
in the category of “A Speech
to Convince or Persuade.”
Also delivering an original
speech was Karen Renee Tay
lor, whose entry was titled
“Reaganomics.”
Howard was honored in the
area of “Dramatic Interpre
tation” for her performance
of “Marriage Greed.” Linda
Ward’s “The University of
Our Lord” and Robyn Wal
ker’s “Think” were the other
offerings in this area.
Mitchell won in the cate
gory of “Interpretation of
Original Poetry or Prose” for
her presentation of “Mighty
Mouse.” Monica Jones also
delivered “Being Alive.”
Judges for the evening,
which continues to be one of
the most popular occurrences
on campus, were Dr. Mar-
sheena Baird, Dr. Robert Mil
ler, Dr. Lynn Sadler, SGA
president Robyn Dessaure
and Leslie Monique Barr,
junior class president.
The panel of judges is
selected by students.
The annual competition is
arranged by the ISP 151
class, which is responsible
for invitations, introductions,
staging and refreshments.
Many students have con
sidered “The Evening of Pub
lic Speaking” so entertaining
and educationally valuable
that Debate Society president
Lisa Murray, a sophomore
from the Bronx, N. Y., has
urged the creation of a sec
ond night of speeches and
interpretations.
by Sheila Foxworth
and Kimberly McKnight
Be prepared to have your con
sciousness expanded when ac
claimed artist Varnette P. Honey-
wood, a celebrator of the black
experience, makes a three-stage
appearance on campus.
Her itinerary includes three
major events: the Fall Faculty
Forum Oct. 25; a brown-bag lunch
for teachers Oct. 26; and an ex
hibition of her work along with
a lecture in the David D. Jones
Student Union foyer Oct. 27.
The forum will feature a highly
praised film about Honeywood’s
life and creations, “Varnette’s
World,” followed by a discussion
between the artist and a faculty
panel at 8:00 p.m. in Pfeiffer
Science Assembly.
Honeywood, who has won num
erous awards, attended Spelman
College where her dynamic re
sponses to black life were encour
aged and reinforced. “I try to
illustrate the strong, reassuring
and free expressions of proud
black people,” the artist explains.
The community is the inspira
tion for the Los Angeles painter.
Her subjects arise from the scenes
she observes on the street. Insti
tutions as apparently plain as a
playground or a church have pro
vided central images to the artist.
“If you’re walking down the
street in a black community, or in
church, you’ll see color, and so I
try to reflect these same colors
in my paintings,” Honeywood
says.
Honeywood feels that her mis
sion is to capture these “docu
ments,” which she fears might
otherwise go unrecorded. Accord
ing to Dr. Alma Adams, chair
person of the Art Department,
Honeywood has adopted the term
“Black Lifestyles” as an umbrella
caption for all of her work.
Art instructor Norman Barbee
likes to place Honeywood within
the context of world art: “She
paints with realism, but her work
is in the vein of social commen
tary. It’s similar to the painting
of (Honore) Daumier (a 19th
Century French master of carica
ture) but Honeywood uses a dif
ferent technique. She editorializes
in her work.”
Honeywood and the faculty will
discuss two of her most important
works—“Gossip in the Sanctuary”
and “African Women.” These
paintings represent a merging of
community experience with spir
ituality, the underlying force that
has helped a people to survive.
Dr. Ruth Lucier, chairperson of
the Mellon Committee, which is
sponsoring the visit, believes that
a significant dialogue will arise
from the brown-bag lunch. “In
this informal luncheon setting, I
hope that faculty will '•’eel free to
ask probing questions about the
role of art in society,” she states.
Lucier suggests these questions
as provocative sources of inquiry:
“Should art be used to reinforce
our prejudices, or should it force
us to see things in ways that are
new? Is there anything in visual
art that corresponds to the use of
street language in literature? Can
art be obscene? Must good art
always be beautiful?”
No teacher needs to be a painter
in order to participate in the dis
cussion, according to Lucier. “In
fact, I hope some faculty from all
areas of the college will be able
to attend so we can enjoy dis
cussing art from many different
perspectives,” the chairperson
observes.
The event will occur at noon in
the Fine Arts lab. Coffee, tea and
dessert will be provided at the
luncheon.
Honeywood will also make
selected class visits.
Dessaure distrusts policy
by Melinda Lowery
SGA president Robyn Dessaure
feels the College could stand
many reforms.
“Bennett has the foundation to
be a darn good school. We have
very good teachers and a bunch
of bright girls. We have all the
right qualities to make Bennett
the best but something is not mix
ing, because Bennett is not one of
the best,” perceives the senior
chemistry major from Freeport,
N. Y.
She senses a pessimism on cam
pus. “B'ennett is falling everyday
and those of us here can see it.
We feel like coming here every
day is a chore. Yes, college has its
labors like everywhere else but it
should not be an agonizing grunt
ing feeling that you are wasting
your money and time,” Dessaure
explains.
She wants to solve the mystery
of “what is going on at Bennett
that demotivates and creates such
a negative whirlpool of feelings
about it?”
The senior feels that one of the
main problems is nepotism. Ac
cording to Dessaure, the Bennett
family employs too many rela
tives. She is concerned about
whether kinship or expertise has
influenced the hiring of some
faculty and staff members. “I
want the administration, faculty,
and staff to know that we are
aware,” she says.
Dessaure was motivated to seek
office by the desire to answer a
hard question: “I need to know
if it is (because of) the school or
is it that we are not working
together as an administration and
faculty, or is it that Bennett is
not a good school, and I do not
believe the latter is it. I believe
the problems falls in the type of
administrative policy that we
have. The attitude of the admin
istration, faculty and staff towards
the students,” Robyn indicates.
She is distrustful of the power
structure. “I feel exactly like
Prince Machiavelli, ‘Absolute
power corrupts absolutely,’ You
. . Support Other Women”
Dorsett keys festival
by Theresa Lipscomb
Speakers at the Political
Awareness Festival stressed
the importance of commit
ment to the political process.
Keynoting the new event
Sept. 25 were Dr. Katie Dor
sett, associate professor of
business education and ad
ministrative services at A&T,
and attorney Joe Williams, a
former District Court Judge.
Dorsett, who recently lost
a close race for a seat on the
Greensboro City Council, em
phasized personal responsibil
ity for the political decisions
affecting our lives. “You need
to be accountable politically
to help yourself and to help
the less fortunate.”
She believes in involve
ment: “The first thing you
must do is register to vote
and get involved in the Doliti-
cal campaign. Instead of com
plaining to one another about
what is going on, write a let
ter or phone in. Most of all,
encourage women to support
other women.”
According to Dorsett, the
accountable person should be
aware of local and national
issues, should join political
rrganizations and should
make her views known to the
candidate she supports.
The professor also under
scored the significance of
promoting the candidacies of
black women.
Williams was concerned
with black unity. “The ma
jority of blacks are too busy
trying to get luxuries to see
what is really happening
around them,” he said. “In
this society, it is all about
sticking together.”
He claimed most blacks do
not employ one another as
professionals — an indication
of disunity. “The only thing
blacks trust each other with
is their deceased,” Williams
declared.
Education and involvement
are the keys to racial coher
ence, the attorney insists.
may not be a corruptible person
when you go into office and you
have total power, but after ten or
twenty years of total power,
something is bound to happen,”
Robyn states.
Robyn, who won the election
without campaigning, has some
qualms about the Pilot Program,
recently renamed Academic En
richment Program. “My reason
for not agreeing with the Pilot
Program is because we pay
$4100.00 a year. With a student
taking nine hours per semester,
she will not graduate in four
years. She can barely graduate
taking, 16 hours per semester and
that is with no failures, and a
person cannot go through life
without failing. ‘A man who
makes no mistakes is a man who
has not lived,’ ” she claims.
“The P'ilot Program is good in
the sense that it gives students
who do not have the academic
status that is required by most
colleges a chance,” Robyn
continues.
Her solution to the Pilot Pro
gram is to give freshmen a min
imum of 16 hours of college prep
aratory classes. “It may still take
the student five years but they are
not blowing an entire year on
nine hours which still have not
prepared them to go into a class
with college level students,” she
insists.
Dessaure has other grievances:
“The SGA has the right to be on
the Board of Trustees and we plan
to utilize all of our rights. How
ever, the biggest problem here at
Bennett is academics. The worst
thing about Bennett is depression.
It is not the average depression
but an acute depression where
the students just do not care
anymore.”
She says the SGA plans “to
make the students aware of the
necessity to put 100% in their
school work, to encourage the
student to take an active role in
her education, and to have a
positive mental attitude. The goals
of the SGA are to put Bennett
on the map.”