enne
Friday, February 25, 1983
BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. 0.
VoL XLIV, No. 6
Tour lies ahead
by Valarie Reid
and Evelyn Sims
One of the college’s leading
ambassadors of harmony is hitting
the road again.
The Bennett College Choir, con
tinuing a tradition that is more
than 40 years old, will embark
on a seven-state, 10-city spring
tour. The itinerary begins in
Roanoke, Va., moves into the
Midwest with key performances
in Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and
Cincinnati, and concludes in
Chattanooga, Tenn.
The choir has long been recog
nized as a potent recruiting force.
According to Director Charlotte
Alston, the tour will “assist in re
cruiting students and in strength
ening the ties between the grad
uates and the college since many
alumnae frequently sponsor the
choir and serve as hosts. The choir
members make friends for the
institution. There is a very posi
tive upswing of school spirit
during this time.”
The chairperson of the music
department adds: “Students will
hear the choir on tour and say:
‘I’m going to B'ennett.’ ”
Many Belles verify Alston’s
Achievers cited
by Rosellen Durham
Two seniors earned special
praise during the twentv-first
annual Spring Honors Convo
cation which recognized the
academic achievements of 56
students on Feb. 10 in Annie
Merner Pfeiffer Chapel.
Four-year honor students
Wanda Dick of Whitsett and
Rose Nelson of Alexandria,
Va., topped the list of seniors
attaining- a 3.40 average or
above. The senior roster of
distinction also included Zen-
obia Braxton, Vickye John
son, Gloria Nunnally and
Sadalia Wilkins.
The juniors honored for
accumulating a 3.30 average
or above were Leslie Monique
Barr, Joan Y. Davis, Sue
Douglas, Yolanda DuRant,
Robbin Rowe and Angela
Wilkins.
Ten sophomores achieved a
3.20 average or above. They
were: Tonya Horton, Blanche
King, Bonita Moore, Linda
Rivers, Lydia Roberson, Car
rie Scott, Maria Streeter,
Christiana Tumaku, Lynell
Wellington and Lisa A.
Williams.
Thirty-four freshmen reg
istered a 3.00 average or
above. Composing this group
were: Wendolyn Abel, Nat
alie Bennett, Sayon Bright,
Tracey Brown, Cherryetta
Cain, Vanessa Chambers,
Andree Chan, Vanessa Cox,
Deirtra Evans, Karen Fisher,
Evelyn Fulmore, Phyllis
Hambright, Christine Henry,
Sharon Highsmith, Penny
Hill, Lynda Jones, Phyllis
Jones, Mary Junious, Sherry
Kitchen, Tina Morrison,
Laurrie Murphy, Sharon
Nagbe, Allyson Oliver, Paula
Peek, Leslie Pinckney, An
drea Russell, Dana Rutledge,
Amanda Smith, Karen Tay
lor, Rose Taylor, Carla Ter
rell, Theresa Thompson, Cas
sandra Walker and Thelma
Watlington.
viewpoint, including Charlotte
Green, a sophomore accounting
major from Darlington, S. C., who
recalls: “When in high school, I
heard the choir in Florence, South
Carolina, and I was greatly in
spired by the friendliness of all
the members of the choir. This
was the determining factor in my
decision to attend Bennett and
join the choir.”
Alston, embarking on her tenth
tour, feels that the tour brings out
the best in her women: “Prepar
ing for the tour is always an ex
citing time and a tremendous
motivator because the choir be
comes serious about rehearsals
and does its best work . . . The
choir congeals and becomes a
solid unit because of the extra
practice time and the very strong
desire to represent the choir well.”
Another source of excitement
for Alston is the chance to per
form some of R. Nathaniel Dett’s
compositions, v/hich comprise part
of the choir’s repertoire. Dett,
campus choir director from 1937
to 1942, made an ingenious contri
bution to choral literature by
creating music for all-female
voices instead of mixed choirs.
Some of Dett’s works, composed
expressly for Bennett sing,ers, ad
vanced the college’s splendid rep
utation in music and now “have
become associated with the Ben
nett College Choir,” according to
Alston.
“One thing that Dett and his
choirs became famous for was
that the alto parts were sung low,
just like little basses,” explains
Alston. “Dett affected the treble,
and it gave the sound a bottom.”
Another important asset in the
tour will be the contribution of
Mr. Fred Mason, organist.
Dates and places on the tour
include: Mar. 4, Roanoke; Mar, 5,
Charleston, W. Va.; Mar. 6, Cleve
land; Mar. 7, Detroit; Mar. 8, Chi
cago; Mar. 9, Indianapolis; Mar,
10, Columbus, Ohio; Mar. 11, Cin
cinnati; Mar. 12, Nashville; and
Mar. 13, Chattanooga.
Journalist is coming: Washington newsperson J. C. Hayward will make
an informal presentation and lead a discussion Mar. 3 at 10:00 a.m.
in Pfeiffer Science Assembly. The Emmy-winning TV reporter hosts
“Everywoman,” a talk show concerning women’s issues.
Scholars debate
by Yolanda DuRant
The Inalienable Rights
Spring Colloquium provided
a source of debate for the
Bennett Scholars.
The colloquium, an annual
project undertaken by the
Scholars, was held Feb. 1-3
in the Henry Pfeiffer Science
Assembly. The Scholars did
most of the coordination of
the program.
The topics covered were
“Personal Rights,” “Special
Education’s Rights for Public
Education,” “Handicapped
Rights and Public Educa
tion,” “Victim’s Rights on
Chemical Warfare,” “Nuclear
Disarmament,” “The Right
to Research Genetic Engi
neering,” “Abortion: A
Mother’s Choice,” “Eutha
nasia” and “Hospice.”
The scholars who partici
pated were Leslie Barr,
Sheila Dockery, Yolanda
DuRant, Tonya Horton, Rose
Nelson, Renee Roberson, Rob-
(See Page 3)
Johnson made president
by Deborah Lewis
Jackie Johnson, former
vice president of the Student
Government Association, has
assumed the position of
president.
Former president Robin
Dessaure withdrew from the
college due to illness, and the
appointment to president for
Johnson was an abrupt one.
Johnson says, “Because I
didn’t run for president, I
find the increased responsi
bility difficult.”
Although the workload is
heavier for Johnson, she says
“the transition to president
has been made easier because
my working relationship with
the administration and facul
ty is good.”
One of the main objectives
of the SGA is improving the
academic standing of stu
dents as well as “the pre
paredness of the students
once they leave Bennett,”
Johnson explains.
The position of vice pres
ident has been taken by
Wanda Parker, a senior from
Rock Hill, S. C., who was
appointed by the SGA cabinet
and Dean Ethridge, who is
the adviser to the cabinet.
Johnson says, “It (the ap
pointment) was a consensus
of the cabinet because Wanda
had been working with the
SGA all along.”
Parker “feels honored . . .”
by the position because she
says “it reflects that the SGA
cabinet felt that I was capa
ble of filling the position and
they looked upon me as a
leader.”
Parker hopes two specific
goals will be met by student
leaders.
“First, I would like to see
the SGA very well organized
and more in tune with what
the needs of the students
are.”
“Secondly, I would like to
see its leaders politically
aware of those external and
internal forces which impact
upon their environment both
within the college and outside
of college.”
No comment was made on
specific changes needed at the
college.
The SGA welcomes student
participation by working on
the task force which meets
on Tuesday mornings at
10 a.m.
Shange tonight
by Rosellen Durham
It’s not a saxophone, soar
ing and wailing, or a piano,
throbbing and rising, but
when Ntozake Shange plays
her instrument tonight, her
bold musicality will dazzle
you.
Shange’s medium is imag
ery. Her notes are words.
She’s in the vanguard of
writers creating works por
traying the hearts and souls
of black women.
She’s presenting a reading
and lecture in Annie Merner
Pfeiffer Chapel at 7:30 this
evening.
Shange, who lives in New
York City, is the author of
the Broadway play and best
selling book “for colored girls
who have considered suicide
when the rainbow is enuf,”
one of the most celebrated
dramas of the last decade.
Her other works are “nap
py edges,” a volume of poetry,
“THREE PIECES,” a book
of plays, and a novel “Sassa
fras, Cypress & Indigo.”
A special guest secured by
a Mellon Foundation grant,
Shange is known for her
innovative techniques, the
range and power of her im
agery and the precision of her
characterizations.
The plays comprising
“THREE PIECES” are
“Spell #7,” “A Photograph:
Lovers in Motion” and
“Boogie Woogie Landscapes”
—all of which have received
excellent reviews.
Evaluating “Spell ±fc7,”
Don Nelson wrote in “The
New York Daily News” that
the play is “black magic. It
is a celebration of blackness,
the joy and pride along with
the horror of it. It is a shout,
a cry, a bitter laugh, a
sneer. . .
Shange is at the forefront
of a group of black women
making rich contributions to
contemporary A m e r ic a n
literature.
Among her sisters at the
front are Maya Angelou,
whose serial autobiography
has generated wide acclaim,
novelist Toni Morrison, win
ner of the National Book
Award for “Song of Sol
omon,” and outstanding nov
elists and short story writers
Toni Cade Bambara and Alice
Walker.
You can absorb part of this
dynamic movement tonight
when “Lady Sings the Life.”
(i
Playwright is here: Ntozake Shange will “tune up” tonight In a reading
and lecture in the chapel at 7:30 p.m. Her writing evokes powerful Images
of the exuberance and beauty of black life.