enne
Friday, April 20, 1984
BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. C.
Vol. XLV, No. 8
VvV
‘Processional for Progress”
Demonstrators march
Spring Fashion; (left to right) Adrienne Burch, Nadine Dennis, Carol Smith
and Jovanna Brown appeared in the Home Economics sartorial extravaganza
held in Science Assembly. (photo by Theresa Roy)
by Amy Galloway
and Tricia Hairston
More than 200 students
participated in a demonstra
tion to improve campus life
on April 13.
The students met in the
chapel at 7 ;30 a.m. to be
gin the march which was
dubbed “The Processional for
Progress.”
SGA President Kay Boyd
led the demonstration which
started with a boycott of pre
registration. She expressed
the concerns of the student
body which are improvements
in health, nutrition, academic
affairs, residence life and
other areas.
Belles marched to the gym
nasium, refusing to pre
register. Then they lined up
on both sides of the Gorrell
Street, joined hands and be
gan singing the alma mater.
They also sang the Negro
National Anthem and “Reach
Out and Touch Somebody’s
Hand.” The procession was
organized and orderly.
Comments among the stu
dents basically dealt with
bringing about a change at
Bennett.
“We have a good positive
start and more than half of
the student body has come
out so therefore we realize
something is wrong,” said
freshman Wanda Dilworth.
Angela Wright said, “Reg
istration has slowed down
and I think the faculty is
amazed that the boycott is
organized. All demands may
not be met, but we will be
listened to.”
Dr. Helen Trobian ob
served, “I’m sorry this hap
pened for pre-registration,
but I’m happy to see the stu
dents working together in an
organized fashion.”
The cafeteria was also boy
cotted. Senior Lynn Powell
said, “I feel that the cafeteria
could be more of a variety
of things. The attitudes of
the employees could also be
improved.”
“Another protest should
not be necessary; we have
full advantage of the board
of trustees and we will use
them fully,” said Yvette
Nelson.
Many participants were
concerned that their griev
ances were being ignored. “I
sincerely hope that the issues
are not placed on the back
burner. If changes are not
brought about, enrollment
will decrease,” stated junior
Rhonda Jackson.
Charlese Klutz, a fresh
man, said “I care about Ben
nett, and it’s about time for
the administration to stop
living in the past and come
around to the present. It’s
been long overdue.”
Freshman Roy Cowan said,
“I feel we are not getting a
fair shake for the money we
pay to attend here. We are
black intelligent women and
should not be subject to put
up with the unnecessary bad
causes at Bennett. If we
didn’t care about Bennett, we
would transfer.”
The demonstration not only
gained the attention of the
administration but the local
media as well. A Channel 2
News cameraman came out
to film the event.
The students were advised
to give no comments to the
reporters and to turn their
backs to the camera.
As the camera motioned in
a circle to include the faces
of everyone involved, the stu
dents covered their faces and
ran into the gymnasium.
Rosetta Jordan summed
the whole event up with a
quote by Jesse Jackson; “My
mind can perceive it, my
heart can conceive it, and we
can achieve it, if only we
believe it.”
Seniors give future ambitions
by Karen Taylor
They came and now it is
almost time for them to leave
to pursue their dreams of big
bucks and much success.
Seniors’ plans after grad
uation include jobs and grad
uate school. It is their hope
that success will be theirs to
cherish forever.
“My ultimate goal is to get
my doctorate in social work.
I want this before I leave
[academic life],” says Mela
nie Alford, a social work ma
jor from Clio, S. C. She will
attend Ohio State University
next fall to work on her mas
ter’s in social work with a
concentration in clinical so
cial work.
Alford credits Mrs. Ouida
J. Scarborough, director of
residence life, with helping
her to make the Ohio State
connection.
Cheryl Williams, a biology
major from Brunswick, Ga.,
has received a $1,000 scholar
ship from Dr. Gerald Trues-
dale, a reconstruction and
plastic surgeon. She plans to
attend Morehouse College or
the Medical College of Geor
gia where she will pursue a
de^^ree in medicine.
“My goal is to become a
doctor. I would like to work
with underprivileged preg
nant women and set up a
home for those that have been
put out,” says Williams.
Joan Davis, an English
major from Tuscaloosa, Ala.,
wants to attend law school at
Wake Forest University.
“I plan to become a cor
porate lawyer and make
$100,000 minimum a year. I
would like to do some volun
teer work for abused and bat
tered wives,” says Davis.
SGA President Kay Boyd
has ambitious plans, too.
“I plan to pursue a mas
ter’s degree at N. C. A&T
State University in Afro-
American Literature. I would
like to open my own school
kindergarten through 12th
grade. I plan to pursue also
a doctorate in English, an
M.B.A.-J.D. and to pursue
studies of several foreign
languages,” states Boyd.
“Basically, I’m just feeling
around. I’m leaving one phase
to go into another,” says
Susan Smith, an ISP major
with a concentration in grief
therapy from Philadelphia.
“I’m going to go home. I have
two definite interviews and
one I am waiting to hear the
results of.” Smith plans to
go into grief therapy, coun
seling cancer patients. “I
hope one day to onen my own
hospice for in and out cancer
patients,” says Smith.
“I would like to give a sub
stantial amount of money to
refurbish Kent Hall,” says
Leslie Barr, an ISP major
with a concentration in
English. “After receiving my
B.A., I plan to go back to
South Carolina to work for
the next year. From there I
plan to attend graduate
school and get married.” She
would like to get an M.A. in
educational administration.
“My ultimate goal is to
eventually become an admin
istrator at a top level college
and become a successful own
er of a publishing company,”
added Barr.
Viet-vet describes horrors of war
by Tricia Hairston
The ’60‘s brought America
acid rock, Women’s Lib, sex
ual freedom and the Vietnam
War. Of all the events during
that decade, the war is the
most memorable. Some say it
is the war that America lost.
Clarence A. (Cee) Rich
ardson of Richmond, Va. was
18 when he volunteered for
the draft. He was a high
school dropout, and he was
rather naive about the war.
“I was not politically aware
of the war. I knew I had a
duty to fight for the U. S.
and I just did it,” he says.
A Marine trained in jungle
warfare, he became a mem
ber of Echo Company and an
expert in handling the M-14
rifle. In Vietnam, he was one
of the survivors of the hellish
battle for Hill 881.
The men in Cee’s company
were united. He says, “There
was no racism among the
soldiers. We considered each
as one, no black or white. We
lived, fought, slept and ate
together, even died together.”
The horror on Hill 881 be
gan after the Marines had
taken the hill.
“We had set in with two
to three men in a hole,” Cee
remembers. “At one or two
in the morning, the Viet Cong
came through a tunnel to the
inside of our camp. The
shooting started, and gre
nades were coming in at all
angles. I heard shots, people
crying and calling on God to
help them. I lost my best
buddy on that Hill. . . .” Cee
pauses; his face grows sol
emn, and he becomes misty-
eyed.
“It was so dark that you
couldn’t see your hand . . . We
tried to shout from hole to
hole, but the Viet Cong were
shooting at sounds. They had
us from the inside and out
side. When the sun came up,
and the reinforcements came
to secure the hill, I have
never seen so many dead
bodies in my life.
“The survival count was 13
Americans able to fight. Most
of the weapons company got
killed. We took out about 40
or 50 people excluding dead
bodies.”
In retaliation, the Marines
blew up the bunkers that con
cealed the Viet Cong and then
pulled the enemy out of the
tunnels.
“The American officials
knew where the Cong were,
but the only information we
received was to secure the
area regardless of cost,” Cee
says.
Cee feels America rejected
the Viet-vets: “We were ig
nored, looked down upon be
cause we were Vietnam vet
erans. According to the U. S.
foreign policy, America fights
for any country opposed to
the communist government.
We had to go if eligible.”
Richardson’s experience has
made him skeptical about
U. S. foreign policy: “The
policy should change because
of the things that I did in the
service. Sometimes the U. S.
puts its nose where it should
not be.” He adds that “If the
U. S. was threatened, yes FI
would fight again], but we do
not have enough men to fight
in all the countries opposed
to communism.”
After the war, Cee went
back to school to obtain his
G.E.D. He graduated from a
community college. He is now
a successful chef living in
Winston-Salem.
He says, “Determination
and faith got me out of the
war and that is how I have
achieved my status now.”
Cee thinks about his dead
buddy and the monument
commemorating the soldiers
who died in Vietnam. “I
might visit the monument to
look for my buddy’s name. If
it’s not there. I’ll raise holy
hell,” he says.
He feels that “America
should have stayed and fin
ished what they started be
cause we lost too many lives
over there. The decision to
pull out was unjust to the
veterans alive and dead.”