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Friday, October 17, 1986
BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. 0.
VoL XLVIII, No. 2
Coronation is a dazzling ceremony
by Carla Bannister
The Coronation of Miss
Bennett went well once it be
gan. The pro^am was de
layed, but people waited anxi
ously for the flawless presen
tation of Alicia McCollum. At
the program Mr. James Burt
sang “Believe In Yourself.”
The theme of the evening was
very positive.
The court was introduced,
and it was escorted by Army
ROTC students as the Air
Force ROTC students made a
arch of swords. The court in
cluded: Miss Biology, Martha
Carvin; Miss International
Student, Michele de la Coud-
ray; Miss Zeta, Shelly Middle
ton; Miss Twenty Pearls,
Karen Jones; Miss 1908,
Monica Wooley, Miss Zeta
XI, Deiadra Underwood and
Miss Alpha Kappa Alpha,
Marguerette Byrd. The Delta
queens included Miss Delta,
Angela Alford; Miss Omicron
Delta, Veneatrice Jackson;
Miss Nine White Pearls,
Rosetta Jordan; Miss Crim
son, Wanda Davis; and Miss
Cream, Tonya Zarate.
The class queens looked
very elegant in their blue off-
th e-shoulders dresses. Miss
Senior was Celeste Webster;
Miss Junior was Antoinette
Holman; Miss Sophomore was
Adriane Denny; and Miss
Freshman was Stacy Smalls.
Miss Bennett’s attendant
was Lynda Keith. Linda wore
a beautiful white gown. Little
Miss Bennett was Tamara
Burnette.
In her acceptance speech
Alicia said, “If you want to
be a success, believe in your
self.”
She related several posi
tive ideas. She said that it
was her aunt who inspired
her to run for Miss Bennett.
As she began to speak, she
recalled the day of the elec
tion. She said that she hid out
in the library and asked her
self what she thought Miss
Bennett should represent.
She believes that doing out
standing work academically
and getting out in the world
and seizing opportunities are
key parts of her role as Miss
Bennett and her goals in life.
The coronation committee; (I-r) Ms. Jocelyn Foy, co-mistress of ceremony; Alicia McCollum, Miss Bennett; Mrs. Elaine
Harrigan, co-mistress of ceremony; Ms. Sallie Hayes, public relations director; Dr. Perry Mack, escort coordinator and
Dr. Dorothy Harris, dean of students, (photo by Otis Hairston)
Founders praised by candidate
by Carla Bannister
Founders’ Day Convocation
went well as Democratic sena
torial candidate Terry San
ford addressed a crowd fan
ning itself in the heat. San
ford spoke about the faith,
strength and hope that was
in the hearts of the Bennett
founders.
Wearing aqua-blue acade
mic regalia, the former gover
nor of North Carolina re
minded the audience that the
founders of Bennett College
were very special people.
“Back then (during Recon
struction) it was a time of
despair and bitterness. Yet
it was a time of hope, oppor
tunity, new beginnings and a
time of rebuilding. The found
ers saw a great hope of being
educated, and they saw to it
that they were going to have
a school for their young
people,” Sanford said.
Sanford praised the
strength of the founders.
“They (the founders) had
four important factors in
their minds. They had faith;
they had the determination
that something had to be done
about the education of the
Negro; they loved the Metho
dist Church and they strongly
believed in the driving force
of the church.”
Sanford stressed the im
portance of private institu
tions like Bennett.
“They save taxpayers
money; They are diverse;
They put pressure on the
public institutions to excel;
they offer freedoms that the
public institutions don’t offer
and they also offer students
a special opportunity to think
and grow,” the former presi
dent of Duke University said.
There was quiet in the audi
ence and people listened at
tentively to Sanford. Al
though it was very hot in the
chapel, the speaker had the
undivided attention of the
crowd.
Sanford reminded Belles
that they have a important
job when they graduate from
Bennett.
“You need to understand
that we have a job to do in
making sure private colleges
don’t fade out,” he said. He
urged students to make dona
tions and help support their
college.
Sanford said that private
institutions helped an indivi
dual to “develop a sense of
self, a sense of community
awareness and priority.” He
said that these make some
thing special that only the
small, private institutions
could offer.
Sanford asked an important
question — “Why be smart
just to be smart? You must
also have caring feelings for
other people and a sense of
purpose.”
He added, “The founders
didn’t quit because founding
a college never stops.”
Adams campaigning for reeiection
by Monica O’Hare
You could say that Dr.
Alma Adams is driving hard
for better education in Greens
boro.
On Oct. 7, she was taxiing
Belles to vote for other can
didates. On Nov. 4, she’ll be
whisking students to the polls
to vote for her.
Adams, the chairperson of
the visual arts and humane
studies department, is run
ning for reelection to the
Greensboro Board of Educa
tion. There is a great sense of
urgency in her campaign. She
wants to return as a board
member because “we don’t
want to get set back 2000
years,” she says.
“We’ve got a lot of impor
tant things in place, but a new
board can wipe the slate
clean,” warns Adams, who is
on leave from Bennett.
She is worried that the sys
tem-wide affirmative action
program she worked for will
be neglected if she isn’t re
elected.
She is also taking a protec
tive attitude toward her other
accomplishments as a board
member: the ban against
smoking on high school cam
puses ; the institution of a “C”
average in order for students
to participate in extra-curri
cular activities and increased
funding for students with
unique needs (those who have
failed to be promoted two or
more times).
“I want to see these things
through to their fruition,”
she says.
She has also had a hand in
improving counselling about
curriculums for parents and
students and in reorganizing
the middle schools.
She backed an investigation
into the criteria for selecting
students for the gifted and
talented program. A com
mittee reported that the
standards were culturally
biased “to some extent.”
Adams learned that of the
2100 students in the gifted
and talented program, only
200 were black.
“We thought that was
alarmingly low,” she says,
hoping that improved criteria
will increase the number of
black students in the pro
gram.
Last summer, Adams and
the Reverend Michael King,
the other black board mem
ber, threatened to resign,
creating a controversy that
drew 500 people to an
NAACP-sponsored meeting at
New Zion Missionary Baptist
Church and another 300
people to a board meeting.
“It (the threat) was a
move I had to make because
the community was asleep
about what was happening to
it,” she explains, adding that
“sometimes you have to vary
your methods.”
She believes that this
action brought about greater
involvement in educational
issues among her constitu-
tents.
Adams feels she has had a
“sensitizing” effect on the
board and on the voters she
represents.
Exhibillon to feature state artists
Democratic senatorial candidate Terry Sanford and Dr. Isaac H. Miller during Founders’ Day Convocation, (photo by
Hairston)
Otis
The seventh annual Winter
Show at Green Hill Center for
North Carolina Art will open
in December with the largest
number of artists and worjjs
in the history of the exhibi
tion.
Over 135 artists and crafts
people from throughout the
state will show over 1100
pieces. The contemporary art
works encompass a variety of
mediums and will be for sale
with prices beginning at $10.
The Winter Show opens
Dec. 7 and runs through Dec.
23. Gallery hours during the
show will be expanded to in
clude Mondays. Because the
pieces on display are for sale,
the show is an excellent place
to select holiday gifts. All
pieces are original works by
North Carolina artists.
For tickets or additional in
formation, call Green Hill at
373-4515.