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Friday, May 1, 1987
BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. C.
Vol. XLVIIl, No. 6
April Gordon Succeeds Vicky Dunn
Meeting the new President: Welcoming aboard Dr. Gloria Dean Randle Scott are (left to rigtit) Tracy DuRant, Audra
and Andra Henning and Lolita Glenn. (Photo from Office of Public Relations)
Seven officers elected
by Kimberly Eatmon
“The Student Government
Association’s main objective
is to serve the student,” states
April Gordon, the president
elect.
The election for SGA was
held on April 9 and as a re
sult the student body elected
seven new representatives.
The new officers are Mor
gan Green, parliamentarian,
a rising senior from Colum
bus, 0., majoring in biology;
Talia McCray, treasurer, a
rising junior from Denver,
Col., majoring in engineering/
mathematics; Rochelle Wil
liams, corresponding secre
tary, a rising senior from
Cincinnati, majoring in pre-
med; Susan Hairston, record
ing secretary, a rising senior
majoring in psychology;
Summer Houston, Miss Ben
nett, a rising senior from
Denver, Col., majoring in ac
counting; Tangee Stitt, vice-
president, a rising senior
from Charlotte, majoring in
biology; April Gordon, presi
dent, a rising senior from
Lake Elsinore, Calif., major
ing in computer science.
When the vice-president
and the president were decid
ing to run for office, they had
the concern of students and
college on their minds.
According to Stitt, “I enjoy
contributing to the school
and I feel being on SGA is a
direct way of giving my input
to Bennett.”
Gordon ran for a slightly
different reason. “It was basi
cally the apathy on campus.
I had no intentions of run
ning until a few days before
the applications were due.
The people I felt would do a
good job were unable to run
and I felt that instead of
pointing fingers, I needed to
do something constructive
myself and run.”
The vice-president feels
that she will help the presi
dent by being her main sup
port.
“I plan to be a good fol
lower—being there to assist
her (April) and the senate in
what they plan to do, give
true support. She (April) is
the president, but the whole
senate will represent the stu
dent body,” states Stitt.
How will the new SGA
administration differ from
the present?
Gordon feels that “the one
area the present office was
lacking in was student con
tact ... I want to boost
student morale to the point
where students are making
a conscious effort to get in
volved. Most people talk nega
tive and don’t try to help.
“I plan to work closely
with the organization because
the students take more pride
in being in the organization
than in being a Bennett stu
dent. We can use the organi
zation as a channel of com
munication . .
Stitt states, “The coming
year will be a new year for
Bennett. By receiving a new
president, the student body
will see a lot of new changes.
A lot of students feel that
Bennett is not taking them
anywhere, but as the new
changes are made, this will
prove that Bennett still has
its credentials and this will
help boost the morale of the
student body.”
Dunn’s one-on-one skill
by Bernice Scott
Each day we watch as she
trudges to class or to a meet
ing. Before reaching her des
tination, however, she stops
frequently to give a few
words of encouragement or
perhaps a newly developed
maxim to a sister who needs
it.
Victoria Lynn Dunn, senior
and president of the SGA, is
a very important figure on
campus.
She has always been in
volved in campus activities.
“I have been on committees
beginning with freshman
year. I have always been
active,” said Dunn.
Committees were not
enough for the English edu
cation major.
“I wanted more mput so 1
ran for SGA vice-president,”
Dunn said, nodding her head.
Although active, Dunn did
not arrive at the college with
hopes of “running things.”
“I never sat down and said,
T wiW be SGA president,’ ”
proclaimed Dunn, close to
tears of laughter.
Dunn got her motivation
from the students and from
the president of SGA at that
time, Kay Boyd.
“I was really impressed . . .
She was organized and on the
ball,” Dunn stated.
As she looks around the
room, Dunn goes on to say,
“You look at present mis
takes of the president and
say, ‘I want to improve on
that! ’”
“I’m not the traditional
student leadei'. I motivate in
a different w'ay,” Dunn said.
“I motivate personally not
just as a group.”
Dunn’s composure and mo
tivation come primarily from
her family.
“My family is very sup
portive, especially when I
over-extend myself as I al-
w'ays do,” said Dunn. Brush
ing an imaginary spot from
her clothing, Dunn said,
“They keep me on an even
keel.”
Dunn is kept busy outside
the college at the family flo
rist business and in her
father’s church.
Dunn, who has brothers
and sisters, boasts, “I also
have a cat and two puppies.”
As the interview ended, Dunn
smiled, yaw'ned, and said, “I
am so sleepy.”
The burdens of office and
academic achievement have
kept her weary but dutiful all
year.
by Catrena Jordan
April Gordon, a junior com
puter science major minoring
in mathematics, knows that
her work is cut out for her.
She succeeds Vicky Dunn
as SGA president.
April, a senior from Lake
Elsinore, Calif., would like to
go into some form of systems
programming after attending
graduate school. She is the
first of the seven children in
her family to go to college,
and she is working hard to
please her parents who always
encouraged her to get a
college degree.
“Education is important to
me because I know what I
want to do, and I know to get
it I must have an education,”
responds April, a recipient of
the City Corp UNCF Scho
larship which is only given
to 20 students a year. April,
who worked last summer at
the National Laboratory at
Los Alamos, N.M., will con
tinue there this summer.
“I look forward to next
year, and I know that there
will be a lot of hard work but
I have a lot of ideas that I
would like to implement,” says
Gordon.
She sees her SGA role as
mediator between the student
body and the administrators,
transferring Belles’ ideas to
higher authorities.
“I’m the kind of person
who likes to see things done
but done right,” she says. “I
want to be able to tap with
the other leaders and help
‘access’ them, and when I be
gin to get slack, I want some
one to say to me, ‘O.K., April,
get on the stick.’ ”
A problem that Gordon
wishes to resolve is the lack
of school spirit and partici
pation in activities here.
She believes apathy af
flicts too many students. A
low percentage of Belles be
come involved in campus acti
vities, and usually the same
people participate everytime.
April says the students feel
they don’t have any “say-so”
in what happens, and that
might be the reason only a
few people become involved.
She attributes her high
standards and desire to be
truthful to lessons learned
from her father, a poet and
playwright who has had one
of his plays performed at
Kennedy Center in Washing
ton.
April views herself as an
introvert, but she says she
has no trouble speaking her
mind on her principles. She
admits that since entering
college she has become a more
sociable person.
She is a member of the
Omicron Delta Chapter of
Delta Theta and a former
member of the Bennett Play
ers. She plays the flute and
enjoys all sports, with rac-
quetball being the favorite,
and she is a regular partici
pant in intramurals here.
Summer Houston new Miss Bennett
by Tammy Reed
Summer Houston is a ris
ing senior who is very de
lighted to be the new Miss
Bennett.
Houston said, “I feel proud
to represent the women of
Bennett College.”
Houston, who is always
smiling and greeting her col
leagues, said, “I think Miss
Bennett is a good position
for me because I have good
human relations skills.”
She loves working with
people and helping them grow
in their educational areas.
In the role of Miss Bennett,
she plans to help recruit new
students, hoping to increase
the size of the student body.
Houston said, “As Miss
Bennett, I would like to in
corporate new responsibilities
and I would enjoy working
with the freshmen.”
This is a challenging posi
tion, but Houston is ready to
accept this call to duty.
Houston said, “I am look
ing forward to a very success
ful reign as Miss Bennett.”
Houston recalls that this
was a hard race for her. She
had to compete against three
worthy opponents — j uniors
Karen Jones, Martha Carvin
and Deborah Turner.
Houston, who comes from
Denver, Col., stated, “I would
like to thank all of my Ben
nett sisters for all their sup
port and encouragement.”
The tall, slim Houston, an
accounting major with a 3.0
grade-point average, says her
motto is “We must help each
other and value the positive
things and not the negative
things.”
Belles attend biomedical program
by Sallie A. Hayes
Juniors Donna L. Williams
from p]den and Odessa M.
Henderson from Durham
were among 54 students who
participated in the eighth an
nual “Introduction to Bio
medical Research” Program
at the National Institute of
Health located in Bethesda,
Md.
The three-day program,
held in February, was spon
sored by the National Insti
tute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID). It is de
signed to alert college minor
ity graduate and undergrad
uate students to the oppor
tunities in biomedical re
search.
The students were spon
sored by Dr. J. Henry Sayles,
director of the division of
sciences. Williams is a bi
ology major, a member of
Beta Kappa Chi National
Honor Society and a Bennett
Scholar. She was awarded the
Gerald L. Truesdale Pre-
Medical Award in 1986. She
is on the national dean’s list
and is a member of Alpha
Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Biology major Odessa Hen
derson minors in chemistry
and is also a recipient of the
Truesdale Award for out-
(Continued on page 2)