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Friday, December 9, 1988
BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. C.
VoL XLX, No. 1
Hill returns to alma mater to teach
- ^ x’- ^ , . •>*
Coming home: The college won’t let Miss Penny Hill get away. The former
Miss Bennett has come back to the institution as an English instructor and
co-director of the audio-lingual lab. (photo by Kimmberly Waller)
by Yvette Freeman
There is a new face on the
Bennett campus. Some of the
instructors may recognize it,
but the students may not, at
least not the juniors and
seniors.
She teaches English, so
freshmen and sophomores
should already be familiar
with her. Who is she? Miss
Penny Hill, of course, a
former Miss Bennett . . . The
1986 graduate of Bennett has
returned to her starting place,
not aa a visitor, but as a
faculty member.
Hill says of returning to
Bennett, “Well, at first it
felt a little strange coming
back, you know, and to be on
the other side So that took
quite an adjustment. But, in
all actuality, it feels good to
be back at Bennett.”
Hill says that in comparing
Bennett now to when she was
a student, there really isn’t
much of a difference in the
customs and traditions. She
says, “They’re still basically
the same.” She adds that the
only change in the students is
in the numbers. However, she
says, “As you move with new
administrators and so forth,
there’s going to be a change
there, a change in the way
people tend to do things. I
would say that’s different
from the way it was when I
was a student here.”
An English major. Hill had
originally plarmed to go to
law school. “That was my
initial goal right after Ben
nett,” she says. In fact,
teaching was not what she
had in mind. She says, “Ori
ginally, I had no plans what
soever to go into education.
But it seems that everything
that I have done has been
geared towards education.
And I think the more I get
into it, the more I like it.”
Hill received her master’s
from Ohio State University
in 1987. She then briefly
taught English part-time at ^
Rutledge College in Winston-
Salem, her hometown. When
that ended, she began substi
tuting in the Winston-Salem/
Forsyth County School sys
tem and decided to return to
school for her teaching certi
ficate. She had planned to
take the necessary courses at
Winston-Salem State Univer
sity.
However, two days before
registration, Bennett called.
Hill is now teaching two
communications skills, 101
courses and three 102 courses.
She is also the co-director of
the AudiO“LinguaI Lab. Miss
Jean Morris is also co-direc
tor.
Hill says that in the future
she hopes “to obtain a Ph.D.
in some area, where I can
remain in the area of educa^
tion.” But for now, she says
she vdll remain here at Ben
nett.
Abbott speaks as mentor
by Cherryl Floyd
Ms. Diane Abbott, the only
black woman member of Bri
tish Parliament, told an au
dience of Beimett students
and guests on Oct. IS that
black women will need weap
ons to advance into the 21st
century.
Abbott cited four weapons
that will move blacks for
ward. “We as black women
preparing for the new mil-
lenium need a sense of our
history. We need to know that
we come from somewhere
and we are going somewhere,”
she said, revealing the first
weapon.
She also told the audience
that blacks need a sense of
culture and joy.
“Black culture is at the
heart of popular American
culture, which dominates the
world,” Abbott said after ad
mitting her envy of Bennett
women who are in the midst
of positive black role models
like Dr. Gloria Scott and Dr.
Jacqui Wade. “Black women
need a sense of pride in black
beauty,” she said.
Revealing the fourth weap
on, Abbott said, “We need an
understanding and apprecia
tion of a sense of power.”
“Many things work toward
empowerment — organiza
tion, taking time, hard work
and working through trou
bles — and the most em
powering thing is love,” she
said. Abbott stressed the simi
larities of black people all over
the world.
After receiving a standing
ovation for her speech, Abbott
accepted gifts from the Alpha
Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.,
of which she is an honorary
member. Dr. Alma Adams,
chairperson of the humanities
division and city council-
woman, presented Abbott
with a key to the city on be
half of the mayor.
Abbott became an honorary
Bennett Belle and a Bennett
Scholar during a luncheon
held in her honor. In a res
ponse to the statements made
by others that she is the first
to do many things, she said,
“The important thing is not
being the first, but making
sure that you are not the
last.”
At an honors seminar that
night, Abbott told Bennett
Scholars and honor students
that Great Britain has prac
ticed economic segregation
which has made blacks poor
and unemployed rather than
the southern Jim Crow laws
of the United States which
legalized segregation.
“Britain invented racism.
The U.S. sophisticated it,”
she said.
Abbott said that if students
would like to see changes in
South Africa’s system of
apartheid, they should be in
volved in economic sanctions
against the country, educate
themselves on the struggle
and put political pressures on
the government here.
Abbott is the only black
woman among the four per
sons of color who serve in
the British Parliament House
of Commons. She was elected
(see page 4)
MARC students attend conference
by Shavaughn Neal
The Division of Natural
Sciences is molding its stu
dents into hard-working pro
fessionals.
It is deeply involved with
the Minority Access to
Research Career program
(MARC) whose purpose is to
increase minority group in
volvement in biomedical r^
search and strengthen sci
ences curricula and research
opportunities.
The MARC program is de
signed for undergraduate
students and is known as an
Honors Undergraduate Re
search Ti-aining Program.
Bennett College was given a
grant to begin particiation
in the MARC program in
1987.
Currently there are six stu
dents at Bennett who have
met the requirements needed
to participate in the MARC
program. They are Stacy
Copeland, a junior Biology
major; Angela Overstreet, a
junior Biology major; Alicia
Elam, a junior chemistry
major; Mia Powell, a senior
psychology major; Kelly
Holland, a senior computer
science major and De’Iisa
Hill, a senior biology major.
Three of these students
presented papers at the
Seventh Annual MARC Scho
lars Conference. De’Lisa Hill
presented a paper on “Cis-act-
ing Element in the First
Exom of the Gs Alpha Gene;”
Kelly Holland presented
“Psychological Study of Se
quential Decision Making us
ing Cognitive Information
Processing and Psychophy
siology ;” and Mia Powell pre
sented a paper on “A Study
of the Hormone Prolactin in
the Brains of Ham]>sters.”
The conference was held
November 2-5, 1988, at the
Hyatt Regency Hotel in
Bethesda, Md. The students
were accompanied by the fol
lowing MARC advisers. Dr.
Nellouise Watkins, director of
the MARC program at Ben
nett, and the MARC co-
faculty members. Dr. Linda
Thomas, Dr. Sekhara Rao and
Dr. Perry Mack.
Students who have com
pleted their sophomore year
(see page 4)
Students speak out for change
by Cherryl Floyd
The persuasive segment of the
annual Evening of Public Speak
ing Oct. 27 became an outle«t for
student grievances.
“I ask you, ’What time is it?’
It’s time for a change,” said Staci
Rose, Miiss Junior, to the crowd
applauding her comments on the
absence of male visitation in the
dorms.
Other students who gave per
suasive speeches during the event
sponsored by the Bennett Players,
included Adonica Smith, who
spoke on students’ rights; Catrina
Carson on rules and regulations;
Alexandria Miller on ACES,
Michelle Alleyne on the dress
code; Louise Morris on class at
tendance policy and Cheryl Childs
on curfew.
Wanda Davis, president of the
Bennett Players, who served as
a black college ambassador for
the United Negro College Fund
this past summer, repeated a
speech she gave at a Methodist
conference. Davis told of her sur
viving a car accident in which her
mother died and of her strategies
for becoming a successful student
in spite of this accident.
Vera Bonds and Katrice Bowden
gave informative speeches on
black women pioneers in sports
and education.
Through creative works in the
original poetry and prose cate
gory, Elizabeth James, Erica
Salter and DaMica Wilson re
vealed their beliefs about “Wom
en In Transition,” this year’s
theme. Wilson also gave an oral
interpretation of Langston
Hughes’ “The Negro Mother.”
Students participating in the
humorous category described cer
tain distinguished black women
as Buppies (Black Urban Profes
sionals). Taundra Woodard in
troduced the category. Aneissa
Patterson read a Buppie biograp
hical sketch about Angela Davis’
would-be fashion style and atti
tudes. April Boyd and Renee
Cooley gave sketches for Barbara
Jordan and Toni Morrison. Deidre
Johnson described the supposed
Buppie Charlayne Hunter-Gault’s
life philosophy-—“Me, me and
more me.”
The evening concluded with a
dramatic monologue by Elizabeth
James, who portrayed The Woman
in Red from the play “for colored
girls who have considered suicide
when the rainbow isn’t enough”
by Ntozake Shange. James roused
the crowd with her final line to
a lover about a plant she had
been watering since he left her.
“Go water it, your damn self!”
she shouted.
Unlike previous Evenings of
Public Speaking, there were no
judges to pick winners in each
category. Dr. Carol Meeks, chair
person of the communications de
partment, presented certificates
to the participants.
Ms. Carolyn Cole, sp>eech in
structor and adviser for the Ben
nett Players, organized the event.
Freshman Bennett Player Jac
quelyn Griffin was mistress of
ceremonies.
Support
Bennett
Basketball
■
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In the right place: The college Is
proud to have the Reverend Barbara
Woods as its new chaplain, (photo
by Kimmberly Waller)