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Friday, February 22, 1991
BENNETT COLLEGE, GREENSBORO, N. C.
Vol. XLXII, No. 2
Chaplain leads Belles from woods
by Monica L. Hawkins
“My task is to try and
create a campus ministry that
is as appealing as M. C.
Hammer,” says the Rev.
Barbara A. Woods, who is
taking a bold stand as chap
lain of the college.
Many students assume the
job of the college chaplain is
fairly easy, but that is not
true. “The difficulty that goes
along with the job would basi
cally be that we are minister
ing to the age level that is
farthest away from the
church,” Rev. Woods says.
She is dedicated and sincere
in her efforts to maintain a
consistent state of spiritua
lity on campus. Apathy and
backbiting are two problems
that threaten sisterhood at
Bennett, but Rev. Woods re
minds students that these
nemeses exist on most cam
puses and that they can be
defeated.
Rev. Woods has been a
mentor to students that are
seeking extra activities to
help them become more spiri
tual. She is the driving force
behind the Belles of Harmony
Gospel Choir, and the Chris
tian Coffee House. Rev.
Woods has guided and en
couraged the Belles of Har
mony Gospel Choir. She is
elated by the work of these
young, bold, Christian women.
“I am totally overwhelmed;
I am impressed personally.
Anytime young people at the
college age level consistently
profess faith, it makes them
the exception rather than the
norm, and I can only recog
nize them as exceptional
young women.”
There is an enormous
amount of love felt for
Rev. Barbara Woods from
members of the choir. Stacy
Abraham, a sophomore bio
logy major, tells how Rev.
Woods insired her. “Rev.
Woods is a confidante as well
as an inspirationalist. The
Lord blessed her with a lot
of wisdom. She showed me
that knowledge is the key to
every closed door.”
T. C. Collins, a junior busi
ness administration major,
describes Rev. Woods as ener
getic, uplifting, motherly,
graceful and motivational.
The Christian Coffee House
is a campus ministry program
that Rev. Woods has seen
grow at a tremendous rate.
“The Christian Coffee
House has become for me a
phenomenal form of the
church . . . There have been
persons who have participated
in the Christian Coffee House
from outside the college com
munity that have marvelled
at the spirit that has been
present at the Christian
Coffee House.”
Staff members as well as
students are aware of the
good job that Rev. Woods is
doing and are very pleased
with her as college chaplain.
“It is pleasant to have a
woman in a ministerial role.
There is an understanding of
the problems of women that
she would be able to identify
with more than a male,” says
Mrs. Alberta Hairston, resi
dence hall coordinator of
Pfeiffer Hall.
The chapel services that
are rendered every second
Sunday are very important
not only to those students
who are saved, but also to
those who may not be
spiritual.
Mrs. Carol Cheston, resi
dence hall coordinator of
Jones Hall, praises the wor
ship service. “I think that the
chapel services are a plus be
cause students usually do not
get out of the bed to catch the
church van or to walk some
where to go to church. The
chapel offers that opportunity
within the campus whereas
most students would not
normally go.’
Rev. Woods exemplifies the
qualities of a spiritual role
model. Truth is very impor
tant to her.
For a Bennett Belle who
may be in the midst of a
struggle with her spirituality,
Rev. Woods expresses these
words of wisdom; “Truth for
me has become the most im
portant value that a life can
possess, so that whether a
person is conscious of God or
not, I would say to them to
seek truth. Not only seek
truth within the world in
which they live, but to seek
that truth within them.”
Know heritage:
explore history
Students volunteer for Literacy Corps
by Kimberly Dargan
Bennett College students
don’t only think about them
selves; they are friends and
tutors too.
Just ask Ms. Barbara
Moore, director of the Student
Literacy Corps established to
train a group of Belles to
serve as volunteer tutors to
inner city youth. The pro
gram focuses on enhancement
of academic skills. It imple
ments Bennett’s goal to help
the disadvantaged in south
eastern Greensboro.
“The Student Literacy
Corps means Bennett College
students and family reaching
out into the community where
the college is located, and
putting something back after
having resided among the re
sidents of the area. It means
using older, more educated
and experienced students to
help others who are younger
and need that special touch
through a relationship of
learning together. It also
means caring about children,
and for education majors
especially, it allows them to
get a feel for the real world
of teaching, and helping
youngsters with the learning
process before they actually
become teachers,” Moore ex
plains.
The students that the Corps
serves need si>ecial attention.
Many have academic defic
iencies and low self-esteem.
Some are slow learners or
learning disabled. Some stu
dents have well-educated
parents who lack the time to
tutor their children.
Moore is inspired by the
children. “What motivates me
to keep on going even when
it seems like nothing is going
right are the children them
selves, also the younger tutees
receiving the help, and the
college students, giving the
help,” Moore says. “When I
see a sparkle or a gleam in
a young child’s eye, it shows
me he or she has really under
stood what their homework
or lesson is for the first time.
To know that it was made
possible by the help of the
older student is a reward in
itself. Hopefully, one day
when that little one grows up
and realizes they’ve come to
a point in their life that they
can now go out and help a
young one leam because of
their experiences during
tutorial sessions, it’s worth
it.”
Parents, guidance counse
lors and teachers of students
being helped by the Corps
are seeing improved perfor
mances, according to Moore.
The children praise the work
of the tutors, who are good
at making friends as well as
teaching.
Autumn Harris, 5, says,
“The hardest thing for me
was to spell my name, but
now I can spell my name very
well. I like coming. I was mad
one day because I could not
come since I did not have any
homework.”
Latoya Marcus, 8, says,
“What I like about the pro
gram is the tutors. They are
nice, and they teach me how
to spell words correctly. They
also help me with my math.”
Carolyn Kennedy, 12, says,
“What I have learned since
the tutorial program was
math. I learned to act mature
and how to act right around
people. I look up to all of the
tutors.”
Moore says, “hopefully
we can assist students in
meeting minimum com
petency requirements per
grade level for promotion
vdthin the local school sys
tem.”
The tutors are as proud as
the children.
Angela Green, a tutor, says,
“I get the satisfaction of
knowing that I touched a
child’s life by opening up the
doors of a particular task that
he or she did not understand.
To see a child smile and hear
him say, ‘I understand’ lets
me know that I have done
my job.”
According to Myeaser
Outerbridge, “I felt an obli
gation to help children. I
know how it is to not under
stand a subject and want to
give the extra help that the
teacher did not have time to
give.”
Shontenette Smith says,
“The program is working very
well. I am enjoying the hands
on experience, and helping
the children progress in their
learning activities.”
The Corps askp the Bennett
faculty to lend support by of
fering ideas and advice and
giving seminars to help tutors
work with students in the
community.
Professor has CBS credentials
by Gloria D. Carr
Teresa Jo Styles, who
joined the communications
department in the fall, is not
just any ordinary new in
structor but a very talented,
successful, and phenomenal
black woman of the ’90s.
Originally from Atlanta,
Styles started her career
there. She said, “During the
time when I was growing up,
the only profession for a
black woman to do was teach
ing, but that was not the
path I wanted to take.” So
after high school Styles went
to Spelman Colege and
majored in English with a
minor in Spanish.
After graduating from
Spelman, she went on to
Northwestern University
where she majored in film.
While she was attending
Northwestern, she met Robert
Wussler. Little did she know
in the future this man would
become president of CBS and
recommend her for a position
there.
Styles climbed the ladder
of success, working as a re
searcher for “60 Minutes”
and later as a “CBS Reports”
researcher and producer. She
produced such award-winning
documentaries as “The De
fense of the United States,”
“The CIA’s Secret Army” and
“What Shall We Do About
Mother?” She also helped
produce the short-lived series
“Crossroads” and “American
Parade.” She received a num
ber of prestigious awards for
her work, such as the Emmy,
Peabody and Columbia Du
Pont Awards.
Styles was delighted with
her success. She said, “I
argue with Andy Warhol’s
assessment that everyone is
a star for 15 minutes, so I
was very pleased to be re
cognized for my broadcast
journalistic achievements.”
Styles said, “My greatest
achievement was my ability
to get the Justice Department
in 1979 to tear down a segre
gated doctor’s waiting room
in Lexington, Miss, almost
20 years after the Civil Rights
Bill was passed.” The name
of the documentary was
“Blacks in America: With
All Deliberate Speed.” Ed
Bradley was the correspon
dent.
After 10 years at CBS,
Styles deceided that it was
time for a change.
“I was getting tired of the
busy hectic city life so I
decided to move on to other
things,” she said. She had a
lot of other offers to accept
after New York and CBS but
she decided to teach. It was a
new experience for her, and
she wanted to take her ex
pertise and talents and be of
some help to someone else
who wanted to pursue a career
in documentary film-making.
Styles, who enjoys the
Bennett experience, tells her
students about her struggles
in making it in journalism.
She reminds them that “any
one with a good background
can make it in journalism.
Perfecting your writing skills
is the main goal in making
it out there in the world of
journalism. The more you
write, the more you perfect.
Therefore the more you per
fect, the more competitive
you become. If you believe
the good of all mankind and
want to make change in order
to undo social ills then be
come a documentary film
maker.”
Styles’ honors have con
tinued since her arrival at the
college. Recently, she won an
award for a video she made
about Savannah State Uni
versity, where she formerly
taught.
Woodson started
History Month
by Jacqueline Davis
Black History Month is an
annual observance in Feb
ruary of past achievements
and current status of black
Americans. It coincides with
the birthdays of the great
black leader Frederick Doug
lass on Feb. 14 and of Abra
ham Lincoln on Feb. 12.
The idea for an observance
honoring the accomplishments
of black Americans led to the
establishment of Negro His
tory Week in 1926. It was
proposed by Carter G. Wood
son, a black historian known
as the father of black history
and others. The observance
became known as Black His
tory Week during the early
1970s and was established as
Black History Month in 1976.
The celebration is spon
sored by the Association for
the Study of Afro-American
Life and History (ASALH),
which Woodson founded in
1915. The ASALH produces
Black History Month study
kits to help schools, colleges,
ASALH branches and other
organizations celebrate the
observance. The ASALH also
provides information about
Black History Month through
its publications.
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