BLACK INK
The essence of freedom is understanding
m.
VOLUME 14, NUMBER 3
BLACK STUDENT MOVEMEN I OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER University of North Carolina. Chapel Hill
SEPTEMBER 15, 1981
cdith Elliott
Photo Dy ionja Peyton
Elliott has new job
Chuck Wallington
Staff Writer
Edith M. Elliott, recently appointed assis
tant vice chancellor for student affairs, is by
no means a new face on the University of
North Carolina at Chapel FHill campus.
Elliott first came to UNC-CM in 1962 as S
graduate student in social work.
Between 1962 and 1969, she lived in the
Chapel Hill area, only to move to the Philip
pines for two years. Upon her return to
Chapel FHill in 1972, she was hired as one of
the associates at the Campus YMCA-YVVCA.
From here, she advanced' her way up to her
former position as its director.
Elliott assumed her'new responsibilities
on August 1. She said that she is enjoying her
new job. "It's very exciting," said Elliott.
"I'm doing'many of the same things that I did
as the Campus Y director, but on a much
largef scale."
■Elliott said that even though her new job
affords her less personal contact with the
students, the end resultof her work will have
a greater impact on a much larger number of
students than before.
As far as any major changes in the way her
work is conducted, Elliott said that she does
not foresee any major changes coming from
her office. FHowever, she wants to create
"everywhere, for all students, whether they
are black, white, national or international,
the feeling that this is their campus and that
they can deveTop into the types of people
that they want to be."
Along with her responsibilities to the uni
versity students, Elliott is also the mother of
two sons — David, age 1 3 and Balaam, age
16. She is also very active in the community,
where she serves as a member of the Chapel
FHill-Carrboro Board of Education. Elliott
said that her sons appreciate her active com
munity involvement and are willing to make
personal sacrifices so that she can continue
this involvement.
Elliot's other outside interest include
fishing, which she describes as being "very
relaxing," teaching herself to play the piano,
and reading.
Acting Campus Y Director Jim L. Smalley
jr., a former colleague of Elliott's, said that
he "had a good working relationship with
Mrs. Elliott," Smalley quickly added that, "I
wish her the best in her new position."
Vice Chancellor FHarold Wallace, former
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs,
said that his association with Elliott began in
1973 while she was serving as an "unofficial
advisor to the BSM." Wallace said that be
cause of her dedicated involvement during
this time with the BSM, "she was especially
helpful to black females as a role model for
them." Wallace went on to say he has the
highest personal and professional regard for
her. "I think she'll dc well," Wallace said.
Black officials stress
legislation still needed
Lawrence Turner
Managing Editor
Carrboro Mayor Robert Drakeford said the
Voting Rights Acts was essential to his elec
tion as mayor and helped other black politic
als become elected nationwide.
"It helped me and 3,000 (other) black offi
cials (across the country) get elected," he
said. Without the civil rights legislation, he
estimated a reduction of elected public
black officials to 10 percent.
Drakeford runs for his third term as mayor
this November.
The Voting Rights Act, which struck down
voter requirement that hindered black voter
registration, faces debate over its extension
in Congress this fall. The legislation,
approved in Congress in 1965, was renewed
in 1970 and 1975.
Also, the law required six Southern states,
including some counties of North Carolina,
to check with the justice Department before
making any changes in their election laws.
When the legislation was renewed in the
past, it was under Republican administra
tions but Congress was dominated by Demo
crats, said Fred Lee, a black assistant profes
sor of political science at the University of
North Carolina atChapel FHill. Since the Sen
ate is dominated by Republicans, and there
is a Republican administration, renewing
the act would be "a little harder this time
around," he said.
"Publicly, (Presidents) Nixon and Ford
gave lip service to it," Lee said. They didn't
fight the legislation.
"It's one of a few pieces of legislation
(during the Johnson administration) that has
worked," Lee said. "Clearly it has worked —
its success, I believe, that has made some
people uncomfortable." White politicians
have to be more responsible to black voters,
so, that could make them uneasy, he saia.
Slightly less than half of the state's eligible
blacks are registered voters. But since the
voting Rights Act was passed, the number of
black voters doubled from about 258,000 in
1964 to 440,000 as reported by the Raleigh
News and Observer.
Without the act, any claims of denial con
cerning access to voting polls or voter reg
istration is harder to prove, said Moses
Carey, last year's chairman of the South
Orange Black Caucus. Although such a fight
can be taken up to the Supreme Court,
"Who has the time? Few people who need
access to the ballot can afford that, " he said.
But two black elected public officials feel
the law will be renewed.
"1 think it will be renewed. It may be a
little watered down but it'll pass," Drakeford
said. A candidate in the Nov. 3 elections in
Carrboro, Drakeford is one of 13 black
mayors in the state.
In 1969, neighboring Chapel Flill elected
FHoward Lee as the first black mayor of a
Southern city since Reconstruction. FHe
served three terms from 1969 to 1975.
FHarry Frye, the only black state senator
and a Greensboro attorney, said "1 think
they are going to extend it after all the fuss —
quite a bit as it is now. 1 think it would be
appropriate."
But Jesse FHelms, R-NC, doesn't want to
support the act in its present form, and Strom
Thurmond, R-SC, is leading the Congres
sional fight to abolish it.
Inside the Ink
Page 2 Helms labelled racist
Page 3 Carrier explores her disease
Page 4 Officals discuss retention
Page 5 It's coming up
Page 6 Atheist group on campus
Page 7 Morehead on football team
Page 8 A&T has new chancellor