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BLACK INK
The essence of freedom is understanding
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VOLUME 15, NUMBER
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BLACK STUDENT MOVEMFNT OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
MARCH 30. 1982
Students' grades reflect low priorities
I
Dean Joyce Clayton
By REGINA GASKINS
Staff Writer
The black freshman class isn't the
only class suffering from poor grade
point averages, two university officials
said.
Hayden B. Renv^/ick, associate dean
of the College of Arts and Sciences, said
out of approximately 1,300 black
undergraduate students, only 100 have
a grade point average of 3.0 or better.
The freshmen class alone, he said,
accounts for one-third of that figure,
leaving the remaining two-thirds dis
persed throughout the sophomore,
junior and, senior classes.
(in the Feb. 11 issue of Black Ink Ren-
wick told about the low grade point a
averages of black freshman.
Renwick said he doesn't expect a
change in these figures as long as stu
dents "operate on a basis that
academics are a low priority."
"Everything blacks do should be cen
tered around achieving a high academic
record," Renwick said. "The only way
to get 500 black students under a single
roof is to have a step show or a party. We
need to eliminate that."
One of the problems of reaching the
black students, is the inadequate staff
size, he said.
For instance, in the Minority Advisory
Court seeks minorities
By RAMONA BROWN
Editor
A major criticism of the UNC-CFH FHonor Court has been its misrepresenta
tion of minorities, particularly blacks. The Honor Court is now in the process
of recruiting more blacks through publicity to increase the racial diversifica
tion of the Honor Court.
"The Honor Court has been accused of misrepresentation for quite some
time and we are now making attempts to get more blacks interested in serving
on the Court," said Elizabeth Ennen, Honor Court chairperson.
Presently there are six black members of the Court but according to the
bylaws of the Honor Court there should be eight black persons minimum on
the thirty member court.
"We do have blacks serving on the Court but what we are trying to do now
is to get a larger pool of applicants," Ennen said.
The Court faces the problem of getting diverse student representation
because the present demographics of the Court are mainly white Greek-letter
organization members.
"It is true there is a problem of population representation and we are now
trying to insure that the court represents the campus," Ennen, an American
studies and religion major, said.
The Honor Court is accepting applications and promoting drives in an
attempt to draw more blacks to serve on the court. Qualifications to serve on
the court include an obligation to uphold standards of the community, an
open mind to foster discussion and a respect for making clear decisions.
"The most important commitment to the Honor Court is thought," rather
than time, Ennen added.
Jackie Jeffries, one of the six black members of the Court, said black
representation is needed to change the entire representation of the Court.
"Honor Court is great experience and blacks have been urged to serve on
the court to balance the representation according to the campus demog
raphics," Jeffries said.
Program, which is geared toward
reaching the needs of all minority stu
dents, only two deans — Renwick and
joyceClayton, assistant dean of General
College, work with all minority stu
dents. Undergraduate and graduate stu
dents work in the program'on a volun
teer basis.
Clayton said that she would like to see
more graduate assistants, minority advi
sors, and academic monitoring prog
rams, whereby instructors report on stu
dents' performances.
However, she said while the idea of
adding more people to the staff is
appealing, she doubts that more can be
added, given the present economic
situation.
Renwick said another way of
reaching more students is for the up
perclassmen to form a committee de
signed to police and counsel each
other.
Clayton said a peer counseling com
mittee would be useful in establishing
why some students lack motivation,
especially in class attendance.
Usually students w'ho perform poorly
during the first months of the semester,
she said, are the ones most likely to skip
class and fail to seek help through the
support programs.
"Fundamentally we're dealing with
an age old problem of pride. . . . They
(students) refuse to reach out and use the
available resources. It seems suicidal —
almost a death wish," Clayton said.
Felecia Piggott, a junior minority
advisor from Winston-Salem, said she
has also found the lack of motivation to
be a problem among some of her
advises.
"There are so many other things to
distract them," she said. "They think its
better to be social, catch up on the latest
soap operas, or join organizations."
She said students are often too satis
fied with just a "C" — just getting by.
Chapel Thrill
Choices disappoint blacks
By MICHELLE THOMAS
Staff Writer
The 1982 Chapel Thrill concert to be held in Kenan Stadium on April 24, will be a
big disappointment to many blacks in the Chapel Hill area.
In early February, soul music performers Kool & the Gang were slated to perform
at the concert however, February 24, Kool & the Gang broke their verbal contract
with little explanation.
Wes Wright, a junior business administration major who is the coordinator for
the Chapel Thrill Committee, said the reason Kool & the Gang cancelled was
because of their manager, Jerry Ade.
"The committee contacted Kool & the Gang through Norby and Walters, a
booking agency that manages such acts as Kool & the Gang, Wright said. "Jerry was
out of town in Nigeria, at the time and the group went ahead anyway and said that
they would be happy to perform in Chapel Hill for $35,000."
"Everyone else in the group wanted it," he said. Ade, however, later contacted
the committee and told them that they would not perform at the concert.
Wright said the musical group's manager said "why should my group perform in
Chapel Hill, when they can make better money performing in (nearby) Greensboro
or in Raleigh?"
He said the committee also tried to schedule soul music performers the Time and
the Sugarhill Gang for the concert, but neither of the two groups were able to
confirm.
Lourian Burwell, a senior sociology and political science major from Henderson,
said she felt very upset when she heard that loan Jet and the Blackhearts and Donnie
Iris and the Cruisers were selected for the concert.
"I've never heard of those groups before," Burwell said, "and I feel like the
concert will lose a bundle of money because they would not pay Kool & the Gang
$50,000 like Hall and Oates.
Wright said, "Blacks on the concert selection committee helped, but I didn t
have any on my committee in charge of organizing the concert."
There were blacks on the committee that selected the groups for the concert, but
there were no blacks on the actual concert planning.gorrirnittee, he said.