U. s. Postage
Noo'Profit Organization
PAID
Elizabeth City, N.C.
Permit No. 5
Published by Elizabeth City State University for students and alumni
VOLUME 33 NUMBER 2
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.
OCTOBER 6,1971
ECSU’S SPECIAL SERVICES PROGRAM FUNDED
Despite its location in
the economically de
pressed region of north
eastern North Carolina,
Elizabeth City State Uni
versity continues to en
large its programs to
meet the needs of disad
vantaged students who
seek a college education.
Just prior to resuming
its new Upward Bound
Program, during the
1971-72 academic year.
President Marion D.
Thorpe announced that
ECSU has now received
PROGRESSIVE EFFORT IS SHOWN AS.
ESU RECEIVES SECOND GIFT
FROM WESTERN ELECTRIC
With its second ship
ment of surplus furni
ture to Elizabeth City
State University in less
than three moniiis, it is
clear that the Guilford
Center of Western Elec
tric, Inc., really intends
to fulfill its promise of
assistance to the Univer
sity, through the College-
Industry Cluster Pro
gram. Received by Na
thaniel C. McNair, Jr.,
Director of Development
and the University’s
Cluster Co-Chairman,
the shipment brings to 371
the total pieces of furni
ture received from the
“Out of the Darkness Comes the Light’'
The annual Freshman
Candlelighting Service
was held Sunday, Septem
ber 19, 1971. The Ser
vice is a tradition of the
school and its purpose
was to influence the spi
rit of “Vikingism” and to
officially initiate the
members of the Fresh
man Class in Elizabeth
City State University,as
given by Miss ECSU
(Carrie Graham).
The theme of the ser
vice was “Out of the
Darkness Comes the
Light.” When one is in
darkness, which is de
picted as unawareness
and ignorance, his path
can be lighted through
hope, beauty, truth, faith,
love, awareness, and
knowledge. All of these
points were given by
members of the Fresh
man class as a step to
ward a successful future.
The guest speakers
were; Dr. Marion D.
Thorpe, President of the
University; Mr. Robert
Ward, President of U.C.
R.F.; Mr. Ronald Harri
son, President ofM.G.A.;
Carrie Graham, Miss
ECSU; and Mr. Darryl
Morris, President of S.
G.A.
The speakers from the
Freshman class were;
Barbara Alston, Enfield,
NC., Matthew Blount,
Edenton, N. C., Joyce
Reddick, Albany, Ga., Re
gina Butler, Powellsville,
NC., Gail Johnson,Eden-
ton, N.C., and Joel Go-
dette, Beaufort, N.C. The
Soloists were Dorothy
Dirton, Piedmont, S.C.
and Jauntee Beamon,
Elizabeth City, N.C.
F oil owing the cere-
mony, a reception was
given to the Freshman
Class by the Women
Government Association.
The Freshman Class
has ignited their candle
and may it burn success
fully throughout life.
Barbara Alston
Clayton Eatman
Greensboro based firm.
“Money - wise, these
items of surplus furni
ture represent a tre
mendous savings to the
University, especially at
a time when funds are
hard to comeby,” ECSU’s
President, Dr. Marion D.
Thorpe, appreciatively
remarked.
The second shipment,
including 229 dining
chairs and 23 desks, is
only one phase of West
ern Electric’s assistance
program, which will also
include providing equip
ment, films, booklets, as
well as lecturers, con
sultants and profession
al recruiters. The firm,
through its representa
tive, Carl Thompson, is
an active participant in
ECSU’s Cluster Pro
gram.
Dr. Humphries Looks at
Black Education
“We are faced with a
problem, the problem of
being Black, which is a
liability in this country,”
remarked Dr. Frederick
S. Humphries, near the
beginning of his keynote
address at Elizabeth City
State University. The oc
casion marked the offi
cial opening of the Uni
versity for the 1971-72
academic year, as re
turning and new faculty
and staff personnel at
tended the President’s
Dinner, the first activity
during the three-day Fa
culty and Staff Confer
ence.
Dr. Humphries, Vice-
President of the Institute
for Services to Educa
tion, proceeded to state
that Black institutions
of higher learning were
conceived in adversity;
born inpain; and dismiss
ed with gleeful arro
gance.” His very detail
ed history of the education
of Blacks, prior to and
after 1865, very accu
rately documented is
a $60,000 federal grant
towards funding its Spe
cial Services Program
for the disadvantaged.
The addition brings to five
the total number of pro
grams designed to aca
demically assist its un
dergraduate students.
Funded for the 1971-
72 academic year by the
Division of Student Spe
cial Services, Bureau of
Higher Education, U.S.
Office of Education, the
new program will serve
as an incentive to those
underachieving high
school graduates who
have demonstrated po
tential and possess a
strong personal desire to
attend college. ECSU is
beginning to seek pro
gram participants, with a
final selection to be made,
probably during the week
of freshmen orientation.
ECSU will use its fa
culty and administrative
expertise towards the
creation of the kind of
academic climate that
will be beneficial to these
disadvantaged students.
Special Services will be
provided these students
in testing, p 1 a c ement,
guidance, counseling, tu
toring, cultural enrich
ment, financial aid, and
in other areas. With a
director having been ap
pointed, these services
will be improved and ex
panded towards the full
implementation of this
student - centered and ac
tion-oriented program.
According to Dr. Ann
M. Henderson, proposal
initiator, “A great deal
of attention will be paid
towards those skills that
these students need to
assure their academic
success, while at the
same time, developing a
greater feeling of con
fidence.”
ToLive is to Learn
After looking at the
manner whites have han
dled integration, and the
growing rejection of the
system by young Blacks,
Dr. Humphries empha
sized that “Something is
basically wrong with a
society that finds nothing
worthwhile in the institu
tions of a large segment
of its population.” The
closing of formerly all
Black elementary and se
condary schools, the re
ductions in status of Black
principals, the firing of
Black teachers, and the
current efforts to grad
ually phase-out Blacks
institutions of higher
learning, have put the
process of effectively ed
ucating Blacks in a ques
tionable state.
Looking both at how
the nation tries to han
dle the process of edu
cating Blacks and how
armed troops handled the
“May Day confronta
tion, Dr. Humphries felt
(Continued on Page 2)