ECSU CHOIR TOURS
EUROPE
A DREAM COMES
by Evelyn A. Johnson
The whole thing start
ed in the fall of 1970
when Emhage Tours In
corporated invited the E-
lizabeth City State Uni
versity Choir to tour the
Rhine area under their
supervision. The matter
was discussed with stu
dents and it was decided
that this could be a pro
ject for the year 1970-
71. That year the venture
hardly got to first base
because of other commit
ments; however in May of
1971 the project became
better formulated and
really got off the ground
with highly organized ac
tivities under competent
student leaders. The first
TRUE
item of business agreed
upon was the each mem
ber be taxed $200.
Emhage Tours, Inc.was
then notified of our ser
ious intent. They in turn
sent complete plans for
a European Concert Tour.
Choir members began
paying some or all of their
tax of $200 in order to
receive his or her per
sonal itinerary.
Everyone was highly e-
lated to see this brochure.
We began daydreaming
about viewing castles a-
top the vine clad Rhine
River banks in Germany,
or observing beautiful
hills of rocks in Luxem
bourg, or making a visit
to the Rijksmuseum to
see Rembrandt originals.
or seeing reclaimed pole-
ers in the Zuider Zee an i
quaint fisherman’s vil
lages in the Netherlands.
Choir members be
came deeply concerned
about raising the neces
sary funds. They took
over concessions at bas
ketball games, sold rec
ords of favorite songs
pressed during the 75th
anniversary, participat
ed in a two-day door to
door Walkathon, solicit
ed funds from alumni and
friends, and did odd jobs
in the community to help
raise the colossal sum of
$20,000.00.
More than two thousand
letters were sent to the
University family, alum
ni, friends representa
Choir Members receive tulips in Zaandam,
Holland
tives, business places,
clubs, Greek Letter Or
ganizations, Labor Un
ions et al. The response
to our request was ter
rific, far exceeding all
expectation.
At the end of January
our receipts totaled ap
proximately $4000, but
it was during the month
of February that we hit
the jackpot. We now saw
our way clear to make the
first payment of $100 per
person.
The initial deposit was
sent on February 18. This
of course, really put us^,
so to speak, “on the spot.’
We were now obliged to
acquire the total sum or
lose a portion of our down
payment. We took this
risk.
In the meantime the
Student Government As
sociation came to our res
cue. Darryl Morris,
President of SGA and bass
singer, announced that the
sum of $2000 was being
(Continued on page 2)
THE COMPASS
U. s. Poauie
NoB'Pfofit Orcaaitedoa
PAID
Elizftbedi City, N.C.
Peimik No. 5
VOLUME 33
ELIZABETH CITY, N. C
APRILMAY. 1972
NUMBERS
FINE ARTS
FESTIVAL
Class
(O:ia00 m ’7^'
LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE
The 1972 Fine Arts
Festival at Elizabeth City
State University can eas
ily be categorized as a
“smashing” success this
year. This year’s festival
dealt with black aware
ness in the arts. The open
ing of the festival featur
ed an outstanding art ex
hibit by world renouned
artist Dr. David Driskell,
Chairman of the Art De
partment, Fisk Univer
sity, Nashville,Tenn. Dr.
Driskell and Mr. Mohind-
er Gill studied together
at Howard University.
Mr. Gill is on the Art
Department Staff at EC
SU. The opening of the
Festival featured the dis
play of Dr. Driekell art
work in the University
Center, The official open
ing was held in the lobby
of the University Center,
the University Choir per
formed a thirty-minute
concert featuring the pop
ular excerpts from “The
Sound of Music,” and
other numbers from the
European repertoire.
Another outstanding
feature of the Fine Arts
Festival week was the
display of African Black
Art in the G. R. Little
Library Foyer. The dis
play of African Black Art
included pieces of musi
cal instruments, dolls
and small statues from
the Ibo, Hausa andYoru-
ba tribes of West and
Central Africa. Dr. Louis
Nadeau, philosophy pro
fessor at Elizabeth City
State University and au
thority on African culture
provided most of the ma
terial.
ON April 15th the Phy
sical Education Depart
ment presented the Mod
ern Dance Group in Re
cital. The program, chor
eographed and directed by
Mrs. Bonnie Smith, was
“dedicated to the people
darker than blue. ’ The
recital featured members
of the Modern Dance
Technique Class as well
as the Modern Dance
Group members. The re
cital featured Miss Judy
Garris, a graduating sen
ior, Physical Education
Major; Miss Zoe Vaugh
an, A Northeastern High
School student and mem
ber of the Dance Group,
daughter of Mr. Robert L.
Vaughan, Chairman, De
partment of Physical Ed
ucation; Mr. Elbert Wat
son from Norfolk Stam
College Modern Dance
Theater and Mrs. Doris
Cooper of Norfolk State
College.
On April 18th, The Jub
ilee Folk Singers of Ral
eigh, North Carolina pre
sented a musical dra
matic presentation of the
spontaneous development
of Negro Spiritual entit
led, : “Black Music in
Historical Perspective.”
Mrs. Ann H. Jones is di
rector of the Llgon jubi
lee Folk Singers. This
was the second appear
ance of the singers - they
also appeared in the 1971
Fine Arts Festival.
On April 20th and 21st
the University Players of
the Little Theatre pre
sented a three act play
entitled “The Man Who
Came To Dinner”. The
play was directed by Mr.
Bernard L. Peterson.Me.
Peterson was also featur
ed in one of the main
roles. The play ran two
nights with standing room
orSy both nights.
The 1972 Fine Arts
Festival was truly devot
ed to Black Awareness
in the Arts and the sis
ters and brothers seem
ed to have enjoyed the
festival more than pre
viously held ones.
On April 22, the As
sembly and Convocations
Committee presented the
first leadership confer
ence in the University
Center. Mr. Ronald Har
rison, Senior Sociology
major presided over the
conference. Mr.Harrison
is also President of Men’s
Government Association.
The purpose of the con
ference was to focus at
tention on present - day
leadership opportunities
and demands; to learn
through participation
some leadership roles
and methods to provide
for campus leaders dia
logue contacts with ex
perts selected in lead
ership areas, and to
broaden the outlook of
the ECSU student and
to move him towards a
commitment of involve
ment in the affairs of
the larger community,
of which this campus is
only a small part.
The techniques for the
conference dealt with
resource consultants
presentations, small
group sessions for a
question - raising dis
cussion, group session
idea interchanges and e-
valuation reaction by in
dividual participants.
The consultants were
Dr. Frederick Hum
phries, Vice-president of
the Institute for Services
to Education, Washington,
D.C.; The Honorable Wil
liam P. Robinson, Ph. D.,
a delegate to the Vir
ginia Assembly and Di
rector of the Division of
Social Science and chair
man of the Department
of Political Science,Nor-
folk State College, Nor
folk, Va.; Dr. Gloria
Scott, Director of Insti
tutional Research, A & T
(Continued on page 2)