Newspapers / Elizabeth City State University … / Oct. 13, 1987, edition 1 / Page 8
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Page 8 The Compass October 13,19j Welcome Back Day: town says ‘Hhanks’* Waterfront Park in downtown Elizabeth City was full of games, food, and college students on Sep tember 16 as the Chamber of Commerce sponsored the first “Welcome Back to College Day.” The celebration was the town’s way of showing its appreciation to College of the Albermarle, Elizabeth City State University, and the Roanoke Bible College. Students from the three schools competed in volleyball, tug-of- war, and the fire drill, while the presidents and chancellors com peted in lawn bowling. Although Roanoke Bible College won the majority of the events, ECSU art students won the art contest. Most of the students involved thought the celebration was a good idea and many expressed the hope that it would become an annual event. Gayle Cox, an ECSU sophomore education ma jor, said the event was a good idea because it gave the students “a break from long classes.” Monjetta Spivey, a sophomoe Business Administration major at COA said the event was a “chance for people who wouldn’t normally meet to get to know each other.” Lisa Bocrie, a sophomore Ch ristian Education major from Roanoke Bible College, said the event was fun and offered a chance for the three schools to learn more about each other. She added that she would like to have seen more events. The money raised was given to charities, with half of the money going to the United Way, the other half going to the Food Bank. Local merchants underwrote the costs of the event. New sculpture: “A labor of love” Elizabeth City State University recently unveiled a new sculp ture on campus near the C.W. Griffin Education and Psychol ogy Building. The sculpture, entitled “The Seat of Knowledge,” was created by Roy E. Farmer, one of the founding fathers of the institu tion. Farmer was born in Bethel and received a bachelor of arts de gree in art education from ECSU in 1972. After completing his stud ies at ECSU, he worked as a se nior artist at Brown’s Marketing and Advertising in Baltimore, Md. He also worked as a sign painter in Fort Belvoir, Va. and as a graphic artist with William F. Laney and Associates in Wash ington, D.C. Farmer received a master of fine arts degree in design from Howard University in 1980 and is currently an assistant professor of art at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss. Farmer has been involved in a number of activities on the ECSU campus during the past few months. He has taught art in the ECSU Art Department and has worked with high school students in the “One Week University” program during summer. The sculpture is his gift to ECSU. “I consider this sculpture a la bor of love that will serve to inspire future generations of ECSU Vikings,” Farmer said. “The Univesity would not have been able to commission work of this nature because of the enor mous cost and the ECSU family sincerely appreciates Mr. Farm er’s gift to the university,” ECSU Chancellor Dr. Jimmy Jenkins said. A winning toss! Photos by Richard Mclntyil September 16 at Waterfront Park. (Left) ECSU’s Chan (Above) Dr. Jiinmy Jenkins looks like he got a win- cellor and Roanoke Bible College s President discus ning toss at the “Welcome Back to CoUege Day” held their lawn bowling strategies. PUZZLE SOLUTO I Mr. and Mrs. Roy E. Farmer pose with Chancellor and Mrs. Jenkins under the statue that Farmer donated. ECSU’s Islamic meetings lead to “self-knowledge” By Becky Overton Walking into E-102 of the New Complex at 7:00 p.m. on Tues days you will find Brother Joseph V Shaw and a group of students ieep in prayer, or concentrating on the study of Islam. Brother Shaw, a Moslem, is the founder of The Study of Islam here at ECSU. He believes that the Study of Islam “educates and dignifies”a person, and leads to a deeper self-knowledge. “I have more of a true knowl edge of myself,” said Brother Shaw,“I know which way to travel.” Brother Shaw said that when most students first attend the meetings, they are unaware of Is lam and the teachings of Farrak- han, the national leader of the Is lamic movement.“Farrakhan is dedicated to bringing the Black people out of a mental grave,” said Shaw,“ politically, economi cally, morally and spiritually.” When asked if the process of teaching students about Islam is difficult, Shaw replied, “It hasn’t been hard. Once you find Islam is our true nature, how can you re ject it?” Describing a belief as “only what you hold,” Brother Shaw said that he didn’t know if his stu dents “believe,” but added, “I’m holding their intrest, they come back.” Shaw said that he didn’t expect every student who attends the meetings to agree wholeheart edly with the teachings of Islam. “But if they don’t agree, I want them to understand why they don’t agree with it.” The purpose of the meetings, said Brother Shaw, “is to stimu late cultural awareness, making students aware of their true na ture and how to study, to build a basis of understanding of one’s self in all aspects. Brother Shaw teaches the stu dents about Islam and the Is lamic movement in America. Brother Shaw first came in con tact with the teachings of Islam, in 1981, but he didn’t accept them then because he wasn’t willing to change his lifestyle. In August of 1986, however, he began to accept the teachings. “Since I was young I admired Malcom X. and those who be lieved in themselves. I always wanted it I just wasn’t ready.” Pointing out that his middle name is “X” Brother Shaw ex plained, that since slaves were given the last name of their mas ters they didn’t know their true names.“The “X” symbolizes the unknown, just like in a math equation,” the “x” must be found. Elizabeth City State University is not a part of an elite club as far as the Islamic teachings go. “Any campus where there’s a Moslem Brother, there’s teach ings,” said Brother Shaw, “but I don’t know off hand of any in un dergraduate schools.” Brother Shaw will be graduating this year, but he doesn’t know the fu ture of The Study of Islam at ECSU. He’s hoping that,he’ll reach someone enough so that they can take over, if not it will cease to be. Brother Shaw said that, “unless someone with the authority to teach takes over, they’ll lead them further as tray... further into confusion.” Dedication, from p. 1 Pointing out that the adminis tration’s offices are now under one roof for the first time, Cul pepper said that the new building “should make the internal opera tions of the administration much more cohesive.” “Everyone can get in touch with each other in a moment’s no tice,” said Culpepper. “This will make operations more efficient.” Culpepper praised the late Marion Thorpe as “a dynamic person who had the ability to get others involved. I knew him to be a considerate man, considerate of his peers and those of lesser means as well. He never looked down on anybody.” At the dedication, Culpepper said Thorpe was “a loving and caring parent and a great, de voted husband.” Dr. Thorpe was a native of Dur ham, North Carolina. He re ceived his bachelor’s and mas ter’s degrees from North Carolina Central University. Be fore coming to ECSU he served as the vice president of Central State Univesity in Wilberforce, Ohio. The ECSU family gathered for a Memorial Serv ice September 29. (See related story, page 1.) Photo by Robin Sawyer During Dr. Thorpe’s tenure at ECSU the university was greatly expanded and enriched, with many new majors added. The school gained its largest federal and private support since its be ginning. In 1969, the school’s name was changed to Elizabeth City State University, and in 1972 ECSU came part of the 16-campus' versity of North Carolina sys| Thorpe was named as the Uni sity’s first chancellor. "Thorpe also served in other professional positions, eluding Assistant Director North Carolina’s Board of Hi! Education.
Elizabeth City State University Student Newspaper
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Oct. 13, 1987, edition 1
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