SPORTS
Mackey has
a point
—page 8
INSIDE
The amazing
Sam Hanef
—page 3
Remembering
Travis
Gibson
—page 10
Apocalypse Now: The Enemy Strikes Black
—album review
Special Reports:
Student refunds; guns on campus
A/0.3
THE COMPASS
Vo!. 52,-No..a.
rirculation 2000
Photo by Sheila Johfison
Elizabeth City, N.C.
Tuesday, December 10,1990
ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY
*Make black studies mandatory*
students tell University officials
By Jackie Rountree
To dramatize their demand for
making African-American studies
mandatory at ECSU, about 60 stu
dents staged a peaceful demonstra
tion during the Nov. 19 assembly
honoring American Education Week.
The SGA-led demonstration
shocked administrators and marked
an unprecendented student push for
mandating black studies in Ae Gen
eral Education curriculum.
At two p.m., students, falculty and
staff gathered in Moore Hall Audito
rium to hear a speech on education by
Robert K. Goodwin, Executive Di
rector of the White House Initiative
on Historically Black Colleges and
Universities. But as students took
their seats, the main attraction was the
line of about 60 black-clad students
with interlocking hands at the foot of
the stage.
Chancellor Jimmy R. Jenkins re
fused to begin the program until he
could speak to speak with the demon
strators. This resulted in a confronta
tion between Jenkins and Ursula
McMillion, a senior from Calabash,
N.C. during which Jenkins chastised
McMillion for her “untimeliness” in
demonstrating at the assembly and the
implication of controversy that the
demonstration made to the local press.
“I was disappointed.” said Jenkins.
“What that demonstration implies is
that a formal request for black studies
has been made and rejected when in
actuality, no one has even asked for
the black studies courses yet.”
After the assembly, Jenkins ac
cused the students of being “led like
lambs to slaughter by a few personali
ties,” but the Chancellor later apolo
gized, acknowledging that he had
encouraged students to take the initia
tive on this issue during a student
leadership conference on Nov. 6.
Two days before the assembly the
ECSU chapter of the Concerned Black
Awareness Council (CBAC) started
circulating a pettition in support of
mandating African and African-
American studies at ECSU. Within
the first 24 hours, students had col
lected 300 signatures according to
McMilUon. The group now has 600
signatures in favor of the change.
Students say that black studies are
just as important, if not more impor
tant than World Civilization I and II.
“In one of my art history classes,
we did not discuss one black artist,”
said one student. “ History is history.
How can you discuss history without
discussing about the African-Ameri
cans? Weareabigpartofhistory.too.
We study the Europeans, Russians,
Chineese, Babylonians and the Cow
boys of the Wild Wild West. We
study little about the Africans and
African-Americans. There’s more to
history than Dr. King and Malcolm
X,too. Of course, it should be manda
tory here at ECSU.”
“This is a predominately black
institution,” said Rhonda Stevenson,
a junior. “African-American studies
should be mandatory,”
On November 20, students sup
porting the change in the curriculum
held a rally at the University Center
from 11 am to two pm. Students hung
up posters supporting African-Ameri
can studies, and passed out informa
tion about African-American history.
“We need to stay focused on the
issue, said Kevin Brown, a former
ECSU student. “Students should be
please see Students p.9
Tiffany Williams, Miss Collegiate African-American for 1991, accepts
a key to the city by then Elizabeth City Mayor, Sidney Oman during her
Nov. 8 visit to Elizabeth City.
Campus shooting raises concerns
Value of role model about liability, lack of authority
for blacks stressed
by Tiffany Williams
By Florencestine Jones
Tiffany Williams, Miss Collegiate
African-American, received a plaque
andakey to Elizabeth City from Mayor
Sid Omen during her visit to ECSU on
Nov. 8.
“The greatest challenge for black
women today is the restructuring of
the black family.” said Williams, ac
knowledging her status as a role model
for black women. Williams said she
believes it is the black female’s job to
“uplift the black man and let them
know they’re important,” adding that
the black man should shine in the
world without having an inferiority
complex to any other man.
Williams, spokesperson for histori
cally black colleges and universities,
also spoke out about their importance,
stressing that a black college helped
her to become more aware of herself
and interact better with the commu-
niy.
Williams said her experience as a
spokesperson for black colleges will
make an immeasurable contribution
to her future. “I feel that black schools
are surviving and have been commit
ted to the education of our students,”
she said.
Williams also said the experience
of becoming Miss Collegiate Afri
can-American was an enlightening
one.
“Through the Miss Collegiate
African-American pageant I have met
many women from across the nation
and not only had the opportunity to
hear different viewpoints but most
importantly I have gained lifelong
friends.”
Williams said she was pleased
when the coordinators of the contest
decided to eliminate the bathing suit
competetion, making it the first na-
tion^y televised pageant withoutone.
“A female should be judged by
inner beauty rather than outer beauty,”
she said. “The focuses are on in-
tellegence, scholastic achievement and
talent. The ladies were viewed not
only as college queens, but critically
please see Williams p. 10
By Mark Morris
The Oct. 19 shooting of Clifford
Shaw, a 27-year-old corrections offi
cer from EUzabeth City, has raised
questions about the University’s prac
tice of hiring parttime security.
Shaw, a transportation officer at
Currituck Correctional Center, was
hired by ECSU to watch over Wam-
ack Hall during Homecoming. At
about three a.m. some ECSU students
approached Shaw and told him there
was trouble outside. Shaw told The
Compass he was unarmed and wear
ing street clothes when he went out
side and approached a group he iden
tified as “non-students ranging from
ages 17-26,” and ask them if they had
a problem.
“They began walking toward me
and asked me if I had a problem,”
Shaw said. “I started retreating be
cause there were so many of them and
when I turned to walk away, I heard a
gun blast just before the bullet hit my
leg.”
Shaw said he went back into
Wamack and called campus police for
assistance. After getting no answer,
he drove himself to the security booth
near the Vaughan Athletic Center
where a campus policeman picked
him up and drove him to Albemarle
Hospital. There he was treated for a
gunshot wound to his lower right
hamstring.
“We had no less than 15 officers on
duty that night,” said George Moun
tain, Chief of ECSU’s Police Depart
ment “I don’t know why no one an
swered Shaw’s call.”
Mountain said there were two
campus policemen in patrol cars, three
campus policemen in the Vaughan
Center, and a parttime security at
Symera Hall and Shaw at Wamack
Hall. The other eight officers were “in
various places around campus,”
Mountain said.
The shooting—which followed an
earlier incident in which an employee
of Currituck Corrections Center got
into a confrontation with an ECSU
student he caught firing a handgun—
has caused supervisors at the correc
tion center to feel uneasy about their
officers taking the parttime work on
campus.
Shaw’s supervisor. Sergeant Wil
liam Basnight, said that measures must
be taken to protect their officers.
“The major problem is that they
have no power when they work on
campus,” Basnight said. “They aren’t
armed and they don’t have any identi
fication to let people know they are
on-duty officers. That would prevent
some incidents from ever happening.”
Time capsule to be buried
University to celebrate
Centennial Day Dec.l3
Basnight said thathe recommended
to Mountain that the officers wear arm
bands but has not received any re
sponse to that idea.
Liability is also an issue, said-
BasnighL A week after Shaw was
shot, he said he did not know whether
he would have to pay his own medical
bills or if the University would cover
them.
Basnight said that the University
has provided no assistance for Shaw.
“Everything has been paid for by
Department of Corrections money
which means Shaw had to use his own
insurance and his own sick leave,”
said Basnight. “From now on the offi
cers will be contracted instead of get
ting paid out of the door.”
Basnight said that in the future,
Currituck Correctional Center will
please see Shootingp.i0
Photo by SheilaJohfuoH
Homecoming Concert
leaves SGA in the red
By Mark Morris
The Student Government Associa
tion went $4,000 over budget for
Homecoming.
“We had a budget of $22,000 for
the Homecoming weekend.” said
Miquel Purvis, SGA President, “Stu
dent Affairs reported to us that the
weekend cost $26,000.”
The main reason for the loss was a
low turnout at the concert on Oct. 19,
Purvis said.
“When we started planning for
Homecoming in August we had a com
mittee of around 22 people; but by the
time Homecoming arrived we were
down to ten.”
Purvis said that a task force was
selected from the committee to find
out who students wanted to see per
form at the Saturday night concert.
The top choice by students was a
rhythm and blues band. Boys to Men.
However, negotiations with the group
failed when their single “mo-
townphilly” made the top ten in Bill
board magazine and the group de
cided to postpone their tour.
Other acts high on the student’s list
were Toni! Tone! Tony!, Shabba
Ranks, Ex-Girlfriend and Tony Terry.
“Negotiations with Toni! Tone!
Tony! went sour after the group de
cided colleges were not their first
choice.” Purvis said. “So we settled
for Shabba Ranks, Ex-Girlfriend and
Tony Terry.”
Purvis said the difficulty in getting
the student’s first choice in entertain
ment stems from the perpetual shift of
popularity in the music industry and
the fact that colleges don’t command
the same attention from recording
artists as coliseums or concert promo
tion agencies.
“It is impossible to know who is
going to be hot during a certain time
period. Colleges are treated differ
ently, and most of the time you don’t
get your first choice.”
ECSU students have expressed
mixed feelings about the concert.
“Shabba was excellent,” said C^
Murray, a junior from Elizabeth City
who attended the concert, “but the
other groups left something to be
desired.”
Another factor in the budget over
run was the stepshow and predawn
dance on Friday night The total gate
for the event was over $3,000 and
after expenses were paid, the Pan
Hellenic Council and SGA received
$1,300 apiece as agreed upon before
Homecoming.
When asked for a tally of figures
for the entire Homecoming weekend
in early December, Dr. Leon White,
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
told The Compass he could not locate
the receipts.
By Lonnie Davis
On December 13,1991 ,ECSU will
celebrate the end of its centennial year
with Centennial Day, featuring tours,
concerts, food, exhibits and the burial
of a time capsule.
The Centennial celebration will
begin at 10 a.m. with an opening cere
mony. Other events, including con
certs, an aerial display by the U.S.
Coast Guard, a planetarium show, and
campus tours, will take place from
10:30 a.m.to 3 p.m.
The time capsule, containing
printed materials, photographs, and a
video focusing on the history of the
University, will be buried during the
closing ceremony, to begin at 3:30
p.m. The capsule will remain buried
until 2041.
“This celebration is a symbol of
100 years of excellence,” said ECSU
Chancellor Dr. Jimmy Jenkins. “We
must gain as much visibility as pos
sible if we are to do justice to our
past”
Jenkins said the challenges facing
the University are as great today as
they were for the founders of the
University.
“They had the responsibility of
creating a school to serve African-
Americans because we were denied.
Our challenge now is to insure that we
lay the foundation for not only Afri
can-Americans, but all who are inter
ested in a true education. We have to
assure ourselves that when a student
comes to Elizabeth City StateUniver-
sity, he is getting an education that is
second to none.
“The greatest challenge facing the
University is to continue to be a viable
competitive force,” Jenkins added.
“Historically, this University oper
ated in a world in which only African-
Americans came here to become lead
ers in their own communities.
Today, graduates of theUniversity-
must compete in the mainstream of
America—from IBM to General
Motors to classrooms and professional
school classrooms. Therefore, we
must insure in relative terms that our
performance is equal to that of any,
without regard to historical back
grounds.”
This celebration will demonstrate
to the Albemarle area, community,
educational entities, city and county
governments and businesses appre
ciation for the many years of dedica
tion and service afforded the Univer
sity, according to a news release from
the Centennial Step Show Commit
tee.
In an effort to promote African-
American Greek fraternities and so
rorities, a state wide Centennial step
show competition will begin at 7 p.m.
The step show is free for all ECSU
students with a valid I.D. There will
be a $500 cash prize and trophy to the
first place fraternity and sorority, and
a $250 cash prize and trophy to each
of the runner ups.
As a special incentive, a $ 100 travel
reimbursement and a hot meal will be
provided for each participating group.
Also, a dance is scheduled to follow
the step show.
The all-day celebration is espe
cially significant to Jenkins.
“My being the first graduate of the
University to be named Chancellor
shows that the University has reached
a level of prominence and that we
have reached a point of excellence
producing excellence,” Jenkins said.
Centennial Day is open to the
public.
1
Chancellor Jimmy Jenkins gets ready to derrwnstrate he is king of the
lanes as he puts on his bowling shoes during the opening of the
Commuter Center. Jenkins helped get the new center on campus.
Donors lead campaign
to raise five million $
By Mary Ann Pitt
Three members of the ECSU fam
ily are leading the University’s Cen
tennial Capital Campaign withpledges
of $5,000 and $10,000, to be contrib
uted over three years.
Chancellor Dr. Jimmy Jenkins has
pledged $10,000 to the campaign,
which will provide scholarships, en
dowed professorships and new equip
ment for the school.
“I gave because I felt that I had to
lead by example,” said Jenkins, in
commenting on his contribution.
“Before I could ask faculty, staff and
alumni, I had to give first.”
Bookstore Manager Pedro Holley,
and Dr. Ivory Lyons, Chairman of the
Business Department, have each
pledged $5,000.
“I gave because the University
needed the money,” said Holley. “I
wish I could have given more and
with the help of my wife, Marlene
Holley, I will end up giving more
before the three-year period is over. I
know there are students who need the
financial assistance in order to go to
college. I was one myself. I believe
that everyone involved should at least
give something.”
Holley is co-chairperson of the
COTimittee to solicit contributions from
faculty and staff.
“I gave to the Centennial Capital
Campaign because I look at it as a
kind of self-help activity,” saidLyons.
“In addition to trying to raise funds
from outside, those here can also help
the institution by the funds that they
contribute.”
Jenkins, who conceived of the
campaign, said he felt the University
needed to subsidize state funds in order
“to give us that margin of excellence.”
please see Donors p.7