The Compass Tuesday, March 29, 1994 15
Students disappointed by guest spealer
during Black Histoty IVIontii assembly
By Bruce Copeland
Less than 70 members of the
ECSU family turned out to hear a
South Carolina history professor
speak at the University’s Feb. 24
Black History Month Assembly,
held in Moore Hall.
The poor turn-out can be
attributed in part to the CIAA
Tournament in Winston-Salem.
Many ECSU faculty members,
administrators and students
attended the tournament.
The guest speaker. Dr. Lewis
Suggs, spoke about 40 minutes,
focusing on a black newspaper
owner of the early 1900s.
Suggs stressed the importance of
education, saying that many young
people are more geared toward
working at a low-paying job rather
than trying to better themselves.
At one time, said Suggs, there were
many black-owned enterprises in
Norfolk, Virginia, including
banks.Although these businessmen
lacked an education, they were
successful, said Suggs, because they
were determined to make things
work for them.
After these business owners
retired, however, others didn't
want to participate in bringing in
businesses or doing things to make
the area productive, according to
Suggs.
Suggs appealed to his audience to
embrace traditional values of work
and sacrifice.
Following the assembly, several
students criticized Suggs' speech,
saying he was "dry and boring."
According to one student, the
assembly was "the worst program
I've ever attended."
ECSU student Gloria Alexander,
said she found Suggs' speech
interesting and valuable.
"He was talking about things
from the past," said
Alexander,"but these are things
young people need to cherish
because this is what paved the
way for them. If it weren't for
people like Frederick Douglas and
W.E. Debois, these kids today
wouldn't have all the luxuries they
have."
Following the assembly, several
students said the program was
"poorly promoted." Other students
were critical of the overall
activities planned for Black
History Month, saying they were
"thrown-together and poorly
planned."
Alexis Joyner, Chairman of the
Black History Month Committee,
defended the assembly program
and the speaker.
"Many people enjoyed the
information he (Dr. Suggs) had to
offer," said Joyner, an assistant
professor in the Department of Art.
"There was some positive feedback.
Some people just want someone to
pound on the podium, whether or
not he or she has something to say."
ECSU students will vote for a new slate of SGA
representatives March 30, from seven a.m. until six p.m.
in the University Center.
The candidates for President are Dominick Allen,
James W. Cherry, Ranesha K. Hunt, Tarik Y. Scott, and
Alfred L. Solomon. The candidates for Vice-President are
Yvonne E. Blount, Carlton C. Eley, Darron V. Jeffries,
Randy M. Jones, Tasha P. Jones, and William T. Mills.
Keisha M. Kent is the candidate for Corresponding
Secretary. Amy D. Anderson, Corey T. Drew, and Aquita
C Robinson are candidates for treasurer. For Attorney
General: Edward K. Rivers and Nekeisha S. Sylver. For
Miss. ECSU: Arletha G. Clark, Dorothy R. Hager, Lynetta
Jordan, and Letesha R. Vaughan.
Absentee ballot voting was on March 28-29 in the
Marion D. Thorp>e Building.
Activities ended March 30th at seven p.m. with the
SGA Gala, held at the Kermit E. White Center.
ECSU has been named to the National Register of
Historic Places.
The University received this honor due to its role in
educating African-Americans in eastern North Carolina,
according to National Park Service Director Roger
Kennedy.Another factor was the University's
architecture, Kennedy said.
"ECSU is the only historically black institution of
higher education," said state Historic Preservation
Officer William Price. "It's listing in the National
Register of Historic Places understores the school's
significance in the history of black education in eastern
North Carolina."
The National Register lists the nation's official districts,
buildings and objects that are significant in American
history, architecture, archeology, engineering and
culture.
The University of North Carolina Board of Governors
has overturned the firing of Dr. Carol Kerr, a professor in
ECSU's Department of Education, on proceedural
groimds.
In a ten-page report the board's Personnel and Tenure
Commitee said Kerr's rights were violated during her
hearings and appeals last October.
The board ordered ECSU to pay Kerr back pay from
Sept. 17, when her salary was terminated, with interest.
However it did not address the merits of the firing.
Kerr, 55, was fired, in part, for refusing to be evaluated
by a younger faculty member, and for using her own
evaluation form for a class.
—News Briefs—
Although the committee criticized the proceedure by
which Kerr was fired, it did not address the merits of the
firing.
Kerr returned to work Monday, March 14.
William Butts, Jr. a professor in ECSU's Department
of Social Sciences died on March 1, 1994.
Butts is survived by a wife, Yvonne Butts. Other
survivors include a daughter, Nancy Butts of Enciono,
Calif; two sons, William Butts II and Wayne Butts, both
of Newport News, and a sister, Ernestyne Tyler of
Alexandria, Va.
The Junior Honors African-American History program
was held on Thursday, March 24 at 122 Johnson Hall.
The Second Annual Freshman-Sophomore Honors
Debate will take place on Thursday, April 7 at two p.m. in
Johnson Hall.
On April 12, The Freshman Honor Cultural Diversity
program will take place at two p.m. in Johnson Hall.
The Sophomore Honors Current Issues Forum is
scheduled for April 14 at 2 p.m. in Johnson Hall.
The Honors Convocation will be held Thursday, April
21 at two p.m. in Moore Hall Auditorium.
Sigma Gamma Rho sorority has inducted seven new
members: Demetric Shepard, Felicia Cross, Simona
Simons, Stacey Edwards, Cultilda Monk, and Karin
Wade-Simmons.
In February the Sigma ladies took the Latch-key youth
to the ECSU vs Shaw basketball game. The Sigma ladies
will have a dance on April 15,1994
The staff and management of WRVS-Fm Radio
sponsored an Anniversary Media Workshop and
Luncheon Sat. March 19 in the Kermit E. White Center.
The workshops provided students with the opportunity to
learn about programming basics, career opportunities in
the record industry and mass media. Guest Speaker for
the noon awards luncheon was Mitch Faulkner, Vice
President & Executive Production Director of On Mic
Productions.
ECSU sophomore Nikita Sutton, who won the
Association of North Carolina Alphamen Black and Gold
Beauty Pageant in November, 1993, competed in the
Southern Region Black and Gold Beauty Pageant in
Nashville, Tennessee on Feb. 25, 1994. Nikita won the
regional contest and will compete for the national title of
Miss Black and Gold in Chicago, 111. in August, 1994.
Nikita, who represented the Beta Zeta Chapter of ECSU,
is the daughter of Ernest and Valeria Sutton of Elizabeth
City.
Original plays by three ECSU students, Lavenia
Dameron, Craig Avondo and Keisha Holly, will be
performed in the Little Theater April 12 and 13 (Tuesday
and Wednesday at eight p.m.) Admission is free.
Dr. Jimmy Jenkins celebrated his 10th anniversary as
chancellor of ECSU on Jan. 15, with more than 500 guests
in attendance.
Representatives from each of the ten years Jenkins
has been chancellor were included in the program, with
the guests reading poems and relating personal
experiences about how the Chancellor had inspired
them.
"It was really a beautiful evening," said Dr. Linda
Callahan, Chairperson of the Department of Language,
Literature & Communication.
At the event Rick Gardner, mayor of Elizabeth City,
received a standing ovation when he said, "The
detractors of ECSU haven't bothered to visit the
campus."
The University Concert Choir spent March 14 through
March 21 on their spring tour, performing in Virginia,
Washington D.C.New York and New Jersey.Look for
Bruce Copeland's report on the tour in the next issue of
The Compass.
Scholarcade XIV will be presented on Saturday, April
16 in Moore Hall.Faculty, staff and administrators are
busy rehearsing to show off their talent at this annual
fund-raising event.
ECSU's Office of Career Planning and Placement
sponsored a Teacher Job Fair on March 17 in the
Vaughan Center Gym. Representatives from public
schools in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina
attended.
The ECSU chapter of Psi Chi, the National Honor
Society in Psychology, has inducted eight new members:
Dr. Sharon Anee Zerlin, Billie Rae Hendrix, Jean M.
Jackson, Olympic Nicole Jones, Tammy M. Jones, Rosine
L. Sanders, Julie M. Trueblood and Ruth Griffin Warren.
Psi Chi, founded in 1929, has 820 chapters at colleges and
universities throughout the U.S.