Vol. 64, No. 3
Circulation 2,200
The Compass
Elizabeth City State University’s award-winning student newspaper
Elizabeth City, NC
April 23,2001
Life After Destiny 2000
DeTra Stith
depot9@hotmail.com
Is there really life after Destiny 2000?
Elizabeth Ci^y’ State University stu
dents, faculty and staff will have to
wait patiently and see for themselves.
After weeks of campaigning, days of
contemplating speech topics, hours of
wondering what the debate questions
will be, minutes of tieing together the
loose ends to make everything just per
fect, the votes have been cast and tal
lied.
The candidates sat in suspense, at
least those who ran for the position of
Vice-President, Corresponding Secre
tary and Miss ECSU. The names were
called, and the newly elected officers
were sworn in. The new officers are:
President: Keisha Ferguson; Vice Presi
dent: Keith Richardson; Correspond
ing Secretary: Bryan Hawkins; Record
ing Secretary: Pamela Jones; Treasurer:
Valenta Wade; Attorney General: Sherri
Horner; Miss ECSU: Chrishanda
Rodgers; Mr. ECSU: Kevin Wade and
Commuter Student-at-Large is John
Livingston.
Hopefully, each officer will fulfill the
duties of their position and work
closely together to maintain the stat
ure of the Student Government Asso
ciation.
"My first priority is the students,"
said newly Vice President elect, Keith
Richardson. "I plan to attend to their
needs and desires first. Also, I would
like to bring the community and the
University together through the Viking
One Card, which is a debit card that
can be used for paying for expenses on
campus and at designated places off
campus, as well as strengthen our rela
tionship with our Alumni Chapter.
With each student, I would like to see
Viking Spirit enhanced for the better of
the individual and the University as a
whole," said Richardson.
Hawkins, Corresponding Secretary
for 2001-2002 said that his main goal is
SGA 2001-2002
Photo by James Polk
to also serve the students. "My main
goal is to make sure that students are
more informed about upcoming activi
ties and issues on campus."
Wade, Mr ECSU, added that while
serving as a representative for SGA and
the University, he plans to improve the
social life of students and establish re
lationships with ECSU alumni and stu
dents. "I plan to enhance the social
atmosphere on campus by holding
more campus wide events that involve
the students as well as administration.
I also plan to implement more athletic
support, expand the University's per
sona by visiting local high schools,
other college campuses and by invit
ing other college students to ECSU. I
would also like to establish an alunmi-
student mentorship program to help
prepare students for the future," said
Wade.
The new SGA members are currently
preparing for their tenure as SGA for
the the next school year.
A Reflection of Destiny 2000’s
James Polk II
J CP.ecsu_sga@lycos.com
As another academic year draws to a
close, so does the tenure of eight vi
sionary Viking Leaders. This octet is
better known as Destiny 2000. This
group embarked upon this experience
with the anticipation, motivation and
determination. The climax of the Des
tiny 2000 era concludes 11 months of
frustrations, disappointments, confron
tations and confusion marked by jubi
lation, camaraderie, maturation and
extreme appreciation.
Destiny 2000 began with the objec
tive of implementing new innovative
ideas with cooperative administrative
relationships. And, in addition, to bring
about mass student participation to in
voke inevitable change. Destiny 2000's
motto was "Honoring Tradition, Des
tined for Change." It was with this
mindset that they set in motion, initia
tives, backed by morals and values,
that would greatly contribute to the
welfare of the students of Elizabeth City
State University.
From their inaugural gala in April of
2000 the eight leaders began to enhance
the infrastructure of the Student Gov
ernment Association. They dedicated
themselves to working for the student
body. Learning the strengths, weak
nesses and personalities of one another,
this executive team began to take shape.
Each individual identity began to maru-
fest into a cohesive unit. Each unique
image began to come into focus. The
collective individuals, under the
advisorship of Mr Paul Bryant decided
to sacrifice their summer to adequately
prepare for the upcoming year. Some
what disjointed, the group was com
pelled to operate with its President,
Albert Walker III, studying abroad.
Consequently, the group had to com
municate utilizing various types of elec
tronic mediums. Throughout the en
tire summer, the group prided them
selves, individually, in honing their in
herent leadership skills.
On August 15, 2000, Destiny 2000
was born. President Walker and Vice-
President Zack Hawkins led the way
in constructing the mission of the group
while other SGA members, Shaleka
Eley, Felicia Taylor, Tremaine Roberts
and Keisha Ferguson helped to define
the objectives. Waquita Lane and J.C.
Polk were able to assist in crafting the
overall strategic plan for the group.
Destiny 2000 was a unique core of in
dividuals that brought their diverse
backgrounds together to serve the
University's students.
The brink of the new year brought
forth many challenges. The first and
most influential was the establishment
of a new advisor. Mrs. Janet Lewis-
White was appointed the primary ad
visor for Destiny 2000. Both Destiny
2000 and Mrs. White were new to the
roles and duties of Student Govern
ment. However, as time moved on and
obstacles were eradicated, the processes
and logistics to student leadership be
came ever so apparent. Mrs. White's
faith in Destiny 2000 empowered them
to think with a new paradigm and with
limitless visions. The support and ad
vocacy that she provided for Destiny
2000 propelled them to believe that
anything was possible - even an out
door Step Show extravaganza. Two
Tenure
notable accomplishments of Destiny
2000 was the introduction of new stu
dent programs and the resurgence of
student political involvement. New
programs were organized that brought
upperclassmen out of the room because
of curiosity and freshmen out to ex
hibit their school spirit. The Viking Voy
age to Destiny, Winter Homecoming
2kl, and the soon Vikingfest 2kl serve
as prime examples of Destiny 2000's
attempt to change the paradigm of stu
dent activities. New events such as the
Midnight Breakfast, 25 cents wings in
the Viking Den, the Viking Olympiad
and Viking Vision at the Gateway Cin
ema were first-ever events.
Secondly, Destiny 2000 helped to
bring about the political awareness, as
they were staunch advocators for the
Capital Facilities Improvement Bond
Referendum as well as the local, state,
and national elections. Destiny 2000
was able to generate the largest stu
dent voter turnout in the last four years.
Other notable accomplishments for the
group included the resurrection of the
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