ANTONIO BARRONV
SAYS GOODBYE
PAGE 2
TEACHER
OF THE YEAR
-PAGE 3
GRADUATING
SENIORS
NEW SGA
LEADERS
PAGE 8
Vol. 68. No.3
Circulation 2.200
The Compass
Elizabeth City State University’s award-winning student newspaper
Elizabeth City, NC
Mav 9.2003
RUFFIN TO DELIVER
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
Kymber Lee Taylor
Co-Editor
Kltavlor2 @ hotmail.com
Mr. Benjamin J. Ruffin, former
chairman of the University of North
Carolina Board of Governors and civil
activist will be the keynote speaker
when Elizabeth City State University
holds its 136’^ annual commence
ment on Saturday, May 10’^
The ceremony will be held in Roe
buck Stadium beginning at 9 a.m.
“Mr. Ruffin is an outstanding North
Carolinian who has given much of him
self through public service for decades.
Across North Carolina and the nation,
Mr. Ruffin enjoys the reputation as a
talented and hard-working man who
cares passionately for all North Caro
linians, but particularly those who are
economically and otherwise disadvan
taged,” Chancellor Mickey L. Burnim
said.
THE JOURNEY
CONTINUES FOR
GRADUATING SENIORS
“You can achieve whatever you set out to accomplish.
A positive attitude, coupled with a strong aptitude, will
determine your altitude in life.”
- Benjamin J. Ruffin
Mr. Ruffin made history in 1998,
when he was elected the first African-
American chairman of the University of
North Carolina Board of Governors, the
policy-making body of the 16-campus
university system. In addition, he is the
president of The RUFFIN Group, a con
sulting firm in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina.
”To whom much is given, much is
required,” is Ruffin’s philosophy, which
Ruffin has demonstrated in his own life.
Ruffin has served in several cor
porate and grassroot positions, includ
ing vice president of R. J. Reynolds To
bacco Company, and as vice president
and special assistant to
Lacey House
Staff Reporter
LAHOUSE@mail.ecsu.edu
As one chapter ends another
begins for the graduating seniors of
Elizabeth City State University.
Some will be heading off to gradu
ate school; others will be searching
the job market for that one job to
jump-start their careers.
Stephanie Miller would like to
land a job in Virginia with the De
partment of Social Services in hope
to better the lives of others.
“A lot of people employed with
the Department of Social Services
lack a lot of the skills and education
to help clients and I really want to
make a difference,” Miller said.
Graduate school seems to be
in the future for Antonio Barrow. “I
want to go to graduate school at
East Carolina University to get my
masters in English, but I also want
to enroll in Johnson and Wales Cu
linary Arts School. Since my mind
isn’t made up yet I plan to teach at
home or in a surrounding area,”
Barrow said.
Whatever path the graduating
seniors choose, the road they have
already paved through their college
experience has been filled with
memories, from the first time they
arrived at ECSU, to the relationship
“I will miss my friends who
stood by me, those I hardly saw,
the new friends I made, and a
few caring professors.”
- Antonio Barrow
(or lack of relationship) they have
formed with roommates, to attending
basketball games and other sport
events and to belonging to and attend
ing Greek events.
“My most memorable moment at
ECSU was when I joined my sorority.
Delta Sigma Theta. I’m going to miss
my sisters,” Chaquella Worthington
said.
Throughout the four years that
most seniors spent at ECSU, the
friendships created between class
mates will never be forgotten. Friends
were there to help each other deal with
anything, such as the stress from ex
ams, relationships some bad, being
there through the bouts of home-sick-
ness, or just hanging out.
“I will miss my friends who stood
by me, those I hardly saw, the new
friends I made, and a few caring pro
fessors,” Barrow said.
Photo courtesy of University Relations
please see RUFFIN p.4
please see JOURNEY pg.3
INCENTIVE SCHOLARSHIP DISSOLVED
Susan Correll-Hankinson
Co-Editor
If you are interested in getting a
scholarship at Elizabeth City State
University next year you should be
aware that changes in ECSU’s schol
arship programs are set to take place
July 1. These come as the result of
the General Assembly of North Caro
lina enacting Senate Bill 1115 and the
March 5 approval of the ECSU Board
of Trustees.
Changes include combining five
existing scholarship programs at
ECSU into one program to be known
as the University of North Carolina
Campus Scholarship. Dr. Gerald
McCants, Assistant to the Chancel
lor for Enrollment, Management,
Planning and Research, said that the
change is providing flexibility in the
scholarship awarding process.
Examples of this flexibility are
that the UNC Campus Scholarships are
offered to students statewide as op
posed to just the 21 counties of east
ern North Carolina, and more students
will receive more funds. Previously,
approximately 500 students benefited
yearly from the ECSU Incentive Pro
gram receiving an average of $2,400.
ECSU plans to offer, under the UNC
Campus Scholarship, approximately
500 scholarships at an average of
$3,100 each. The amount awarded will
depend on the need base and eligibil
ity of the student.
The scholarship programs that are
to be combined into the UNC Cam
pus Scholarship are the Minority
Presence Grants, Minority Pres
ence Grants-ll, Incentive Scholar
ship Program for Native Ameri
cans, ECSU Incentive Program,
and the Legislative College Oppor
tunity Program. The funds each of
these programs received prior to
the effective date of the UNC Cam
pus Scholarship will remain the
same but under the new name.
Currently, those funds represent
the following: ECSU Incentive
Scholarship ($1.5 million); Minor
ity Presence Grants I and II ($46,190)
and Legislative College Opportunity
Program ($73,306).
“Students already in the pro
grams, who remain eligible, will be
grandfathered into the UNC Campus
Scholarship,” McCants said.
ECSU is not required to have a
community service requirement for
students to receive grants from the
UNC Campus Scholarship. This is
unlike the original Incentive Scholar
ship Program, which was made avail
able in 1987. Students were required
to work in a community service ca
pacity for funds to cover their school
fees. McCants said that losing these
student workers will have some im
pact on ECSU as well as the local
community. ECSU students work
throughout the community for various
non-profit organizations.
please see Scholarships pg 3
“Students already in the programs,
who remain eligible, will be
grandfathered into the UNC Campus
Scholarship.’* Gerald l\/lcCants