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VOL. 9
WINSTON-SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY
May 1990
Students' Protest Teacher's Dismissal
By Chuck Hanes
Approximately 50 WSSU
students marched out of the R.J.
Reynolds Business Building,
carrying signs that said, “ listen
to the students “ and “ keep the
teachers that want to teach “, on
March 30 at noon.
The march was targeted at
the administration for not rehir
ing Alfred McDonald Jr., assis
tant professor of accounting.
McDonald has taught at WSSU
for two years and students have
grown to respect and admire him
for his teaching abilities. Many
students feel that because he
didn’t have a Ph.d., he was
treated unfairly by the admini
stration. They also feel that he
can teach better than some of his
colleagues that have higher de
grees.
The students were also dem
onstrating because they fee they
have no “ say-so " when it comes
to academics and school prob
lems. One example includes the
sudden rise in tuition. The uni
versity system raised the tuition.
Students claim if tuition goes up,
some of them can’t afford it.
’S.
Sign held by student expresses feelings of many students. Photo: Hanes
On April 2, a second
march for students rights was
held. It began at Blair Hall and
circled the campus and returned
to Blair Hall where campus
police were stationed. It be
gan with 30 students, but the
crowd grew to 80 by noon.
Students were chanting,
campus power ," and " fight
the power."
Chancellor Cleon Th
ompson came outside to ad
dress the students. Students
felt that now they would get
some answers. When asked
about what was being done
about the issues, Chancellor
Thompson replied, “ the ad
ministration has reviewed
some of the complaints and
will be looking into them fur
ther “. The students didn’t be
lieve the Chancellor and
started shouting that nothing
has been done.
So, where does this leave
WSSU students? Some feel
that the protest did accom^jlish
the goal of standing up and
being heard. Other meetings
have been arranged for stu
dents to talk with Chancellor
Thompson and the administra
tion.
Johnson Responds To Students' Protest
By Kim Copeland
“It reminds me that student
input is essential if we expect
to strengthen Winston-Salem
State University,” according to
Dr. Alex Johnson, Vice chan
cellor of academic affairs in an
interview held April 11.
Students launched protests
on March 30, 1990 and April
2, 1990 to express their con
cerns about the conditions of
the cafeteria, the dorms, and
the dismissal of faculty mem
bers among other concerns.
Students feel that their needs
both socially and academi
cally are being overlooked by
administration, and that a stu
dent march would ensure
them the recognition they
wanted.
“Peaceful demonstrations
have a significant heritage in
this country, particularly
when individuals are striving
for civil and social equality.
I have no problems with dem
onstrations, but I feel however
in the end you’ve got to have
an agreement between the par
ties involved so the demonstra
tions don’t become confronta
tional," explained Johnson. Stu
dents have expressed the need
to be part of the decision mak
ing process and would also like
to be better informed. The stu
dents would like to know what
is going on around campus be
fore it gets the media’s atten
tion. They would like to know
first hand. Dr. Johnson says
that there are channels for stu
dents to voice their concems,
and that this could be done
through a committee structure,
the Chancellor’s Student Ad
visory Committee, or by talk
ing with specific staff mem
bers, but it must be dealt with
through the statutes.
As far as the expelling of
students who did not return
to class Dr. Johnson said,”I
See Johnson page 4