Overcoming:
Ronald Williams is beating the odds
Getting Ready:
page4
Bobby Collins named new had basketball coach
page6
The News Argus
www.thenewsargus.com
Winston-Salem State University’s Student Newspaper
Sept. 18,2006
Dr. Martin moves on to position with UNC system;
Dr. Michelle Howard-Vital new interim chancellor
By: Erin C. Perkins
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
For the last six years, Dr.
Harold L. Martin Sr has
served as chancellor of
Winston-Salem State
University. He was recently
named senior vice president
for academic affairs of the
16-campus University of
North Carolina system by
UNC Board of Governors on
the recommendation of
UNC President Erskine
Bowles. However, the loss
of former chancellor Martin
is bittersweet.
At the same time WSSU
has lost an honorable and
notable leader, it has
gained another outstanding
leader and educator: Dr
Michelle Howard-Vital, who
became interim chancellor
on July 17.
Prior to her role as the
12th chief administrator of
WSSU, Howard-Vital was
the UNC system associate
vice president for academic
affairs. She worked on a
team responsible for pro
gram planning and coordi
nation across the 16 cam
puses of the UNC. Among
other duties, she also pro
vided leadership to post
secondary institutions seek
ing state licensure for
degree programs.
At first glance. Dr
Howard-Vital might strike a
visitor as being strictly busi
ness, but her cordial and
personable nature is an easy
invite for a friendly chat or
a heart-to-heart conversa
tion.
Perhaps that is why — for
the students who have yet
to meet her — Howard-Vital
wants them to know she has
a devoted “love for teaching
and learning,” and she
encourages students “to feel
free to stop and tell me
about themselves.”
Her attraction to Winston-
Salem was not only because
it is an artsy city, largely
diverse and continuovisly
growing, but also because of
the overwhelming “beauty
and cleanliness” of the
WSSU campus.
It was just the “right
size,” she adds.
Howard-Vital envisions
WSSU as a growing universi
ty with substantial poten
tial. “I want to push beyond
current boundaries.” She
said there is land surround
ing the campus that would
be ideal to purchase. “I
want to continue to pursue
Photo courtesy of WSSU Media Relations
Howard-Vital (right) steps in as new interim chancellor
our centers of excellence,
to attract good faculty and
in turn attract more stu
dents.”
Attracting more students
may be a challenge the new
chancellor will face,
Howard-Vital said. “We need
to redesign the enrollment
management system. We
need to be more attractive
to higher-achieving stu
dents,” she said.
Howard-Vital is also aware
of the current sta^erinjs
and slow financial aid
process many students are
enduring.
“We need to make the
financial aid process more
user friendly, it is not as fast
as it could be. The staff
needs to remember that
the student is a customer”
She added that, although a
staff person may have a
long day, it is important to
have “patience and treat
each student like the first
student.” She continues,
“There needs to be an
institutional change. Book
vouchers should be given
the first week, if not before.
The entire administration
wants to work on this.”
Another challenge facing
WSSU’s new chancellor is
balancing growth with
resources. According to
Howard-Vital, the expcctcd
student population in 2012
will be 8,000. This is a sig
nificant increase from the
current population of
approximately 6,000. She
also suggested continuing
with progression in sports
and more staff for Division
I athletes. She also thinks
there should be a program
implemented to work with
K-12 students to pipeline
them to encourage admis
sion.
With all the challenges
that might face the new
chancellor, is it possible that
Howard-Vital might apply
for the permanent position
and put her suggestions
into actions?
“That's the question
everyone wants an answer
to,” she said. Her answer?
A simple “maybe.”
In addition to tackling the
many issues and challenges
she endures from day to
day as interim chancellor,
Howard-Vital is not “all
work and no play.” To wind
down from her hectic
schedule, she relaxes
through various leisure
activities.
“I garden because I love
plants and flowers,” she
said. “I roller skate with my
family.” As a matter of fact,
she and her husband, Geri
R. Vital, met in a roller rink
dancing on skates, she
added. She not only stays
mentally strong, but also
physically strong. “1 enjoy
working out as well,” she
said.
As a woman in a unique ♦
position, Howard-Vital
offered a few words of
advice for any student seek
ing high-profile business
careers:
“Be mentored by a
woman or man in your pro
fession. Always be persist
ent; sometimes you don't
get what you want when
you want it.”
She also encourages stu
dents not to worry about
sexual stereotypes.
“Maneuver stereotypes;
they are others* problems,
not yours.”
A native of Chicago,
Howard-Vital holds a doc
torate in public policy
analysis from the University
of Illinois-Ghicago campus.
She also earned master’s
and bachelor’s degrees in
English language and litera
ture from The University of
Chicago.
She and her husband
have one daughter,
Madelyn.
Coach Blount and the Rams take the “1-40 Showdown” trophy back to WSSU.
Photo courtesy of WSSU Media Relations
Saturday
Night
Lights
In football, Rams beat
Aggies in renewal of
1-40 Showdown’
Steven J. Gaither
NEWS ARGUS SPORTS EDITOR
The renewed rivalry between
Winston-Salem State University
and North Carolina A&T; got off to
a great start for the Rams. In front
of 21,500 screaming fans in Aggie
Stadium, the Rams defeated the
North Carolina A&T Aggies 41-14.
It was the first time the two
schools had met on the football
field since 1999.
The Rams took the opening kick-
off and drove down the field, cap
ping the drive with a 28-yard field
goal by Marvin Umanzor
to take a 3-0 lead. After forcing a
fumble deep in Aggie territory,
Tionti Powell went around the
defense for a nine-yard score, giv
ing the Rams a 10-0 lead. Brandon
McRae ended the first quarter with
a 38-yard touchdown run.
The Aggies’ finally got on the
board with a 5-yardtouchdown run
by Michael Caldwell. The Rams
closed out the first half with a field
goal and a 31-yard touchdown pass
from Monte Purvis to wide out Josh
Crawford, giving the Rams a 27-7
lead going into the half.
The second half got off to a
promising start for the Aggies as
they drove down the field and
second string quarterback
Wayne Campbell connected with
Andre Garth, making the score
27-14. Unfortunately for the
Aggies, that was the last time
they would sniff the end zone.
The Rams continued to pound
the ball on the ground, closing
out the game with scoring nms
by McRae, and Herman Blount.
The Ram defense dominated
the Aggies’, holding them to
less than 200 yards of total
offense. The Aggies only made it
into the red-zone twice and
converted on just two of seven
third-down conversion attempts.
The Rams offense, anchored by
Powell (92 yards, 1 td, 7.1 avg),
and McRae (81 yds, 2 yds, 6.8
avg), gained 282 yards on the
ground.
“Their backs ran with a lot of
authority and they were more
physical up front,” said A&T;
coach Lee Fobbs Jr., who suffered
his first defeat as a head coach.
“They smacked us in the mouth,”
Winston-Salem native and
A&T quarterback Herbert Miller
said.
The win was significant for
a number of reasons. For one,
it evened WSSU’s record at 1-1.
It also was the Rams first win as
a member of Division I-AA. The
win also marked the first time
WSSU defeated the Aggies since
1991.
Coach Kermit Blount reached a
personal milestone as he defeated
A&T as a head coach for the first
time in five tries. “We played a
good team, they'll be a lot
better by the end of the season”
said Blount, who defeated
the Aggies twice as quarterback
for the Rams in 1977 and ’78.
Blount admitted that, while
defeating the rival Aggies felt dif
ferently from the sidelines as
opposed to the field, there was a
little nostalgia in the air.
“Seeing 33-14 (in the 3rd quar
ter) on the scoreboard, 1 had a
flashback to 1977,” he said.