The Decree
VOL. 5, NO. 12 North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, N.C. FRIDAY, APRIL 27,1990
Convocation
gives awards
to achievers
AWARD WINNERS —Wesleyan students and faculty were honored for their achievements in
academics and student life during the annual Honors Convocation this month. With College President
Dr. Leslie H. Garner are (from left) Amy Seate, Garner, Greg Laughinghouse, and Jay Quigley. Seat
won the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, and Laughinghouse and Quigley shared the top honor for
the President's Cup. (Photo by Kevin Davis.)
By DAWN MCGLOHON
More than 30 students and
faculty members were honored
for their achievement in academ
ics and student life during North
Carolina Wesleyan College’s
30th Annual Honors Convoca
tion in April.
Dr. Leslie H. Garner, Jr.,
president of the College, wel
comed more than 400 visitors to
the Honors Convocation cere
mony. “As a College, we aspire
to excellence in academics and
commitment to achievement,” he
said. “We are here today to honor
those who are an essential part of
the College’s mission.”
The keynote address was
given by Daisy A. Thorp, instruc
tor of art at Wesleyan. She told
the Wesleyan students, that like
Michelangelo, they should never
be satisfied that their work was
“finished.”
“Do not rest upon your hon
ors. You are never finished. The
only real finishing school is a
cemetery,” she said.
Academic Dean of the Col
lege, Dr. Marshall Brooks, said
that Wesleyan aspires to “turn
good students into extraordinary
citizens.” He commended the
award w^ners on their self-disci
pline, commitment to high stan
dards, and compassion and serv
ice to fellow human beings. ,
Gregory Thomas Laughing
house and James Milton Quigley
were co-recipients of the
President’s Cup Award, the top
student award given to a graduat
ing senior. The award represents
academic competence, leader-
(Continued on Next Page)
^Unwanted visitor^ upsets dorm residents
By DANIELLE MECKLEY
The fluid state that North Carolina Wesleyan Col
lege is in because of its flexibility with programs and
organizations new to the school has led to various
imperfections which need to be brought to the atten
tion of those in authority, Tim Millerick remarked.
The Administration's Student Life is a fairly new in
organization. South Hall is also new at NCWC. Visi
tation policies are loosely structured and filled with
loopholes. These three unstable factors easily com
bined into a problem: Rhonda Haggins “visited” South
Hall for approximately six months without Student
Life’ becoming aware of it.
A common complaint of South Hall residents in
this peculiar case is that “we pay $10,(XX) a year to
come here, and no one should be able to stay for
nothing, especially if she doesn’t even go to to the
school,” said freshman Chad Utter.
Many South Hall residents share this view, and
Utter reviewed more than 50 signatures in a petition to
protect residents ’ rights over “unwanted” visitors, those
who far outstay their welcome.
Millerick claims most of Rhonda’s initial stays
were by the book. She had never failed to find some
one in South Hall to claim responsibility for her, as far
as he knew, and so by NCWC’s visitation policy, she
could stay. But, there is a time limit to visitations, and
six months far outweighs the limit.
“We added up all the days. She stayed six months.
And she ate free from the care, too,” Utter explains.
He’s bitter, and he feels he has a right to be. He works
constantly to pay the expenses to come here. Rhonda
only had to have someone sign her name on a piece of
paper in order to stay free of charge.
Rhonda’s bitter, too. Her ex-boyfriend, a freshman
at NCWC, broke up with her a few weeks before she
was asked to leave. She didn’t like being asked to
leave. She felt she had a right to stay. In conversation
with freshman Kristi Larson in February, 1990, Rhonda
said, “The RAs don’t have a problem with my staying
here, so I don’t see why you should,” Larson quoted
Rhonda.
The RAs of South Hall were aware that Rhonda
was staying much longer than normal visitors. But she
worked around the visitation policies, and was permit
ted to stay.
After the sixth month. Utter decided to take initia
tive, and confronted Student Life with the situation.
Once they checked into the situation, and found she
had broken the time limit of visitations, they asked her
to leave. Student Life decided she could continue to
visit NCWC, but limited her visits to weekends, ac
cording to both Millerick and freshman Todd Waters.
Millerick says the situation is unfortunate. He rec
ognized Student Life’s lack of awareness in some
aspects, such as breaches in visitation policies. Miller
ick hopes authorities will continue to pay closer atten
tion to and correct imperfections to curb such prob
lems as these in the future.