since 1960 '‘of. by, and for the Wesleyan community”
December 14, 2007
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA 27804
MH-Baylor Chills Bishops After First Round Upset
By Jenna Davis
Decree Staff Writer
It’s been four years in the making,
but NC Wesleyan’s football team has
reached “unprecedented heights.” It all
started in 2004 when head coach Jack
Ginn was at the helm of 186 fresh faces.
Now, four years later, with a squad of
about 140 men, Ginn and his team won
their first ever conference championship
and the memory of their first ever
playoff appearances. Senior linebacker
Brian Binkley summed it up best, “In
only our fourth year, I believe we have
reached unprecedented heights.”
The Bishops had a rocky start this
season, tallying two losses to Wesley
College and Widener University. But the
Bishops would find their groove after
their win over Emory and Henry College.
The Bishops took their momentum
and carried it all the way through the
USA South Conference, becoming the
first team ever in USA South Confer
ence history to be the undefeated
champions. There has never before
been an outright champion in the USA
South Conference.
Coach Ginn described his team’s
season as “a very exciting year. (It was)
a lot of new steps for our program. I
couldn’t be happier with the progress
we’ve had over the last four years.”
The Bishops continued on to
receive their first playoff bid. The team
traveled to Washington, Pennsylvania
to take on Washington and Jefferson
College, the number-one seed in
the Bishops’ division. The Bishops
received an eighth-seed.
The game was close all the way
to overtime. W&J struck first with a
24-yard pass from quarterback Bobby
Swallow. The Bishops would answer
right back, though, tying the game at
the beginning of the second 7-7.
Again it was W&J with another
touchdown pass, but this time the extra
point was blocked by defensive back
Davon Collins, who would block yet
another extra point and a field goal in
the second half.
Late in the fourth quarter W&J returned
a fumbled field goal but wasn’t able to
complete the drive and had to settle for a
blocked field goal instead. The Bishops
had the opportunity to win the game
when they drove the field and attempted a
29-yard field goal. The kick was no good
and Wesleyan went into overtime.
Wesleyan received the ball first in
overtime, racking up a touchdown
and bouncing in the extra point. W&J
would answer right back, though, with
a touchdown. But they faked the kick
on the extra point and tried to run the
ball. Senior Justin Augustine wasn’t
fooled, though, and stopped the run
four yards from the goal line. This
gave the Bishops a 35-34 win.
With their win, Wesleyan made
history again. The Bishops became the
first ever 8th-seeded team to knock off
a number one seed in the first round of
NCAA National Playoffs. According to
Coach Ginn, “The playoffs are a unique
experience and opportunity. To win
your first playoff game is a big deal.
I’m proud of the way they performed.”
The Bishops then moved on to the
second round to face Mary-Hardin
Baylor in Belton, Texas.
This game was probably not the
way the Bishops were looking to end
their season. Amid the wind, rain, and
freezing cold, the Bishops suffered a
Trustee to New Grads: Be Adaptable in New Economy
By Ken Kornegay culture, and industry dictates tlwt you contextual inteUigence, and
Decree Staff Writer
Donna Sylver, Trustee Board Mem
ber and 1990 NCWC alum, stressed
the “necessity of adaptability” in an
animated commencement speech to fall
Wesleyan graduates about to enter the
fast-changing global economy.
She is the Senior Vice President and
Chief of Finance Officer at Mutual
Community Savings in Durham. After
graduation from Wesleyan, she became a
certified public account and obtained her
MBA from UNC-Chapel Hill. She has been
in the banking industry for eight years.
Sylver addressed the graduates and
their families during the 10 a.m. ceremony
at Minges Auditorium. The ceremony
included 175 smdents from the aduh
degree and traditional day programs who
had registered to graduate.
“The dynamics of our global market and
the rapid shift in technology, competition.
constantly read the tea leaves, predict
where things are headed, and be ahead of
the game,” said Sylver. “What you know
today may be useless tomorrow unless
you constantly retool and stay current with
emerging issues and changes. Economic
globalization—and especially the increasing
tendency for goods and services consumed
in the U.S., to be produced offshore in
countries like Mexico, India, and China—is
probably one of the greatest threats to our
current and fumre well-being.”
Given the global dynamics, she
offered advice for survival in the
changing environment. “How do you
adapt, or position yourself at the crest
of the information age, and the dawn of
the creative age?” Sylver suggested a
threefold strategy:
1. Brand yourself and develop your
value proposition,
2. Become a voracious consumer of
NCWC Axes Women’s LAX
By Decree Staff
Team members reacted with shock
and dismay on hearing the news that
the Wesleyan lacrosse program has
been eliminated after just two years in
existence.
“It’s not fair,” said senior Allie
Style, last year’s leading scorer with 46
goals and 9 assists.
Mikey Case was so frustrated by
the college’s decision that she initiated
a one-woman protest. During the last
month of the semester, she tied her
lacrosse stick to her back and kept it on
all day as she strolled around campus.
In announcing their decision, col
lege officials cited the low number of
athletes who came to Wesleyan to play
lacrosse and noted that several team
members were recruited from other
sports such as soccer.
The team was comprised of 16
players during both the 2006 and
2007 seasons, according to the athletic
department. Last season, there were 13
players who appeared in at least half
of the lacrosse team’s 16 games. Three
others played in four or fewer.
Kathleen Penrod, a Houston
native, entered Wesleyan last year as
a lacrosse recruit and played in eight
games during the spring season before
a back injury sidelined her. She said
that she and her teammates were an
gered by the college’s decision. “Some
were recruited to play and others found
the sport in college and fell in love
with it, only to have it disappear,” she
said. “I feel betrayed.”
Cary Trump, a dual athlete in
soccer and lacrosse, said the decision
to eliminate the lacrosse program and
dismiss Coach Lorin Smith-Titus had
hit the team hard. Trump noted that she
planned to transfer to East Carolina
University, in part because of the recent
moves.
“It was all very surprising. We just
got the sport” in 2005, said Trump,
adding that many lacrosse players
were among the top students on
campus and that the team was a strong
participant in volunteer efforts such
as “Cans across America.” Like Case
and Penrod, Trump is a member of the
Honors Program.
see LACROSSE on pg 4
64-0 loss. This was the first time the
Bishops had ever been shut out during
their four-year history.
When asked about the loss. Coach
Ginn stated his only regret was that
they didn’t learn anything from it. “I
wish we knew more about where we
stood with Mary-Hardin Baylor. I don’t
believe they are a team that’s 64 points
better than us.”
Despite their loss, the Bishops have
made USA South Conference history
and school history, setting the tone for
years to come.
Mikey Case protested the elimination
of the lacrosse team by wearing her
lacrosse stick on her back during the last
month of the semester. Decree staff Photo
3. Embrace diversity.
Of the 175 graduates, more than half
came from business and accounting. The
majors break down as follows: business
(84), justice studies (33), accounting (20),
computer information systems (14),
psychology (15), exercise science (7), history
(3), biology (3), elementary education (3),
English (3X sociology (2), chemistry (1),
pre-med (1), math (1), and theatre (1). Thirty
students graduated with double-majors.
The Baccalaureate Service, featuring
an address by Wesleyan Chaplain Barry
Drum, was held Friday night in conjunc
tion with the Senior Dinner at the Dunn
Center for the Performing Arts.
The Senior Class Dinner was held in the
Gamer Lobby following a reception. In a
new feature of the dinner, attendees heard a
speech by a student from each of the three
Wesleyan campuses: Dinah Uzzell-Tootle
(Goldsboro), Courtnay Avery (Tri
angle) and Kelvin Clark (Rocky Mount).
Entertainment included a brief performance
by the Wesleyan Players.
Earlier in the day, the Alumni
Association sponsored a Senior Brunch
in the Blue and Gold Cafe.
In the days leading up to weekend
ceremonies, seniors were finishing up
their final assignments, and a little too
busy to contemplate graduation.
Jessica Jones, an English major, stated,
“I hope to God that it is over.” Jones
said that she still had a paper to finish and
presentations to prepare before she could sit
back and reflect on her years at Wesleyan.
Shonecia Williams, a history major,
said, “I got to get through the next few
days before I’m going to get exited.”
Like Jones, Williams has an upcoming
senior seminar presentation that she
has to give, amongst other grueling
tasks she must complete before the big
day. She also said that she would miss
Dr. Finney’s stories, her friends, and
running back and forth to the writing
lab to check Facebook.
While Jones and Williams still have
assignments to complete, Cornelius
Grimsley, a computer information
systems major, displayed his feelings
regarding graduation. “Right now. I’m
hyped but I’m still in disbelief that it
is almost over,” he said. He added that
he would be fine by graduation day.
Grimsley referred back to the times
when he was an RA. He stated, “I’m
going to miss the days of chilling with
friends in the cafe, my SAAB brothers,
and creating fun when there was none.”
There are many different emotions for
the graduating seniors. Some still have a
tremendous amount of pressure to meet
deadlines, while others are sad that their
undergraduate careers are almost ended.
m
North Carolina Wesleyan defensive back Jezreel Davis was selected to play for the
American Football Coaches Association's Division III all-starteam. Davis was one of 50
NCAA Division III seniors from around the country who made the team, which repre
sented the United States against the Mexican National Team in the 2007 Aztec Bowl on
December 8th in Chihuahua, Mexico. Davis was a first team All-USA South selection for
the Bishops in 2007 after tying NCWC's single-season record for interceptions (four)
and setting the career mark with 11. Courtesy of Sports Information
NC Wesleyan Negotiating
Sale of Carlton House
By Joyce Collins
Decree Staff Writer '
There is some good and bad news
for students who are interested in
rooming at die Carlton House. Good
news: Some of the CH rooms will be
available to students who would like to
room there. Bad news: You will have to
pay for the room like other apartment
complexes around town, not from your
room and board fees.
The college is considering an offer
from a group headed by local basketball
hero and businessman Phil Ford.
Since fall 2005, the Carlton House
has been used by NCWC as an
ofT-campus student residence, though it
was closed tiiis past fall, due in part to
an effort to help the city conserve water
during this year’s severe drought.
According to officials, the Carlton
House did not go as well as planned.
“We only had limited success with it,”
said Dr. Ian Newbould, Wesleyan’s
President. “We put more into it than we
were getting out of it.”
He said that the Carlton House still
needs more investment and tiiat it was
supposed to attract students who were
planning on moving off campus, as
well as bring back students who were
already living off campus.
When local newspapers revealed that
the Carlton House was for sale, it attracted
the interest of several possible buyers.
Senior Ashley Harris said that
NCWC can find money to support the
athletic department but cannot invest
in revamping the Carlton House. “Our
school can afford to send the football
team to different places, but they
can’t even renovate the dorms or give
deserving students a decent place to
live. They should have kept the Carlton
House open for seniors and students
who know how to act. I wouldn’t mind
living back over there.”
Dr. Newbould could not disclose the
amount that the property will fetch for
the college. But he said that the monies
are going to be set aside rather than put
into the general operating budget. “We
have not decided what to do with the
funds,” said Dr. Newbould.
One student felt that because the
student body did not have a choice in
determining whether the Carlton House
is sold, then students should at least
have input in how the proceeds are
distributed.
“I understand that school officials
have to make business decisions like
this,” said senior Sureka Barnes.
“But because the CH was donated
to Wesleyan and was supposed to be
an alternative housing for on campus
students, I feel that we should have
had some say-so in determining the
future of the money. And since it is
being sold, maybe officials should ask
students where some of the money
should go. Perhaps funds could go to
lowering the prices of books, increas
ing campus activities, or reinvesting it
into the residence halls we have now.”
Junior Jessica Daniel, a former
resident advisor for the Carlton
see CARLTON HOUSE on pg 4