The Campus 'lehom
Friday
No. 8 Published by and for the students of North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina 27707 February 19, 1982
. .we’d like to have some imput. .
Massey leads student boycott
Students and cameraman listen to SGA president Curtis
Massey in front of the Hoey Adminstration Building. (Photo
by Jeffrey Campbell)
NAACP officer warns of 'constitutional crisis’
Voting rights forum
urges blacks to vote
By Alvis Tinnin
“There is a well coordinated attempt to change the philosophy of this
country to say if you aren’t rich you don’t count. We live in a period of
heightened racism,’’ said Ms. Althea T.L. Simmons, director of the
Washington Bureau of the NAACP, to approximately 300 people at a
voting rights forum at White Rock Baptist Church on Sunday, Feb. 14.
“A Senate subcommittee (including Sen. East R-N.C.) is trying to limit
the power of the federal courts, although our founding fathers realized the
necessity of checks and balances. We are coming close to a constitutional
crisis,’’ she declared.
Simmons described the time as one in which “black Americans must give
their all to protect the rights that many suffered to attain.’’
Ms. Simmons stressed the importance of the extension of the Voting
Rights Act. She called on black Americans to “exercise a franchise unlike
ever before.’’
Ms. Simmons urged all concerned Americans to urge their congressmen
and women to support an extension of the VotHi^-Rights Act. “All we need
is for the laws to be enforced, not new laws. The Voting Rights Act must be
extended because it is the only way that you (blacks) can have a say in what
happens to your communities,’’ said Ms. Simmons.
Simmons went on to urge’North Carolinians to put on the biggest voter
registration drive ever and promote a new deal in the United States for all
Americans. “We have a right to believe in and participate in the American
dream,’’ she added.
Trouble Funk to top
bill at mini-concert
By Calvin Lee Williams
“Drop the Bomb,’’ “E U Freeze,’’ and “Pump It Up’’ will be three of
the songs featured by Trouble Funk, a Washington, D.C. based band, who
will be the feature group during N.C. Central University’s mini-concert on
Friday, March 5, in McDougald Gymnasium, according to Curtis Massey,
SGA president.
Massey said that the mini-concert would be a warm-up for the annual spr
ing concert which is tentatively scheduled for April 2.
“Our purpose for having a mini-concert is to raise money for the spring
concert, because we lost $6,(MX) on the Homecoming Cabaret,’’ said
Massey.
“The reason for the loss was due to poor attendance by the students. We
only sold 1500 tickets to students,” said Massey.
Massey said the Homecoming caberat cost around ^12,000 and the SGA
only collected $5,0(K). They were only alloted $15,000 for Homecoming and
Spring Festival shows.
“The mini-concert will cost $10,000. If the show is a sell out, we will
make $8,000, and we will have enough money to have a Spring Festival
show. But if students don’t purchase tickets then their may not be a spring
show,” said Massey.
Tickets for the mini-concert are now on sale at $3 (limited advance) for
students, $4.50 general admission, and $6 on the day of the show. Tickets
may be purchased in the Student Union, The Chicken Hut on Fayetteville
Street and Burton’s Gulf on Alston Avenue, all which are in Durham.
Organizations question
Najla Rashad iay off’
By Alvis Tinnin
Community concern is mounting over WDUR’s recent decision to lay off
Najla Rashad, former commentator for the stations “Up Front” program
which used to address issues of concern to the black community.
A committee of several organizations has recently addressed the issue in a
flyer which read; “What is the truth about WDUR’s lay off of Najla
Rashad? A voice that spoke to black issues silenced. Let your voice be
heeu'd. Join members of the NAACP, NBIPP (National Black Independent
Political Party), Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, The
Ministereal Alliance, N.C. Association of Black Social Workers, NCCU’s
SGA, N.C. Association of Educators, and The Durham Senior Citizens
Council (in seeking an answer to this question).”
The flyers were distributed by members of the above organizations to
UNC-Chapel Hill, NCCU and the Durham community.
Ms. Rashad, responding to the organizations’ support, said, “I want to
thank all who have been in support of this effort. This concern is not
primarily individual. In these troubled times there is a great need for the
community to be informed of issues which could impact on their lives.”
By Calvin Lee Williams
“We urged students to boycott their classes not as a threat to the ad
ministration, but as a form of unity in support of having student imput
taken in a more serious manner by the administration,” said Curtis Massey,
SGA president at N.C. Central University, during the Feb. 17 boycott of
classes held in front of the Hoey Administration Building on NCCU’s cam
pus.
An estimated crowd of 300 students gathered at the administration
building at 11 a.m. to show their support for the boycott of classes organiz
ed by the SGA.
Massey said that the boycott of classes v/as only one of the issues which
was to be addressed. He said the purpose of the rally was to allow students
to accept or reject the five issues which were discussed during a special
meeting with the adminstration and student leaders. The issues were:
• An increase in the number of student representatives on the search com
mittee for the new chancellor.
• An assurance that the Student Drop List—Final Examinations for the
Spring Semester ’82 is released at least two weeks prior to exams.
• That recommendations for a commencement speaker by Senior class
representatives be accepted by the chancellor instead of him acting without
student input.
• The retirement of Dr. Cecil L. Patterson, vice-chancellor of academic af
fairs, as of June 30, 1982.
• A promise to students by the administration that the administration will
be more sensitive to student concerns at official meetings so that actions,
like a boycott of classes, will not be necessary.
As a result of the meeting, the Final Examination drop list was to be
released prior to exams and a special committee has been appointed by the
administrative council to determine how early.
The meeting consisited of Chancellor Albert N. Whiting; Vice-chancellor
of University Relations Dr. Tyrone Baines; Vice-chancellor of Financial Af
fairs George Throne; Hiliary Holloway, chairman of the NCCU board of
trustees; Massey; Donna Peerman, editor of the Eagle Yearbook; Darryl E.
Hylton, editor of Ex Umbra; Leon Rouson, SGA vice president; student
Congress' members Orlanda Sample! George Jackson, Ozella Hudson; and
Marie Gamble, SRA president; James Webb, sophomore class president;
William Barber, freshman class president; and Barry Hamilton, senior class
vice president.
Patterson, it had been thought, was supposed to retire at the end of this
year. That was incorrect according to a recent state law.
The other three points were rejected.
Massey called the boycott “a beginning,” although he was bothered by
the lack of student unity. “Students demonstrated how easily they can be
intimidated by faculty who choose to give pop quizzes and tests,” he said.
He noted that student support in the rally was small, but he felt that some
progress was made.
“I was disappointed with the turnout at the rally compared to that of
Monday’s meeting. I am even more upset with those students who attended
classes and will reap the benefits from those students who decided to deal
with the consequences of missing class,” said Massey.
Massey was also disappointed in lack of women who participated since
they make up two-thirds of the student population and should have been
upset over the new policy which states that females would need to have a
notarized excuse from their parents if the reason for missing a class or test
was not a medical or business excuse.
The policy, which came from Mrs. Mildred Trent, director of Stu
dent Life-Women, went into effect on Feb. 16, and, as of now, only affects
the female population.
“This policy serves as a prime example of why we were boycotting classes
to meet with various adminstrators to have input on the discussions affec-
McKissick pushes to honor Shepard
ting student life. The policy was not directed to the students, passed by the
Student Congress, Student Welfare-Committee or the SGA, and to the best
of my knowledge didn’t go through the office of Student Affairs, but the
women still accepted it,” said Massey.
Massey is concerned that “within the next year we wilt have four top posi
tions—the vice-chancellors of University Relations, Student Affairs and
Academic Affairs, the registrar, and a new chancellor—filled with new peo
ple.
“Faculty, staff, administrators and students need to make sure that the
persons who fill these positions will have three qualities: they must know
and understand the mission of NCCU; they must know and understand the
people that it serves; and they must know and understand the views of the
NCCU community in the future,” he said.
“We, the students, do not wish to run the university, but we’d like to
have some input in the decision making process on the higher levels that will
ultimately affect the life of students,” Massey commented.
He was referring to the Whiting’s comment on WTVD’s 11 o’clock news
Wednesday night: “Students must realize they do not run the university.
That’s not what they came here for.”
Massey explains boycott
in cafeteria speech
By Veronica M. Cogdell
“We want fair representation in both number and input,” said SGA
president Curtis Massey to a group of over 500 students in W.G. Pearson
Cafeteria Monday night, Feb. 15. “During (administrative) meetings our
opinions are heard, but not acted upon.”
Massey’s purpose for calling the meeting was to state a list of
grievances against the administration and urge the student body to unite
in a boycott of classes.
“They (the administration) don’t believe we can unite,” he said, ad
ding that the impression he got from some administrators was that
“students will only get together for a dance or to smoke pot.”
Massey charged that he sent a letter to the administration concerning
the chaos that existed during final examination period. He said that
students were embarrassed and late for exams, causing instrctors to
reschedule them. Many students were unaware of their names appearing
on thetiiipaid bills list, said Massey, who complained that the response
of Dr. Lafayette Lipscomb, assistant to the chancellor, was to stop gran
ting postponements on paying bills.
Another concern was the fact that ther was only one student represen
tative on the chancellor search committee. Massey mentioned that he
read a newspaper article that mentioned Cleon Thompson as a leading
candidate for chancellor. Rather than comment directly, Massey just
shook his head from side to side.
He complained that the senior class had “been sent on a wild goose
chase” in trying to select a commencement speaker. He noted that the
chancellor had selected someone and “we don’t even know who that per
son is.”
Since then, Massey has learned that Maynard Jackson—an alumnus of
NCCU’s law school and the former mayor of Atlanta—had accepted the
senior class invitation.
Additional comments in support of the boycott were made by several
students and a special challenge to boycott classes was given to the
freshman class by their president.
Massey announced three proposals that he hoped to put into effect
before he graduated: an annual Parents’ Day that is placed oh the univer
sity calendar, a fall break, and starting and ending dates that allow
students a better chance to obtain summer jobs. But he reminded
students that he needed their help in achieving these goals.
“If we cannot get things done in the proper manner, then we will
resort to other methods. The administartion needs to know that we can
come together as one,” he said.
Students object to NCCU name change
Compiled by Media-Journalism 3100
With Background Information by Leslie Hill
In a Nov. 23, 1981 letter to NCCU Alumni Director William P. Evans,
attorney Floyd B. McKissick announced “the creation of a major drive to
change the name of North Carolina Central University to the JAMES E.
SHEPARD UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
McKissick went on to list seven reasons for the name change, focusing
largely on the need to “permanently” honor a man of Shepard’s talents and
accomplishments.
But in a recent random poll of 126 NCCU students, 96 were against
changing the university’s name; 28 were in favor of a change to James E.
Shepard University; and 2 were uru^ecided.
Those against the name change eked several reasons, principally the fact
that NCCU is already an established name among universities and a name
change would be confusing to students and the public. To change the name,
reasoned junior public administration major Vanessa Ballard, would mean
“once again rebuilding the image of (NCCU).”
Several students reasoned that if Dr. Shepard had wanted the university
named after him, he would have done it. Senior data processing major
Pamela Parker noted that Shepard is already honored with Founder’s Day
and the James E. Shepard Library.
Kimberly Coles, a freshman drama major, felt it was important to learn
about the founder but that didn’t necessitate changing the school’s name.
But other students agreed with freshman math major Lemeuel Shelley.
“Changing the name (of NCCU) now would be making up for not doing it a
long time ago. As many names as this university has had, James E. Shepard
University should have been in existence long ago.”
NCCU has indeed had several name changes. Founded in 1910 by Dr.
Shepard, it was originally a center for religious training—The National
Religious Training School and Chatauqua. Later it was named the National
Training School. In 1923 the N.C. General Assembly gave its support and
the name changed to Durham State Normal School. In 1925 the institution
became North Carolina College' for Negroes. In 1947 the name became
North Carolina College at Durham. The 1969 General Assembly made the
institution one of the state’s regional universities and changed the name to
North Carolina Central University.
McKissick stated in his letter: “Having the University named after James
E. Shepard would be an inspiration to other Blacks who know so little
about our past; what price our ancestors paid; how they endured and how
the school finally arrived in its present glory. No white man gave us
(NCCU). It was one Black man named James E. Shepard, who gave it to us,
with help from white friends, after having fought for it and maneuvered to
get it, in spite of severe racism and unjust criticism.”
Several students supported this point. Tom Purvis, a junior business
administration major, felt the name change would establish “cultural
identity” at a time when “NCCU is in danger of losing its identity as a
black-founded institution.”
Graduate student Herman Saunders said the name change would convey
“historical significance” to the university.”
Tonya Hurdle, a sophomore business administration major, felt the
name change was important since “few black colleges are named after their
founders.”
This article was the work of the following reporters: Joe Bailey, Veronica
Cogdell, Theresa Dantzler, Daryl Goodman, E. Bernard Hansley, Thelma
Henderson, Leslie Hill, Jim Jarvis, Paschelle Mitchell, Tony Moody, Kim
Slade, and Alvis Tinnin.