North Carolina Central University
wember Issue. ^ „
One of 13 black speech pathologists in the state
Rare profession spurs Donell Lewis
By Brian Davis
Staff Writer
Dr. H. Donell Lewis, coor
dinator of the North Carolina
Central University graduate
program in speech and hearing
and director of the speech-
hearing-language department
is one of only 13 black speech
pathologists in the state.
Because he’s a rarity, Lewis
had the distinction of being
featured in a 1987 issue of
“Ebony” magazine.
“They were looking for
blacks with unusual careers
and they found me,” he says.
“There are not too many
speech pathologists and
audiologists in the country.
Less than 10 percent have their
Ph.D.s. I am one, and five are
at Howard University.”
Lewis is one of 45,000
speech pathologists in the
country; less than four percent
are minorities, and 2000 are
black.
Asked exactly what a speech
pathologist does, Lewis says:
“First, a speech pathologist
diagnoses and attempts to
remediate the effects of com
munication disorders—voice
problems, stuttering, hearing
and dialectical problems.”
According to Lewis, black
students are often discouraged
from going into the field; they
are told that they do not have
adequate verbal skills. Lewis
asserts that since most blacks
seeking careers in speech
pathology have to attend white
institutions to get their train
ing, they are very impres
sionable and easily discourag
ed by white professors.
Lewis cites the history and
evolution of black speech pat
terns as one of the reasons why
blacks shy away from the
discipline. “Blacks are told
that they have do not have the
dialectical skills to be suc
cessful, ”he says.
Lewis feels that he and his
staff can help increase the
number of blacks in the field.
The program has 17 students.
“NCCU is one of several
historically black institutions
to offer a graduate program in
speech and hearing. I get calls
everyday looking for compe
tent speech pathologists and
audiologists. We’re training as
many as we can, but we’re just
not training enough,” he says.
Lewis says that the number
of students entering his pro
gram is increasing, and so is
his clientele
NCCU’s clinic does not
charge for its services, and the
majority of its clients cannot
afford to pay the fees that
Duke and the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill
medical centers charge.
“The clinic sees 50 people
per month; 30 are seen twice a
week; and others are new
diagnostics,” Lewis says.
Lewis has a five person
staff, and each is a specialist.
Minnie Forte and Alfredia
Collins specialize in dialectial
problems, Terry Gibson deals
with early intervention and
child language, and Dr.Laura
Love is concerned with
neurological disorders and
stuttering, and Lewis tackles
speech process and hearing.
Lewis says that his students
are much older than most
graduate students (ages range
from 26-57), and some of
them travel “great distances,
as far as 50 miles” to come to
school.
Lewis has two specific goals
he would like to see ac
complished by 1992: accredita
tion for the center and the
establishment of an
undergraduate speech and
hearing program..
“We’re a great program,
the best of the six schools
(East Carolina, UNC-G,
UNC-CH, Appalachan State,
Western Carolina) that offer
speech and hearing programs
in Jhe area,” he says.
Richmond
looks to
the future
By Bobby Arnosun
North Carolina Central
University must continue to
serve as “a bridge of hope and
faith” for minorities, said Dr.
Tyronza R. Richmond at his
inauguration Saturday, Oct.
17.
Richmond is the sixth chief
administrator of this
predominantly black institu
tion, which was founded in
1910 as a national religious
training school to provide op
portunity for the politically
disadvantaged.
Under representation of
minorities, both as students
and faculty in our institutions,
is a matter of national impor
tance, he said. “NCCU will
promote teaching as a career
for our most talented
students,” he added.
Pointing out that one-third
of America is expected to be
made up of minorities by the
year 2000 and quoting Dr.
Reginald Wilson of the
American Council on Educa
tion, Richmond said, “If that
one-third of the population
has less access to higher educa
tion, you will not only have
the racially divided society
with minorities at the bottom
and whites at the top, but also
a sharply divided class of
society where poor,
uneducated people are kept
from upward mobility and
middle- and upper-class
In This Issue
Sharon Briggman-The
beautiful Miss NCCU tells all
in a candid interview. Page 2.
Qneens-Interviews with Miss
Freshman and Miss Senior.
Page 3.
NCCU Coaches Show-Editor
examines problems in the new
show. Page 4.
Letters-Metro Club
“swindled” by Tony Brown.
Page 5.
Eddie Murphy-Two students
tale of how they met Murphy.
Page 7.
Mkhaei Jackson-Review of
Jacksons’ new album “Bad”.
Page 8.
Date Rape-A close look at a
real problem. Page 10.
Jesse Jackson-James Guitard
captures Rev. Jacksons’ Oct.
10 speech announcing his bid
for president. Page 11.
-For today you have
the strength of youth
-And youth is
tommorow’s man.
-So work! Map out your life
-And with wisdom
make your plan.
“To youth,"
Langston Hughes,
1918
(people) are the only ones with
access.”
Most schools in other states
have experienced significant
decline in the enrollment of
minorities, but enrollment in
the University of North
Carolina’s 16-campus system
has increased from 14,440 in
1972 to 24,207 in 1986, Rich
mond said.
Turning to the freshman
class of the year 2000 (now 4
years old and totaling 3.6
million people), Richmond
pointed out that one-third are
non-white; 24 percent live in
poverty; 18 percent were born
out of wedlock and 54 percent
receive some form of day care.
In order to meet the diverse
educational needs of this class,
he said NCCU plans to:
• create administrative and
management systems to main
tain and enhance the universi
ty’s exemplary record of
public accountability, as well
as allow flexibility to respond
quickly to significant changes
in the education market place;
• recruit well-prepared
students;
• play a major role
economically by working in
partnership with government
and the private sector;
• intensify research efforts of
faculty and students to deal
with local problems;
See Richmond, pg.9