r;V.^ r
THE CAMPUS ECHO
EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE
ISSUE 11
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
SEPTEMBER 3,1992
Civil Rights Attorney Named Chancellor
JULIUS CHAMBERS: NCCU's new chancellor.
Orator Tells Eagles:
’Be Too Legit To Quit'
By JASON WILLIAMS
EDITOR
One of NCCU’s mightiest
eagles will soar home Jan. 1.
Julius L. Chambers, a North
Carolina native and world-re
nowned civil rights attorney, was
unanimously selected from apool
of 97 applicants to be NCCU’s
new chancellorby the UNC Board
of Governors mi July 31.
“Juluis Chambers is a quiet,
effective leader, who has much to
contribute to his alma mater, “
said C. D. Spangler, president of
the UNC system.
Chambers graduated summa
cum laude from North Carolina
College in 1958 with a degree in
history. North Carolina College
became North Carolina Central
See CHAMBERS, page 3
University Dean Remembers Chambers
As Bright, Industrious Master of Debate
By JASON WILLIAMS
EDITOR
Once Julius Chambers returns to NCCU, he’ll
probably reminisce about hanging out at the “rail.”
In the 1950s, The “rail,” the area between the
Alexander Durm Building and Shepard dorm, was
thejdaceto socialize with friends, just like today’s
A. Elder Student Union.
The dean of the university college. Dr. Eugene
Eaves, who graduated with Chambers, remembers
their undergraduate years. “Things were quite
different. We had a dress code, the women had a
curfew, and living in Oiidley was something to be
Iffoud of.”
According to Eaves, Chidley Main’s residence
rooms hous^ thtee men, had oak- stained doors,
and occasional room checks for cleanliness. When
a particular room was unkempt, the housemother
could be heard exclaiming, “ My God, who belongs
to this pigpen!”
Eaves also remembers taking an European his
tory class with LeVonne Chambers “No one called
him Julius,” he said.
“He was an excellent debater who always had a
formatted case. He was bright, and industrious, and
he didn’t have to study long like some of us. He also
had an intellectual curiosity,’^ Eaves said. “Every
teacher was an English teacher. We all had to use
acceptable language.”
But LeVonne Chambers had mastered his articu
lation skills even further that to become president of
die student body and Alpha Phi Alpha firatemity.
With the help of the NCCU community. Eaves
believes that Chambers will provide strong, prag
matic leadership.
Busy Fresh men Adapt Well To University Life
By JASON WILLIAMS
EDITOR
“Denmaik Vessy died so that
NatTumercould revolt NatTumer
revolted so that Rosa Parks could
sit down. Rosa Parks sat down so
that King could march. King
marched so that Jesse Louis Jack-
son could run, and Jackson ran so
that NCCU could fly.”
This message came from “pro-
fessiMial orator” Patricia Russell-
McQoud, who spoke last Aug. 26
at B. N. Duke Auditorium.
Russell- McCloud, who has a
recorded speech in the Congres
sional Record of the United States,
Tf Not You-Who, If Not Now -
When?’ (H 3661), May 14,1980,
was well knovm to her audience
frMn previous speaking engage
ments.
“I heard from a co-worker at
Duke University that Russetl-
McQoud was a very dynamic
speaker. I always want to suf^rt
NCCU, and it’s good to hear an
inspirational message in times like
these,” said ’89 alumna Tonya
Gerald.
Freshman Nate Todd had also
heard the same thing.
“Its good to learn something to
last throughout the years,” he said.
Russell-McCloud encouraged
her listeners to be exceptional and
to maximize their talents: “Yester
day is a cancelled check and tomor
row is a promissory note. But, to
day is cash” she said.
She repeatedly exhorted to ev
eryone to be “too legit to quit,” and
imitated the familiar hand sign
Hammer used in the video.
Russell-McGoud reafrinned the
needoteuucatiMi: “Youmusthave
a plaa Think about where you go-
ingtobeinthenextfiveto lOyears.
You need to decide.”
She reminded everyone at we’re
“eight years from the 21 st century”
and yet racism is still prevalent.
“Racism is just like rain,” she said.
“It’s either falling or gathering up
somewhere.”
Yet she is not discouraged. “One
person to make the difrerence and
start a chain reaction,” she said.
Throughout her presentation,
McQoud made many refererices to
the great minds of African-Ameri
can leaders and artists, such as W.
E. B. Du Bois, Frederick Douglass,
Alex Hailey and Malcolm X. She
said thank you in at least eight
languages, including Swahili, as
she closed hermessage.” The world
is looking for those who are ready
to tackle the 21 st century,” she said.
“We are looking for those who are
too legit to quit! “
By DEZMONAMIZELLE
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Anxious, excited, ai^rehensive:
and homesick, but tilled with the:
thrill of new freedom and new ex
periences—such were the emotions!
of freriunen as they arrived on cam
pus August 18.
They come from everywhere,
with different backgrounds, dif
ferent attitudes, different ideas and
different personalities. But they
all want to graduate, arxl they all
Vkaam q1 lattiA ftin alrana tlip
Korie Burrow
way—ana they seem to be.
Korie Burrow, 18, a psychol
ogy major from Raleigh, speaks
for much of the freshman class: “I
already miss Mom and food at
home, but there is so much to do,
and it is fun meeting new people.”
She says she has found the stu
dents and professors friendly and
helpful.
The friendliness of the students
and the traditional small college
atmosphere also attracted Kimberly
Hood to North Carolina Central
University from her home in Fort
Washington, Maryland. Her fa
ther and sister are NCCU alumni.
The class of 1996 was already
busy with cultural and social ac
tivities a week before classes be
gan. Reggae in the Bowl and a
Beach Party at Chidley Hall gave
freshmen a chance to get to know
one another. Kharlon Galbreath,
a fresfiman from Fayetteville,
summed up the experience:
“There has been plenty to do; this
is just a great place to be! “
The best part of the freshman
experience may be yet to come. As
Korie Burrow put it, thebestpartof
being away from home is “being
able to go back home”. When they
20. thev will 20 as Eagles.
Students:Registering To Vote on Diverse College Campuses
By John Williams
(CPS)- From large organizations to
small grassroot efforts, students
across the nation are gearing up to
get fellow students registered in time
for the fall primaries and elections.
At the University of New Hamp
shire and 30 other colleges and high
schools in the state, student volun
teers working with Rock the Vote
got about 3,000 yoimg adults regis
tered to vote in the past year.
“The goal of registering students in
the state was to change the ‘me gen
eration’ to the ‘wegeneration’,”said
Sarah Broadmeadow, a junior at the
University of New Hampshire and
who worked extensively with Rock
the Vote in the registration cam
paign.
In 1991, the university’s student
senate voted to increase voter regis
tration on campus. After getting in
contact with Rock the Vote, it was
decided New Hampshire was a good
state for a test case of the registra
tion movement, since it has a small
population of approximately 1 mil
lion and the largest school, the Uni
versity of New Hampshire, has about
10,500 undergraduates. The pro
gram was expanded to other col
leges and high schools in the state.
Student volunteeers went door to
door, and Rock the Vote coordi
nated bringing rock stars and movie
actors and actresses to campuses to
talk about the political process and
*®gistration.
“The idea was to blend music and
entertainment with a push for voter
,registration,”Broadmeadow said.
“The psychology behind it was to
The entertainers donated their time
for the cause “to fight the whole
conservative issue,” Broadmeadow
said. “It was a cultural identification
put the party back into the political so young people could see that
so party so studnets can see they can people they respected were involved
participate in government.” in voting and voter registration.”
Mike Dolan, field director for Rock The program was not without its
the Vote, said entertainers such as detractors, however. Tony Zagotta,
William Baldwin and Sarah Jessica national chairman of College Re-
Paiker spoke at the University of publicans, said his party’s efforts to
New Hampshire’s main campus at register voters- obviously for the
Duiliam. FilmdirectorOliverStone Republican Party - won’t resort to
appeared at Dartmouth College, usingrock'n’roll singers and movie
Concerts also are plaimed for this stars to help in the cause,
fall, and volunteers will be contact- Rather, GOP volunteers will be
ing first-year students for registra- mostly contacting the individual stu-
tion. dents to try to persuade them to
See REGISTER, page 4
Get Them On The Rolls, Get Them To The Polls
By JOHN WILLIAMS
(CPS) - Democrats want you.
Republicans want you. Rock stars
and celebrities want you. Public
affairs organizations want you.
Politicians want you.
What those organizations
want from you is simple: If you are
18 or older, you can vote. But to
vote, you must first be registered.
And if you are the typical college
undeigraduate, between the ages
of 18 and 24, you represent a seg
ment of American culture that is
perceived as being not likely to
vote or to participate in the politi
cal process.
So college and university
campuses nationwide have'been
taigeted by private and public in
terest groups to register students
and to get them to the polls on Nov.
“Students tend to feel left
out. Candidates don’t appear to be
addressing issues that are of con
cern to students,” said Becky Cain,
president of the National League
of Women Voters. “On the 20th
anniversary of the right for 18-
year olds to vote, this group has the
least percentage voter turnout than
any other group.”
“Get them on the rolls, get
them to the poUs,” said Mike
Dolan, field director for the Cali
fornia-based Rock the Vote, a non
profit, non-partisan organization
that has oiganized student voter
registration drives nationwide.
Top issues that appear to be
of concern to college students on
the national level include the
economy, the environment and
abortion rights, activists say.
If students want to address
these concerns, they must first reg
ister to vote, registration organiz
ers say. That way, they can vote
for candidates who most closely
represent their ideals and ideas of
what government should be, and
what issues the representatives
should address.
According to the Census Bu
reau, 26 million men and women
in the 18-24 age group are eligible
to vote, and approximately 40 per
cent of this group is registered.
Among college students who are
registered, 80 percent vote, said
Jamie Hannon, president of the
College Democrats of America.
“Many students don’t feel
they are a part of the American
community. They don’thave fami
lies yet, they don’t have sunk-in
roots, so they are not as politically
active,” Harmon said. “Political
participation increases with age.
We want to show students today
that the political and governmental
system isn’t a joke.”
The College Democrats are
organizing a Victory Vote program
on campuses nationwide, with the
goal of registering 50,(X)0 students
this fall-ideally as Democrats. Hav-
ingtargeted about 500 college and
universities in 15 states, the Col
lege Democrats plan to hold ral
lies, get publicity and have politi
cians frx)m the local and national
levels speak to students.
Harmon said national polls
show students identifying with the
Democratic Party, and said main
concerns on campuses include edu
cational issues and student loans,
abortions and the environment.
Tony Zagotta, national chair
man of tile College republicans,
said polls indicate the 18-24 age
group is “not comfortable “ with
abortion.
Dolan, field director of Rock
the Vote, said his organization is
also working at the grassroots level
to get students ta register. Rock
the Vote was founded in 1990 by
leading record labels and musi
cians in response to percieved
threats to artistic expression. It has
since been broadened to include
voter registration, especially for
young adults, Dolan said.
Musicians and movie celeb
rities will go to campuses and hold
rallies to make students aware of
the political process and urge them
to register.
“Having stars and musicians
involved is intensive. It makes
voter registration sexier,” he said,
and many young college students
are included in the numbers. What
concerns young people, he said, is
having access to “the system,: or
being heard by politicians.
“We have seen the basic issue,
and that is empowerment and ac
cess to the system,” IXrlan said.
“Many politicians don’t want
young people voting, since young
people have no patterns of voting
and are unpredictable. That makes
politicians nervous.”
The minimum legal age to reg-
isteris 18. Ifa student goes away to
attend school, he or she may regis
ter to vote in the town or city where
the school is located. However, the
states have varying laws for resi
dency requirements; there is no
national law establishing uniform
laws for all 50 states, ^^n option is
to vote by absentee ballot if stu
dents are registered in tiieir home
states, Cain said.
Since the 1970s, the League of
Women Voters has actively sought
to get young people to register. It
has also published material on voter
rights, especially for college stu
dents who may be going to an out-
of-state institution and want to vote
in primaries and electiMis.
'*A journey of a million miles begins with a single step. ” - Mao Tse -tung