Page 5
Perspectives
Friday, January 30, 1998
Shelvia Dancy
Post-game brawl
reflects poorly on all
Here’s the
scenario: four women,
one man, fight in a
basketball gym.
No, the fight didn't
happen on a middle
school playground.
Heck, it didn't even
happen on a high
school campus.
The fight happened
right here at NCCU, in
McLendon-
McDougald
gymnasium earlier in
the month.
Now, i’m not
entirely sure myself of the events on Jan. 6.
But I do know what happened was ugly.
Very ugly.
Ugly enough to get plastered on the pages of the
Durham Herald-Sun, The News & Observer in Raleigh,
and even USA Today.
Ugly enough to be broadcast on local television
channels.
I’m not sure what motivated the first blow to be
thrown, or even who threw it. But I am appalled that a
blow was even thrown in the first place. Maybe I’m
just a little too naive, but I don’t think college students
should be involved in fistfights at all. Especially on
campus.
Maybe five or four years ago, students fighting in
the gym wouldn’t have shocked me—back then I was
in high school, and that’s what high school students
did, fight.
But call me a prude, somehow I didn't expect to find
the same behavior on the campus of a university. When
I left high school in 1994, I thought I was entering
college to join the ranks of the talented, the foccused,
the responsible, the intelligent.
But apparently, that wasn't the case
To those students who fought. What were you
thinking?
Granted, at NCCU no one is going to give you
detention, or call your mommy and daddy if you get
into a fight, but that doesn’t mean students shouldn't
practice the fine art of self-restraint; a little self
policing doesn’t hurt.
You see, when students at NCCU fight, and that
fight becomes the stuff the 6 o’clock news is made of,
that fight doesn’t reflect poorly just on the students
who were unwise enough to throw blows, it reflects
poorly on all of us at NCCU.
And that includes me.
I’m prO'Ud .of my school, have never been a fight
here, wasn’t even on campus at the time of the Jan. 6
fight. I dislike being cast in a poor light by the actions
of a few. I dislike when my university is cast in a poor
light because of the actions of a few.
You see, Carmelita Spicer isn’t the university's only
public relations person. Every time students step off
campus, we too, like it or not, are ambassadors for the
university.
People will look at what we do, what we say, how
we behave, and make judgments about this unviersity
and the people associated with it.
Those involved in the fight did a horrible disservice
to us.
Sure, getting upset is an everyday occurrence.
But by this stage in the game we should all be adept
at handling that anger.
We should know better than to lash out physically at
other people.
Now maybe those who were involved in the fight
did have what they thought were good reason to throw
some punches.
But were they reasons good enough to be suspended
for?
Actions have consequences, especially violent
actions.
Everyone at NCCU shares in the consequences of
the fight Jan. 6, because, simply put, the fight
(regardless of who was right or wrong) makes us all
look bad.
And I, for one, am not willing to share in thos
consequences. I'm not willing to be painted with the
same brush as those students who took part in the fight
that night.
Are you?
In Charge: SGA President
says job tough, but worth it
Though
approaching the
end of her reign
as NCCU student
government
association
president, Catiila
Everette said the
job was tough, at
times thankiess,
but in the end the
effort was weil
worth it.
by Tomeka Ruffin
Staff Writer
From the green fields
of a little town in North
Carolina called
Greenlevel to the
bustling, city life of the
Triangle, Catiila R.
Everette,president of
North Carolina Central
Government^ Assodafion Government Association President Catiila Everette said she is looking forward not only to the activities
for the 1997-98 school ^GA has planned for the spring semester, but what she says will be her biggest accomplishment; graduation in
year, has made her mark May.
at NCCU.
Everette's
contributions to student life began with her
involvement with the community service
program when she first arrived at NCCU in
1994.
"My initial goal was not to run for
president," Everette said. "I was more involved
with community service."
Through her activities with the community
service program, which included publishing a
newsletter, Everette said she discovered that
there was a lot more that she could do to
improve the quality of education at NCCU.
She said she realized that community
service was linked with higher education
issues as well as social issues, such as
affirmative action, diversity and the
reauthorization of funding for HBCUs..
With this realization, Everette decided
to run for sophomore class president in
1995. Throughout that year she continued
to broaden her horizons implementing
several programs in order to help improve
NCCU.
"I participated in a program called
University Partners, a NCCU-Duke
initiative, and Break for a Change,"
Everette said.
The University Partners program
involved eight students from NCCU and
governors."
Everette's tenure as vice-president resulted in
the first HBCU day held at NCCU. The day was
a successful campaign for voter registration
which involved political speakers who were
campaigning for office in 1996. The day
resulted in an increase in voter turnout ofr
NCCU on election day.
Even with this success, Everette still was not
convinced that she should run for SGA
president.
Witnessing the time committment required of
"I wasn't sure if I wanted to deal with the
sleepless nights, I also questioned the true
support of the student body.,,,,I don't have
any regrets,,. The student government has
made me what I am todays a passionate
person,"
Catiila Everette
SGA President, NCCU
Duke attending a class discussing the history of
Durham during the spring semester and then
placement in a communal house for the summer.
The Break for a Change program involved
working with the homeless and the working
poor from a local, state, national and legislative
level.
The students spent their spring break in
Atlanta working with the homeless. Everette
participated in the program during both her
freshman and sophomore years.
The sophomore class presidency led to
Everette's appointment as vice-president of SGA
in the 1996 spring elections.
Being vice-president allowed Everette to
become more involved with the Universities'
administration.
As vice-president, Everette had the
opportunity to become involved with day-to-day
operations within the university's administration
"I was more involved with policy oriented
issues such as voter participation and higher
education funding of HBCU's," she said.
"It involved educating people about the
issues within the congress, drawing on their
ideas and taking it back to the board of
Sekou J.B. Gargonnu, the president at that time,
almost kept Everette away from the elections.
"It's hard work serving on the board of
trustees and several other organizations, such as
the UNC-Association of Student Governments,"
said Everette.
The SGA president is also required to attend
numerous leadership forums, trainings and other
events throughout the community.
"I wasn't sure if I wanted to deal with
sleepless nights," said Everette. "I also
questioned the true support of the student body."
Everette said that she also was not sure if she
was ready for the huge sacrifice of working
weekends and constant criticism minus
appreciation.
Everette said that as she observed the morale
of NCCU's student body and administration, she
realized that it had declined and that it was time
for 'NCCU to heal.'
She adopted that motto as her campaign
platform.
"The university is lacking socially as well as
academically," she said. "There is also a decline
in respect between the students, faculty and
administrators."
Although these are problems which Everette
said she would like to see fixed before she
leaves, Everette said she realizes that the
problems cannot be solved overnight.
"It's okay if I don't do everything, as long as I
try," she said.
While Everette may not have been successful
in correcting all of the problems that she has
encountered, she has worked hard during her
first semester as president.
Her accomplishments include a successful
turnout for the pre-dawn dance for the Eagle-
Aggie football classic, homecoming,
a lewd and obscene codedeveloped
by the student government in
collaboration with the administration,
as well as continued dialogue
between students and administrators
concerning leadership.
"I have continued several
partnerships between the university
and other groups such as K97.5, the
AFL-CIO and other government
agencies in the D.C. area," Everette
said.
Everette has many activities
planned for a successful spring
semester, among them is the first
HBCU leadership training workshop.
NCCU's student government
association has made plans to host that
workshop at NCCU in February.
The purpose of the workshop is to help train
other students who are attending various
HBCU's in the area.
"I also plan to have an Eagle Mania in April,
and complete the revision of the SGA
constitution," Everette said.
Everette said her biggest accomplishment for
this year is an accomplishment that she
anxiously anticipates: graduation in May.
"It is time for new leadership," she said.
"There is nothing more that I can do here."
Everette's college career has been a busy one,
but she said she has has enjoyed every minute of
it.
She said she is leaving NCCU in a healing
stage with nothing but the opportunity of
continued growth for the next student
government leaders.
"I don't have any regrets," she said. "The
student government has made me what I am
today- a passionate person."
;/n each issue well feature a club or organization worthy of note around campus. Got suggestions for this feature? Call us at 560-6504.
by Joe Wright
Staff Writer
In just two years, the Student African American
Brotherhood at North Carolina Central University has
built four houses, mentored over 40 kids and laid a
foundation for many young black males.
SAAB was established at NCCU by Dr. Tyrone
Bledsoe in the fall of 1995.
It was originally founded by Bledsoe in 1994 on the
campus of the University of Georgia Southwestern.
"There are two purposes of SAAB," said Mike
Jackson, a senior accounting major from Indianapolis
who is a member of SAAB. "One is to provide a support
system for members, such as academic and spiritual.
The second is to provide the community with a positive
and refreshing organization of young African American
men."
"SAAB is a group of young brothers doing positive
things," said Tex Hargrove, a sophomore math major and
a member of SAAB. "I joined SAAB to show young
brothers can do something bsides kill each other.
Brothers can do things to help the community," Hargrove
said.
Already this semester SAAB has participated in many
community-based projects, including Habitat for Humanity
in Durham, and Project Ace, a mentoring program that
loin the Club:
SflHB: Student
flfricon fimerican
Brotherhood
pairs SAAB members with students from Shepard Middle
School in Durham.
SAAB has five chapters at universities across the
country, including the University of Texas at Austin.
Last year SAAB members at NCCU travelied to
Cincinnati to participate in the "Black Man Think Tank"
where they attended forums on the present and future of
black males. Speakers such as Michael Eric Dyson and
Na'im Akbar attended as well.
Last October, the 12 members of the SAAB executive s
board, headed by chairperson Warren Greenfield, a juniors;
psychology major from Winston-Salem, traveled to;
New Orleans to take part in the four-day "Thirds
Annual Conference on Family and Community
Violence Prevention."
While there, members of the executive board
participated in forums and workshops concerning
violence prevention.
The conference was sponsored by Xavier
University.
SAAB is working hard to boost membership for
this semester and the coming fall semester.
Currently the group has 34 members.
"We are having more public-related events to
promote SAAB," said Greenfield, "such as more
social events."
This semester the group also wants to promote;;;
awareness through a "SAAB Week."
"We want to sponsor a SAAB week which includes a
forum on pressing issues on campus, and also an open
house meeting for anyone interested in attending," said
Jackson.
SAAB meets every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Student
Union, room 143.
Want to make a Valentine's Day dedication in The Campus Echo?
Contact us at 560-6504.