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Volume 92, Issue 12
www.guilfordian.com
December 9, 2005
Joanna Katz shares sexual assault experiences
Presents award-winning documentary
Joe Gillete
Staff Writer
Joanna Katz was just 19 years old when
her life was forever changed. Late one night
in June, 1988, Katz was leaving a nightspot
with a new friend of hers, Julie. As they
stood talking at Julie's car, Katz felt some
thing sticking into her rib. She turned
around, thinking it was a friend playing a
joke. It was then that she quickly realized it
wasn't anyone she knew.
What had been stuck into her rib was a
gun.
The man holding the gim ordered Katz
into the car, and this sudden encounter
marked the beginning of a hellish night that
is remarkable for, amongst other things, the
fact that Katz lived to talk about it.
Katz has talked about her experiences
ever since, culminating in a documentary
by filmmaker Liz Oakley, titled Sentencing
the Victim. Katz came to Guilford on Dec. 2
to visit students during the day, and later
that night to show the film and participate
in a discussion afterwards.
The film chronicles Katz's in-depth dis
cussion of her assault at the hands of five
men that lasted for more than five hours. It
then goes on to show the subsequent trial
and conviction of the culprits, and Katz's
exhaustive ordeal in having to attend five
separate parole hearings since 1996. The
film shows a woman who is unafraid to
tackle her past experiences as well as the
"If I was able to make it happen, the world can't be such a horrible place.
exhaustive process of keeping her attackers
in jail.
Katz explained that she was initially
reluctant to be the main focus of the docu
mentary.
"I originally wanted to do it about other
victims," said Katz. "When I met Liz
Oakley, I talked to her about it and she ini
tially wasn't interested. Then she went to a
parole hearing and was completely
appalled and agreed to do the film on her
own terms."
Those terms turned out to be having
Katz as the centerpiece to the film.
The film premiered on PBS as part of the
Independent Lens film series in 2002, and
became the highest-rated showing in the
series' history. Around this time, Katz had
been on hiatus from public speaking. Then
Guilford alumna Debbie Allen, who works
in Victim Education, got a chance to meet
Katz, and Katz herself made a point to talk
with Allen.
"I met Joanna at a conference and she
sought me out," explained Allen. Together,
they formulated a plan for Katz to come to
Guilford with the help of a grant from the
Governor's Crime Commission.
Kathryn Schmidt, Assistant Professor of
Sociology and Anthropology, was instru
mental in making Katz's trip possible, and
she said that "the students were amazed by
her ability to articulate her experience."
Katz made it her duty to speak out about
victim's rights and the problems that arise
because of judicial hearings of violent
crimes and the stigma they carry.
However, Katz is seeing progress.
"Nowadays, victims are more apt to
come forward," Katz said, "but when one
gets overwhelmed on making decisions on
whether an offender should go to the next
stage, you should never forget that the vic
tim should never fall secondary."
In the film, there are several scenes in
which Katz receives seemingly indifferent
treatment at parole hearings. Her lawyer
Continued on page 3
Tony Burks wins ‘Secondary Principal of the Year' award
Nasi Easton
Staff Writer
He's an ex-"Chief Learner and
Dream Maker," a master whistler
with a love of stories, winner of
two awards, principal of a grow
ing school - and to top it all off, he
loves to cook.
That's Tony Burks, the princi
pal of the Early College at
Guilford, and recipient of
Guilford County's 2005 Secondary
Principal of the Year award. This
award is the second he has won
since he began his career at the
Early College in 2002. The first
was in 2003, when he received the
Joseph B. Whitehead Educator of
Distinction Award.
Burks was born in Dothan,
Alabama, where he lived for 18
years before going to Morehouse
College in Atlanta, Georgia. He
graduated with a degree in phi
losophy and went on to teach at
the University School of Nashville
and then Crockett Elementary
School in Brentwood, Tennessee.
At Crockett he came up with the
title "Chief Learner and Dream
Maker" to describe his role as
principal.
"The superintendent at the
time hated that title," said Burks.
"I printed business cards and let
terheads with the title because it
was about something bigger than
him. I thought, no title's going to
change how I care for this posi
tion."
In 2002, the Early College at
Guilford opened, and Burks
became the principal. He also
serves on the Board of Advisors
for the North Carolina New
Schools Project, a project to
reform schools across North
Carolina. The reforms began as an
attempt to build more early and
middle colleges across the state,
but currently addresses issues
faced in all public schools - like
student-teacher relationships.
"I would never have rushed
out and tried to strike up a con
versation with my school princi
pal," said Burks. "Why would I
have wanted to talk to him? But in
this day and age, it just makes
sense. We have a responsibility as
educators to help kids know who
and what they are."
That's one of the Early
College's defining characteristics,
and something that Burks strong
ly supports - the relationship
between students and teachers.
Burks encourages every one of the
180 Early College students to
come talk to him if they have any
problems or need any advice. The
same goes for all faculty of the
school. Burks even gives students
his cell phone number in case they
need to reach him.
"For a number of kids, it takes
them a while to really believe it. I
say for every kid who arrives, it
takes a semester, if not a year,
before they say 'Okay, he says if
I'm having problems I can call,'
because you have to be Comfort-
Continued on page 2
“We have a responsibility ... to help kids know who ... they are."