3
I.
28.10
3.28.12
Dear Ms.Britt .
image via Ashleigh Phillips, cover of Show &
Tell, design by Dwane Powell
Since Suzanne Britt’s final year at
Meredith College is coming to an end,
the Herald dedicates this front page to
her. We contacted previous and current
students, requesting submissions that re
flect the influence she has made in their
lives. We also asked Ms. Britt to provide
an introduction of herself, telling her it
would be used in one of our many end of
the year projects. She willingly sent us
a brief bio and it is printed below. What
she didn’t know was that we had already
recieved numerous submissions from her
students. It’s not suprising that as she
called her students “friends” in her bio,
her students called her a “friend” in their
submissions. Here’s to a hell-raiser and
a weilder of words; a woman we admire
and love. Ms. Britt, this is the front page
we wouldn’t let you edit. We hope we did
a goodjob.
-Emily Gamiel and Ashleigh Phillips
“Suzanne Britt was born in Winston-
Salem, NC and spent most other
childhood growing up in that city. She
graduated from Salem Academy and
from Salem College, earning a bachelor
of arts degree with a double major in
English and Latin. She then earned her
master’s degree in English froni Wash
ington University, in St. Louis. Married
for fifteen years, she has two children,
Carrie and Torn, and two grandchildren,
Ella and Isaac. After living in St. Louis
for a year, she and her family moved
to New Haven, Connecticut, where Ms.
Britt did additional studies in psychology
and in lyth century English poetiy. After
moving to Sanford, North Carolina, she
began writing poetry and was pleased to
have several poems published in liter
ary magazines. After moving to Raleigh,
NC, she taught English at North Carolina
State University, at Peace College, and at
Duke Divinity School, where she worked
during summer sessions. She has taught
English at Meredith College for twenty-
five years. She has also published several
books, been a newspaper columnist, and
has seen many of her essays published
in college textbooks in the United States
and in other countries as well. At Mer
edith, she has taught freshman
composition, American and British
literature, world literature, and courses
in writing opinion pieces and in cre
ative nonfiction. In recent years, she has
served as advisor to Meredith’s campus
publications. She will be retiring offi
cially in May of 2012 but will continue to
teach courses on occasion. Her students
have been the strength of all her learn
ing, and she is grateful for the experience
of being enlightened and entertained by
so many excellent students throughout
her time at Meredith. Many of those
students have become her friends.”
Ms. Britt was my first frenemy. My
first English paper of my college career
got mutilated by Ms. Britt’s red pen. But
she didn’t just stop at the “F”. She wrote,
“Do you even know how to write?” And
I cried. I did not like her, but I really
needed her to pass me out of English
101. She was the reason I changed my
major from English to anything else.
But by the end of that first semester, she
was the reason I went back to majoring
in English. I wanted to be just like her.
Once, Pat and I sneaked into her office
and covered it in toilet paper and Bette
Midler lyrics. I think she realized then
that I wasn’t a good frenemy to have
because we became friends after that.
I remember crying to Ms. Britt that I
hated economics and that I just knew the
teacher hated me. She listened patiently
and then said “Now, Meredith. I am not
even going to ask you why in the world
you’re taking Econ. But that man is
an idiot! And don’t you forget it!” Talk
about validation. She asked me to be her
assistant, and it is without a doubt one
of my most favorite college memories. I
spent countless hours in her office, lis
tening to her laugh that deep belly laugh
as she would tell me, “Dating is as good
as it gets, Meredith!” When I gradu
ated, she told me to stop calling her Ms.
Britt. “Ya know, Meredith, my name
is Suzanne. You can call me that now
that you’re out of school. Besides, we’re
friends,” she said. They say you just have
to experience Meredith College. Well, the
same goes for Suzanne. And it was the
very best experience.
—Meredith Robertson, ‘05
Once in a while, Ms. Britt would an
nounce to me (her student worker) that
she was going to take a nap. A pillow
randomly appeared as she got comfort
able on the floor and propped her feet up
on the chair. Suddenly aware of how loud
grading papers was, I always did my best
to remain quiet. Soon after, she began to
talk. Then she waved her arms around
with enthusiasm while I sat cross-legged,
nodding my head, pencil-in-hand. Later
I realized I’d become her makeshift psy
chologist.
Well, if she was going to be that open
with me, then I felt comfortable doing
the same. One of my most stressful days
at Meredith involved having to make a
big decision regarding a study abroad
program—by 5pm that day. Completely
out of sorts, I eventually made my way
into Ms. Britt’s ofiice. I don’t even think I
knocked. It had to have been the more-
than-average amount of white show
ing in my eyes that made her stop was
she was doing and shift every bit of her
attention to me. After explaining my di
lemma and its complications in random
100 mph spurts, she asked me a simple
question, “What do you want to do?” “I
want to go!” Not allowing the time or
space for the “BUT!” that was about to
follow, she said, “THEN GO!” So I signed
up for what was the best summer of my
life.
It’s worth noting that, a moment after
we’d resolved this, she began to set me
up on a blind date with her personal
trainer. I reluctantly agreed, seeing as
how I was a student at a women’s college
with zero prospects. I never saw him
again, but at least I got a good story and
a Hurricane’s game out of it.
—Hillaiy Morgan, ’09
During my first year, I had Ms. Britt
for Honors CORE 100.1 was a fairly
opinionated student, and by the end of
the semester, I wasn’t sure she really
liked me, since I argued vrtth her when
ever I disagreed. A full year later, when
I returned to campus for the spring of
my sophomore year, I was in Joyner Hall
and said hello as I walked past her office.
She invited me in and asked about my -
winter break. As we chatted, I mentioned
in passing that I hadn’t found a job over
break. Ms. Britt then reached into her
purse, pulled out a $10 bill, and gave it
to me, saying that she had a little money
left over after the holidays and that I
should spend it on coffee with friends.
That small act of kindness made a huge
impact on me, just as Ms. Britt has made
an impact on every student she has
taught. The halls of Joyner will be just
a little less colorful without this spir
ited woman who is so passionate about
her students. Thank you, Ms. Britt, for
everything!
—Maggie Lally, To
Tuesday and Thursday afternoons were
spent in English class with Ms. Britt. For
an hour and twenty minutes, I sat in the
back of her class wide-eyed and aston
ished, possibly succumbing to mental
shock. Never had I encountered a
teacher with such a sharp propensity for
engaging the depth of everyday thoughts
and actions. Class involved reading and
vwiting of course, but Ms. Britt upped
the ante with bold opinions and stories
that seemed almost unreal. I often left
her class wondering if maybe I had imag
ined the entire dialogue. To this day, I
still have thoughts and questions and
ideas jostling around in my head from
just one class with that woman. Ms. Britt
wasn’t even supposed to teach the course
that semester.
—Sally Malaka Yacout, ‘13
(cont’d on pg. 6)
IN THIS ISSUE...
State & Local: Amendment One, El Anatsui review
Arts & Entertainment: Style Stalker, Rebecca Rants, Ask Gigi, MC Opera, What’s Up in Raleigh, Campus Calendar
Campus Life: Confessions of a Fiance, Kony Kraze 2012, Non-Profit Work, front page cont’d
^bpinion: Second British Invasion, The Power of the Written Word, Whines and Gripes