THE MEREDITH HERALD 0 @meredithherald ^ @meredith_herald #harktheherald February 27, 2019 IN THIS ISSUE NEWS Meredith Through the Years Food Poisoning Prevention A&E Restaurant Review The Vagina Monologues Avoiding Roommate Conflict OPINIONS Crime and Immigrants Water is the New Milk The Sword and Shield of Meredith's Campus, Part 1 By Savi Swiggard, Staff Writer Founders' Week By Mimi Mays, Associate Editor Wandering into the Meredith Alumnae House during this year’s Founders’ Week, Feb. 25-Mar. I, is met with a unique atmosphere of bustle and excitement. In part by design and in part by coincidence, Founders’ Week this year contains not only Founders’ Day, Giving Day and other Meredith- themed celebrations, but also the commemoration of Meredith’s Beyond Strong campaign. The Beyond Strong campaign began in July of 2012 and wrapped in December 2018. In February 2016, the campaign had already raised $26 million, and at that time the college also announced that the campaign’s final goal would be $75 million. As of August 2018, donors had given a total of $86,355,254. “We well surpassed our goal,” says President Jo Allen, “proving how beloved this College is,” but the final campaign sum has been kept secret. On Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 10 a.m., Dr. Allen will announce the number at the Founders’ Day Celebration in the Johnson Hall Rotunda, but the campaign is without a doubt Meredith’s largest, most successful fundraising effort. Amidst the flood of stories of school shootings and sexual as saults, female students above all value safety. In order to be Meredith Strong, we have to question how safe the campus is, what is being done to make it safer, and how we as staff and students can contribute to the security of our campus. Meredith College’s soon-arriving improve ments in security will begin where it all began: driving by the guardhouse. The first building anyone sees when arriving on Meredith’s campus is the guardhouse, a small symbol of something much greater. In an interview with the Herald, Chief A1 White expressed the impor tance of this first impression on not only students, but the community as a whole as well. White expressed that visibility is one of the most effective tools campus security has in preventing potential aggression and violence. When the first visible building reminds visitors that the campus is guarded by an attentive security staff, Meredith is flexing its muscles, and we’re getting stronger. Over the past few weeks, the first phases of guardhouse improvement began. White noted that what may seem like cosmetic improvements are already improving the safety of the campus. “The guardhouse wasn’t in sulated before now,” he explained. “It was hard for officers to be stationed in the hot or in the cold, but we’re adding thermopane glass and an HVAC unit. The guardhouse will now be staffed at all hours.” After this, the next phase of guardhouse improve ment will be the addition of fluores cent guard arms. This addition will not only increase interaction between security and incoming traffic at night, but will also stop outgoing traffic to monitor who may be on Meredith campus during off-hours. The final phase of guardhouse improvement is the invisible safety technique. White explained that security cameras will be added to the guardhouse which can record every license plate driving onto Meredith campus. The cameras will be active 24/7 and will keep a registry of every car that drives onto campus for security to monitor. White explained that the guardhouse improvements aren’t the only ways in which campus security is both visibly and invisibly protect ing the campus. While many profes sors and students have expressed concerns about the public greenway that runs through Meredith’s campus, as it allows through traffic that isn’t stopped by the campus police, White assured that security is active on the greenway. They drive along the greenway during the day, allowing the campus police to be visible to the community and the greenway closes at dusk. It’s not the security risk many believe it to be, as it is monitored. White also wanted both students and staff to be aware that Meredith’s campus security has an incredible wealth of knowledge. With over 170 years of law enforcement knowledge and experience, in addition to the decade of campus specific work held by White himself, Meredith’s campus police are a strong resource for any is sue occurring in or around campus. If there are any doubts. White encour ages students to check the numbers. The Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports are available online on the Meredith website for anyone to see and the numbers speak for them selves. Across the board, Meredith College is one of the safest college campuses in the Southeast. To be continued Mar. 20... Founders’ Day, always on Feb. 27, commemorates the founding of Meredith College on that day in 1891. Giving Day, or Make It Count for Meredith Day (#makeitcount4MC), always occurs on the Tuesday of every Founders’ Week. This year, for Meredith’s fourth annual Giving Day, we raised $536,877 in donations in 24 hours, exceeding the goal of $400,000. This year’s goal is $50,000 greater than last year’s; but with such a small and devoted donor and alumnae base, the college is always expected to be ambitious when it comes to fundraising goals, says Erin Cleghorn, the director of the Meredith Fund, so it wasn’t too zealous to set a goal much larger than the last. Woman of Achievement By Olivia Slack, Features Editor On Feb. 19, Meredith College receipt. Dr. Allen interviewed her President Jo Allen presented the 2019 Woman of Achievement Award to chef and television host Vivian Howard. The Woman of Achievement Award is presented by Meredith each year to a woman who is an “inspirational role model.” Howard joins former recipients N.C. Supreme Court Justice Sarah Parker, N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, journalist Judy Woodruff and more. To celebrate Howard’s about her life and how she found her way back to small-town North Carolina from big-city New York living. During the conversation, Vivian Howard shared many a humorous anecdote about life as a successful chef and businesswoman. She talked about handling bad reviews: don’t always take it to heart, she said, but “follow the trends” if they’re there. She discussed her Donors on Giving Day (or to any Meredith campaign on any day) can provide their relationship to the college, their class year (if applicable) and their intentions for their donations. Alumnae of Meredith accounted for 83% of donations, parents accounted for 8%, faculty and staff accounted for 5%, current students accounted for 3% and friends of the college accounted for 2%. Donors’ class year affiliations (of alumnae, students or parents) ranged from 1938 to 2024—1985 yielded the most money raised, while 2004 yielded the greatest number of donors. Donors also chose where their money would be allocated: the most popular category was “College’s Greatest Needs.” “We really push ambition: “always a whale to chase,” she mused. She reflected on her many opportunities: no matter how small an endeavor, she made sure to “maintain a kernel of a dream.” One of the most meaningful stories was that of when Howard finally realized that being a strong, independent, modern woman does not mean disregarding the advice of older women like her mother. It wasn’t until later in life that Howard began paying attention to (and for donations of that kind because they’re the true lifeblood of the college,” says Erin Cleghorn; they fund anything the college needs— everything from scholarship tuition to facilities improvements. The best part of Founders’ Week, says Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement Cindy Godwin, is that it encourages and celebrates members of the Meredith community working towards a common goal. “The more the merrier,” she welcomes. For Giving Day, donors were encouraged to donate in the name of the strong women in their lives, and it is thanks to their donations that Meredith College can keep putting those strong women into the world. respecting) her mother’s cooking and, more importantly, her as a person. According to Howard, it was an important moment for her to acknowledge that the experiences of more mature women are not things to be disregarded due to them being “outdated.” Finding inspirational female role models—no matter the age—creates inspirational women like Vivian Howard.

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