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12/01/14
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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, APRIL12, 2014
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30
NCCU Chancellor Debra
Saunders-White Leads With
Creativity, Innovation
Dr. Debra Saunders-White was formally installed as the 11th chancellor ofNorth
Carolina Central University today during ceremonies at McDougald-McLendon Gym
nasium on campus.
Saunders-White, who was appointed to the post by the University of North Carolina
Board of Governors in early 2013, came to NCCU from the U.S. Department of Edu
cation after working in higher education administration at Hampton University and the
University ofNorth Carolina Wilmington, as well as in corporate marketing for IBM.
“I see NCCU as the gateway to opportunity, a place where our students can catch
hold of a vision and have the life of their dreams,” the chancellor said in her inaugural
speech.
“Times of change and challenge often spawn unimaginable creativity and innova
tion. We have to stay relevant, foster new relationships and offer more opportunities
that allow our students and the university community to be leaders in the academy and
the evolving global marketplace.”
Presiding over the ceremonies was Thomas W. Ross, president of the University of North Carolina
system, which includes NCCU and 16 other campuses.
“NCCU has enormous potential under Dr. Saunders-White,” Ross said. “There is no doubt in my
mind that she is the right person to lead North Carolina Central University today and in the years
ahead.”
Dr. Johnson 0. Akinleye, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, was a colleague of
Saunders-White at UNC Wilmington before coming to NCCU earlier this year.
“She is scholarly, yet innovative. Respectful of history, while also keeping her eyes on the horizon,”
Akinleye said in his tribute to the new chancellor. “While we know the bar set by Chancellor Saunders-
White for academic excellence is high, she is someone who will work hard right alongside us to ensure
that the path to achieving our goals is as smooth as possible.”
Hampton University President Dr. William R. Harvey praised Saunders-White for displaying “deter
mination, focus, vision, intellect and untiring energy” when she served as director of vice president for
technology and in other posts on the Virginia campus.
“Her aptitude for high-level contribution and future success were readily apparent,” Harvey said.
Other speakers included Durham Mayor William B. "Bill” Bell, Durham County Commission Chair
man Dr. Michael Page, UNC Board of Governor’s Chairman Peter D. Hans, Dr. Dwight P. Perry, chair
man of NCCU’s Board of Trustees, and the Rev. Raymond J. Donaldson, pastor of Holy Cross Catholic
Church in Durham.
Saunders-White grew up in Hampton, Va., and is a first-generation college graduate. Her mother,
Irene Saunders, three brothers and her two children, Elizabeth Paige and Cecil III, were on hand for the
celebration, as well as several aunts and uncles from as far away as Iowa.
Ralph Saunders, a high school principal in Hampton, said his sister brought home the best report
cards in the family and demonstrated what their parents taught: “That we could be and do anything.”
“We are extremely proud of you,” Saunders added.
In her speech, Saunders-White acknowledged some of the challenges facing higher education, such
as funding for new programs and the need to raise student retention and graduation rates.
She also pointed out that NCCU is well positioned to improve the economic outlook for students
who have traditionally had fewer opportunities and access to higher education.
“Because of the support of the state, our alumni and friends, NCCU is one of the most affordable and
accessible institutions for low income families in the University ofNorth Carolina system, and it is one
of the most affordable institutions in its peer group in the United States,” she added.
Saunders-White spoke of the important role historically black colleges and universities play in reach
ing out to underserved students. Although only 9 percent of African-American students attend HBCU’s,
they are responsible for producing 18 percent of all engineering degrees, 21 percent of business and
management degrees and 31 percent of mathematics degrees earned by African-Americans.
Veteran journalist and NAB J co-founder Stone dies
CHAPEL HILL (AP) - Longtime journalist and educator Charles Sumner “Chuck” Stone
Jr, one of the founders of the National Association of Black Journalists, has died. He was
89.
Allegra Stone said that her father died April 6 at an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill.
He’d been a journalism professor at the University ofNorth Carolina for 14 years starting
in 1991.
Many who helped launch the NABJ credited Stone as the driving force behind its found
ing, said the association’s current president Bob Butler.
“Chuck chaired the first meeting and became the first president. He provided the rudder
that steered NABJ at a time when being a member was not always easy. Some employers
back then told members to choose between their jobs and NABJ,” Butler said in a news
release.
After serving as a Tuskegee Airman in World War II, Stone was a writer and editor at in
fluential black publications in New York, Washington and Chicago through the early 1960s,
using his writing to urge the Kennedy administration to advance the cause of civil rights.
Subsequently, he served as an adviser to U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell of New York.
His reputation grew after he was hired as the first black columnist for the Philadelphia
Daily News, where he worked as a columnist and editor from 1972 to 1991. He was known
for being outspoken on discrimination, police brutality and racism.
Despite the grave subject matter he tackled, he was a joy to be around in the newsroom,
said novelist Pete Dexter, who worked alongside Stone as a columnist at the Daily News.
“He was one of those people who makes you feel good just to bump into him when you
came into the office because he was so happy where he was and doing what he did,” Dexter
said.
Dexter said Stone’s work resonated with the Daily News’ black readership in a time of
racial strife in the city.
“I can’t tell you how divided racially Philadelphia was when I got there. It was nothing
like it is now,” Dexter said.
Stone’s family said dozens of suspects turned themselves into Stone before the authori
ties because of his efforts to hold the criminal justice system accountable. He was also cred-
Ued with helping to negotiate the release of six guards at a Pennsylvania prison who were
held hostage by inmates in 1981.
“I damn near had a nervous breakdown,” Stone later told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I spent two
days negotiating and they released the hostages after the second day. So then when people got in
trouble and there were hostages . . . they said, 'call Chuck Stone to get us out of this.”
Stone was born in St. Louis in 1924 and reared in Connecticut. After his time in the military, he
graduated from Wesleyan University and earned a master’s degree in sociology from the University
of Chicago.
Before UNC, Stone also taught journalism at the University of Delaware. Books he wrote include
Black Political Power in America” and the novel “King Strut.”
DR. DEBRA SAUNDERS-WHITE
THE LATE SEN. JEANNE LUCAS
CHUCK STONE (PHOTO COURTESY UNC
Jeanne Lucas
Juncheon Set
During the 9th Annual
NC Black Summit, The Al
liance ofNC Black Elected
Officials will host The Sen
ator Jeanne H. Lucas Lun
cheon, with former Con
gresswoman Eva Clayton
offering words of remem
brance. Keynoting the lun
cheon is Dr. Cedric Bright,
assistant dean of the UNC
School of Medicine, and
112th President of the Na
tional Medical Association.
He will provide a local per
spective on healthcare is
sues facing our community.
The luncheon honors
the late Senator’s com
mitment to issues of edu
cation, healthcare, social
justice and other causes
also embraced by the Alli
ance. “We thought it fitting
that the Alliance would
help sustain the memory of
Senator Lucas, who was a
staunch advocate of issues
of social, economic and po
litical justice to which the
Alliance is also commit
ted,” says Alliance Chair
man Richard Hooker. This
year the Summit’s focus
is on access to healthcare,
and issue that was near
and dear to Senator Lu
cas’ heart. The luncheon is
included in the cost of the
2014 NC Black Summit
Registration.