Community
WSSU Grad Begins Next Move en Route to Rx
Special to the CkromcU
Dawn Bishop has a few impor
tant decisions to make.
Like many new college gradu
ates, she is trying to figure out her
next move.
/BiSfiSp, who graduated from
Winston- Salem State University in
May with a degree in biology, has
been offered full scholarships and
hefty stipends by two graduate
schools and a podiatry school. All
three schools want her to spend the
next six years earning a medical
degree and a doctorate ? at the
same time.
Two of the offers came from
the University of Kentucky in Lex
ington and Tufts University in
- Boston. At either school, Bfshop
would earn a Ph.D. in molecular
biology and a medical degree with a
specialty in ophthalmology.
The third offer was made by the
New York College of Podiatric
Medicine, where she would com
bine a doctorate in biomedical engi
neering with a degree in podiatric
medicine.
**I feel blessed,*" Bishop said,
crediting her faith in God and the
support of her family for her suc
cess. 4That's all I can say ? it's a
blessing"
For the moment, she is leaning s
toward New York College, where
she will be able-to fuse her ambition
-of becoming a doctor with her pas
sion for sports, especially basket
ball.
It was basketball, -in fact, that
led her to WSSU. Stenson Conley,
WSSU's head women's basketball
coach, was recruiting for the 1989
90 season, when Bishop's coach at
North Hampton County High
School East in Conway suggested
he take a look at Bishop, a diminu
tive 5'8M by basketball standards.
"I knew she was smart before 1
went there," Conley said. "She had
a great attitude, a good work ethic,
' and was a good mid-range shot.
And, she was an outstanding stu
dent
Conley signed her immediately
to a scholarship.
A gifted student from her earli
est years in school, Bishop recalls
the ambiguous perception people
had of her because she was bright,
athletic and comparatively short
"They'd look at me and assume
that I couldn't play, and when they
found out I could play, they thought
I was a nerd because I was smart,"
she said.
Bishop was neither jock nor
nerd. She played basketball as a
freshman and sophomore at WSSU,
as well as the alio saxophone tor the
chool's Marching Rams Band. She <
made the dean's list every semester.
She was secretary of the campus
Biology Club and served on the uni
__ versity^s Judicial Committee.
"I especially wanted to attend a
historically black school, for my
own good, and to let other people
know how valuable my degree from
WSSU is," Bishop said
Though she dropped basketball
and the band at the end of her sec
ond year to concentrate on her
-major, she pledged the campus
chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta
sorority and became its financial
secretary. Bishop was junior class
treasurer and a member of the uni
versity's Intercollegiate Athletic
Committee. Through all four years
at Winston-Salem State, she was a
member of Project Strengthen, a
program begun in 1971 by Wilveria
Atkinson, chairman of WSSU's
Department of Life Sciences, to
provide advanced and basic ?
research opportunities to students
and faculty.
As an undergraduate, Bishop
held internships as a research assis
tant at Princeton University and at
the National Institute of Environ
mental Health Science in Research
Triangle Park in Durham.
She recently completed work
ing at WSSU as a teaching assistant.
She's responsible for proctoring
ixaminations and grading papers for I'i
66 students who are enrolled in ele
meniary statistics. She also tutors.
-Home for Bishop^ is Rich
Square, a rural community of some
2,000 residents about an hour's
drive from the east coast. .
Her father, George, a self
employed brick mason, is "a genius
in math," Bishop says. Dollie, her
mother, an alumna of Winston
Salem State Teachers College and
N.C. A&T State University, has
taught for 32 years. Her sisters, 23
year-old twins, Kimberly and Cyn
thia, graduated a year ago from N.C.
Central University and Elizabeth
City State University, respectively,
with majors in elementary education
and criminal justice.
While many 6- and 7-year-old
girls were playing with dolls,
Bishop was dissecting the heads of
fish and storing their eyes in the
kitchen freezer for safekeeping,
hence her interest in ophthalmology,
she says. Her collections included
insects and leaves. In sixth and sev
enth grades, Bishop was in her
school's "GT" program for the
gifted and talented, and by the
eighth grade, she was taking
advanced courses in science and
mathematics. . *
Asked how she felt about the -
future. Bishop replies, "I know
where I've been and I know where
m going ? kind of ? and that's a
terrific feeling."
Dawn Bishop
Local Actor Who Displayed Talent at Black Theatre Festival Inks Deal
By DAVID L DILLARD
ChromcU Suff Wn to
Randy Johnson has added sev
eral new books to his reading list ?
books on Malcolm X.
But Johnson is familiar with the
slain human rights activist ? he's
Malcolnv X'f ttanfhter, Attallah
Shabazz. . '
Shabazz was in Winston-Salem
during the recent National Black
Theatre Festival, and she was
impressed with Johnson's solo of
"Prince of Peace" at the opening
night performance of "Celebrations:
A n A fr* ag, I U? I fill mai 1 k%,
the North Carolina Black Repertory
Co.
A few days later, Johnson
received a well-anticipated tele
phone call from Shabazz offering
the Winston-Salem native a lucra
tive acting deal with Shabazz's per
forming company, Nucleus.
"I was speechless," he said. "I
was elated when she called. I could
ts
n't believe it, but at the same time I
could."
Johnson, 35 and member of the
repertory company since 1986, said
he had a non-speaking role and that
Shabazz liked how he brought the
character to life.
Johnson attracted his first audi
ence years ago by singing for
friends outside of the Atkins High
School band room years ago while
waiting for his brother. They would
give him quarters to sing.
He still had a nonchalant atti
tude about performing until he met
(former NAACP president and cur
rent school board member) Walter
in 1971. ...
"He saw that I could 80 it,"
Johnson said. "He was giving acting
classes at 14th Street Recreation
Center, and I got in his drama
class."
The center put on a show that
year, and Johnson was named best
actor.. 1
"At the time, Randy was a ram
bunctious young man who was full
of energy," Marshall said. "We were
doing plays by Leroi Jones (Amiri
Baraka) and he really got into it"
Maishall said it wasn't easy to
attract young black men at that time,
but acting caught Johnson's atten
tion.
"He had an interest and just
stayed involved," he said. "I'm glad
we were able to reach him."
Weeks before this year's theater
festival, Johnson quit his job as a
telemarketing representative and
decided to put all his energy into
acting.
"I stepped out on faith," he said.
to be doing with my life."
Johnson will be performing in a
play called "Stepping into Tomor
row^ written by Shabazz and
Yolanda King, daughter of Martin
Luther King Jc. The performances
will run Sept. 3-6 at theaters in
Miami. When that performance is
trverrhe will fly to Chicago to
watch a production and meet with
the producers of the play "A Good
Man Is Hard To Find," who were
impressed with his recent audition.
Although he's never had singing
lessons, he credits his talent to tak
ing music classes at Winston-Salem
State University and working under
the guidance of Mable Robinson, a
Randy Johnson performs in "i Celebrations : An African Odyssey. "*
dance instructor at the N.C. School
of the Arts, and Larry Leon Hamlin,
the director of the N.C. Black
Repertory Co.
"He is an excellent vocalist and
actor," Hamlin said of Johnson. "It
shows that (the black repertory com
pany) is filled with quality perform
ers, and they will be offered addi
tional opportunities to advance their
* w '
careers.
Johnson's career has included
opening for such stars as Millie ?
Jackson and Evelyn "Champaign"
King and singing the national
anthem when President Clinton
came to Winston-Salem. Johnson
sTill performs- with jazz group
"Higher Ground," which books
many clubs in the area, but contends
that he is "still a country boy."
"I'm just trying to stay focused
i . - ?
and do what God gave me: the abil
ity to do," he said. "I just hope to
make a positive contribution with
(my) talent and hope that it touches
somebody in the right way."
Randy Johnson
Local Woman Honored for Nursing at Boule
Sylvia Flack was recently hon
ored at the 48th Annual Chi Eta Phi
Nursing Sorority Boule in Los
Angeles. She was presented an hon
orary membership to the sorority
and the Chi Chi Chapter in Win
ston-Salem.
The sorority of nurses and nurs
ing students was founded in 1932 at
Freedman's Hospital in Washing
ton, D.C. The local chapter was
founded in 1978. The Beta Chapter
was founded at Winston-Salem
State University in 1991'.
Flack is the director of the Divi
sion of Nursing and Allied Health ai
Winston-Salem State University.
She is a 1968 graduate of the School
of Nursing. She earned her master's
degree from the Medical College of
Georgia in Augusta. She also
attended East Carolina University in
Greenville and North Carolina State
University in Raleigh. She received
her doctorate degree from Virginia
Polytechnical Institute and State
University in Blacksburg, Va.
I*lack was dubbed a first-rate
administrator while at Roanoke
Chowan Community College in
Ahoskie. She served as director of
nursing education and chair of nurs
uaafe.
(L. to r.) Carolyn Rice , Velma Fields , Mickey McCullough, Sylvia Flacky Doris Johnson, Gloria MiUner,
Vickey Johnson and Jo Ann Miller. Not pictured are Annie Alexander and Mildred Smith.
ing education. She was also chair of
the allied health division, where she
developed a nursing program. She
later became dean of academic
affairs. She was also an associate
director of nursing at Rutherford
Hospital in Rutherfordton and^
part-time instructor at a private and
community college.
The basileus of the Chi Chi
Chapter and eight other sorors also
attended the meeting.
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appointments for
everyone but me."
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