75 cents W I N S I O N - S A L E M GREENSBORO HlGH POINT Vol. XXV No. 35
THE CHRON r E
S1?6rtom""" "C">"T'SORT"C012 1974 - CelebratingYears -*orn th,s '
FORSYTH CNTY PUB
WINSTON SALEM NC 27101-2755 ( _ .
Legislator: WSSU financial situation 'disheartening,'
By JERI YOUNG
THBCHBOMCLE
Last week's move to strip the
vice chancellor for finance and
administration at Winston-Salem
State University of her financial
responsibilities has baffled the
school's alumni and supporters.
In a letter to members of the
board of trustees last week, WSSU
Chancellor Alvin J. Schexnider
announced several changes in the
way the Division of Finance and
Administration is run. Philip
Gilley, audit supervisor of the
Office of State Audit, a 30-year vet
eran, was named the university's
acting chief financial officer.
Clementine Cone will continue
to oversee the university's physical
facilities management, public safe
ty and community development
corporation.
The announcement came a
week after a meeting between
Schexnider and University of
North Carolina President Molly
Broad during which Schexnider
asked for help in solving the uni
verity's ongoing accounting prob
lems. v
v In a May 13 memo to
Schexnider, Broad outlined Gilley's
duties and stressed the need for
financial controls for what Broad
called "a general lack of commit
ment to sound financial practices."
"As chancellor, you are
accountable for the fiscal integrity
of your institution, and I will look
for the achievement of immediate
progress in establishing and main
taining sound financial opera
tions," Broad said in the memo.
Schexnider was out of town
and unavailable for comment
Under the new plan, Gilley,
who performed a similar function
at North Carolina Agricultural and
Technical State University in the
early '80s, will be available to the
university for up to 12 months and
report directly to Broad. UNC
Associate Vice President George
Burnette will provide "periodic
assistance and consultation" to
Gilley.
WSSU officials call Gilley's
presence a preemptive measure.
"I don't think the chancellor is
interested in continuing the status
quo," said Lee Hampton, the uni
versity's vice chancellor for univer
sity advancement. "I don't think we
can afford ta.continue to conduct
business as usual and say we're
preparing for the 21st century."
According to Hampton, the
problems are longstanding and tied
to low employee morale, high
employee turnover and lack of .
technology in the accounting and
finance departments.
SerWSSU on AS
Chairman of LIFT
Academy board of
directors resigns
By PAUL COLLINS
THE CHRONICLE
Dr. Frank Wood, chairman of the board of directors of LIFT Academy
for the last several years, resigned May 12 because of differences with the
public charter school's administration over how to deal with the school's
financial problems and other issues.
In other news, an official with the reporting and auditing division of the
State Department of Public Instruction said it is looking into allegations by
Ansylene Mitchell, a former teacher at LIFT Academy, who said, among
other things, that her 403-B retirement account with the school was short
until the matter was essentially corrected last week.
Also, Mitchell reported that several teachers told her that there were
insufficient funds to cash their LIFT Academy paychecks Friday, but they
were able to cash them on Monday. Mitchell said there have been several -
instances before when she was unable to cash her LIFT Academy paychecks
because the school had insufficient funds, but she was able to cash the pay
checks later. There were also times when she received her paycheck late and
once she was paid in cash, she said.
Mitchell also has alleged that her dental insurance lapsed at one point
because the school had not paid the premium, even though she was paying
for the insurance through payroll deduction each pay period.
Wood said in a telephone interview Tuesday, "I did resign (from the
board) because of disagreements between me and others about the proce
dures we should go through to deal with certain administrative and financial
issues, some of which you mentioned in your article in The Chronicle last
SsrUFt nnAM
Arinze: Religion holds
key to world peace
By T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Arinxm
As jet travel, the Internet and mass media bring the hemispheres closer
together than ever before, the centuries-old power of religion is still one of
the best instruments to bring about worldwide social, political and econom
ic change, the black man who many believe will be the next pope told Wake
Forest University graduates Monday.
I "Religion teaches people that, despite differences of race and culture, the
human family is one...Therefore, respect for the rights
of others, questions of justice and peace the necessity
to eliminate unjust discrimination based on language
race place of origin, social status, sex or religion, ail
come under what religion is about," said Cardinal
Francis Arinze president of the Pontifical-Council for
Inter-religious Dialogue a branch of the Vatican that
promotes collaboration between Catholics and follow
ers of other religions
As he spoke during the outdoor ceremony on the
school's campus Arinze looked out at an ocean of
nearly 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students
who were slatdd to receive diplomas The graduates
were flanked by rows of well-trimmed trees and thousands upon thousands
of fanlily members and friends, many of whom jockeyed for positions to
photograph and videotape the rising Catholic star. *
Arinze told the crowd that many of the difficulties that plague human
ity extend beyond individual religious beliefs They are the problems of the
See Wok* on All
Free at last!
Kobert Parker and trick Wicker relax after receiving their diplomas during North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State Universi
ty's commencement last Saturday. For full story tee page A3.
" > * -dT . ?
I
Angelou to headline desegregation rally
By T.KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE .
Norma McLemore grew up in a
small town near Jasper, Texas.
Though it was years before the
dragging death of a black man at.
the hands of skinheads would
make Jasper infamous, McLemore
says she was a witness to prejudice
and racism on a daily basis.
,* "I grew up in a racist little town
where the Klan was a presence,"
she said.
But McLemore, who is white,
escaped. Now, a "middle-aged"
woman, she has called Winston
Salem home for nearly 15 years.
And although the problem of
racism never completely dissipated,
\ ?
McLemore said she thoughi the
nation had made some significant
steps forward, especially in terms of
education. ?|
So when
the city-coun
ty school
board passed
a redistricting
plan for ele
mentary and
middle
schools five
years ago,
McLemore's
red flag shot
up; it has been up ever since.
"I don't have children but I care
very much about race relations....!
think that we are resegregating
(schools), and I hate to see that,"
she said.
The redistricting plait h;is done
away with cross-town busing in the
system and replaced it with a
"school choice" plan, in which par
ents have the option of sending
their children to a school in their
neighborhood or a handful of oth
ers.
McLemore has joined forces
with several other people to orga
nize one of the first grassroots ral
lies aimed at challenging the
school system's redistricting plan.
The rally. Scheduled for Mon
day night in Reynolds High School
Auditorium, will also serve as an
anti-violence and racial dialogue
event, McLemore said.
N *
"It will be a mishmash of
things," she said.
A "mishmash" is also an appro
priate word to describe the line-up
of performers and speakers sched
uled to take center stage at the
event.
Emily Wilson, an organizer
who thought up the idea for the
awareness rally, asked Maya
Angelou to speak at the rally, and
she's agreed. Wilson's husband,
Edwin Wilson, is a senior vice pres
ident at Wake Forest University,
the school where Angelou serves as
Reynolds Professor of American
Studies.
"Dr. Angelou is always inspira
tional. The message that she brings
See Rally on A10
1
Black leaders take up the cause for Liberians
By T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Likening the U.S. government's
policy for granting citizenship to
a complex racial and geographical
hierarchy system, four prominent
black leaders are taking up the
cause of thousands of Liberians
who face deportation from this
country later this summer.
"In (regard) to Africa, there
has always been a double stan
dard," said the Rev. John Mendez
of Lmmanuel Baptist Church. "It
did not start yesterday or today; it
has been ongoing."
Mendez was joined at the news
conference Friday morning at
Goler Memorial A.M.E. Zion
Church by State Rep. Larry
Womble; the Rev. Carlton Eversley
of Dellabrook Baptist Church;
James H under, the president of the
Liberian Organization of the Pied
mont; and the Rev. Seth Lartey,
pastor of Goler.
The men spoke about the
urgent need for federal legislation
to grant the Liberians status as
permanent residents. The men
urged Americans, especially
African Americans, to aggressively
lobby Congress on behalf of the
Liberians.
"As a state legislator, I can tell
you that if there is not an outcry -
telephone calls petitions, rallies -
then you don't get our attention,"
Womble said. "It's unfortunate,
but that's the way legislatures
work."
Thousands of Liberians have
been granted temporary residency
in the United States since a bloody
civil war broke out in the tiny West
African nation more than a decade
ago. Last year, their residency sta
tus was not renewed by the U.S.
Justice Department after it deemed
Liberia safe and stable. There has
been a cease-fire in the nation since
19% and recent democratic elec
tions.
But Liberia is a nation barely
hanging on, many Liberians say.
They say their homeland lacks the
basics - like health care and run
ning water - and that the Liberian
government has not yet proven
itself a true democracy to the
world community.
Liberians from across the
nation attended a rally last year in
Washington to fight the Justice
Department's decision and to per
suade members of Congress to
Set Ub?Ha on A10
'La luz de diversidad'
Mora than SO pmoplm gatharad downtown for tha unvoiling of o
Hitpanit mural. Tha mural coiobrotai diversity In tha city, for
full ttory, too paga Ai.
- - - - - ? ? . , . mmammmm
INDEX
OPINION A6
SPORTS SI
RELIGION ??
CLASSIFIEDS 111
HEALTH C3
ENTER. C7
, CALENDAR C11
This Week In
Black History...
May 20,1868- RR&
Pfaohbaok and James J.
Harris are the first
African American dele
gates to a Republican
convention.
May SO, 1968-Ruth A.
Lucas beooaaes the Air
Foroe's first black female
colonel.
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