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WSSU chancellor: 'I do not intend to resign...'
By T.KEVIN WALKER
THE CfONigjE
When Alvin Schexnider came
to Winston-Salem State Universi
ty, the thing that troubled people
the most about him was his last
name.
The chancellor's name was
often butchered. People tripped
up syllables or left them out com
pletely.
Three years later, the name
rolls off people's tongues with pre
cision.
They've had practice using it.
The name Schexnider has been
whispered by school employees
and alumni in break rooms and
parking lots on WSSU's campus
and shouted by the local media in
headlines and sound bytes.
These days seemingly every
thing about Schexnider troubles
many of those with close ties to
the school, from his ultra-regal
demeanor to his hiring choices.
The financial gaffes the univer
sity has publicly endured on his
watch have not helped.
But despite the growing wrath
of his vocal critics, despite find
ings from a recent audit that
WSSU's financial house has been
as shaky as a mobile home and
that the chancellor used public
money for personal purposes,
Schexnider says he has never
thought about bowing out as
chancellor.
Though for weeks now rumors
of his departure have flourished,
he says the talk of his leaving
WSSU is a defective product of
the city's rumor mill.
"I have not resigned; I do not
intend to resign, so I don't know
where this is coming from,"
Schexnider said during an inter
view last week. "I came here on a
mission, to do a job. I care deeply
about Winston-Salem State. I take
my work very seriously (and) my
work is not yet finished."
A spokesperson for UNC
President Molly Broad said last
week that she was also unaware of
any such changes being made at
WSSU.
Schexnider is obviously more
concerned about the jpboot's
future than its past. Though he
talks openly about past mistakes '
by him and his administration, he
is more animated and long-wind
ed when speaking in the the pre
sent tense.
He is concerned about public
perceptions of the university.
That's why, he says, he has always
tried to answer the tough ques
tions.
The picture Schexnider paints
of WSSU is much brighter than
See WSSU om A10 , !
75 cents WlNSTON-SALEM GREENSBORO HlGH POINT Vol. XXV No. 52
The Chronicle
1974 - Celebrating 25 Years - 1999
Audit shows
misuse of
state funds
WSSt/ officials say bulk of
irregularities already addressed
By T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE 4
In March members of the Winston
Salem State University board of trustees
publicly criticized the school's vice chancel
lor for finance and administration for shift
ing a quarter-million dollars from one
school account to another without the
board's consent.
In May Philip Gilley was sent to the
school to help sort out its finances after
Chancellor Alvin Schexnider appealed to
UNC President Molly Broad for help.
And three weeks ago the vice chancellor
for finance and administration resigned
after having the bulk of her duties taken
away from her and given to Gilley.
The annual audit of the university
.j revealed what WSSU officials admitted
months ago: The school has had its share
of financial problems over the last 12
months.
The Office of the State Auditor released
the audit last Friday. Its findings covered
the period July 1997 through June 1998.
The audit pointed out myriad financial
problems. Most stemmed from financial
records that were either not properly kept or
documented.
According to the audit, the school did
not follow the proper procedures to ensure
that its year-end financial statement pack
age was accurately prepiared.
WSSU filed its financial package on
time with the Office of the State Controller,
according to the audit, but school officials
had to make additional entries to the pack
age after the deadline date.
Failure to submit the entire package
jeopardizes the timely completion and
issuance of the state's annual financial
report, according to the audit.
"The university has taken necessary
steps to ensure that all financial reporting
. will be timely and accurate," said Gilley, the
school's acting chief financial officer, fn a
statement. "Additionally, in the future a
more extensive review of all reports will be
conducted by management at all levels."
Gilley, an employee of the Office of the
State Auditor, was sent to WSSU by Broad
to'help clean the university's financial
house. He took over the duties of Clemen
tine Cone, who resigned earlier this month
as vice chancellor for finance and adminis
tration.
Cone was criticized earlier this year for
shifting funds from the university's endow
See Audit on A10
? ? "J ,
Sign of the season
Photo by Jen Young
liiaha Taylor, a mombor of tho YWCA't Marching 100*, pound* hi* drum during a rocont rohoartal at tho ?rnpow
ering Family Cantor. Taylor i* an oighth-grador at Jefferson Middle School.
LIFT gets
90 days to
get finances
in order
By PAUL COLLINS
THE CHRONICLE
The State Charter School Advisory Com
mittee voted overwhelmingly on Friday to give
LIFT Academy, a public charter school in
East Winston, 90 days to straighten its books
and reduce its deficit.
If the school does not comply, it could lose
its state charter, which would mean the loss of
hundreds of thousands of dollars in govern
ment monies.
Last month the Charter School Advisory;
Committee rwom- 1- f
mended tnat the state
Board of Education
revoke LIFT Academy's
charter, and on Aug. 5
the state board voted to
begin the process to
revoke the school's char
ter. The school
appealed, which set up
Friday's meeting before
the Charter School
Advisorv Committee.
Oozens of students,
parents, faculty members and school adminis-l
trators attended the meeting in Raleigh on
behalf of the school, said state Sot. Ham Hor
ton of Winston-Salem, who spoke to the com
mittee on behalf of LIFT Academy.
Horton told the committee that LIFT
Academy has been serving students given up
on by the public school system since 1982.
(LIFT Academy was a private school until it
became a public charter school in the 1997-98!
school year.) He said that LIFT Academy has;
had some difficulties in its transition to?
becoming a charter school, but those difficult .
ties can be overcome. *
State officials have said that LIFT Acade-*
my used $33,861 in state or local tax money to{
pay a federal tax bill to the Internal Revenuel
Service for unpaid payroll taxes for a period;!
before LIFT became a state public charter-!
school. But. according to Horton, Earline Par-!
mon, administrator at LIFT Academy. hasC
personally raised $27,000 in private monies to-!
help repay the state money that was used to!;
pay the federal taxes. }?
Paul LeSieur. assistant director of the State}
Department of Public Instruction s division of-!
school business, said state officials last week!
received school records about the $27,000 and}
have not had time to verify the amount. He*,
said the school will have to replace the full!;
$33,861 with private money.
See UFT on All}
Parmon 't?
Chronicle to celebrate
25th anniversary
Sybil, Debra Terry to headline festival in park
i
By JERI YOUNG
The chronicle
Recording artist Sybil and comedian/actress Debra Terry will head
line an all-star lineup for The Chronicle's 25th Anniversary/Family Day
Celebration Saturday at Rupert Bell Park.
The duo will team up to host the event, which will also include per
formances by a host of local groups, including the Mass Choir of Mount
Olive Baptist Church, The Boss Drummers of the Winston-Lake
YMCA. members of the Artistic Studio for the Performing Arts and sax
ophonist Tony Chambers.
The all-female group Ebonique will also perform.
The emphasis on local talent isn't accidental, says Fannie Henderson,
the event's coordinator.
"We thought the local people would be an added attraction we would
Set? 2Stfl fn A11
Real life I
Artitt Ann Bonner says her works allow her to share the joys
and sorrows of women, for full story see page A4.
Johnson: Hire firm 1
to run inner-city
elementary school j
By T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE . Z
Vic Johnson might be trying to sell a
lemon.
A lemon that a majority of his fellow
School Board members said a collective "no
thanks" to late last year .
But he is repackaging it. making it more
appealing to those who will benefit most
from it.
"I'm not saying it's the panacea, but I
believe that we should try something differ
Johnson 5
S
Srt Johnson on A11 ^
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