Agency will not use fund broadly
American Red
Cross backs down
from idea to use
funds earmarked
for families of Sept.
11 victims for other
programs
BY COURTNEY GA1LLARI)
THE CHRONICLE
America has watched the
American Red Cross (ARC) in
the past weeks since the organi
zation made a controversial
decision to use its Liberty Disas
ter Fund, which was designed
specifically for relatives of vic
tims of the attacks, for Red
Cross projects unrelated to the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But
how have the events of Septem
ber affected local chapters such
as the Northwest North Carolina
Chapter of the ARC?
? Ker
rendu 1
Crandol.
director
of public
relations
for the
North
west
Chapter,
said that
in the
days
Crandol
after Sept. 11 the Red Cross
received an extraordinary num
ber of blood donations ? nearly
200 people. Although the local
chapter was faced with ques
tions concerning the Liberty
Fund, Crandol said the influx of
volunteers and donors was the
main focus of the local Red
Cross after the attacks.
Commenting on the prob
lems concerning the Liberty
Fund, Crandol said that it was
the largest disaster and largest
fund-raiser in the history of the
ARC. Crandol believes the Con
troversy over the fund stems
from confusion.
"People want all of the
money to go to the fund," Cran
dol >aid. "There w ere other costs
and they didn't realize that if the
money didn't go directly to the
families, it was going toward
other relief efforts related to
Sept. 11 ."
Food, medical aid and coun
seling for the thousands of relief
workers are just a few of the
related areas to which Crandol
was referring.
The American Red Cross
has been under intense scrutiny
concerning the allocation of
relief funds to the families of
victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks. In an effort to iron out
the kinks, executive officers
pledged during a news confer
ence last week to distribute more
money to families immediately.
Apologies were extended by
Red Cross officials who regret
ted that their activities over the
past eight weeks were not as
sharply ftx-used as the country
and victims expected.
David McLaughlin, chair
man of the board of the Ameri
can Red Cross, said he hopes to
restore the faith and trust of the
country by making a "course
correction" for the Liberty Dis
aster Fund so that 1(X) percent of
it will go directly to the Sept. 11
victims and their families.
McLaughlin also said that
although "disaster relief is diffi
cult work, it is something the
ARC does and does well every
day of the year."
According to ARC chief
executive officer Harold Decker,
in spite of confusion over the
American Red Cross Liberty
Fund, the victims have been and
will continue to be a priority of
the ARC.
As a result, swift changes to
the Liberty Fund will involve
narrowing the focus of it so that
it is a separate and segregated
fund used exclusively for vic
tims and not toward future
events. Officials also announced
that the Family Gift Program
(which provides tax-free cash
gifts to families of victims) has
been extended up to one year to
cover victims' living expenses.
Checks to cover the next six
months of expenses will be sent
out before the year ends.
The Liberty Fund is project
ed to spend 50 percent of dona
tions received so far by the end
of this year. Plans for the distri
bution of the rest of the fund will
be decided in January. A com
mon database of victims will be
created along with various relief
agencies and public officials to
assist families of victims of the
terrorist attacks in affected cities.
Decker concluded his state
ment on the Liberty Fund by
saying that although the ARC
has received much criticism,
none should be aimed at the
thousands of volunteers who
have worked at all of the disaster
sights across the affected cities
"...They've done a remarkable
job," Decker said.
Active solicitation for the
Liberty Fund has been stopped
because the ARC believes it has
enough money to assist all of the
victims of September's attacks.
By the end of the year, the
American Red Cross predicts
that $275 million out of the $543
million in relief donations will
have been spent overall to help
people affected by the disasters.
Twenty-five thousand victims
have already been assisted to
date, according to the Red
Cross.
File Photo
A Chicago grade student participates in "Wash America" last month to raise money for
the American Red Cross. Recently, the hundreds of millions of dollars raised by the organ
ization for Sept. 11 relief efforts has come under scrutiny.
A&T's student newspaper
staff wins several awards
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
GREENSBORO - N.C.
A&T's student newspaper staff
recently garnered top awards in
the Black College Communica
tion Association's (BCCA) 2(H) I
Student Newspaper Awards
competition.
The awards were presented
during the association's annual
meeting at the Hilton-Walt Dis
ney World in Orlando. Fla. Stu
dents who work on A&T's stu
dent newspaper, the A&T Regis
ter. received eight awards. The
editor is Randy St. Clair and the
adviser is Valerie Nieman.
Awards included: first place.
Best Commentary; first place.
Best Layout: second place. Best
Bi-weekly Newspaper; second
place. Best Sports Coverage;
third place. Best News Cover
age; third place. Best Sports
Story; third place. Best Feature
Story; honorable mention. Best
Feature Story.
Petree
from page AI
"Our children are
in a position where
they can succeed,"
Rutledge said.
"They're realizing
that they are smart
and that they can do
well."
The student
body, which consists
of pre-kindergarten
through fifth grade,
gathered in the gym
nasium for a mini
pep rally with some
help from Glenn
High School cheer
leaders and the Carv
er High School
a Majors,
rents and
rs joined the
festivities as well,
beaming with pride
I 2JE_ ? MIM .. I
Many of the students wore self-made
hats during the parade. '
and extending kudos to the students. The Drum Majors then led the
large pack of achievers in a parade around the school building and
completed the celebration with ice cream to end the school day.
Rutledge wanted the children to realize how far they have all
come in the past couple years in their studies. He also figured a
parade would be a wonderf ul way to build the self-esteem of the stu
dent body and motivate students to continue their success in the
classroom.
"Success breeds success," Rutledge said.
The idea for the parade was suggested to Rutledge by Assistant
Superintendent Angela Friar, who knew it would be a great reward
that parents could attend and enjoy along with their children.
"You only have a parade on a special occasion, and this is a very
special occasion," Rutledge said.
Petree Elementary prides itself on a strong retention program,
which keeps parents sending their children to the school year after
year. Rutledge is certain that community support and parental
involvement, coupled with a steady retention rate, will continue to
push the school even higher.
"It takes a community, a staff and children who want to do well.
That whole combination of things leads to success," Rutledge pro
claimed.
Gregory
from page AI
Gregory finds time to do what
he calls "giving back."
As a respected attorney in
Richmond. Va.. where the .4th
Circuit is located. Gregory
argued cases before the cogrt.
but he never thought or aspired
to be on the other side.
He said he has always loved
law and the idea of being an
"advocate for clients."
He now sits on a bench that
is one judicial rung dow n from
the U.S. Supreme Court.
"This opportunity is very
humbling." he said. "It's not an
easy job. It's been amazing and
a wonderful opportunity to
work with some great jurists
and to see some of the best
lawyers in the country come
before you."
The opportunity to serve
was extended to Gregory in late
December of last year, a month
before the end, of Clinton's
presidency. The 4th Circuit
serves a region inhabited by
millions of African Americans,
but the court never had an
African-American judge until
Gregory.
Clinton had nominated sev
eral African-American judges
to the court, including Judge
Jim Wynn of the N.C. Court of
Appeals and Judge James A.
Beaty Jr.. of the U.S. District
Court for tljtiMiddle District of
North Carolina, but the then
Republican controlled Senate
refused to even consider the
nominees, causing many civil
rights groups and Democrats to
go ballistic.
Clinton appointed Gregory
while Congress was in recess,
filling a slot on the court that
had been vacant for nearly 10
years. A recess appointment,
which would have allowed
Gregory to serve on the court
? for only a year without Senate
confirmation, is well within a
president's power, but that did
not prevent Gregory's appoint
ment from coming under fire.
Republican lawmakers
complained that Clinton will
fully bypassed the confirma
tion process and when Presi
dent Bush took office he
yanked Gregory's nomination,
only to renominate him a short
time later after Gregory
received a jyoundswell of sup
port from lawmakers in both
parties. He was confirmed
overwhelmingly by the Senate
in July.
Gregory is thankful for all
the bipartisan support he
received. Even Sen. Jesse
Helms voted to confirm Grego
ry. He also received enthusias
tic support from Virginia's two
Republican senators. Gregory
said he believes the support
was partly a result of his efforts
to show lawmakers that he har
bored no ulterior motives.
"I tried to show them that I
was not part of any partisan
strife or had any agenda but to
do my very best to interpret the
law. not-to make the law but to
interpret it."
Support and encouragement
also came from the African
American judges who were
nominated for the post but did
not make it. Judge Beaty. for
example, attended Gregory's
investiture, a swearing-in cere
mony.
A husband and the father of
three daughters (who range in
age from 7 to 19). Gregory saicP
he did not have a lot of time to
ring his hands while some of
the most powerful people in the
nation considered his fate. The
world did not stop, he said, and
home life kept him grounded.
"It's nothing more hum
bling than your family because
no mattor what's going on. it's
still about whether the trash has
been taken out or 'Dad 1 need
this or I need that.' That keeps
you firmly anchored and on the
ground." he said.
Gregory takes very serious
ly the immense responsibility
he now has. He and his col
leagues on the court will be
charged in the next few years
with making important deci
i > ?/ im__i
Beatty
sions concerning school inte
gration. affirmative action and
a number of other hot button
issues.
Though he strongly thinks
that all judges, regardless of
their race, "try to look at the
law and the facts and apply
them as best they can." Grego
ry said he believes in racial
diversity on courts such as the
4th Circuit.
"We are not a monolithic
country....We are many people
and that is our strength, and
that strength certainly ought to
be at one of our higher institu
tions of law and justice. We are
always richer from a broader
perspective." he said.
The judge gave up a storied
career as a private attorney. In
fact. Gregory tried a jury case
the day before he took his seat
on the court. A member of the
bar in Virginia - where he was
raised and still lives - since
1980. Gregory worked at
Hunter & Williams, one of the
state's most respected law
firms, before co-founding his
own firm with former Virginia
Gov. Doug Wilder in 1982.
Becoming the first black
judge on the 4th Circuit bench
was just the latest in a long list
of firsts for Gregory. He was
the first person in his family to
. graduate from high school and.
logically, the first to finish col
lege and attend a professional
school.
His parents, both of whom
died before they could see their
son sworn in. worked at a
Brown & Williamson tobacco
factory to support the family.
They doled out equal helpings
of love, discipline and God
fearing values. Gregory said.
"Being a lawyer doesn't
make you honest and give you
integrity. I learned that from
my parents at the supper
table ...They worked hard so
that I could dream longer. I
stand on broad shoulders."
Gregory said his mother
was the main disciplinarian.
One of her rules prohibited
Gregory and his siblings from
loitering in the living room.
Like many African-American
women. Gregory's mother kept
her living room furniture
Wrapped in plastic.
"You did not eat on it; you
did not hardly look at it." Gre
gory said, recalling the man
dates imposed by his mother in
terms of that living room.
Gregory has peeled away
the plastic and now uses his
mother's 40-year-old living
room furniture in his chamber
at the 4th Circuit. People who
visit him marvel at the age of
the furniture because of its
pristine condition. He likes to
believe that his mother was
preserving the furniture for
him.
"(The furniture) reminds
me every day in terms of what
dreamland prayers can do." he
said. "I think maybe she was
saving that for something that I
didn't have any idea about."
Hitchcock
from page A2
starting forward on the Carolina
basketball team that won the 1993
national championship.
Activism by football and bas
ketball players was unusual and
attracted national media attention.
Hitchcock was interviewed on the
ABC news show "Nightline." and
he and other students spoke on
university campuses, including
Vanderbilt. Harvard and Colum
bia.
In July 1993. UNC trustees
voted in favor of a free-standing
building. It would be an academic
building to house both the Sonja
Haynes Stone Black Cultural
Center and the Institute of African
American Research. It would
contain classrooms, a library, an
art gallery and a performance
space, and it would be paid for
solely with private gifts.
Hitchcock's gift is among the
largest to the building fund by a
living person, and a multipurpose
meeting room in the new building
will be named for him.
Hitchcock said that at first he
did not want to have the rtxtm
named for him because he
thought "it was ttx) much." But he
said he reconsidered after the
i ??
death in training camp this year of
his former Minnesota Vikings
teammate. Kory Stringer.
"It leaves a legacy for my
kids." Hitchcock said. "If any
thing happened to me. they could
see what was important to me and
what I did."
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