wssu
from page Al
Teachers College or simply "TC." Hairs ton
said his experiences on campus in the 1950s
helped to shape and inform much of the near
ly six decades that has followed. He remem
bers his class as a small, close knit group
determined to succeed in a hostile world.
"We were so small that everybody knew
everybody and we developed friendships that
have lasted through the years," he remarked.
"Some of my best friends are people I met at
Winston-Salem State."
It was there that Hairston met his wife of
47 years, the late Jannie Shaw, a doe-eyed
underclassman.
"She was gorgeous and had the biggest,
prettiest eyes. I remember telling my mom I
met a little girl that has eyes so big I almost
call them saucers," he recalled. "...The
library was where we did most of our court
ing. You'd go to the library at night, get your
studying done so you could hold hands under
the table, and then I'd get to walk her back to
her dorm."
Hairston described his instructors as
visionary leaders who pushed students and
prepared them for a post Brown v. Board of
Education, world where separate but equal
would no longer be the norm.
"It amazes me how the faculty and staff
there prepared us for
things that they could
never know would ever
happen," declared
Hairston, whose 30
year career in the local
school system included
over two decades in
school administration.
"... (When I started col
lege), the idea was that
I would get a job teach
ing in some black
school like all the others
had done, but things
changed in the '60's. We
walked through doors
where we were not
wanted, not welcome
and everywhere we
went, we raised the
level of proficiency, we
made it a better place."
Hairston, who also
served the City of
Winston-Salem for nine
vears as one of the first
Hairtton
Manigauh
black firefighters in the South, was recently
inducted into the Big House Gaines Hall of
Fame for Meritorious Service. The two-term
National Alumni Association president said
the school has earned his passion and dedica
tion.
"It was there when we needed it," he
declared. "They wouldn't even let me in the
back door at Duke ... or any of the other pres
tigious universities, but Winston-Salem State
was there, and they were graduating folks
who were having tremendous impact on the
lives of black folks. Everywhere they went,
they were in high demand. That was a tremen
dous incentive."
Charlotte native Marilyn Roseboro has
many fond memories of her time at WSSU,
both as an undergrad and later as a longtime
employee. Roseboro came to WSSU in 1969,
the same year the school became a university,
on the prestigious RJ Reynolds Tobacco
Company Scholarship, which covered her
tuition and afforded her the opportunity to
spend a semester abroad in Great Britain.
Roseboro was a member of the school's
marching band, then known as "The Biggest
Sound in the CLAA," and still vividly remem
bers the time in Baltimore, Md. that the band
performed before thousands at a Baltimore
Colts game a few days after Thanksgiving.
"(The band) was this close group - we
were like a family anyway," she related. "And
we had new uniforms that year. We were look
ing sharp if I do say so myself!"
Students who lived on campus were held
to strict rules and required to inform their
dorm matrons of where they were going and
when they planned to return whenever they
WSSU Ftxxo by DM Gnu
Students walk near a campus likeness of
Simon Green Atkins.
left campus, Roseboro said, and Sunday din
ners on campus were a can't miss event. The
Hauser Building, which was constructed dur
ing her tenure as a student, was home to a stu
dent center, complete with a beauty parlor, a
barber shop and a bank. Her graduating class,
the Class of 1973, donated the adjacent con
crete fountain that still stands to this day.
"It was just the place to be - everything
happened over there," she recalled with a
smile.
After six years working in the media and
public relations field, Roseboro returned to
campus as a member of the staff. Over more
than three decades, she held a varoety of posi
tions, from director of public relations to
associate professor of mass communications.
As an employee, Roseboro says her love
for her alma mater grew. She remembers the
anticipation she felt each year as she watched
the buses chartered by Alumni Associations
from across nation pull up in front of the old
Alumni House, loaded down with former
Rams ready to celebrate Homecoming.
"That's when you knew, 'It's
Homecoming, y'all!"' declared the 61 year
old. "...They talked about 'Ram pride,' we
were proud of this institution. There was just
no school like Winston-Salem State."
Looking back, Roseboro said the universi
ty has come a long way, increasing the
breadth and diversity of its courses of study,
its infrastructure, and its students.
"It's a tremendous tribute to (founder) Dr.
Simon Green Atkins when you think about the
faith that he had to have to start this institu
tion, the level of commitment he had to have
to build this institution at a time when there
were so many challenges,*' she said.
Anniversary events will begin tomorrow
(Sept. 28) at 11 a.m. near the school's clock
tower, said Dr. Shirley Manigault, special
assistant to the chancellor and co-chair of the
120th Anniversary Planning Committee. The
program, which is free and open to the public,
will include the reading of a proclamation
from Mayor Allen Joines, the unveiling of a
custom anniversary postage stamp and com
memorative souvenirs and musical perform
ances by student groups. Organizers are
expecting around 1,000 attendees.
Over the next year, a series of events will
be held to celebrate the past, present and
future of the institution.
"I think it's going to be intellectually stim
ulating, somewhat provocative, and I think
people will enjoy themselves," Manigault
said of the activities planned over the next
year. "They are fun events and intellectual
events and cultural events. There's something,
I think, for everyone to take away from the
university in this year of celebration."
For more information about Friday's pro
gram, visit
www.wssu.edu/about/events/2012/annivesary
celebration.aspx. Information about other
anniversary events throughout the year will
be available at wssu.edu/anniversary.
H REMAINING HOME ICBIDULI
09/89 - DUKE (FAMILY WEEKEND) 11/08 - B09T0N C0LLB9E
10/88 - CLBM80N (BLACKOUT) 11/84 - VANDERBILT
Districts
from page AI
Campbell, chair of the
Forsyth County Democratic
Party. As the start of early
voting on Oct. 18 draws
closer, Campbell says she is
fielding an increasing num
ber of phone
calls from dis
g r u n t 1 e d
Democrats who
are unhappy that
they have been
moved from
Watt's largely
liberal 12th
District to that
of U.S. Rep.
Virginia Foxx, a
conservative
Republican who
represents the
state's 5th
District.
"A lot of
folks don't
know that
they've been
redistricted,"
said Campbell,
who added that
21 of the 40
Watt precincts
in the county
have been redis
tricted to Foxx.
"People need to
know that Mel
Watt is not
going to be their
representative.''
Watt's dis
trict had never
encompassed a
large portion of
Forsvth Countv.
Ban
El-Amin
The snake-shaped district
includes parts of several
cities, including Charlotte,
Lexington, Greensboro and
High Point. Most of Forsyth
has always been in the Fifth,
which also includes parts or
all of 11 other counties.
Rob Coffman, director of
the Forsyth County Board of
Elections, says the Board
notified all voters who were
affected by the redistricting
when voter registration
cards were mailed out last
spring.
"It listed redistricting on
the bottom, we made sure. It
said on the card 'changed
for redisricting,'" Coffman
said. W...I think we've done
what we need to do for noti
fication."
Coffman recommended
that voters who are unsure
of their district consult the
sample ballot on the BOE's
Web page, which is based
upon street aaaress
and will contain up
to date election
information.
Washington
Park resident
Cornelia Barr said
she knew congres
sional districts
changes were com
ing. An unaffiliated
voter, Barr was
moved from the
12th to the 5 th
District. She is not
angry; instead she is
looking forward to
supporting School
Board Member
Elisabeth Motsinger,
the Democrat chal
lenging Foxx. What
Barr, head of the
Gateway
Environmental
Initiative, says she
didn't expect was
the difficulty she
experienced in try
ing to find where
she fell in her new
district. At the time
of the primary,
when Barr began to
search for new dis
trict lines, she says
maps were hard to
come by.
It just seems that there
should be a government
vehicle that shows where
the boundaries are," said the
mother of one.
Both Congressman Watt
and Foxx have since added
maps to their Web sites that
allow voters to identify
which district they live in,
but many voting rights
advocates - including Barr -
believe that more publicity
is needed if 5th and 12th
District constituents are to
go to the polls as informed
voters.
"I've done a lot of voter
registration over the years
and I think it's really impor
tant to approach this not as a
partisan issue, but as a vot
ing rights issue," she said.
'"Hie more information we
have, the more effective we
can be as voters."
Fleming El-Amin, a
committee member for
Precinct 81 at Oak Summit
United Methodist Church,
said he's encountered quite
a few people in his precinct
who are surprised to find
that they are now in the 5th
District.
"It's just the misinforma
tion that's out there, the
confusion that's out there,
and it may discourage some
people from actually voting
because they can't vote for
the representative that they
want to vote for," El-Amin
said.
Although the changes
have been noted on voter
registration cards, the sea
soned poll worker said he
expects there will still be
some folks who don't notice
them until they get to the
polls. El-Amin said he is
working with nonpartisan
groups such as Democracy
NC to help make voters
aware of the changes. He is
hopeful that perhaps the
redisricting will serve as a
wake-up call to re-energize
voters of every persuasion
to exercise their civic duty
by casting ballots this elec
tion season.
'Too many people wait
until there's a fire in the
house before we get
involved. We've just got to
become more learned," said
the Glenn High School
teacher. "I tell everybody I
come in contact with 'stay
active, stay informed, and
let's move forward to
advance our community.'
That's my gospel that I
preach everywhere I go."
Early voting runs
Thursday, October 18
Saturday, Nov. 3. To see
which district you are in,
view your sample ballot at
www.forsyth.cc/Elections or
call 336-703-2800.
* Are You ?
I Ready.
I Vote?
Today, more than ever, we need to vote to protect
the gains we have made and to move forward.
Register at any of the following agencies:
North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
Departments of Social Services (DSS)
Departments of Public Health (WIC)
Vocational Rehabilitation offices
Departments of Services for the Blind
Departments of Services for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing
Departments of Mental Health Services
Employment Security Commission (ESC)
??imimvivni^RV
WIMHWJB