NO. 4 VOLUME XXXIX MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2009

THEBennett BANNER The Newspaper Produced by and Published for the Phenomenal Women of Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina

Campus Happenings Women’s history month: Bennett alumnae revered

ABROADcontinued on Page 3

Belles get education abroad

By Aziza JacksonBanner Editor-in-Chief

QEPcontinued on Page 3

COC yet to reveal decision

T-shirts, signs, book-marks, and other parapherna-lia flooded Bennett College’s campus in preparation for the Nov. 11-13 on-site evaluation that was to determine renewal of the College’s accreditation.

“When the on-site team left, they mentioned to us that they found us to be in compliance with all core regulations and the federal requirements,” said Dr. John Jones, Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness and Enrollment Management.

Jones serves as the liaison for the reaffirma-tion process at Bennett.

There are three types of standards: core requirements, comprehensive standards, and federal requirements.

Core requirements are the type of standard a college must be compli-ant with to avoid sanctions from SACS, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. A sanction jeopar-dizes a college’s accreditation.

There were seven rec-ommendations among the comprehensive standards.

It is those seven rec-ommendations and the College’s response to those recommendations that con-stitute the seventh step of the eight step process.

The eighth and f i-nal step is the decision f r o m t h e C o m m i s s i o n .

The committee also assessed a weakness in the College’s institution-al effectiveness process.

By Rykiell Rhea-TurnerBanner Staff

As our society contin-ues to advance and inquir-ing minds seek to quench their thirst for knowledge, there have been many op-portunities for people from other cultures to indulge in education cross-culturally.

The possibilities be-come endless when relation-ships between schools like New York University (NYU) and Bennett College open doors for open minds to ex-pand. Eryn Reid, a senior

theater arts major lets us in on how she took advan-tage of the NYU-Bennett relationship to study abroad.

“It was my junior year and Dr. Bheki Langa and Mr. Steve Willis really pushed me to apply to study abroad for senior year so I began my research for the program that would best suit me. NYU in London was the best for my major. It’s the theater capital of the world—I applied, got in then I began my process to prepare for the transition,” Reid said.

Cinnamon Hunter

is currently the Director of the International program at Bennett. Students interested

in studying abroad usually contact her with questions and concerns. Students may also go about the process solo

but funding a study abroad trip can be costly. Many study abroad programs will allow students to fund their schooling overseas through the payment of tuition at their home institutions.

Many other stu-dents including; Janine Quarrels, Aziza Jackson, Reneta Chavis, DeAndra Dunn and Jacqueline Her-nandez have been abroad to study in Africa, Ireland and other wonderful places.

In this photo: Bennett Belles study in classroom. In honor of March being

Women’s History month, the Banner dedicates its March issue to Bennett’s

hardworking alumnae who continue to pave the way for undergraduate Belles.

Through constant fundraising, mentorship, and service to their communities,

they have shown the world that Black women can shatter stereotypes in order

to reach their full potential and make a difference in this world.

March 24Bennett College for Women’s Afri-cana Women’s Studies program and UNC’s Project CONNECT will partner for the DVD and Dialogue Series featuring the California News Reel documentary, “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making us Sick?” The program will be in Black Hall Auditorium from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

❖March 27-28In honor of Women’s History Month, the Journalism and Media Studies department will host the 2nd an-nual Gate City Women’s Film Festi-val. The festival will be run by JMS students. All films submitted will be screened during the evenings and will compete for several awards in-cluding the “Blue Magnolia Award,” “Florence C. Bynum Award,” and “Zora Neale Hurston Award.”BANNER CORRECTION

The “Bennett Banner” apolo-gizes for the following error: In the February 4 edition of the “Banner” the article “Psy-chology department receives upgrades” stated that there were two computer labs, when there are in fact three computer labs, all of which have SMART technology.

“I believe every-

one should have

an opportunity

to get an interna-

tional experience.”

-Reneta Chavis

PHOTO COURTESY OF BENNETT ARCHIVES

THE BENNETT BANNER - SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2007 - PAGE 2

BelleSPEAK

THE BENNETT BANNER - MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2009- PAGE 2

By Aziza JacksonBanner Editor-in-Chief

LETTER POLICY: The Banner welcomes brief letters to the editor and guest col-umns but does not guarantee their publication. The Banner retains the right to edit or reject any material submitted for publication. All submissions become the property of the Banner and will not be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. All letters must contain the name of the writer, classifica-tion, major or group affiliation, phone number and campus address. The Banner does not accept facsimiles, or e-mails. Address letters to: Aziza Jackson, Editor, The Bennett Banner, Campus Box 25, Shell Hall C-2 Greensboro, NC, 27401

-MISSION STATEMENT-The Bennett Banner is the official student newspaper of Bennett College. The Banner is produced in conjunction with a laboratory class in the Journal-ism & Media Studies Department. Any full-time Bennett College student is eligible to become a member of the newspaper staff and earn one credit. The Banner is published at least three times each semester during the 2007-08 academic year. Editorials are the opinion of the Banner editor and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the entire Banner staff. Signed columns and letters to the editor reflect the opinion of the writer and serve as an open forum for the expression of facts or opinions. The newspaper is distributed throughout the campus on a weekday, Monday through Friday, during the fall and spring semesters, except during holidays and college breaks. Publi-cation and distribution dates are subject to change without advance notice.

Spring 2009 Bennett Banner Staff

OPINION ‘Talk is Cheap. Free Speech Isn’t’

Aziza JacksonEditor-in-Chiefajackson@bennett.eduCi’Ara Boydcdboyd@bennett.eduVatia Collinsvcollins@bennett.eduTonya Doanetdoane@bennett.eduMichaela Kinguncle_michaela@yahoo.comNezile Mthembunmthembu@bennett.eduDominique Reynoldslildom06@hotmail.comRykiell Rhea-Turnerrturner@bennett.eduLawana RossLross927@gmail.com

Carmen Smithcsmith@bennett.eduChristen Walkercwalker@bennett.edu Iymaani WalkerbeauTfulbelle@yahoo.comApril Wright awright@bennett.eduLanette Leellee@bennett.eduDr. Yvonne WelbonFaculty Advisor(336) 517-2306ywelbon@bennett.eduThe Bennett Banner Office

900 E. Washington St., Box 25Greensboro, NC 27401 (336) 517-2305 / Shell Hall C-2, banner@bennett.edu

By Brook EnglandBlack College Wire

Are HBCUs too Black?Resuscitating the ‘Bennett Ideal’ “ I t h i n k

h e [ P r e s . O b a m a ] has a good outlook on education.

He just got to office and I know things are not go-ing to change drastically.” Daja Middleton// Freshwoman// Richmond, Va.//Business Administra-tion major

“I think it w i l l h e l p me get more funding for school, and to continue

to gain more knowledge and to gain more skills to pre-pare me for medical school. Lanisha Brown// Sophomore//Independence, Va. //Biology major

“I am excited that he is in-creasing the PEL Grant r e g a r d -less of the

social economic status of their [students’] parents or guardians. College students struggle and don’t have adequate financial support because their parents don’t meet a certain criteria.” Martina Gibbs// Junior//Independence, Va.//Social Work major

“ I t r e a l l y can’t help me at this point in time b e c a u s e I

am a senior. It can help those coming behind me.” Nnedinma Umeugo// Senior// New Haven, Conn.// Mass Communication major

How will Pres. Obama’s education re-form plan affect you?

In Miami, I never got the black experience. If you know anything about the city, you know about 60 percent of the area is of Latin descent, accord-ing to the 2000 Census Bureau report. In many parts of the city people don’t speak English.

In grade school, Miami-Dade students learn about black history primarily in February, learning only about Martin Lu-ther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Rosa Parks. It was easy to miss out on the “black experience.”

Students who chose to

become Rattlers may have immediately had a culture shock. At FAMU, all students are required to take Afri-can-American Experience or African-American History.

In those classes students learn things they didn’t know like Africans doing trigonome-try, traveling to other continents and practicing surgery. Here, many professors place an em-phasis on the black experience.

After four years most [students] begin to adapt to the atmosphere. Many FAMU pro-fessors spend a lot of time lec-

As Black History Month ends, and Women’s History Month continues, I wonder if we Belles can answer the age-old question former president David Dallas Jones posed to his students decades ago: Young lady, what is your purpose?

Do we know our purpose, and are we living up to the Bennett Ideal?

Long gone are the days when Belles wore hats and gloves with dignity outside the perimeter of Bennett. Instead now we sashay to and from NC A&T’s campus, feeling our time is better spent there.

The Bennett ideal is just that—an ideal. It rep-resents the standard of excellence that every Black woman—and certainly every Bennett Belle—should strive to live up to. The “Ideal” is a woman of compas-sion, integrity, honesty, and faith. She is not just try-ing to finish her four-year “sentence,” get a degree, and quickly move on leaving her alma mater in the dust.

Instead, she understands that receiving an education in this country is a blessing and that we must begin to treat it as such. No one owes you anything. And as a Bennett woman, it is expected of you to be a public servant. We come from a legacy of community leaders and civil rights activists who have always cared for those less fortunate than them-selves. In fact, the first African-American to become mayor of Greensboro is Yvonne Johnson, a ’64 Bennett Belle.

The Bennett Ideal is not only found amongst the usual suspects. Many sisters who uphold this ideal may not necessarily hold an office, or other highly-respected position on this campus. She could be tutoring children in her free time, organizing study groups and political groups, or volunteering at churches and homeless shelters. We do not have to be Miss Perfect to live up to the true meaning of the Bennett Ideal, because she has flaws just as we all do. However she makes those flaws beautiful, and embraces the necessary growth that will make her a better woman.

So where will Bennett Belles find their purpose?Hint: It is not over at NC A&T.It is amongst our Bennett sisters, professors, stud-

ies, and personal goals. During our matriculation we will find our purpose as we begin the development of internal strength. Not only should we seize the leadership posi-tions available to us, but take those positions to the next level. Once in a position of power, don’t limit that power to Bennett, take it outside of Bennett’s walls and influ-ence others with your organization’s ideas, beliefs, and practices. And if there is not an organization that is of interest—create one. Address the inadequacies you feel on this campus and transform them with fresh ideas. Find your purpose through leadership and self-actualization.

So I ask you my sisters, who are you not to be excellent? I know what we as Bennett Belles are capable of so it is time to shake the apathy out of our system, stand tall, and fully em-brace the lighted torch of promise that has been passed onto us.

HBCUcontinued on Page 5

NEWS continued THE BENNETT BANNER - MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2009- PAGE 3

QEP Continued from Page 1

“One identified weak-ness would be demonstrating how we use assessment re-sults to improve operations,” said Jones. “We do it, we just did not demonstrate it well with documented evi-dence. This is one of the things that will be addressed in the response being written to the on-site committee.”

The institution must provide a response to the on-site visiting team within five months of the visit. For Ben-nett that date is April 13, 2009.

“The findings of this visiting committee represent a preliminary assessment of the institution at this time; final action on the report rests with the Commission on Col-leges,” Donna K. Wilkinson, vice president of the Com-mission on Colleges stated in a document relative to the on-site committee’s visit.

The reaffirmation lead-ership team at Bennett Col-lege is responsible for all activities related to reaffir-mation and is currently in the process of developing the response to be submitted.

“I am extremely pleased with the institution’s com-mitment and di l igence relative to the reaffirma-tion process,” said Jones.

Reaffirmation occurs every 10 years, so the next reaffirmation for Bennett will begin in 2017; the cur-rent reaffirmation process began in 2007 and in June of 2009 a final decision will be reviewed by the Com-missions Review Commit-tee, also known as the CRC.

The accreditation status of an institution does not change as the result of the re-affirmation process. The sta-tus only changes as a result of the decision emanating from the reaffirmation process.

The original Quality En-hancement Plan, or QEP topic was: “Enhancing Communica-tion Skills Through the Gen-eral Education Curriculum.”

Instead of having com-munication skills in the QEP

topic, the visiting commit-tee suggested that “com-munication skills” be re-placed with “writing skills.”

Dr. Karla McLucas, as-sistant professor of sociology and QEP co-director, and Dr. Alan Goble, chair of the psy-chology department and QEP co-director, have worked dili-gently with the new QEP topic.

“We had even asked be-fore the visit if we could change it to writing,” said Goble.

The new Bennett Col-lege for Women QEP is now more focused on improv-ing students’ writing skills through the implementa-tion of changes in the gen-eral education curriculum.

Assessment data and input from faculty, staff, stu-dents, and alumnae indi-cated that writing skills were a specific area of concern.

“We all need to ensure that you have a firm founda-tion because as you recall [for-mer provost] Dr. [Marilyn] Mobley said that your writing precedes you,” said McLucas.

“You usually have an application before anyone sees you.”

Bennett’s new QEP will take a two-pronged, multi-phased approach and be implemented in stages. The first prong will focus on fac-ulty development and will engage faculty members in training to assist them in identifying ways in which they could teach integrated writing and literature courses.

The second prong will focus on student skills de-velopment. This will begin with first-year, condition-ally admitted students and then expand to all first-year students and subsequently to all students enrolled in general education cours-es. Eventually, all students will be affected by the QEP.

The expected outcomes are that 1) faculty will be prepared to offer writing instruction in the general education curriculum, 2) students will be required to engage in more writing activi-ties in those courses, 3) there

will be increases in the qual-ity of student writing skills, and 4) students will be more engaged in their courses.

According to McLucas and Goble, in the fall of 2009 all freshwomen will be en-rolled in integrated writing and literature courses LW102 and LW103. These courses will take the place of EN102 and EN103 courses and eliminate the EN099 course.

For more informa-tion on the College’s QEP or reaffirmation process, please visit http://www.ben-nett.edu/SACS/index.html

ABROAD Continued from Page 1

DeAndra Dunn, a senior journalism and me-dia studies major said, “We went through the National Black Program Consortium: New Media Institute. It’s a program for journalism and media studies majors. I completed my produc-tion internship through it.”

“Bennett funded the trip,” Chavis said. I be-lieve everyone should have an opportunity to get an international experience.

I needed an intern-ship, and the company Na-tional Broadcasting Public Consortium had this intern-ship where they were asking students to go to Africa to cre-ate a documentary film work.”

Studying abroad is open to everyone, and it is crucial that students do re-search for the program that best suits their needs and desires. For more information on studying abroad, contact Hunter in Merner Hall 8 and set up an appointment.

THE BENNETT BANNER - MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2009- PAGE 4

FEATURES Bennett wins big at SCAASI

Bennett Belles took first place, again, at the Southern Conference on African Ameri-can Studies Incorporated earning the title for the Re-anitsa Butler Memorial Essay Contest for the 9th time since their participation in 1995.

Lori Sherman, a senior majoring in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in history from Evansville Ind., Eryn Reid, a senior ma-joring in theatre from Char-lotte, N.C. were among those who represented Bennett in Charlotte at S.C.A.A.S.I conference Friday Feb.13.

Bennett, along with Morris College located in Sumter S.C. and Louisi-ana Delta Community Col-

By Nezile MthembuBanner Staff

lege located in Monroe, La. all competed in the essay contest under the theme of the conference “Heroic Acts, Heroines and Heroes Throughout the Diaspora.”

Bennett, however, did not have a team to participate in the Hornsby Quiz Bowl.

Last year , Bennett won first place in the quiz bowl challenge, beating Rust College, the historically re-nowned debate college lo-cated in Holly Springs Miss.

Hoping for a come-back, Rust was disappointed to learn that Bennett was not participating in the quiz bowl challenge this year.

“Bennett College wiped the other teams clean out of the face of the earth,” Bheki Langa said. Langa is the de-partment chair for visual and

performing arts at Bennett. “I wish that Bennett students had participated in the quiz bowl because they were rain-ing champions last year and especially because they had instigated Rust College to come back with vengeance lurking in their eyes because they have been dethroned by Bennett College last year.”

“I hope Bennett will go back next year with a quiz bowl team,” Langa said.

This year’s 30th conven-tion turned out to be unprec-edented when the Hornsby Quiz Bowl teams, Rust and Morris College battled head-to- head for over two hours.

“I have to agree with Lori when she said that this year was one of the best con-ferences compared to last year. This was the first time we got to develop a relation-ship with Morehouse and even amongst ourselves, said Ried.

Morehouse College and Louisiana Delta Commu-nity College also attended the three-day long confer-ence. Three-time champi-ons Morehouse lost in the first round of the quiz bowl challenge against Louisiana Delta Community College

This year, Johnson Ad-efila, served as the 2008-

09 president of S.C.A.A.S.I.Adefila is Bennett’s

department chair of His-tory, Philosophy, Religion and Interdisciplinary Stud-ies and professor of history.

“It was a privilege to be president of S.C.A.A.S.I at a time when African Ameri-cans are witnessing a his-toric transition of political power,” said Adefila. “Once again, Bennett Belles main-tained the superior leader-ship in the area of scholarly research paper presentation.”

The conference was not only attended by student participants, but by many professors across the country who held forum discussion panels throughout the week-

“I hope Ben-

nett will go back

next year with a

quiz bowl team.”

-Dr. Bheki Langa

SCAASIcontinued on Page 7

THE BENNETT BANNER - MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2009- PAGE 5

FEATURES continued

By April WrightBanner Staff

SPOTLIGHT ON NEW STAFFJocelyn Biggs

Jocelyn Biggs is the new Interim Director of Admissions at Bennett Col-lege. She graduated from Bennett in 1994 and majored in mass communications. Biggs comes to the College from Johnson C. Smith Uni-versity where she served as

Director of Admissions. “I always wanted to return. The situation pre-sented itself, and so I did,” said Biggs. Her duties include evaluating transcripts and test scores, and making ad-missions decisions. While at Bennett, she hopes to help increase enroll-ment by going to more high schools around the country, utilizing national alumnae chapters, and by getting facul-ty, staff and students involved in getting the word out about Bennett. Biggs is also a gradu-ate student at Stayer Univer-sity, focusing on Educational Management. She is originally from Laurinburg, N.C. and is currently living in Charlotte, N.C.

Handicap Belles fail toreceive ‘equal opportunity’By Vatia CollinsBanner Staff

class in Holgate library and said she has no access to enter at the emergency exit which has a handicap acces-sible ramp. It takes her a longer time for her to get to the basement of the library because of her mobility issue.

For Johneya Beckon, a junior psychology major from Decatar, Ga., it is extremely difficult to get around on campus with her handicap. She said that if the College considered having railings at every building staircase, her accessibility restraints would be lifted. Beckon said, “I think it will be helpful if handicap access can be recognized and it could benefit the College financially if more handicap students can attend Bennett.”

If Bennett is handicap accessible it can be benefi-cial to students who do have disabilities but never ex-

posed their disabilities to their peers, faculty, or staff. Director of Health Services Shaina Crudup said that on a scale of one being the low-est and 10 being the high-est, she gives Bennett a 7.5 with the campus needing to be handicap accessible. “I think the College lacks ac-cessibility because of the hu-man resources,” said Crudup.

Crudup also said stu-dents with disabilities can be put in dorms on the first floor and they also have an advan-tage in being on a small cam-pus like Bennett, so the adjust-ment will not be that difficult.

If Bennett wants to improve handicap acces-sibility amongst the cam-pus it has to start from students, faculty, and staff speaking up and addressing certain issues that pertain to the college community.

Lets get R.E.A.L.Young women attend

Bennett in hopes of creat-ing a lasting bond and sis-terhood with their peers. However, some lack the will to work with others.

Freshwomen Shane-ka Stansbury, Natasha Rodg-ers, and Jahronica Parson want to help girls become “real” women. They have begun a private group Let’s Be R.E.A.L (Ready Eager And Listening).

The group’s purpose is to provide powerful women with an outlet to voice their opinions, issues, struggles. “R.E.A.L” encourages women to know when, where, and how to address and express issues. Also, it ensures that they are aware of the fact that there is a great need to pre-vent the build-up of conflict either personal or otherwise.

“It is a trying pro-cess,” Stansbury said. “Not everybody is ready to be real.”

Stansbury is a psychol-ogy major and with her two co-founders she wants to help the future progression of sisterhood and communica-tion among growing women.

According to www.

Girlscouts.org, a study called “Girls Speak Out” showed that many teens and young g ir ls faced issues with communication everyday.

Many girls told research-ers that even their parents would be unwilling to listen to certain questions or con-cerns they had because they felt they were too young to ask. However the study shows that the concerns girls face need to be addressed. Society values school achievement, and girls aim for rigorous goals, often predicting a suc-cessful future. But whether their goals are met or not, girls experience stress which can lead to anger or isolation.

Junior Christ ina Berkely agreed on the mo-tive of R.E.A.L. She said, “It took me a while to come out of my shell and I wish they had a group like this when I first came to Ben-nett because I would’ve been more open to express my opinion on things and to definitely listen to others.”

The founders hope to work towards using the group in Belle Beginnings and later making the group a non-profit organization.

By Iymaani WalkerBanner Staff

PHOTO BY APRIL WRIGHT

Bennett Belles with handicaps are finding it d i f f icul t to get around from class to class dur-ing their busy schedules.

The College provides equal opportunity for all of the students with and with-out a handicap. Some of the students who are handicap find it difficult to enter their academic buildings or dorms. Sherrie Moore, a senior inter-disciplinary study major from Pleasant Grove, N.C. said ac-cessibility is a problem for her because she has a knee injury.

“I have [to move] my vehicle from Gorrell St. to Washington St. to access my daily class schedule and to check my mailbox,” said Moore. Moore also has a

turing about black culture. But over the years, some students have found it a bit much . Could it be possible to have too much black history at an HBCU?

Recently, in a law class, a student confronted the in-structor about his lectures being “pro-black.” The young lady, who was black, insist-ed the instructor was biased for not exploring all cultures.

She suggested he should “let go of the past” and “move on with the present.” She said the constant emphasis on the culture was hindering her edu-cation and there was more to the world than “our” history.

Although some stu-d e n t s f e e l u n c o m f o r t -able, some professors think

i t ’ s important to teach.Jeffery Earl Mills, history

professor, said blacks need to “re-understand our” story.

“The African-American struggle was a beautiful struggle that brought unity, celebration, pride and faith,” Mills said.

So what should we ex-pect at an HBCU? The mis-understanding may arise be-cause our generation hasn’t experienced the difficulties our elders had, so the pas-sion may not be as intense.

The black experience is a very special and unique one. It’s vital that students absorb and understand the knowledge shared by professors. How else would “our” stories be passed down to generations to come?

HBCU Continued from Page 2

ENTERTAINMENT THE BENNETT BANNER - MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2009- PAGE 7

There are no clocks in Las

Vegas gambling casinos.

Should there be a crash,

Prince Charles and Prince

William never travel on

the same airplane as a

precaution.

Most lipstick contains fish scales.

Over 10,000 birds a year

die from smashing into

windows.

In Bangladesh, kids as

young as 15 can be jailed

for cheating on their finals.

Bats always turn left when

exiting a cave.

“Q” is the only letter in

the alphabet that does not

appear in the name of any

of the United States.

A fetus develops finger-prints at eighteen weeks.

In Tokyo, they sell toupees

for dogs.

A toothpick is the object

most often choked on by

Americans.

The Edge

Source: www.strangefacts.com

D.L. Hughley news show catches flakBy Sierra HendersonBlack College Wire

‘Banner’ Book of the Month: Sula

Let’s take a journey back into the time of World War II, in a small town in Ohio known as “the Bottom.” Toni Morrison tells the story of two young African-Ameri-can women taking a journey with their friendship through life in the book “Sula.”

Nel and Sula are best friends who grow up in “the Bottom” and become fiercely attached to one another dur-ing adolescence. However, they begin to grow apart as they shift into adulthood.

While Nel chooses to marry after high school and settles into the con-ventional role of wife and mother, Sula decides to go live a life of fierce inde-pendence and total disre-gard of social conventions.

On this journey we join these two women on their journey and observe life from their perspective in

the early 1900s; we as Afri-can-American women get a brief history lesson on what it truly was like to be black and female in the 1900s.

Join Sula as she tells her and Nel’s story on be-ing women, dealing with rebellion, family, betrayal, death, lies and seduction.

“Sula” questions and examines the terms “good” and “evil,” often demon-strating that the two of-ten resemble one another.

By Lawana RossBanner Staff

PHOTO BY GOOGLE.COM

SCAASI Continued from Page 4

end on different topics related to the conference’s theme.

Jennifer S. Ash, adjunct instructor for History, Phi-losophy, Religion and In-terdisciplinary Studies led a panel discussion on “Jour-nalistic Heroes and Heroines: Hip Hop and the New York Print Media From the 1970s.”

Robert W. Williams, ass is tant professor for political science, also led a research discussion on “W.E.B. DuBois on Herosim and The Talented Tenth.”

Ambrose Jacobs, de-partment chair of political

science also attended the con-ference in support of Bennett.

“It was the most down to earth yet highly professional academic conference that I have ever been to,” said Ash. “And the scholars there made you feel that your work meant something in the legacy of African American culture.”

T h e 3 1 s t c o n v e n -tion, 2009- 2010 is ten-t a t i v e l y s c h e d u l e d t o b e i n J a c k s o n M i s s .

“I was very proud of the student from Bennett who participated in the Essay contest,” said Ash. “Though

they did not participate in the quiz bowl as they usually do, I thought that it was impressive that they were able to create unique arguments concerning African American history.”

“While the quiz bowl displays undergraduate memorization of facts con-cerning African American history and culture the es-say contest shows that stu-dents are able to think out-side the box and formulate original research,” said Ash.

Bennett Belles will re-ceive a trophy, monetary award for the Reanitsa But-ler Memorial Essay Con-test as well as a certificate.

A n e w s h o w s t a r -ring comedian D.L. Hugh-ley is already stirring con-troversy in black media.

Talk show hosts and ra-dio personalities Reverend Al Sharpton and Michael Bais-den have blasted the show for its use of what some would call irreverent themes and images.

O n O c t . 2 5 , “ D . L . Hughley Breaks the News” premiered on CNN. This was a point of contention for many critics who be-lieved that the show might be better suited for a net-work like Comedy Central.

While the pilot episode was easily comparable to Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show”

or “The Colbert Report,” promoters said they want-ed Hughley’s show to stay away from “faking the news.”

Black scholar and regu-lar CNN guest Boyce Watkins gave the show a scathing re-view in an Internet broadcast of “The Boiler Room.” He also admonished the network. “CNN a few days before one of the most significant and sacred events in Ameri-can history should not be air-ing this kind of commentary. It’s not to say that this kind of comedy can’t be funny in cer-tain contexts, but you don’t bring a gun to baby shower, you don’t put a liquor store inside a church,” he said.

Watkins then compared D.L.’s performance to the television appearances of for-

mer rapper, Flavor Flav while advising that there are some lines Black people do not need to cross. “That show was full

of a lot of bad stereotypes.” The most memorable

segment for many viewers featured comedian and ac-tor, Donnell Rawlings, who is widely known for his roles on the “Dave Chappelle Show.” Rawlings, dressed in a fur coat and a bowler hat, played the role of Freddie Mac. He made derogatory comments about his “sister” Fannie Mae and used the coined phrase “pimps up, hoes down.”

The pilot also featured a less comical interview with former White House Press Secretary Scott Mc-Clellan, who announced

he would vote for Barack Obama during the broadcast.

The show’s first produc-tion revealed some kinks. Hughley, from the teleprompt-er during his monologue.

Murdell McFarlin, the station manager for CAU-TV at Clark Atlanta University, said she stopped watching af-ter about 25 minutes. “His con-tent was bland. It was neither funny nor insightful. Boring would be the word. I thought it was valueless, and left a lot to be desired,” she said.

While the show is the first recurring CNN program to be hosted by an African-American, many believe that a better show could have been hosted by CNN’s African-American pundit Roland Martin. Still, some bloggers have expressed appreciation for a come-dic show to liven up CNN’s scheduled programming.

Deona Stanford, a se-nior public relations major, admitted she had not seen the show, but thinks the concept is a good idea. “I heard about it. I think it is a stepping stone even though he might not be on at prime time, but at least he’s getting exposure. For a comedian that’s a big step. Comedians can have political views too,” she said.

“It’s not to say

that this kind of

comedy can’t be

funny in certain

contexts, but you

don’t bring a gun

to baby shower,

you don’t put a

liquor store in-

side a church.”

-Boyce Watkins