Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

o \s^c The Clark College x%m trnan biM VOL. XXX NO. CLARK COLLEGE Msiu-h 17. 1!178 Founders Day Program A Success By Deborah C. Lipscomb •‘Now we come to ClarK University Christian knowledge to learn, For true understanding and knowledge we yearn, And fondly we know how ‘tis given to all. And all for old Clark University we stand or fall.” This chorus to the Clark College alma mater is not sung any more and is one of the many changes that has been made at Clark over the last 109 years. However, the solemnness of Founder’s Day has prevailed. As the prospective graduates of 1978 marched in the Vivian W. Henderson Physical Education Center for the dedication ceremonies recently, the alumni sat pensively and reminisced of their par ticipation in Founder’s Day. Alumni from all parts of the country came back to their alma mater to celebrate the school’s birth day. Along with the traditional guest speaker, dedication ceremonies for the physical education center and the unveiling of the Vivian W. Henderson portrait were performed. The dedication of the building was made by Edward L. Simon, chairman of the Clark College Board of Trustees. Vice President Charles L. Knight and Dean Paul L. Brown unveiled the memorial portrait of the late President Vivian Wilson Henderson. The most touching part of the program was the response from the Hen derson family by Ms. Wyonella M. Henderson. Deeply touched by the dedication and unveiling ceremonies, Ms. Henderson delivered a tear jerking speech to the audience. She expressed her gratitude for the school naming the physical education building after her father. “I’m feeling overwhelmed you (the school) named a Interview With A Legend By Joy Gray The elderly black man sat behind his cluttered iesk, his medium-sized frame erect, his eyes clear and direct and his wizened mahogany countenance nonsensical. And when he spoke it was with the momen tousness of an individual who has tread ground that most of us have only read about; of one who no longer just thinks but knows. The man is much more than an Atlanta institution. He is a legend in his own time -- one of the few giants bf black education and ideology still alive today. He is Dr. Benjamin Mays. His accomplishments as building after my father,” she said. As she left the platform, the tears in her eyes were mirrored in the eyes of the audience. Ernest Green, assistant secretary of labor, represented the Secretary of Labor, Ray Marshall. Marshall was mediating the coal strike at the time of Founder’s Day. Green is one of the Little Rock, Ark. Nine Continued on Page 5 President Blake praises Dr. Henderson ifetime Of Livitif M UantffttJ the president of Morehouse College for 27 years, as an educator and as a preacher are unchallengeable. Yet even the deserving who are placed upon pedestals are not beyond reproach. During the recent Atlanta public school board elections, Dr. Mays’ ability to perform as the head of that body was questioned. His opponents contended that at his advanced age (83) the reknown leader should pass on the reins to someone younger and with a fresher perspective on contemporary educational issues. The man’s warm, calm manner became one of Continued on Page 5 By Suleiman Abdul- Azee- ‘‘Our reacners (at Clark) would read us stories which had morals to them and then make the stories part of our exams to make sure we were listening.” That is how Pearlie C. Dove, Ed. D., chairperson of the education depart ment at Clark College, remembers her un dergraduate days at Clark between 1937 and 1941. In a wide-ranging in terview in her office at the Vivian W. Henderson Building recently Ms. Dov^ v noted that: .a different type of student attends college today than did during her undergraduate years largely because the society has changed. . the change in students attending college today has been sudden rather than gradual. .Founder’s Day at Gark is markedly different today than when she attended the college. Ms. Dove earned her bachelor of arts degree in home economics from Gark College, her master of arts degree in elementary education from Atlanta University and her doctor of education degree in supervision and education of teachers from the University of Colorado at Boulder Ms. Pearlie l>ove She began her teacning career in the education and pyschology department at Clark in 1949. At that time she was also director of student teachers. In 1963 Ms. Dove moved up to chairperson of the department of education and pyschology, a position which she holds today in addition to her duties as professor of education. “Chapel was com pulsory,” Ms. Dove said of her college years at Clark “and a larger number of students attended the Sunday afternoon Vesper services.” She said only a select group of blacks made it to college in the ‘30s and ‘40s because it was a privilege for black people to attend college then. Those who attended, according to Ms. Dove, were serious about getting an education. Ms. Dove said the quality of students today is taken from the social milieu. Therefore, the students are not completely responsible for what she considers a lack of seriousness or purpose comparable to that in her undergraduate years. “As society itself is opening up and broadening, more black students can gain admission to college today. However, a large percent of them do not have the background for college,” she said. Ms. Dove said the change in the kind of student which Clark and other in stitutions get came during the turbulent ‘60s when the change “hit us like a bombshell.” Continued on Page 8