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Clark Atlanta University
May 7. 1992
Cordy Stands Behind
Students 100 percent
ClarkAtlanta University's Vice
Chairman of the Board ofTrust-
ies said the university is 100
percent behind the students, and
said it was unfortunate that
"deep down in their minds and
hearts and soul” the faculty and
administrators did not agree to
the Rodney King verdict, but did
not have the courage to demon
strate along with the students.
“That protest was a part of the
maturity and educational prepa
ration of social injustices that
they have to face the future gen
eration,” said Thomas Cordy. "I
applaud their efforts. I don't
applaud the violence and de
struction of property, but anger
is not necessarily rational. These
things happen.
“But we are not going to blame,
convict, or indict. In the future,
we will exonerate our errors.
Misjudgement occurred in the
process of addressing this evil in
justice.”
Cordy said once the police were
on campus the students felt an
gry, frustrated and violated. He
said in the history of the Atlanta
University Center, he has never
known the police to come on
campus.
“I was a student at Morehouse
and Atlanta U niversity in t he 1960s,
said Cordy. “I lived through those
demonstrations we had. Even when
we demonstrated, police never came
on campus. What happened Fri
day was a revelation to observe
anger and rage of students."
Counseling Center Established
To Help AUC
Students who are suffering from
trauma . depression, or just want to
talk, a special counseling center
will provide support.
Located in Thayer Hall, several
counselors are available to speak
with students, and said they will be
available as long as necessary. Dr.
Isabella Jenkins said students can
Students Cope
call at 880-8186 or 880-8187 or
come by. She stressed people can
come as a group or individually.
“We will provide all the support stu
dents need all the way through,” said
Dr. Jenkins. “We are willing and want
to help everyone through these days,
shouldn't hesitate to come by."
Members of the press invaded the CAL! campus during the demonstrations.
Alumni Support Students
By Chandra R. Thomas
Lifestyles Editor
Maurice Fitts Page, on behalf of
The National Alumni
Association!NAA) and its 25.0000
plus graduates, recently addressed
a letter of conferment to the student
body of Clark Atlanta University
addressing their reaction to the
Rodney King Verdict.
Page said, “We were pleased to
learn that the University recognizes
and rallies behind those of you
(students) who seek to express
yourviewpoint and concern through
peaceful and legitimate protest."
Page said the NAA supports the
students’ right to express their con
cerns regarding the verdict and re
grets that the non-Atlantans can
not extend personal support.
According to the letter, the NAA
will adjust its May agenda to ad
dress the issue and urges the for
mation of a forum for students to
discuss their grievances with the
organization. The NAA also plans
to develop a viable pre-alumni group
to keep alumni aware of issuescon
fronting students, as well as an
awareness program among the en
tire student body.
The organization pledges to come
as “big brothers and sisters” to
change "the [Court] system’s struc
tures that lead to these unfortunate
events across the country’.’’
The alumni also wished to ex
tend empathy to the parents of stu
dents who may have been equally
traumatized bv the incidents.
Mayor Addresses Students at Forum
Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson
said three concerns guided his con
duct in handling Friday’s incidents:
concern for the students, the com
munity and the city.
In an open forum Tuesday at
Vivian Henderson Gym, Mayor
Jackson said he and other city offi
cials were at ClarkAtlanta Univer
sity as part of the city's healing
process.
The issues that were addressed
included asking the city for a for
mal apology, asking that all charges
against students be dropped, re
moving additional police presence
from the Atlanta University Center,
requesting that officers attend a
sensitivity training class and im
proving relations with the Atlanta
University Center.
Most students did not agree with
what the mayor had to say. They
murmured that the mayor avoided
several questions. CAU President
Thomas W. Cole Jr. also reflected
on the mayor’s comments.
“I think the mayor attempted to
to be sincere to the students' re
quests, but he had to communicate
that he has a larger responsibility,
being the best interest of the city of
Atlanta,” said Dr. Cole. ‘The stu
dents were not pleased. They
wanted the mayor to focus on
them. The mayor maintained the
position of looking out for the best
interest of the city. Yet, it was
important for him to speak with
us."
The mayor stressed that the city-
does not owe the university an apol
ogy. He said he understood that
people were upset with him and
Atlanta Police Chief Eldrin Bell. He
said an investigation will take place
and that the city will evaluate what
happened Friday to determine if
things could have been handled
better.
"The police exhibited consider
able restraint despite the situation.”
said Mayor Jackson, despite an
uproar among the crowd. “There
was not a single student seriously
hurl, nor was there any loss of life.
That does not say that everything
went perfectly, but we were looking
out for what was best for students,
the community and the city. We
will have an investigation and if we
find any’ wrongdoing. I will apolo
gize in a New York minute.”
The mayor also challenged the
audience to conduct an indepen
dent investigation and submit the
proposal to him. He also chal
lenged the AUC to support him
when the city formally protests the
Rodney King verdict at the Confer
ence of Mayors March in Washing
ton D.C. May 16.
Mayor Jackson said the city
cannot drop charges against stu
dents who participated in looting,
burning vehicles and throwing ob
jects that injured police. Once a
formal charge is made, the city can
not drop the case because it is
bound over to court. Yet, the city-
can ask the judge to drop the case.
The city will look at each case sepa
rately and let the police officers
make that decision. Mayor Jackson
said. The mayor also said that
those who broke laws must take
responsibility for the laws they broke
and be held accountable.
The mayor did agree to remove
excessive police presence from the
AUC. He also said officers receive
sensitivity training during their six
month training. He added that
anybody can review the module of
training and revise and implement
if it would better his officers.
He also submitted the Mayor's
Three Point Program, a proposal
that discusses use of three tactics
to insure direct involvement in the
policy making process and economic
growth development issues of the
city of Atlanta.
Mayor Jackson said the city is re
establishing the Atlanta Commu
nity Relations Commission. The
commission would consist of all
Student Government Association
presidents from all Atlanta colleges
and universities.
The second point is the creation
of the Mayor's Student Commis
sion, which would consist of SGA
presidents from all colleges and uni
versities in Atlanta, along with two
or three representatives from high
schools and youth organizations.
In the mayor's final point, he
suggested creating the AUC CO-OP
Inc., which would include funding
from the Atlanta Economic Devel
opment Corp. The CO-OP would be
owned and operated by students
who could develop any type of busi
ness under its auspices.
"We're going into business to
gether,” said Mayor Jackson. “We
will re-invest in these neighbor
hoods. Hopefully t he money will go
to the SGAsand it is their discretion
of what they will do with it. 1 hope
the money will go into the commu
nity.”
Several students, faculty, and
community leaders asked the mayor
a variety of questions. One student
said that non-violence is not the
way in the '90s. He said because
the history of the United States was
built on violence, “how can you
expect us to be non-violent?”
“Violence is morally wrong and
strategically unsound,” said Mayor
Jackson. "1 believe in all those
phrases I’ve been taught like ’two
wrongs don’t make a right’ and
others phrases. That doesn't mean
I'll always believe that way in every
situation.
“Strategically, what will we end
up with by using violence? We only
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