Newspaper Page Text
The Maroon Tiger
Sunday, May 19, 2002
Campus News
NAACP from Previous Page
have done all that we've done this
school year," Gerow said. "All I
am is a face, and they make me
look good. Those guys run the or
ganization. Many of them
brought their real life situations to
the NAACP."
For example, Taylor is the
current Vice President of Finance
for the Young Democrats of Geor
gia and Education Committee
chair Sherrer-El works for the At
lanta Committee on Public Educa
tion.
"That kind of real life expe
rience is really what made our or
ganization very successful,"
Gerow said.
The Morehouse NAACP ex
emplified service and community
commitment throughout the past
school year. One of their earliest
projects involved partnering with
The NAACP brought speak
ers from across the city to engage
young people, conducted free HIV
and AIDS testing, and distributed
educational pamphlets and free
condoms.
Similarly, they shed light on
the condition of the Initial work
ers, who are contracted to provide
janitorial service to the College,
and lead the "charge in the fight
for a living wage" for those em
ployees, culminating in a rally on
the steps of Kilgore. Previously,
Initial workers earned six dollars
an hour and did not receive ben
efit or paid leave. Currently, the
have receive a one dollar raise and
"talks" are continuing to establish
benefits.
But, just as they carried out
large events, they lent a helping
hand to their Morehouse brothers
in small ways as well. When a
flyer was brought to Gerow's at-
The NAACP and the Student Labor Union stage a protest
in support of higher wages for Initial janitorial workers.
Princeton Review to provide free
PSAT testing to more than 100
high school students in the Atlanta
area. While the students took the
practice exam, the NAACP pro
vided a free seminar for their par
ents on how to find money for col
lege.
In their efforts to "engage
Morehouse students in the politi
cal process," the NAACP hosted
the major mayoral candidates
from the recent election and the
Atlanta city council president in a
campus forum. They also hosted
an economic development sum
mit, under the direction of Policy
and Economic development chair
Rashad Taylor who, where they
brought together the religious and
civic communities, bankers, busi
ness men and women and stu
dents to develop a "three-pronged
plan" that a student could person
ally enact during their under
graduate matriculation. The sum
mit dealt with credit card solicita
tion on campus, predatory lend
ing, and college debt recovery.
One of the organization's
largest events, led by Sam Will
iams, was an HIV-AIDS Week.
"We understood that zip
code 30314 is one of the highest
infected HIV-AIDS areas in At
lanta—we wanted to do some
thing about that," Gerow said.
"So we devoted an entire week to
HIV and AIDS (awareness).
tention advertising the need for
books, the NAACP sponsored the
student by purchasing his text
books for the semester.
To their credit, NAACP of
ficers realized early that outstand
ing community involvement takes
capital. The NAACP devised a
strategy for raising $10,000. As of
last month, they had exceeded
their goal.
"We had an aggressive
fund-raising campaign where we
solicited administration, sent out
fund-raising letters to different
businesses, corporations and indi
viduals," Gerow said.
They also created the
President's Club, where donations
would earn the donor a special
designation: Gold Club (over
$500) Silver Club ($250-500),
Bronze Club ($25 and up), and
friends of the NAACP ($10-$25).
Gerow says that he under
stands the criticism that the
NAACP receives as an organiza
tion that has "outlived its useful
ness," because before joining the
organization he felt the same way.
"I joined the NAACP be
cause I wanted to make a change
in it," Gerow said. "You can never
effectively change from the out
side. This is your organization.
That was the whole message that
we tried to give to the Morehouse
student body this year."
Geoffrey R. Bennett
Editor in Chief
gbennett@maroontiger.com
The four-year tour de force
that Harold Martin has unleashed
upon Morehouse College is com
ing to a fitting end. Martin, a se
nior finance major from Winston-
Salem, North Carolina, has earned
distinction of being the first stu
dent in Morehouse's history to be
named class valedictorian and se
nior class president.
Martin, who is also presi
dent of Golden Key International
Honor Society, counts the B.R.
Brazeal Award and honorable
mention in the Otis Moss Oratori
cal Contest among his credits.
Having earned the respect
of the faculty and students alike,
Martin was appointed lead stu
dent for the business department's
international spring tour, won the
Morehouse Business Association's
Spring Symposium case competi
tion three years in a row, and
played a vital role in the continu
ing success of the business
department's Big Brother
mentorship program.
Martin credits his success, in
part, to his ability to find a com
fortable medium between the so
cial and academic aspects of col
legiate life.
"I haven't changed," said
Martin. "Ever since I was a fresh -
man, I've always been able to fine l
a balance. I enjoy being senior
class president, for example, be
cause it's a social position in man '
ways, from networking and
mentoring to planning parties -
while serving as president of
Golden Key is a much more seri -
ous position because of the com -
mitment to the community."
Martin's intrinsic sense c f
obligation to the surrounding
community has driven him to vol -
unteer at M. Agnes Jones Elemen -
tary School for the past four years.
Affectionately referring to the stu -
See MAR TIN Next Page
jrji
INTERVIEW
Lekan
Bashua
Profile of an
American
Statesman
Christian Nwachukwu
Asst. Campus News Editor
cnwach@maroontiger.com
S tudent, computer pro
grammer, technology
guru, and senior stu
dent member of the Morehouse
Board of Trustees don't seem to
quite define Lekan Bashua. They
hold to him like a Rich's suit at an
"A Candle in the Dark" gala
good, but not quite. The term
"American statesman," however,
is his Armani original.
Bashua, who has lived in the
United States for six years, hails
most recently from Maryland and
originally from Lagos, Nigeria.
He came to Morehouse at the di
rection of his father and struggled
with the disillusionment that vis
its so many first year students at
the College.
"Freshman year, I was ready
to leave this place. I was on my
way out," Bashua said. "From
petty stuff—I had a small room, I
had a roommate, facilities weren't
there and it seemed like every
thing that was supposed to hap
pen never happened that way.
There was nothing concrete here."
Bashua says that his work
with Student Services the summer
after his freshman year "kept" him
at the College.
"I worked with Student Ser
vices building web pages, but it
was more the relationships and
the development that summer
that built on and kept me here."
The following year he be
gan to build the legacy that he
would leave Morehouse. It was
the year of Shaun King's SGA
presidency and the time for
promises kept.
"Shaun King's year I got
most involved," Bashua said. At
the end of my freshman year,
when elections were going on, I
knew my best asset at the point
was building web pages and I
knew one of the biggest issues
with student government was
communication."
Bashua said that further re
sponsibility within SGA involved
"being around and being willing
to lend a hand."
"I was there and opportu
nities just came," Bashua said.
Bashua says that although
a lot was accomplished during
his tenure, many dreams went
unrealized.
"A lot of things were gran
diose," Bashua said. "Most of it
didn't happen."
But a major portion did:
computer labs and technology
improvement.
I wanted to see the college
improve in terms of communica
tion and technology," Bashua
See LEKAN Next Page
Portrait of Excellence
Harold Martix:
The first class
valedictorian/class
president in
Morehouse history