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Volume 46 No. 4 Atlanta, Ga. 30314 Morris Brown College Nov. 11, 1978 Above, James McPherson receives 1978 Brownite from Wanda R. Stans- bury, editor Wolverine Observer. The 1978 Brownite was dedicated to Mr. McPherson. Below, Norman Harrington, president SGA, presents a plaque to Mr. McPherson for his literary accomplishments. NOBUCS By Michael Roland The National Organization of Black University and College Stu dents (NOBUCS) has selected Atlanta University Center, as the site of its 3rd Annual National Conference on November 16-19, 1978. NOBUCS; a national alliance of student leaders and campus edi tors, purpose is to coordinate the countinuing struggle to preserve and enhance black institutions of higher education. During the course of this four day conference national strategy shall be developed to respond to the crisis facing black colleges, as well as the means of advancing our institutions. This year’s conference will fea ture noted speakers, Lerone Ben nett, Senior Editor, Ebony Magazine; Kalamu Salaam, Edi tor, Black Collegiate Magazine; Benjamin Mays,- President Emeri- tas, Morehouse College; Rev. James Lowrey, Director, Southern Christian Leadership Conference; and Benjamin Hooks, Director, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Luther Brown, who is a graduate student at Howard University is the 1978 Chairman of NOBUCS. Brown said that this year’s con ference will feature the formula tion of council of campus editors. “This council will spearhead the development of a comprehensive, (continued on page 4) McPherson Speaks At Honors Day By Joyce James James Alan McPherson, winner of the 1978 Pulitzer Prize Award for Fiction, was the guest speaker for the Fall Honors Day Program held in the John Henry Lewis Health and P.E. Building Thurs day morning, October 26, 1978 at 11:00 a.m. A native of Savannah, Georgia, Mr. McPherson graduated from Morris Brown in 1965 with a dou ble major in History and English and a minor in Political Science. He is also a 1968 graduate of the Harvard Law School and a 1969 graduate of the University of Iowa. Mr. McPherson taught at the University of Iowa; University of California at Santa Cruz; Howard University; Morgan State Univer sity; and is presently employed as an Associate Professor of English at the University of Virginia. As well as winning numerous awards, Mr. McPherson’s writings have been anthologized in various works including Black Voices. He is also a contributing editor of the Atlantic Monthly and has written for the New York Time Magazine, Playboy and other publications. Mr. McPherson spoke of value’s that students should keep in mind while traveling the road to success. He admitted that at first it can be frustrating but chaos and disor ganization can be a positive thing because it fosters “self-discipline and hard work.” Mr. McPherson also emphas ized the need on the part of stu dents, to “dedicate” themselves to their goals and objectives and to “take chances.” Much of his dedication was learned from Dr. Payne, Mrs. Ben ton, Dr. Rowley and Mr. Murchi son during his college days at MBC “Faith and optimism”, said Mr. McPherson, “should never be given up because it is a source of respect.” One must condition himself to positive values and no matter what happens to you—you have those values to help put you back on the road, concluded Mr. McPherson. Norman Harrington, 1978-79 SGA President, presented Mr. McPerson with a plaque on behalf of the MBC student body, and Wanda Stansbury, Editor of the Wolverine Observer, presented him the 1977-78 Brownite which had been dedicated to him. On hand to witness the Honors Day event were the Uncle and brother of Mr. McPherson, MBC Alumni, faculty and various ele mentary and high school students. Deep gratitude goes out to the Concert Band, choir and many others who helped make the event possible. Grand Performance By Darcei Parnell Morris Brown College was honored and privileged to welcome Mary Lou Williams, a native of Atlanta, the only living jazz artist who has explored and played in every era of jazz history. Miss Wil liams pianist-composer-arranger- capitvated her audience with musical selections from the four great areas of jazz; spiritual, rag time, Kansas City Swing, and bop. Miss Williams, an authority and creator of jazz, possesses an untouchable talent and remarka ble knowledge of the essence of jazz. She describes blues as “the spiritual feeling that heals the soul.” Her music contains an uni que fashion and style that gives her audience a renewed awareness and deep appreciation for the creation of music. She describes her music as God’s music and stated “music can’t be taught out of books it comes from the mind and heart.” Her performance arranged from the 1930 entertainment demon strating the strong swinging left hand to boogie woogie music. She encouraged young people to get away from the commercial sounds saying, “Jazz has a conver sation, and nobody’s saying any thing today.” Miss Williams definitely knows how to make her music talk to you for her and jazz are one. Miss Williams has a number of applaudable achievements. She’s founders and president of the Bel Canto foundation for needy musi cians. She is also the composer of 350 compostions. Miss Williams has demonstrated the versatility of jazz in her composition “Hymn in Honor of St. Martin de Porres” introducing the role of jazz for sacred services and also composed the “Zodiac Suite” for the New York Philharmonic and performed with the orchestra in 1946 intro ducing Jazz and the Symphony for the first time. Miss Williams is the recipient of a grant for musicial composition by the Guggenheim foundation and the National Endowment fpr the Arts. She also received Honor ary Doctorates from Fordham University, N. Y. Loyola Univer sity, and five other colleges and universities. She conducts classes at Duke University and has per formed in Europe among many places. Mary Lou Williams, guest of Music Department