Page 4
The Wolverine Observer
December 8,1983
Homecoming of 1983...
Food For Thought
by Camilla P. Clay
it I
Homecoming Week at Morris
Brown was more than fun and
games this year. Much food for
thought was provided at three
scheduled activities: "The Family
Hour," "Survival of Black
Colleges" forum, and the "Com
munity Awareness" seminar.
All three of these activities
were poorly attended, but gave
many challenges for the few who
did come.
FAMILY HOUR
Held on Tuesday, November 8
at 11 a.m. in Viola Hill
Auditorium, the "Family Hour”
was an attempt to bring all
branches of the college family
together. Initially, Pres. Threatt's
idea, the "Hour" provided for
dialogue between ad
ministrators, student leaders,
and faculty and students in the
audience.
Preliminary remarks were
made by student leaders and
various administration members.
Each had their own definition of
what it means to be a family.
Threatt defined pride and
strength as two major traits of a
family.
Dr. Bernard Smith, Vice Presi
dent for Planning, Research, and
Development said that his office
served the college family best by
"providing you with the
resources with which to run the
institution.”
According to Smith, the job of
any administrator is, "To create,
maintain, and enhance the at
mosphere in which learners
learn."
S.C.A. president F. Carl
Walton admonished the college
family to think of problems as
learning experiences and never
to lose our family spirit. Above
all, Walton said, never get dis
couraged.
College queen Sonya Hudson
spoke of the Homecoming spirit
as a special feeling, which she
wished could remain year-round
at Morris Brown.
Realizing that a family also
teaches us, acting Vice President
for Fiscal Affairs Edluie Walker
cited some qualities which our
family should teach us: sharing,
concern, and compassion; love
and respect of others and one’s
self; teacher and student respon
sibility and unity and values.
Wrapping up the platform
remarks, Vice President for Stu
dent Affairs Magnoria Smothers
reflected that the Brownite spirit
refreshes memories and
thoughts of good times, as well as
reminds us that Homecoming is a
time for rebuilding and
rededication.
Many in the audience seemed
to agree that this type of
program should be repeated
throughout the coming year,
with various themes.
Almost all were concerned
with the poor publicity that this
program had received. As one
observer put it, "We are too
small a college family to have a
communication problem."
COMMUNITY AWARENESS
FORUM
Hosted by the sophomore
class in Cunningham Auditorium
on Tuesday night, the forum
featured the Rev. Henry Ficklin.
Ficklin is the pastor of Mt.
Vernon Baptist Church in
Macon, Ga. as well as the presi
dent of the Macon SCLC
(Southern Christian Leadership
Conference). A Macon city
councilman and a member of the
NAACP (National Association for
the Advancement of Colored
People), Ficklin has long been
involved in civic works.
Expressing concern over
America's movement to get rid
of black elected officials, Ficklin
stated that blacks still have not
learned their history lesson. "We
are still fighting for the same
rights our foreparents died for,”
he said.
Warning that those who refuse
to learn from history often
repeat it, the speaker tells how
whites continue to control us
because we willingly play the
“divide and conquer" game.
"We are our own worst
enemies. Some of us get a degree
and forget from whence we
came. We start to look down on
uneducated folks, but we forget
that Grandma had more sense by
accident than some of us have on
purpose," Ficklin said.
According to Ficklin,
Homecomings should remind us
to come back to the basic ideals
on which blacks have traditional
ly survived and thrived. Ficklin
exhorted, "During Homecom
ing, don't just party. Come home
to a struggling state of mind. We
must always remember the
struggle never ends, it is eter
nal.”
He advised the sophomore
class not to become bogged
down in apathy and self-interest.
As a class, he told them to make
up their minds to not only help
themselves, but to help those
who might not make it into
college.
Ficklin told his audience that
God had blessed them, they
should want to help their fellow
black men and women -
regardless of social station.
As Ficklin sat down, he was
given a standing ovation.
SURVIVAL OF BLACK
COLLEGES
On Thursday, November 10 at
11 a.m. in Viola Hill, Dr. Willie
Richardson, chairman of the
Social Science Division was the
keynote presenter at this
seminar, which was hosted by
the junior class.
Richardson, a Morehouse
graduate with a Ph.D. in Business
Administration, has taught in the
business department at Morris
Brown since 1966.
Taking his main points from an
article by Paul DuBois entitled,
"7 Major Symptoms of Impen
ding Disaster for Black
Colleges,” Richardson outlined
the following problems facing
historically black institutions:
•Reduction of grants and loans
— because of the great
dependence on federal funds,
cuts in those funds could have
significant survival implications
on our colleges.
•Direct aid to black colleges
will increase in 1983 at a rate less
than the rate of inflation — in
other words, the money black
schools receive in 1983 will not
buy as many goods and services
as in 1982.
