Vol. 43, No. 6 September 26, 2013

A Weekly Update of Activities at Rust College

Campus NewsBriefs

Where Tomorrow’s Leaders are Students Today

President’s Opening Convocation 2013

“As you begin this year, we challenge you to do the best of whatever it is you intend

to do this year,” said Dr. David L. Beckley during the 2013 President’s Opening

Convocation, held Tuesday, September 10th. “All of you are important to our state,

our church, our country, and the world; for you carry the future of this state and

nation on your shoulders. Why do we say that? Because you will be expected to lead

in all spheres of our country during your working career. Our future as a nation rests

on your shoulders.”

Greetings were also given by City of Holly Springs Mayor Kelvin O. Buck, SGA

President Noah Moore, and Miss Rust College Andrea D. Cooper.

The President’s Opening Convocation was also the stage for the U.S. Constitution

Day lecture; this year, the lecture was presented by Dr. Sandra Vaughn, Director of

Institutional Advancement. She encouraged students to learn the Constitution and

understand how it applies to legislative and judicial decisions in today’s world.

Dr. Beckley also recognized three students who are recipients of the Ida B. Wells-

Barnett Scholarship for the 2013-2014 academic year. Presentations were made to

Andrea Cooper, Shanderla McDaniel and Demonte’nez Boga.

Social Science Professor Publishes First Solo Book

African American Life and Culture in Orange Mound: Case Study of a Black Community in

Memphis, Tennessee, 1890-1980 is the first book Dr. Charles Williams has written without

collaboration. He has co-authored several publications prior to the August 2013 publication of his

new work.

Dr. Williams says the research for his book was done as part of his dissertation while pursuing

his Ph.D. from University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in 1981. The book explores

the life and community of African Americans in the Orange Mound community of Memphis,

Tennessee, from the late 1800s to the late 1900s, ending in 1980.

“It's a critical book because, basically, this is a very historical community,” Dr. Williams said.

“There are just only a few communities that were started from day one for black people, that they

built themselves. This community was started from day one, built primarily for blacks, kind of

like a planned community. The only people living there were black people (in 1890). Not only

that, the time period when it came into being, it was also a community where people took pride in

ownership. It was one of the few places in the South that a black person could buy a piece of land

and build a house on it and call it their own. That was their community. So in terms of home own-

ership... there's a lot of pride in that community. Church, schools, a very close-knit community

that's been intact through all these many years. Now it's sort of falling on hard times because a lot

of the original members, elderly people died off and it's leading to a lot of young transients,

young families moving in and they don't understand the history of the community.”

Dr. Williams says he is currently working on a second book which will explore the community of Binghampton, also

located in the City of Memphis.

Dr. Beckley with the 2013 recipients of

the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Scholarship

Award: Andrea Cooper and Shanderla

McDaniel. Not pictured: Demonte’nez

Boga.

Dr. Charles Williams

“BY THEIR FRUITS… Page 2

Class of 2017 Leads Assembly

The freshmen class hosted the weekly AEP

assembly on Thursday, September 19. The program

was designed to MOTIVATE students to reach

their Destination: Graduation. Led by Rashawn

Jackson, Class President and Allyson Sims, Vice

President, students presented messages of motiva-

tion and success through dance, poetry and song.

Class Secretary Justice Lynch gave a rousing

speech to motivate her peers and classmates.

“Why are we here at Rust College? We are here to

learn how to do all that we can, for as many as we

can, in all the ways that we can, for as long as we

can. Many of us are from different places and back-

grounds; each of you have a role for the present and

future. Keep motivated: put God first, heads always

being up, and remember, we are a new chapter. Not

just a new freshmen class, but new leaders of a new

legacy that will live forever.

Other program participants were Patience Rolondo,

Miss Freshman; Shrekia Thomas, Class Treasurer;

Atiyah Reed, Adrienne Reid, who performed a

praise dance; Taylor Alexander and Colbie Ellis,

who sang an inspired version of “Lean on Me”.

The Rust College Lyceum Series presents:

Watoto De’Afrika

Memphis Performing Arts Academy

Monday, September 30, 2013

7:00 p.m.

Doxey Alumni Fine Arts-Communication

Center, Morehouse Auditorium

(AEP Credit—1 point)

The public is invited—Free Admission

Please note: NO CELL PHONES ALLOWED

Left to right: Rashawn Jackson, Atiyah Reed, Allyson Sims, Shrekia Thomas, Dr. Kenneth

Jones, First Year Experience Director; Justice Lynch, Ms. Shelley Jackson, Retention

Coordinator; Patience Rolondo, Colbie Ellis, Taylor Alexander, and Adrienne Reid.

Rust College welcomes Dr. James Bell as H.F. McCarty

Family Endowed Chair and Special Assistant to the

Vice President for Academic Affairs

Rust College welcomes Dr. James Bell as

H.F. McCarty Family Endowed Chair and

Special Assistant to the Vice President for

Academic Affairs. Dr. Bell, a 1964 graduate

of Rust College, will serve as the H.F.

McCarty Family Endowed Chair in

Business, as well as the Special Assistant to

the Vice President for Academic Affairs for

Program Development.

Dr. Bell earned a degree from Rust College

in Social Science and Economics. He moved

forward to graduate studies at

Atlanta University in Economics, and to ad-

ditional graduate studies at Georgia State University in Public

Administration. Dr. Bell used these graduate level courses as foundation

for a Ph.D. from Michigan State University. His most recent work assign-

ment was Professor and Department Chair, Business Administration

Department, Harris-Stowe State College, St. Louis, Missouri.

The H.F. McCarty Family Chair is a symbol of honor. It is the story of

four children, Marsha, Katherine, Patti, and John, and their love and

appreciation of their parents, Mary Ann and H.F. McCarty. It is the story

of a family’s love of the United Methodist Church and higher education. It

has been proven that the McCarty Family lives the Methodist philosophy

to “give as much as you can.”

We trust in Dr. Bell’s ability to keep the McCarty family’s tradition and

vision at the forefront in all that he does for the Rust College family.

Dr. James Bell

...YE SHALL KNOW THEM” Page 3

Students Attend Middle

Passage Commemoration

Students from Dr. Stovall’s African Ameri-can History and Introduction to Social Sci-ence classes and Dr. Charles Williams’ So-cial Stratification class attended the 2013 Middle Passage Commemoration at Le-Moyne-Owen College on Thursday, Septem-ber 12. The featured speaker was Dr. Charles Williams, Associate Professor of Social Science, and Director of Research at Rust College. The commemoration cele-brated twenty years of heightening the awareness of the plight of those who endured the Middle Passage and the impact they have

had on American History.

Scholarship Opportunities

The Shine Bright Scholarship is available to undergraduate and graduate students. To be considered, you must submit a

minimum 500-word essay on one of the following topics: "How can the Web give a company a competitive advantage?" or "How

will you use your 'personal shine' to make a difference?"

Scholarship/Grant Amount: $1,000

Scholarship/Grant Deadline: December 15,2013

For more information: http://www.evesaddiction.com/scholarship.html

ACE Fellows Program The nation's premier higher education leadership development program is now accepting applications and nominations for the

2014-15 class. This unique program condenses years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single year. As a re-

sult, the ACE Fellows Program is the most effective, comprehensive leadership development program in American higher educa-

tion today.

Program components include:

• Multifaceted Agenda: Individualize your experience through a multifaceted agenda that combines learning in a formal cur-

riculum with real-life, day-to-day experiences including placement at a host institution, mentoring, visits to campuses and

higher education organizations and more.

• Mentoring and Experiential Learning: Structure your fellowship experience to spend an extended period of time on another

campus working with the president and senior leadership team.

• Interactive Retreats: Participate in three retreats designed to broaden and deepen your knowledge of leadership, strategy, and

the world of higher education.

• Individualized Learning: Work with your nominating and host institution mentors to design an individualized Learning Con-

tract that articulates your plans for the year.

Visit www.acenet.edu for detailed information and to begin the application process. If you have specific questions, please email

us at fellows@acenet.edu or call (202) 939-9420.

Drs. Femi Ajanaku,

Director of the African

and African Studies

Program at LeMoyne

Owen College, and

Elton Weaver, Assistant

Professor of History.

Page 8 Rust College

“Where Tomorrow’s Leaders are Students Today”

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY…

Emergency notifications for students, faculty and staff will be handled by mass email, Channel 19, WURC 88.1 FM, RC-TV 2, and

campus loud speakers. If you would like to receive emergency notifications by text message, please submit your cell phone number to

Mr. Carllos Lassiter, Dean of Students. The numbers will be used for emergencies ONLY and will not be distributed.

Emergency Numbers:

Security office: 662-252-8090 Security guard on patrol: 662-216-3429

Dr. David L. Beckley, ‘67, President

Ms. Adrienne F. Phillips, Public Relations Specialist

Dr. Ishmell H. Edwards, ’71, Vice President for College Relations

Help Rust College win $50,000 in scholarship money!

To Vote: Visit www.allstate.com/represent

Rust College

Loan Disbursement

and Refund Policy

Loan disbursement and refunds will be

issued after authorized charges have been

deducted (tuition, room & board, etc).

All students must be enrolled with at least

six (6) hours each module at the time re-

funds are disbursed.

Loan Disbursements

Fall/Spring Semesters

For students who have less than “30”

hours, loans will be disbursed to the

college in two equal payments each

semester on the following dates:

2013 Fall Semester

1st Payment: September 23, 2013

2nd Payment: November 15, 2013

2014 Spring Semester

1st Payment: January 16, 2014

2nd Payment: February 6, 2014

If the student account shows a credit balance

after payments have been applied to the stu-

dent’s college expenses (tuition, room and

board, etc,) a refund check will then be issued

to the student no later than 14 days after the

credit balance has been noted.

Date Opponent Location

11/9/13 *LeMoyne Owen (Exhibition) Home

11/16/13 Webster Tournament Away

11/17/13 Webster Tournament Away

11/19/13 *Millsaps College Home

11/23/13 Huntingdon College Away

11/26/13 Birmingham Southern Away

11/30/13 Rhodes Classic Away

12/1/13 Rhodes Classic Away

12/4/13 Bethel University Away

12/9/13 *Hendrix College Away

12/11/13 *LaGrange College Away

12/14/13 East Texas Baptist College Away

12/15/13 Wiley College Away

12/29/13 *Oglethorpe University Away

12/30/13 *Oglethorpe University Away

1/3/14 Millsaps Classic Away

1/4/14 Millsaps Classic Away

1/6/14 University of Dallas Away

1/7/14 Austin College - Dallas Away

1/9/14 *Wiley College Home

1/18/14 *LeMoyne-Owen College Away

1/19/14 *Millsaps College Away

1/30/14 *Philander Smith College Home

2/3/14 *Tougaloo College Away

2/12/14 *Philander Smith College Away

2/15/14 *Tougaloo College Home