Inauguration marks milestone in Bennett College turnaround
10/13/2003 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn
Photos
are available with this report. A head-and-shoulders photo of Johnnetta
B. Cole is available at http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html.
By Neill Caldwell*
Johnnetta Cole, UMNS photo by Neill Caldwell. Photo number W03033, Accompanies UMNS#488
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Bennett College bell. Photo number W03035, Accompanies UMNS#488
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Bennett College. Photo number W03034, Accompanies UMNS#488
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GREENSBORO, N.C. (UMNS) - When Johnnetta B. Cole
took over the leadership of Bennett College last year, she deferred her
inauguration as president. First, she said, she must restore the school
to a sound financial footing.
During the following 15 months, she
raised $14 million and brought the school back from the brink. And on
Oct. 11, she was finally inaugurated as the 14th president of Bennett, a
four-year liberal arts college for African-American women.
The
former president of Spelman College in Atlanta, Cole came out of
retirement in June 2002 to accept the presidency at United
Methodist-related Bennett. Spelman and Bennett are the only two colleges
predominantly for African-American women.
More than 2,500 people gathered to hear Cole speak of a "new day" at Bennett.
"We
must connect the glorious past with where the college must go in the
future," Cole said. She used the words of a traditional African proverb:
"You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you have
been."
"We have an incredibly important mission," she said. "We
are bound to the African-American quest for knowledge. Bennett was born
out of the crucible of slavery and the struggle for women's equality.
Our connection to the United Methodist Church is still with us today, as
our students develop spiritually while they advance intellectually."
A
week of benefits surrounding the inauguration - including a gala with
comedian Bill Cosby - raised more than $2.75 million for the school.
That included a $50,000 check from former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who will
lead the "Revitalizing Bennett Campaign" with a goal of $50 million.
The college's alumni group, the Bennett Belles, raised more than $1
million in the past year.
In a news conference following the
inauguration, Cole said funds would be used for scholarships for
students, attracting new faculty and addressing the school's physical
needs. Each of Bennett's departments has a plan to recruit students, and
the college hopes to enroll 600 women - compared with 429 currently,
she said. Cole also announced the creation of an African Studies major.
With
a balanced budget and a positive financial audit in hand, Bennett is
awaiting a decision in December on whether or not the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools, an accrediting body of academic
institutions in the southeast and Latin America, will lift a two-year
suspension for financial problems that predated Cole's arrival.
The inauguration ceremony was part testimonial to Cole and part pep rally to keep the school's newfound momentum going.
Special
guests included Coretta Scott King, Maya Angelou, U.S. Reps. Mel Watt
and Brad Miller, and Western North Carolina Conference Bishop Charlene
Kammerer. Representatives from more than 150 colleges and universities
also attended. Angelou read a special poem in honor of Cole for the
occasion. Recording artists Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson performed
the song "Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand."
Cole entered the
ceremony in a "Bennett blue" robe with gold highlights, including
African symbols and quotations from Angelou's poetry. The robe was a
gift from friend Donna Shalala, the former Clinton administration
cabinet secretary who is now president of the University of Miami.
Bennett
was born in the basement of nearby St. Matthews Methodist Episcopal
Church in 1873. Cole recently became a member of St. Matthews United
Methodist Church.
"There are some among us 'to which much has
been given and much will be required,' and Johnnetta Cole is just such
an individual," said the Rev. Jerome Del Pino, top executive of the
United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry. "She comes
uniquely gifted to offer leadership to all of higher education and
especially those which are historically related to the United Methodist
Church."
Many of the speakers credited Cole with saving Bennett from closure.
Bennett
Trustee Gregory Barmore of Maine said that in the spring of 2002, "the
prospects seemed hopeless and we could have given up. But we took a leap
of faith, and God answered our prayers. He sent us Dr. Johnnetta B.
Cole!"
"In such a short time, Dr. Cole has saved Bennett,"
said Akosua Barthwell Evans, a trustee and a great-niece of David Dallas
Jones, a former president. "But more importantly she has inspired all
of us to fulfill the mission of Bennett College. She has devoted 24/7 to
this institution and to these students." # # # *Caldwell is a journalist residing in Lincolnton, N.C.