April 23-30, 2009 M s r e Pres -


 Nearly 1000 EWC alumni return for "Old School Weekend"


 Pictured (L-R) at EWC alumni weekend activities are: event co-
chair and ewcroundup.com founder Eric Johnson (c/o '88), National
Alumni Association president Marguerite Warren (c/o '65), and event
co-chair Kerry Lofton (c/o '88). Not pictured is event co-chair Stanley


Cromartie.
 by M. Latimer
 This past weekend was all about
good times and great memories.
 More than 700 Edward Waters
College (EWC) graduates traveled
from as far as Alaska to renew
friendships and reminisce at the
annual "Old School Weekend."
Activities included a "meet and
greet" on Friday and church service
and brunch on Sunday. The week-
end's highlights, however, took
place on Saturday, as alumni and
friends ate southern-style BBQ,
played games and watched a fash-
ion show on Centennial Lawn,
cheered at the celebrity basketball
tournament in the campus gym, and
later enjoyed music and dancing at
Soho's.
 Class of 1995 member Reggie
Robinson said,20"Seeing familiar
faces, remembering all the fun we
had this was a moving experi-
ence."
 According to event co-founders
Kerry Lofton and Stanley
Crowmartie, the "Old School
Weekend" began a few years ago as
a reunion for Greek letter organiza-
tions. Lofton, a member of the
Class of 1988 and Omega Psi Phi
Fraternity, Inc., said, "We wanted to
be inclusive. So, we opened the
reunion to all EWC alums."
 Greek letter organizations still,
however, played a critical role in
the event. Fraternities and sorori-
ties provided food at Saturday's
BBQ, and they played in the bas-
ketball game, which raised funds
for EWC's athletic department.
 Lofton note d that while the "Old


EWC classmates from the late '80s participating in a college favorite
- a game of spades.


I-, k, ..i
EW "old school" alums celebrate at the weekends culminating activity brunch at River City Brewery

EWC "old school" alums celebrate at the weekend's culminating activity brunch at River City Brewery.


School Weekend" was always fun,
this year's event reached a higher
plateau with the involvement of
Class of 1988 graduate and former
EWC Student Government presi-
dent Eric Johnson. Lofton said,
"We have been meeting for a few
years, encouraging alums to return
and be supportive. But we didn't
get the numbers we wanted. Eric's
participation changed that."
 Johnson says the key to the "Old
School Weekend's" success was
improved communication. A year
ago, he began developing EWC's
first social networking page on
MySpace.com. Called


FUNK


ewcroundup.com, the site now
boasts about 600 members, as
alums from all over the country
reconnect and seek EWC news and
updates via the Internet. "With the
'roundup,' we were able to get larg-
er numbers of alumni to partici-
pate," said Johnson.
 When asked, "what's next,"
Johnson said, "Our undergraduate
years were such happy times. We
want to capitalize upon that. Our
goals include generating funds and
increasing enrollment for the
College. We also want to bring
graduates back in a more formal
setting and support our alumni


association."


Members of Greek letter organizations that supplied food and fun for
the "old school" alumni cook-out: Chenelle Hunter (c/o '94), Reggie
Robinson (c/o '95), Ernest Daniels (c/o '09) and Tracy Jones (c/o '93).


 Scenes from the "old school" fas
Union Building.
 Class of 1965 graduate and EWC
National Alumni Association presi-
dent Marguerite Warren added,
"These young people demonstrated
an amazing spirit and love for our
alma mater. We need their energy
and ideas to preserve our memories


and this beloved institution."
 Coming EWC alumni events
include the National Alumni
Convention, Homecoming 2009
and a Bahamas cruise. For more
information, visit
www.ewcroundup.com.


The President's First 100 Days


 Contiued from front
 the Congressional Black Caucus.
 A new commitment to pour mil-
lions of dollars into the prevention
and awareness of HIV/AIDS in
America.
 But, specifically, how is the new
president doing on issues pertaining
to African-Americans from a civil
rights perspective? Pointing out that
100 days is simply not enough time
to tell, some civil rights leaders
give him an A so far; most also not-


ing an 'incomplete' on the grass-
roots economy.
 "There are some A's and a couple
of incompletes" says the Rev. Jesse
Jackson in a phone interview from
Thailand. "I think the position
against torture, an A; the G-20 con-
ference, putting a credible face on
America's foreign policy where he
has trust capital and Bush had trust
deficit disorder."
 Jackson also listed Obama's
reaching out to Cuba, Venezuela


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Two Tickets to Funkfest

2009 at Metropolitan Park


and the overture toward Iran as all
A's along with his dealing with the
student loan industry, which
Jackson described as a "$95 billion
a year rip off."
 But, the incomplete mainly in
the area of economics are clear, he
says.
 "There's an incomplete on the
stimulus because it must be more
targeted to get to the bottom. As the
states get it, they're using the term
shovel ready. But, shovel-ready for
those who don't have a shovel
because of the lack of capital and
lack of credit means they may not
be ready. That could be seen as boot
straps without the boots."
 To be fair, Jackson conceded that
the President could only demand
that the money gets out of
Washington.
 "But, we must demand that the
states get it down to where the peo-
ple are," he said.
 "We have to be certain that it gets
down to the most unemployed the
most in need of training, the most in
need of business development.
That's an ongoing struggle there."
 As Black unemployment surges
 toward 14%, Natl. Urban League
 President Marc Morial agrees.
 On a scale of 1-10, Morial gave
 the President a 9 for his first 100
 days. In the Black community
 Morial cited a need for greater civil
 rights enforcement and the need for
 help with job development.
 "The creation of an agency task-
 force to assist African-Americans in
 securing construction jobs and
 green jobs; and the hiring of
 African-Americans in subcabinet
 positions at Education, HUD, Labor
 and Health & Human Services,"
 Morial says.
 The greatest help for the adminis-
 tration must be everyone's patience
 says Wade Henderson, president
 and CEO of the Leadership
 Conference on Civil Rights.
 "I don't think you can judge
 someone after only 100 days. That
 said, he's accomplished more in his
 first quarter than most presidents
 achieve in their entire first term.
 He's focused on creating jobs
 where we need them and has signed
 into law a number of backlogged
 civil rights bills," says Henderson.
 "We didn't get in the morass we're
 in today overnight and we're not
 going to get out of it in 100 days or
 200 days or even in a year."
 Perhaps Jackson put it in the most
 succinct nutshell. "We're better off
 than we were before he was inaugu-
 rated."


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