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N.C. Central Chancellor Tries to Counter School's Image in Duke Lacrosse Coverage

Photo credit: Bryson Pope /Campus Echo In March , members of VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood of North Carolina Central University, led a forum on ways to support the student who said she was raped by Duke University lacrosse players.

By Anthony Anamelechi
Black College Wire

The Washington Post described it as “A scrappy, willful place.” The New York Times called it “Duke’s struggling cousin.”

Photo credit: North Carolina Central University James H. Ammons

Such comments about North Carolina Central University have prompted Chancellor James H. Ammons to take to newspaper opinion pages, he said, to “set the record straight in terms of NCCU and its contributions in the community, the state, the nation and the world.”

"We are disturbed when our institution is tagged with stereotypical labels that may undermine a reputation for and commitment to academic excellence forged over our 96-year history," Ammons wrote in an opinion piece that so far has run in the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Wilmington (N.C.) News-Star.

North Carolina Central has been thrust into the national spotlight because of its involvement in what has become known as the Duke Lacrosse case. The 27-year-old woman accusing three Duke University lacrosse players of rape is a North Carolina Central student.

Stories about the case have pointed out differences of race, culture, financial need and tuition rates at the two schools. Many commented on North Carolina Central's physical appearance, giving some, Ammons said, the impression that North Carolina Central is a lesser institution.

"North Carolina Central University does not have a lacrosse team," a May 1 story in the New York Times said. "Students often cannot check out books from the main library, which is being renovated after a mold infestation. The business school is fighting to regain accreditation. Sixty percent of the students receive need-based financial aid. Eighty-one percent are black. Only 28 percent graduate after four years."

“It wasn’t balanced,” Ammons said of that story. It "didn’t give the country a sense of what our university is like.” It was a mistake, Ammons said, to try to compare Duke and North Carolina Central. “There are too many differences,” he said. Duke is a private, “well-endowed” institution, while North Carolina Central is a public, historically black university, for example.

Since Ammons did not feel the news reports showed “an accurate picture of this institution,” the chancellor took advantage of what he called a “golden opportunity” to shed light on what he believes his university is really about.

Ammons touched on many of the university's achievements. It is “the nation’s first public liberal-arts institution for African-Americans” and “a leader in the recruitment of national achievement scholars,” he wrote. Ammons said the university's enrollment has increased more than 50 percent in the last four years, to 8,219 students. Ammons went on to highlight some of the achievements of its graduates, who include 50 state judges, a number of attorneys and thousands of teachers, nurses and other professionals.

His essay was sent to publications that covered the Duke case and had any references to North Carolina Central in their stories.

Ed Williams, editor of the editorial pages at the Charlotte Observer, said he decided to publish Ammons’ piece because of the prominence of Duke and North Carolina Central. Speaking of Ammons, Williams said, “It offered him an opportunity to say something about his school that maybe people didn’t know.” Williams agreed that only one aspect of North Carolina Central was being shown, and said the op-ed piece would “give him an opportunity to speak for his school.”

Ammons said that he hoped his article would be “an appropriate step in introducing North Carolina Central to the country as a dynamic institution that’s growing.”

The chancellor said he will carry that message in print as well as in person as he travels and schedules interviews with the news media.

Anthony Anamelechi, a Black College Wire intern, is a student at Florida A&M University.

Posted June 28, 2006