Giovanni Reminds Students That Education is Key to Future
By Jan Travers
She intrigued the audience for
more than 60 minutes in her intense,
sincere, yet comedic way. But while the
laughter died away, the serious message
did not.
Nikki Giovanni, a renown poet,
lecturer and teacher, speaking at Penn
State Harrisburg on February 24, as part
of the Black History Month celebration,
told the audience of about 140 to feel
good about themselves. "Don't get
down on yourself because you are not
going to change your color, race or
gender," she warned.
Giovanni, known as an
individualist, feels the best role model is
yourself. "Role models are a waste of
time. I get upset because people look
* Capital Times
Vol 21, No.lo
Capital College's Enrollment Increases
By Tom Boyle
Graduate enrollment at Penn
State, Harrisburg increased 16 percent
and undergraduate enrollment increased
three percent from last year, according to
Robert J. Graham, Ph.D., associate
provost and associate dean of faculty.
The figures reflect an
unexpected national increase in college
enrollment reported by the U.S.
Department of Education's Center for
Statistics. Penn State, Harrisburg
usually lags a little behind the national
trends, said Graham.
"All of those graduate programs
• . . are successful beyond our
anticipations," said Graham. "The liberal
arts areas are going to continue to
grow."
for excuses not to be who they are."
Explaining that it is better to be alone
than to be with a fool, Giovanni told
the group to be strong enough to be
surrounded by strong people who don't
always agree with you. "People who
make changes are people who stand for
something," she said.
And according to Giovanni, the
time for changes is ripe. "1987 is not
working. Look at the hundreds of
hungry people on the streets while
farmers are being paid to destroy their
crops. We cannot solve our problems
for each other, just with each other," she
offered. "We must cheer for each other
and build a community of trust and good
wishes for each other."
Giovanni said she is betting on
this generation to save the character of
Penn State at Harrisbur
The M.B.A. program, started
just two years ago, continues to grow
and this year has a total of 251 students.
Undergraduate enrollment in the
behavioral science program has increased
30 percent and the new graduate program
in recreation and parks has grown
steadily'since its conception.
The new doctorate program in
adult education and the graduate program
in education in training and development
has had an enrollment double what was
originally expected.
"We structured a lot of different
strategies within the admissions office,"
said Sandra L. Zerby, director of
enrollment planning, recruitment, and
admissions, attributing this year's
enrollment increase to a more aggressive
recruitment campaign.
March 18, 1987
Blumberg Bombarded at
Business Forums
Part II
By Kathleen Riley-King
On February 4, 1986, the
Business division held a second open
forum.
"I'd like to know why there are
so many evening courses as opposed to
morning [courses]," began one student.
He said that he is a traditional student
who lives on campus. This semester, he
does not start his school day until 2
p.m.
Beth Jones replied that the
evening courses are scheduled to meet
the needs of the part-time evening
students. In addition, more afternoon
classes have been scheduled to accom
modate the Business faculty. Elaborating
Penn State, Harrisburg has
increased it's advertising, publications,
open houses, and traveling in an effort to
recruit new students.
"We saw many, many more
people," said Zerby, referring to the
extensive traveling that the admission's
office now does. The 50 percent increase
in applications for this spring semester
was a result of increasing visits to other
schools, including some out-of-state.
Publishing a new brochure to
attract international students and
traveling to out-of-state campuses has
increased enrollment of students not
living in state.
The number of 18-24 year olds
fell two percent from last year, but that
will "push upwards" in the future, said
Zerby.
the country. "Education is the key to
the future because the key to the future
will always be in the brain."
Reminding the students that
"we are not giving you more than you
can handle," Giovanni acknowledged that
college students struggle. "If you're not,
you are not getting an education."
Alluding to the low Black
enrollment at Penn State, Giovanni
addressed her comments largely to the
Black students. "This is your school and
you should participate in it. You have a
right to be here. You are capable of
being here," she said.
The key to an education is
effort, said Giovanni. "If you don't
know what a professor means, stop her
and tell her you don't know what she
means. We who teach, no matter what
color, want someone to learn," she said,
noting that it makes their (teachers) day
when they see student's eyes light up.
"You can say because you are
Black-=and you will--that so and so
doesn't like you. They won't like you
more because you flunk their class. You
are not here to fill a quota, you are here
to be educated," she explained.
Encouraging the audience to
"expand our reach because we have the
desire to control the few Blacks that
(continued on pg. 12)
on this point, Dr. Blumberg explained
that about 40 percent of the Business
faculty teach graduate as well as
undergraduate courses. Since all graduate
courses are held at night, the professors
want to teach their undergraduate courses
in the afternoon rather than in the
morning.
Another student responded, "I
think that that kind of response is not
gonna change anybody's perceptions. I
think most of the problems that we have
are peoples' perceptions rather than
something actually being wrong. I
would think that this person . . . has
some kind of perception that he's not
getting the kind of scheduling he wants.
I don't necessarily think that they want
to hear the exact technical reasons why .
. . If they were going to Main Campus,
they'd probably have a greater flexibility
'cause there's more teachers . . . We're
not getting a discount for going here,
but yet you're saying that because of
certain constraints that you have, we
have to be more understanding and be
more flexible, but that's not going to . .
(continued on pg. 11)
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