Feature
Campus Echo WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2007
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CUNNINGHAM ~ PSYCHOLOGY NCCU Alumnus shares enthusiasm and excitement with students
BY NATALIA N. PEARSONFARRER ECHO STAFF WRITER
odney Cunningham is proof that the environment you’re raised in doesn’t necessarily dictate the person you will later become. Growing up in Baltimore, one of the most violent big cities in America, was a challenge for Cunningham. Involvement in the church and the guidance of a mother and father who stressed education as the “vehicle of success” kept him from getting involved in the negative things some of his friends were doing. An associate professor in the psychology department at N.C. Central University with a Ph.D., published research, and several awards under his belt, Cunningham feels privileged to be in a position to affect the lives of young people and give back to the school and department that once trained him for his Master’s. Cunningham was recognized his very first year at NCCU with the 2006 College of Arts & Sciences Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award in psychology. “He brings enthusiasm, energy, and a fresh approach to teaching. His excitement is natural and quite genuine, and I think students resonate to that,” said Les Brunson, chair of the psychology department. In the classroom, Cunningham is described by students as being intellectual but cool. He takes the upper-level courses he teaches seriously, but makes the content interesting and relevant. “Dr. Cunningham is passionate about his work and eager for students to learn and know why they’re learning,” said LaShell Turnbull, a graduate student in
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There’s never a dull moment in my office because students typically feel comfortable with me and see that I understand their culture – I can sit down with students and talk about Young Joc and their weekend. RODNEY CUNNINGHAM
Cunningham’s advanced statistics class. “He likes to play but when it’s time to work, he’s very professional and he’s always about ‘respecting the academic process.’” Cunningham is equally passionate about helping the black community. Working with low-income black youth in the Greater Baltimore Urban League earned Cunning- ham an award for community service in 2004. Through his research on enhancing cognitive abilities in African-American children, Cunningham has found that lowincome black children consistently learn at higher levels when certain cultural factors such as music and dance are incorporated into the learning environment. Low-income black students, and especially males, have historically been more at risk for low academic performance and 4th grade dropout. Cunningham said that at NCCU he hopes to see a society of black professionals that dedicate themselves to researching and addressing issues within the community. “There is a big time crisis,” he said. “We need to negotiate the crisis in family structure and issues with drugs and health disparities. I want students to be experts in making change.”
In Cunningham’s office, you’ll typically find a group of students talking about classes and their personal lives. Cunningham listens and laughs often, and won’t hesitate to “get on” his students when necessary. “There’s never a dull moment in my office because students typically feel comfortable with me and see that I understand their culture. I can sit down with students and talk about Young Joc and their weekend,” he said. “My office is open to any student that is trying to do something with their life.” Cunningham has been married seven years to LaSonja, who teaches middle school in Wake County. They have two young boys, Rodney Jr. and J.T. Cunningham said though he sometimes feels overworked with the activities he’s involved in, he perseveres on a difficult day by remembering where he comes from. “It helps me to keep going and see how blessed I am when I remember how many of my friends didn’t make it. Negotiating those committees is gravy compared to negotiating those streets of Baltimore,” he said. “To be successful in this world, your job has to be a labor of love, not a chore. I love being a professor. It doesn’t hurt any day to get up and go to work.”
Rodney Cunningham’s office is a gathering place for students SAVIN JOSEPH/Echo Staff Photographer
CLARK ~BIOLOGY
Dedication to students drives professor Clark to keep working BY
GEOFFREY COOPER ECHO STAFF WRITER
or the past 48 years, Dr. Vernon Clark has imparted much knowledge and has graced many N.C. Central University students with his warm presence. Biology junior Leigh Barnwell said, “He is a wonderful professor who takes time to get to know students on a personal level. He challenges his students to achieve at the highest level, which we appreciate at the end of each day.” Clark attributes his achievements to his humble beginnings. Clark’s parents instilled the value of hard work and commitment to family. Clark was the fourth child of nine children growing up in Tarboro, N.C. His father earned $25 a week as a custodian. “We all pitched in around the house with chores and made sure that we did well in school,” he said. Clark was valedictorian of his high school class. He received his B.S. in Biology from Shaw University in 1951, the first in his family to attend college. Clark enlisted in the U.S. Army, where his Army platoon was segregated. He recalled one Thanksgiving evening after a football game and formal
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Vernon Clark is seen with a model of the human digestive system SAVIN JOSEPH/Echo Staff Photographer
But at this very moment, the preparation of our African-American students’ future is very delicate. It requires much attention, so they are able to become successful in life. VERNON CLARK
at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C. He was wrongfully arrested and jailed along with 21 of his fellow platoon mates after his friend sat next to a white woman on a city bus. “Here I am defending my country, and I’m being told I have to sit to the back of the bus,” said Clark. “They told us ‘all you niggers get off the bus and you white soldiers stay. We’re going to lock all you niggers up.’ “ Clark came to NCCU in the fall of 1958. That year, he received his M.S. in biology from NCCU. In 1968, he received his doctorate in cell physiology and biochemistry from UNC-Chapel Hill. “Folks can’t understand why I’ve been here for this long,” Clark said. “When some reach retirement they are gone and glad to go,” said Clark. “But at this very moment, the preparation of our African-American students’ future is very delicate. It requires much attention, so they are able to become successful in life. So when they reach that point of success, they can put themselves in a
position to help others, like I’m doing now.” Besides almost five decades of teaching, Clark brought to NCCU a chapter of Beta Kappa Chi, a scientific honor society for minority student scientists. In 1974, he organized the Pre-Professional Health Society on campus. This past Saturday at a society banquet in Durham, many health professionals paid homage to Clark’s continuing work in allied health sciences. Dr. James Ewell Graham, Jr., M.D., a retired gynecologic oncologist and 1970 NCCU graduate, was one of Clark’s pupils. In a speech at the banquet, he called Clark “the pinnacle of mentors,” and said, “he saw in me what I didn’t see in myself.” In honor of Clark’s impeccable legacy, the Dr. Vernon Clark Endowed Scholarship has been established. Graham and his wife Sadie D. Graham, M.P.H., were principal donors to the fund. Clark’s motto in inspiring his current and former students to achieve their goals is, “Science holds the golden key to the royal palace of knowledge.”