The
S TUDENT P RINTZ www.studentprintz.com
SERVING SOUTHERN MISS SINCE 1927
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
S SMARTPHONE
Volume 95 Issue 33
ALUMNI
Civil Rights figures share stories
See page 5
OPINION
See page 6
BASKETBALL
Eli Bayis/Printz
Gwendolyn Chamberlain-Armstrong, on left, and Raylawni Branch answer questions about their experiences as being the first African American students at the university on Jan. 27 in Bennett Auditorium.
Michelle Holowach See page 8
Tuesday
68/29 Wednesday
44/29 Thursday
41/33 INDEX Calendar ...................... 2 Sudoku ......................... 2 News ............................. 3 Arts & Entertainment ......4 Feature ......................... 5 Opinion .......................... 6 Sports .......................... 7
Printz Writer Forty-six years ago two women accidentally made history and left their footprints here at Southern Miss. In September of 1965 Raylawni Branch and Gwendolyn Elaine Armstrong Chamberlain became the first two African Americans to set foot on campus as enrolled students at The University of
Southern Mississippi. Since then, they have left their legacy behind as two memorable figures of the Civil Rights Movement. On Thursday, Jan. 27, Branch and Armstrong presented a forum in Bennet Auditorium to tell the students of USM their story. President Martha Saunders opened the presentation, stating that the forum is a continuation of the Centennial Celebration, and that it celebrates a “history of triumphs over long odds.”
The event was set up in a panel discussion format and was hosted by Austin Simmons, a broadcast journalism major. As the evening unfolded so did the stories of these two remarkable women. “It was really enjoyable and inspiring to hear the stories, experiences, and life lessons Branch and Armstrong shared with us,” Ashleigh Ladner, a freshman at USM and attendee of the forum, said. As African American females in a Southern university dur-
ing the 1960s, Branch and Armstrong did not have easy lives, but through their own determination and with the help of others they overcame many obstacles. Armstrong said she made the decision to attend USM so that she could stay close to her disabled mother, and she wanted to grasp hold of the opportunity to mingle with people of another ethnicity so
See ALUMNI, 3
ON CAMPUS
Workshops prepare students for jobs Mary Margaret Halford Printz Writer
For the first time, Career Services is hosting a series of workshops this semester with the theme “Backpack to Briefcase.” The workshops are aimed at getting students ready to transition from college into the workforce. Three free seminars will be
hosted throughout the semester, each focusing on a different topic that relates to helping students find jobs. The first is called “Facebooking Your Future” and will be held at 5 p.m. today in Union Room B. This workshop will show students how to make a clean Facebook profile that can be used to make connections when searching for a job. The second seminar, called “Speed Networking,” will be held
March 1 at 5 p.m. in TCC 218B. It will be an interactive workshop during which students will learn how to make a great impression in the first minute of an interview. Confidence and networking skills will also be discussed. The final workshop will be held on April 12, in the TCC 218. The title is “Fashionably Functional,” and it will cover dressing stylishly yet professionally for men and women. Lisa Parker, marketing special-
ist for Career Services, says that the workshops will not be set up in a conventional classroom learning style. “The workshops are going to feature speakers and presenters from outside campus who will help give a more real world perspective rather than a classroom setting,” Parker said. “We’ll give
See CAREER, 3