THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410280065
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Profile
SERIES: HAIL TO THE CHIEFS
There's much more to student body presidents that their titles. While
they lead students, they also leaf full lives that are as diverse as
their institutions.
SOURCE: Stories by VALERIE CARINO
Campus Correspondent
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
UNTIL HE CAME to Norfolk State University, student body president Leroy Hamilton never had a black teacher. The 22-year-old didn't think they even existed.
``I saw them on TV, but I didn't think it was reality,'' he said.
But after nearly four years at NSU, Hamilton has learned that black teachers do exist. But there needs to be more, he said.
``There's not too many African-American role models in the school system,'' he said. That's why the senior English major hopes to return to New Haven, Conn., his hometown, to become a teacher himself. He wants to teach English to high school students.
``I want to give back to the community,'' he said. ``I want people to say, `Hey, this guy isn't involved in negative things, maybe I can be like him.' I just want to help the youth.''
In New Haven, Hamilton attended mostly white schools. He was often the only black kid in class.
``There were times where a lot of students didn't quite understand some of the points I was making because they didn't come from the background that I did,'' he said. ``Some of the students' parents were doctors, lawyers, basically the elite.''
At NSU, Hamilton finds he is more receptive to subjects brought up by his black professors than he was when they were discussed by his former white teachers.
``It was easier to accept what was being said about slavery coming from a black person than from a white person,'' he said. ``A lot of white professors didn't know what it was like to be black.''
Through his English studies, Hamilton encountered another cultural first. Unlike his high school classes, the courses at NSU included a close study of black writers.
``Before I came here, I couldn't name five black writers,'' he said. But now he's reading James Baldwin, Booker T. Washington and Malcolm X.
At NSU, Hamilton has never had to be the only black kid in class. Being with other black students, he said, has changed his perspectives.
``It gave me the opportunity to see that there are many African Americans who want to be successful as I do,'' he said. ``You see a lot blacks majoring in different fields.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI
by CNB