THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 TAG: 9702110224
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY YOUNG, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 52 lines
Come next September, students in Deep Creek may well be attending Hugo A. Owens Middle School.
That's if the School Board accepts the recommendation of the committee it charged to come up with a name for the new school, under construction on Cedar Road.
``It was a very tough decision,'' said committee chairman and School Board member L. Thomas Bray. ``Evidently, the process worked. Everybody felt like it was open and fair.''
The full board is expected to vote on the committee's recommendation at the board's March 10 meeting.
In all, 21 names were proposed to the committee, which held two well-attended public hearings in January. Many of the suggestions would have named the school for its geographic location.
But at the hearings, the names of two men dominated the discussion: Owens, the city's first African-American councilman, and Charles S. Brabble Sr., who served as a principal in Deep Creek and other city schools for 44 years before retiring in 1990.
Bray said he and fellow committee members James S. Reeves and Thomas L. Mercer Sr. came to the unanimous decision that, in the end, it was Owens' accomplishments that decided the issue.
``He has been duly honored, and he's earned this,'' Bray said Monday evening. ``Politics is a matter of timing, and this is his time. He is well-deserving, especially during African-American History Month. He has inspired a lot of African Americans to move on - especially young men, and especially in tough times.''
Owens himself declined to comment until the full board decides whether to accept the recommendation. Bray said he expected the full board to accept it, albeit with some discussion.
Mercer said serving on the committee and witnessing the behavior of supporters of both men at the public hearings ``makes me very proud to be a resident of Chesapeake.'' Mercer said he received numerous phone calls during the process, many from supporters of Brabble.
``If there comes an opportunity'' to name a school, Mercer said, ``Mr. Brabble will get my highest consideration - especially considering the people who love and admire him. . . . ''
Bray said the committee considered naming the school after both men but rejected that option, partly because there didn't seem to be much support for the idea and in part because ultimately it might have been unfair to both men
``When you hyphenate a name, over time the last name sticks and the first name is dropped,'' Bray said. ``Down the road, the first person would not be duly honored.''
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE SCHOOLS CHESAPEAKE SCHOOL BOARD