Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 92

2 Section 2 Chicago Tribune, Monday, May 21, 1990 Citysuburbs New Chicago State University president out to cut dropouts giving them information early." Cross, who grew up in a public housing development in Newark, N.J., was hired for the job after a nationwide search by the Board of Governors of State Colleges and Universities, which runs Chicago State and four other universities. Before taking her job at the University of Minnesota, she spent seven years as president of the New York State Higher Education Services which oversees the granting of financial aid to New York college students. She had previously been vice chancellor for student affairs and special pro-grans at the City University of New York and associate professor Illinois campuses combined, with their enrollment of 60,000. It also has the lowest entrance requirements of the 12 state university campuses; the average American College Test score for an entering freshman is 15, on a scale of 1 to 36, well below the statewide average of 18.9. The average at the U.

of I. at Urbana-Champaign is 27. And it has the highest dropout rate. Though its undergraduate enrollment has averaged around 5,000 in recent years, it hands out only around 500 to 600 bachelor's degrees each year. Only about 1 of every 5 freshmen ends up getting a degree within six years, compared with almost I out of 2 at the other state universities.

At a news conference Friday, the day after her appointment was announced, Cross said she intends to put a high priority on improving the retention rate. At the University of Minnesota, where she was associate provost and associate vice president for academic affairs for the last two years, the retention rate improved after black students were assigned faculty mentors, Cross said. "We have to communicate to students that we care," she said. Beyond that, she noted, minority students suffer from a financial aid system that is both inadequate and exceedingly complicated. Cross also will try to get more black men interested in higher education.

Chicago State has more than twice as many women students as men, a ratio that is not uncommon in predominantly black colleges and universities. "The problem is the image that's projected of black, men. Cross said. "The image of the black female is of a person who's interested in school, while black men arc supposed to be more interested in sports. "We have to get rid of that stereotype," said Cross, who 'has a son who teaches music and a daughter who practices law.

"We have to communicate that black men need to become part of the educated work force." By John Camper Dolores Cross, the new president of Chicago State University, is the first black woman to head a state university in Illinois. And it's a safe bet that she's also the first state university president in Illinois who runs marathons as a hobby. The 52-year-old educator ran three of them last year. Her best time for the 26.2-milc race is a very creditable 3 hours, 45 minutes. She runs 6 miles a day to keep in shape.

That shows a lot of strength and stamina, and Cross will need all she can muster as she tries to breathe new life into the commuter school, which occupies a pleasant campus of modern brick buildings at 95th Street and King Drive. If she succeeds, it could bring big educational benefits to Chicago's black community. Chicago State, a successor to Chicago Teachers College, has a student body that is more than 80 percent black. One of every four Though many colleges and universities have seen their enrollments decline in recent years, a result of the "baby bust" of the early 1970s, Chicago State has suffered more than most. Its undergraduate enrollment dropped from 5,889 in the fall of 1986 to 4,528 this spring.

This is partly because more prestigious schools, under heavy pressure to increase black enrollments, are competing for qualified black students who might automatically have gone to Chicago State a few years ago. But even in the best of circumstances, it's tough to round up potential college students in Chicago, where almost half the students in the public schools drop out before receiving a diploma. Cross said she wants. Chicago State to send people into the city's elementary schools to explain the requirements for getting into college and the financial benefits of a college education. "Information is power," she said.

"You empower people by of education at the Claremont urauuaic acnooi in iajuomia. She has a bachelor's degree from Seton Hall University. in South Dolores Cross is the first black woman to head a state university in Illinois. black students in a public university in Illinois goes to Chicago State. Though it has only 6,159 students, it has more black students than the two University of iranna i I 'i nrinr tim Hnfctra I TnitMtrcttif in l-lAfrmctAQH N.Y.; and a doctorate in education from the University of Black Navy captain is honored Tve read your mil ui nigrjis a hundred times and I'll probably read it a htmdredmore before I die" LECH WALESA NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE "I'm not sure the American people have any idea how blessed they are to have the Bill of Rights.

'After all who needs a document to guarantee rights that people already presume they have? Ask the people who tore down fences and jumped walls. Ask the npnnlp whn were nit off By John W. Fountain The two veteran U.S. Navy seamen beamed like proud fathers as they chatted about the accomplishments of 41 -year-old Anthony Watson. Watson, a Navy captain and deputy commandant of the U.S.

Naval Academy in Annapolis, who grew up in a Chicago public housing complex, was honored Sunday for the success that has made him a glittering star for other black Americans. "I never would have thought I'd see a black man in Annapolis," said 68-year-old Charles Williams, a World War II Navy veteran, who attended the 47th Annual American Heritage Freedom Awards banquet, held Sunday afternoon at the Heritage Plaza, 1510 W. 95th St. "For us to see a man go up the ladder like that, to see where he has come from, it makes our heart throb," Williams said. That excitement and pride was shared by another Navy veteran, 62-year-old Howard Shelby, who joined a crowd of about 400 honoring Watson.

"When I came into the Navy, the only ones wearing gold were the whites," Shelby said. "The only gold that blacks wore were gold watches. It's a big thrill for us," he said. Watson, who grew up in Cabrini-Green, graduated from Lane Technical High School in 1966. Later that year he received an appointment from the U.S.

Naval Academy. As a midshipman at the academy, Watson was president of the Class of 1970. He also was brigade commander of his class during his junior year. Since graduating from the academy, Watson has served on five submarines, and in December 1987, became only the second black to command a nuclear-powered submarine. Until 1989, Watson commanded the billion-dollar USS Jacksonville, the most modern of "fast-attack submarines in the naval fleet, whose mission is to seek out and monitor Soviet submarines in the Atlantic Ocean and destroy enemy subs if a war should break out.

Watson joins a long list of famed recipients of the American Heritage Freedom Awards that includes Jesse Owens, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson and the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. The award was created in 1943 by Rev. Elmer Fowler, pastor of the Third Baptist Church, 1551 W. 95th St. The honor is given to "individuals and organizations who would make noble contributions for the progress, welfare and prestige of American citizens of the black race," according to a statement written by Fowler.

The citation formerly was known as the Dorie Miller Award, named after the Navy messman who, during the Pearl Harbor attack that drew the U.S. into World War II, hauled his captain to safety and shot down four fighter planes before abandoning ship. "The list of people in that book makes me feel humble," Watson said as he hurried to catch a ride to O'Hare International Airport for a return flight to Annapolis. Watson plans to send replicas of the award to children in Cabrini-Green. "It's important to me that the kids in Cabrini-Green get something out of this," he said.

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