N.C. Central Makes Case to Legislators for More Funds

Black Issues in Higher Education, Feb 4, 1999

DURHAM, N.C. -- North Carolina Central University is in such dire straits that the biology department cannot even buy enough frogs for students to dissect, the school's chancellor says.

Dr. Julius Chambers took members of the state Advisory Budget Commission on a campus bus tour last month after a tour of the Lee Biology Building. The chancellor is seeking $12.3 million from the state, including $8 million for the biology department.

NCCU has 5,700 students, and enrollment is expected to double by 2007, Chambers says.

Last year, NCCU sought $14 million for health and safety improvements and received $2 million.

"We have 20 professors and only 10 labs.... We cannot teach biology under these conditions," Chambers told the lawmakers. "I was appalled when the department chair told me that we didn't have enough frogs for students to dissect."

Commission members were sympathetic but made no promises.