Flowers power - Lawrence and Lamont Flowers, two African American students at Virginia Commonwealth University - Cover Story

Black Issues in Higher Education, July 11, 1996 by Ruth S. Intress

Lawrence and Lamont Flowers stand out in a crowd.

Rail-thin and topping six feet, the identical twins

share a shy streak and a strong bond that's easy to

spot.

At Henrico High School in the suburbs of

Richmond, VA, they were polite, clean-cut Eagle

Scouts making average grades. In short, they were

performing far below their potential.

But something happened between then and now.

in May, the Flowers brothers graduated with high

honors from Virginia Commonwealth University

(VCU) with bachelor's degrees in their respective fields

of biology and accounting. This fall, the 22-year-old

twins will enter graduate programs at the University of

Iowa (UI), a Big Ten school, where, they beat out

nearly 30 other top candidates for full university-financed

fellowships that will see them through

their doctoral studies.

"They went from Cs in high school to magna

cum laude in difficult fields," said Dr. Quincy L.

Moore, the Flowers' academic adviser at VCU.

"They recognized their own skills and decided the

biggest competition was going to be against

themselves."

"These are very talented students," added Joe

Henry, assistant to the dean of the UI's graduate

college. "They're very disciplined and highly

motivated. These are students who have the drive

and hunger to go on to graduate school and the

strong foundations academically to do so."

VCU president Dr. Eugene P. Trani says the

Flowers' accomplishments "are a source of enormous

pride to the whole community. They've done

wonderfully well at VCU and we're proud of them.

"I'm sure they'll do wonderfully well in

graduate school and I look forward to trying to

recruit them back to VCU as faculty members when

they get done with their experiences at Iowa," he

said recently.

Models of Discipline

"Lamont and Lawrence are models of discipline

and hard work for all of us at VCU," is the Way the

president of VCU, Dr. Eugene P. Trani, described

them. "We are extremely proud of them and proud

to have been a part of their education. They reflect

so well the quality and variety of interests and

goals among our students."

Yet ask the Flowers about their academic

transformation and they modestly credit their

parents, church and each other for their success.

The twins' father is a computer technician. Their

mother returned to college after her sons began

elementary school and earned her degree in

accounting in 1981.

So close are these rarely separated twins that

they share a room, each other's opinions, and the

habit of finishing each other's sentences.

"It seems to me," said Lamont, "that academic

success can be defined as preparation, planning and

discipline. Anyone, I'm convinced, who

adopts those three goals can be successful."

"Anyone can be successful," Lawrence

said, picking up his brother's thought, "but

you have to work for it.

"Education was always a priority. Our

parents instilled that in us from the get-go,"

added Lawrence. "But in high school, frankly,

we didn't put forth the effort."

Looking to the Future

All that changed when the Flowers

arrived at VCU. There, they met Moore,

who, as director of VCU's Office of Academic

Support, became the Flowers' counselor,

mentor and friend. During their early months

at VCU, Moore helped the twins recognize

that college was their entry into adulthood

and that they must develop focus and drive to

succeed in life.

"We talked about people understanding

their responsibility and obligations," Moore

said of his work with the Flowers, both

individually and in group programs offered by

his office. "We have an obligation to do what

we can to help students. They have an

obligation to take advantage of that."

The Flowers brothers were ready for a

new experience after high school, added

Moore. "They realized they didn't stretch

themselves. They realized they should leave

yesterday behind and look to their future."

Many students, said Moore, fritter away

opportunities in college or fail to gain the

study habits needed to succeed. Others

become lost in the rigors of college academics

and blame themselves for failing, not realizing

that it is their preparation that's inadequate -- not

their abilities or talents.

"Too many students fade away," said

Moore, adding that universities must do more

to help students. "But we do intrusive

advising and counseling. We can't just wait for

students to come in once a semester."

Those efforts quickly paid off with the

Flowers twins.

"They listened, they recognized things,

they were always there," Moore said. "By

their sophomore year, they started to do

things."

'This is Our Job'

The Flowers turned studying into a

science and viewed college as "the beginning of

our careers" -- even donning identical business

suits for class.

"People used to ask us why we wear

ties," Lawrence said. "But this is our job ....

We want to send that message in our dress

and attitude."

"Especially in our attitude," added

Lamont. "That's most important."

Integral to their academic regimen is the

elaborate system they developed to chart

when every term paper is due and when each

exam will be held. From that, they make color-coded