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Native Culture Highlighted at Warren Campus Open House

Vance-Granville Community College’s Warren County Campus held an open house on Nov. 27, an occasion to highlight not only the campus’s academic programs but also local American Indian culture. VGCC President Randy Parker was on hand to welcome guests to the open house, and he encouraged them to offer input on the types of programs and services they would like the college to offer.Winona Anstead, Title VII Indian Education coordinator for Warren County, presented information on the Haliwa-Saponi tribe and introduced a dance program by Haliwa-Saponi youth. Among the young dancers was Stephanie Richardson of Warrenton, an eleventh-grader at the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School, who demonstrated a traditional women’s dance. She said that she has been dancing since she was in the third grade. Henderson is also taking a basic computer skills course at VGCC’s Warren County campus through the dual enrollment program. Dual enrollment, also called “A Step Ahead,” allows high school students to take college-level courses at community colleges and earn both high school and college credits. The community college waives the tuition charges for high school students taking dual enrollment courses. Currently, all the members of the junior class at the Tribal School are dual enrollment students at the Warren County Campus, according to campus assistant director Shelly Taylor.”We appreciate the members of the community who visited our campus, and particularly the representatives of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe who entertained and enlightened us,” said George Henderson, director of the Warren campus. “The Warren County Campus is here to enhance the intellectual and cultural development of our community, and I think this event did just that.”The Haliwa-Saponi tribe, officially recognized by the state of North Carolina since 1965, currently boasts more than 3,800 members. The name “Haliwa” is derived from the first letters of the two counties, Halifax and Warren, where most of the tribe lives. “Saponi” means “Red earth people” and is one of the original ancestral tribes from which the people are descended.For more information on the Warren County campus, call (252) 257-1900. More information on the Haliwa-Saponi tribe is available on the tribe’s official website (http://www.haliwa-saponi.com/).Pictured above: Stephanie Richardson, a Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School and VGCC dual enrollment student, demonstrates a traditional women’s dance as VGCC President Randy Parker (far right) and others look on. (VGCC Photo)