Newspaper Page Text
September I - 7,2010
vrww.themaroontiger.com
(T FEATURES
Morehouse SGA Pushes for The Plausibility
Fourth Credit Hour of AUC Unity
Elizabeth Sawyer
Features Editor
edsaw4@gmail.com
E very semester, More
house students make
their way over to Spelman
College to take courses.
Some are seeking a more
co-ed environment, but most
are seduced by the oh so at
tractive fourth credit hour.
Traditionally, Morehouse
students have only been able
to acquire that extra hour by
taking courses at Spelman,
but the Morehouse SGA is
working hard to make the
necessity of cross register
ing a thing of the past.
For the past two years,
the Morehouse SGA has
been sedulously compiling
a campaign to increase the
amount of credits associated
with courses at Morehouse
from three to four. The SGA
has chosen to advocate for
this cause in order to make
Morehouse a better institu
tion and perpetuate its al
ready illustrious prestige.
According to the United
States Department of Edu
cation, as of 2007 More
house College has a 61%
graduation rate. Also, a
study by the Office of In
stitutional Research deter
mined that the college has
an 85% retention rate. In
Kelly N. Harper
Associate Features Editor
knharper08@yahoo.com
S ince 1957, the Spelman
Spotlight has reported
and chronicled campus life
at Spelman College and in
the surrounding commu
nity. However, the Spot
light has struggled in recent
years to produce consistent
issues due to management
and other problems. But
this year, Editor-in-Chief
Jasmine Leal-Taylor and
her staff have created a
powerful new campaign to
revive Spelman's campus
periodical.
Many w'ho have matricu
lated through Spelman Col
lege and other neighboring
institutions may have won
dered if Spelman even had
a newspaper.
Junior, Remy Green
knew that a paper had to
exist despite the absence of
a heavy campus presence.
“At such a top-ranking in
stitution like Spelman, you
w'ould expect an active and
consistent paper. "I was a
little surprised to see the
infrequency of production,
but I'm excited to hear that
they are coming back w ith a
vengeance," Green said.
Last year, under the lead
ership of Rebecca Clayton,
SC '10. the Spotlight under
addition to ranking More
house as the number three
HBCU in the country, U.S.
News and World Report
ranked Morehouse Col
lege as the most expensive
HBCU to attend, and also
included Morehouse in the
lowly “third-tier" ranking
of liberal arts institutions.
As outlined in the Spring
2010 Student Trustee Re
port, the Morehouse stu
dents in the SGA firmly
believe that the addition of
another credit hour would
do quite a bit to combat
these unfortunate statistics.
The report states. “In
implementing such a sys
tem!,] extra time would
have to be allotted to each
class during the week, and
a further justification from
each course for the extra
hour. It translates to [more]
depth in exploration in our
knowledge acquisition pro
cess. This would not only
go to significantly increase
graduation and retention
rates, but also
place empha
sis on qual
ity instead of
quantity in
a liberal arts
curriculum.”
The SGA
has made
some head
way in their
quest for the
elusive fourth
credit hour.
“In fall 2009,
the campaign
was presented
to the Board
of Trustees on the proposed
merits of the switch,” Se
nior Student Trustee Bren
nan Hawkins said. “And in
Spring 2010. the proposal
was included in the Student
Trustee Report among the
list of top expressed con
cerns.” In addition to these
intra-government initia
tives, the SGA also led a
successful protest in April
of 2010.
Despite the cogent argu
ments and organizational
progress made by the SGA,
students have been slightly
discouraged by responses
from Morehouse's admin
istration. “The 4-credit hour
campaign has not gained
much traction with the ad
ministration.” Hawkins
said. “The primary impedi
ments to the campaign seem
to be an ambiguous presen
tation of costs and benefits
and the daunting process
that the overhaul of an en
tire credit system promises
to entail.”
A complete overhaul of
Morehouse’s well-estab
lished three credit-hour sys
tem is an arduous and time
consuming task, to be sure.
Right now. what the student
government needs is sup
port from both the More
house administration and the
Morehouse student body.
“The objective of the cam
paign [is] to gain serious au
dience with members of the
administration and to detail
the necessary steps for frui
tion.” Hawkins said. “With
diligent work and commit
ment from the student body,
these goals may be accom
plished within the next two
years.”
creating sections dedicated
to more student expres
sion, including the poetry
corner. To generate greater
revenue, the Spotlight is
expanding the advertising
department to include cor
porate powerhouses such as
Verizon and Vitamin Water.
“It's important to have
our own paper because w r e
don't go to Morehouse,
and other newspapers don't
cover the issues that are
most relevant to us,” says
Leal-Taylor. There is no
other paper that covers our
needs as Black women, and
our paper aims to be a con
tinuous voice for us.”
Leal-Taylor aims to pro
duce the Spotlight semi
monthly with a goal of
eventually producing week
ly. The paper is also trying
to expand and develop their
social networking presence,
including the recent cre
ation of a Facebook page
and a Twitter account to
provide frequent and cur
rent updates to inform the
student body.
Students interested in
working with the "Spot
light" are encouraged to
visit Lower Manley Room
104 or email Leal-Taylor
at eic.spelmanspotlight@
gmail.com.
Elizabeth Sawyer
Features Editor
edsaw4@gmail.com
J ust a couple of weeks
ago. the Class of 2014
gathered in the International
King Chapel to commence
Operation Olive Branch,
the first social mixer for all
AUC freshmen. There were
gray shirts as far as the eye
could see and the air was
full of excited chatter. As the
chapel began to fill up with
expectant students, it was
difficult if not impossible to
tell which students belonged
to which school ... at first.
Before everyone had even
finished coming into the cha
pel. Spelmanites were doing
their tell-tale open-palmed
hand gesture; Morehouse
students were throwing up
“the house”; Clark Atlanta
students held up their C’s
proudly.
SOLs. NSOLs. and OGs
(student orientation leaders
for each school) descended
upon the row dy students and
castigated the new students
for their blatant contradic
tion of the overall mission
of Olive Branch. But this
scene of ardent school sup
port brought one question
to mind. Why can't More
house. Spelman, and Clark
Atlanta students be in the
same space for more than
five minutes without rivalry
and school pride trumping
social grace?
It could be argued that
this rivalry has been brew
ing since the late 19th cen
tury. In 1883. Spelman Col
lege moved to its present
location; Morehouse Col
lege followed in 1885. Al
though Clark College came
to the same area of tow n in
1883 as well, it was not af
filiated with Spelman and
Morehouse. It was not until
1929 that Atlanta University
joined Spelman and More
house to create the AUC—
Clark College did not join
until 1957.
The AUC has been to
gether much longer than it
was ever apart, but it still
seems that those early years
of exclusivity have partially
informed the relationship
between these three core
schools, as this most recent
Olive Branch has shown us.
But what else constitutes
this AUC rivalry? And will
they ever be able to over
come it?
The Maroon Tiger sat
down with a few : Morehouse
students and listened to their
perspective on the issue of
AUC unity.
"It has been growing over
the years,” senior Josiah
Johnson said. "But a lot of
people who graduated from
Morehouse come back and
push the rivalry."
Sophomore Cuthbert
Cuffy said that he believed
in the possibility of unity
but that he personally en
joyed the rivalry among the
schools. Sophomore QuoVa-
dis Gates had a completely
different perspective.
“I don't see the rivalry
much,” Gates said. “Peo
ple talk about it but it’s not
heavy. There are high school
rivalries that are bigger than
this."
All three young men
agreed that the rivalry be
tween Spelman and Clark
was much more emphasized
than the rivalry between
Morehouse and Clark.
"The rivalry between
Spelman and Clark is heavi
er." Cuffy said. "Guys don't
usually act as petty and I
think the girls are a bit more
sensitive."
Johnson also chimed in on
the matter, citing the ever-so
popular instance of a wom
an from Clark and a woman
from Spelman finding out
that they just so happen to
be dating the same man of
Morehouse.
When asked if gender was
the core of the rivalry, how'-
ever. all three gentlemen
adamantly disagreed. They
cited different perceptions
of the schools as the major
culprits; school rankings,
hearsay, historic rivalry, and
existing predilections are
what turn these three insti
tutions against each other,
rather than "petty” feminine
squabbles.
Johnson. Cuffy. and Gates
also believe that progress
in the way of AUC unity is
possible.
“I have had a few experi
ences in the airport when
Clark, Spelman. and More
house students will con
verse." Gates said. "And in
our home towns we bond.”
According to Gates. AUC
members only express close
ness when they are farthest
away from the tie that binds
them. Johnson believes that
translating that connection
to one that occurs while stu
dents are in school is the key
to advancing AUC unity:
“We just need to branch
out and remember that once
we get outside of these
[gates], we're all in this to
gether."
The Resurgence of the Spelman
Spotlight
It’s important to have our
own paper because we don’t
go to Morehouse, and other
newspapers don’t cover the
issues that are most relevant
to us.
—Jasmine Leal-Taylor,
Editor-in-chief
went a structural overhaul
that provided this year's
staff with the foundation
to propel the newspaper
into new heights. Clayton
strove to produce more is
sues in the academic school
year without compromising
quality.
After handing the reins
over to Leal-Taylor. Clay
ton remains an advisor for
the Spotlight. Leal-Taylor
and Clayton interviewed a
dozen Spelmanites to cre
ate an all-new staff for this
year. Leal-Taylor created
new sections and revised
the editorial staff structure
to ensure a smoother edit
ing trail, producing issues
in a timely and efficient
manner.
Leal-Taylor and Layout
and Design Editor Kevin
Reevers re
vamped the
format of the
Spotlight to
create a more
engaging and
appealing lay
out design.
Color has been
added for spe
cial editions
and certain
sections and,
in addition,
more graphics
and designs
are included to
vary the aes
thetic of the paper.
The opinions section has
been renamed “The Fo
rum,” and the revamping
of the section is intended
to highlight more contro
versial and “hot topic" is
sues. In the past, the section
has only covered race and
gender issues. The upcom
ing volume has a noticeable
shift in focus.
“We cannot call ourselves
the voice of African-Amer
ican womanhood, we must
include a wider variety of
student concerns. Not ev
eryone wants to talk about
race and dating in every
single issue." Leal-Taylor
said.
Additionally, the Spot
light is attempting to in
volve more students by
Join us for our first General
Body Meeting on Thursday,
September i, 2010, in Nabrit-
Mapp-McBay Lecture Room I at
5:30pm.
Recycle The Maroon Tiger
With diligent work and
commitment from the
student body, these goals
may be accomplished
within the next two years.
—Brennan Hawkins,
Senior Board Trustee