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THE SPELMAN SPOTLIGHT
June-September 1963
FROM
THE
EDITOR'S
DESK
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their coun
try. This is what I call a thought provoking sentence, so I throw it
out to you.
Commencement is the beginning of a new and hopefully fruitful
life to most of us. It is the time when Spelman women venture out
into that cruel world to experience life on their own.
For the past few days, I have had a full feeling without the aid
of food. After much deliberation, I have finally realized that I am
sad because I am about to make an exodus from the walls of what
many of us label as “Sing Sing Prison”.
For four years I have complained about the cruel, illogical, non
sensical rules that Spelman imposes upon us. Now I realize that I am
not happy to leave “Sing Sing”.
I shall miss the uncalled for routine of going to chapel, the beauti
ful services on Sunday which we term Vespers, the stifling restric
tions that caused me many unhappy moments ... I shall miss one
of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Jordan, whom I came to love in the
course “Literature In Our Society”, the conferences with Mr. Coe on
the budget for the SPOTLIGHT, the sly attempts at avoiding duty
work. Above all, I shall miss the hard, long, enjoyable hours of
working with my great love—the SPELMAN SPOTLIGHT;
I wish to thank the staff and our advisor, Mrs. Naomi Chivers, who
have worked so well with me. If I owned a newspaper, I would hire
you all as chief assistants. Also, special thanks go out to the senior
non-staff members who amid their final examinations came to
my rescue with articles and other services.
Because she is such a fine person, I would like to pay a tribute to
Cecile Ganpatsingh, our pioneering senior class president. Cecile, we
love you! Under your leadership, Spelman has the most outstanding
senior class that it has ever had, and ever shall have. We, nor Spel
man can forget you.
The seed has been planted. The roots are established. The flower is
growing . . . out toward the expanding horizons, attempting to make
them contracting horizons. Seniors, we alone have come all the way.
Now we must leave our beloved Spelman, but her memory will always
linger with us.
Spelman we love you, leave you, but we will return. But before we
go, let us present you with a challenge. We, the senior class of ’63,
present you, Spelman College, with this challenge . . .
I. To the students:
A. To assume more responsibility
1. By being cognizant of your obligations that go along with
more extended academic and social freedom.
2. By being aware of the increasing responsibilities and op
portunities that await you outside of Spelman’s gates, and
prepare yourselves for them.
3. By making student government work through cooperation
and participation.
4. By using all opportnities offered in the Atlanta University
Center to nourish your intellectual, spiritual and social de
velopment.
5. By respecting the rights of fellow students and living to
gether harmoniously.
B. To look at yourselves objectively by asking questions as these:
1. Am I a mature individual?
2. What image do I give others?
3. What do I want out of life?
4. Am I living up to my potential?
5. Do I stand up for my convictions?
II. To the faculty and administration:
A. To prepare the college woman to meet her increasing re
sponsibilities in the world of today and indeed tomorrow,
1. By providing an informal atmosphere in the classroom and
on campus, which encourages critical thinking and inte
llectual curiosity.
2. By giving the student more opportunity to shape her own
future.
3. By listening to the student’s voice which is constantly cry
ing out and requesting the removal of the “CHAINS”.
B. To establish a rapport between faculty, students and admini
stration that will engender respect on all sides.
Teachers
1. By avoiding favoritism in the classroom and particularly in
grading.
2. By respecting the opinion of the students whether or not
they are in accord with your own ideas.
3. By discarding “old yellowed notes” and brushihng up on
modern trends in education.
4. By motivating the student, providing interesting ways of
presenting material to students.
5. By being human enough to realize that the student is not
a machine. For example: If a student is unable to meet the
deadline for a certain assignment, consider individual dif
ferences and limitations.
6. By being aware that each student is entitled to three cuts
without penalty.
Administration:
1. By not allowing special privileges only to a chosen few.
2. By recognizing the fact that many of the complaints of the
(Continued on page 4, column 1)
60 Seconds Made Her Say
You Will Not Eat Here!
It is unfortunate when an analogy can be made between the
downtown restaurants and the Spelman College dining hall. Lester
Maddox bodily threw out students who attempted to secure food
in his restaurant. A working student in the dining hall locked
the door and refused to allow several students Who had arrived
between the minutes of 7:00 a.m. and 7:01 the opportunity to eat
breakfast after a very long night of studying. Unfortunately, there
was a discrepancy between the time of the clock in the dining
hall and that of Harkness Hall which had seconds until 7:00 a.m.
This experience reminded me of our attempts to integrate the
restaurants in downtown Atlanta. I thought about the people at
S & W who earn a living by standing at the door of this restaurant
allowing only whites in and out of the place. I thought of Davis
Brothers where the manager stands at the unlocked door with
his presence preventing entrance of Negroes. Lastly, I thought of
Lcb’s where on Friday, May 17, the date on which the Supreme
Court decision outlawing segregation in public schools was ren
dered, students were allowed to eat!
A hungry man is a pityful man. A hungry woman who has been
refused food that is lawfully hers, has the wrath of a woman
scorned. Imagine getting up in the morning at 6:30, having your
peristaltic waves tuned up for a delicious meal, and then being
unable to eat. Furthermore, you have no money to buy a snack,
so you must wait until noon to get what is served as “lunch”.
May heaven help us.
The unbelievable thing about this entire experience is the fact
that a few of the students who decided to persevere and get into
the dining hall had to watch those persons in line in front of
them get served for the first time and those in line behind them
get served seconds, while they were told that they could not eat
there. This was the epitomy of cruelty.
For an eating establishment that does not open on the minute,
one questions the reasons for its closing on the second. I don’t
blame the students, for they are only following just as Maddox’s
henchmen. It is the lousy system that creates such a situation
that I am attacking. Furthermore, I challenge anyone to justify
this treatment afforded several hungry students seeking food in
the midst of final exams.
Perhaps, those girls who work at the breakfast meal should
be exempted from chapel so that the time for eating breakfast
will be extended another half of an hour in order to better ac
commodate the student body.
It is entirely necessary to mention that immediately upon hear
ing of the incident, Dr. Manley carried out direct favorable action.
Underclassmen, watch him, for he just may be our knight in shir.*
mg armor sent to free his people from bondage. D. M. M.
Sororities, Fraternities
Stir Campus Animosity
Thank You
Little Sis
Never before in history has
any class had “little sisters” as
great as the ones we have. Al
though they have been sweet the
whole year through, their kind
ness had never been so out
standingly shown as it was
through the Hawaiian Luau.
The Hawaiian Luau was a rich
occasion. The gym was beauti
fully decorated. There was a
huge pineapple in the center of
the floor. Colorful paper flowers
were everywhere. Each guest was
given a gay leis and the
girls wore muu-muus and scent
ed flowers in their hair. The
night was filled with various
activities. Included among them
was the delicious Hawaiian meal
which consisted of plums, peach
es, bananas, sliced pineapples,
lime sherbert. and Hawaiian
punch. The meal was eaten on
white table cloths on the floor.
After the meal, a revealing
“prophesy” was read. The re
cords were the latest and many
new dances were learned — one
of which was the “New Wobble.”
At nine o’clock, the male guests
arrived and we were off to a
night of fun. To our “little sis
ters” — Thanks for being so
sweet.
Mildred LaVinia Ponder
Letters To
The Editor
Dear Big Sisters,
It seems to be the rule that
every other year Spelman mana
ges to get the cream of the crop.
You are the epitome of the best
that Spelman has gotten thus
far. As our big sisters you have
set an inspiring example for us
to follow.
We have shared many moment
ous occasions and events toge
ther. For two years in a row you
have been represented in the
Maroon and White court, you
have shown great leadership in
SNCC and on the campus. The
joys and the sorrows which are
ours will always be imbedded
in our hearts.
Throughout the year we have
tried to do little things to show
our appreciation. And now as the
time for us to part is quickly
drawing near we can’t help but
shed a tear. Our only hope for
the incoming freshman class is
that they will be as wonderful
and sweet and “together” as you
are.
Before we get too sentimental
we will bring this letter to a
close in hope that some day you
will be able to look back at
this letter and smile because of
fond memories.
All too often, I hear my Spel
man sisters express their desires
for sororities on campus. My
first reaction is to ask them what
is a sorority? Of what purpose
are they? To be more specific,
do you really think sororities
would be an asset to Spelman’s
campus? I need not hear itheir
answers. I need only stop and
look around at the different fra
ternities and sororities on neigh
boring campuses and think.
While some problems facing
men and women’s fraternities
are scholarship, hazing and wild
parties, the crucial problem is
self-segregation. The general ob
jective of any social fraternity
is to promote the art of effective
living with our brothers, and
provide for the development of
the individual in all his relations
with society. More specifically,
fraternities have such purposes
as to make college life fruitful
and happy, to inspire the mem
bers to attain a place of useful
ness, to be educational and pro
vide for them mutual uplift of
its members. Unfortunately, this
view pictures the social frater
nity as what it can be, namely
a valuable social experience for
young men and women on college
campuses, an approach to the
problem of brotherhood that is
different from classroom experi
ences or other man cirrtcular
campus activities. But the issue
at hand is not what fraternities
can be, but what they usually
are.
Fraternities are, of cource, im
portant in socially rating an
individual. But when fraternity
snobbishness tends to influence
to a significant extent one’s so
cial life, and when jealousy and
rivalry between the fraternities
become major issues, it’s time
to begin some serious thinking,
ter enemies, watching individuals
refuse to wear a particular color
because it represents a certain
fraternity, hearing an individual
reprimanded because he or she
associates with a member of a
fraternity different than the one
he or she is associated with, ob
serving the uniting of fraternities
against other fraternities to in
fluence issues as important as
campus student body elections,
all make one wonder. Has bro
therhood within the fraternity
become so limited in scope as
to make one forget that an even
greater brotherhood can be
achieved between the fraternities
as well as with non-fraternity
members?
Yes, you too, my Spelman
sisters, stop, look around, and
think. Would social fraternities,
sororities, on Spelman campus be
an asset? — Mona Rae Norman
We will love you always
Your little sisters,
The Sophomores
SPOTLIGHT STAFF
Editor-in-Chief Dorothy M. Myers
Associate Editor Georgianne Thomas
Assistant Editors Bronwen Unthank, Wanda Waples
Business Managers Katy Coleman, Gwendolyn lies
News Department — Jean Berrien, Editor, Patricia Smith,
Marie Thomas, Clara Prioleau, La Joyce Henderson,
Anne Carroll, Joyce Irvin
Feature Department — Lucia Holloway, Editor; Betty Lane,
Jessie Stith, Ann Ashmore, LeJune Hickson,
Gwendolyn lies, JoAnne Merry
Fashion Editor — Billie Joyce Mack
Typists — Jean Berrien, Kercenna McChristian, Hazel
Flowers, Sonya Mixon, Patricia Smith, Katy Cole
man, Jean Waymer
Circulation Managers ^ Bronwen Unthank,
Amy Holley
Photographer Camille Smith
Cartoonists Mary Gaither, Joanne G. Merry
Adviser Mrs. Naomi Chivers