Newspaper Page Text
November 15, 1963
THE SPELMAN SPOTLIGHT
Page 3
1963 SPELMAN CROSSROADERS FIND
AFRICA A LAND OF UNUSUAL POTENTIAL
AND EXCITEMENT
Joyce helps build a library in Bechuanaland
Lucia with Crossroads Group in Dakar
STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS
The SSGA meeting held Monday, October 28, in Sisters
Chapel was a meeting reflecting hard work, intelligence, con
centrated efforts, and organization. The meeting was called to
order by Miss Aurelia Brazeal, Vice-President of the Student
Council. She presented all of the Council members to the stu
dent body.
Experiment In International Living
During the summer of 1963, two 1963 Spelman graduates,
Cecile Ganpatsingh and Tommie Hughes, participated in a pro
gram entitled, “The Experiment in International Living”. Their
destinations were Iran and France respectively.
Miss Betty Stevens, President of
the Council, followed Miss Brazeal
with the presentation of the plans for
the year. These plans included the
establishment of an Honor System,
and a tutorial society. Chairmen of
various committees were named fol
lowed by a discussion of the work of
the committees.
The Morehouse-Spelman Confab, an
organization of student leaders from
Morehouse and Spelman Colleges was
of special interest to the students.
Miss Stevens read a letter which had
been sent to Birmingham (accom
panied by a $300.00 check to help
reconstruct the bombed church). This
effort was a result of the work of
the Confab. This group plans to spon
sor a jazz artist this year. It is indeed
great to see the two schools coor
dinating and executing worthwhile
plans.
JoAnn Whatley, President of the
Sophomore Class and representative
to the Council followed Betty’s pre
sentation with a discussion of the
service projects being sponsored this
year by the Council. Josephine Dun
bar presented the budget for the
school year, and it was approved by
the body.
The Council members wore black
robes which added dignity to the
meeting. It seems that our Student
Council is off to a good start—an im
pressive meeting, impressive plans,
and leaders who have a sense of di
rection.
This past summer seven members
of the Spelman College family spent
ten memorable weeks in Africa with
the Operation Crossroads Africa Pro
gram. Assigned to countries in East
and West Africa, they worked with
African and American students on
projects designed to better Afro-
American relations, as well as to
make a useful contribution to the
community.
Our college minister, Bev. Norman
Rates, was the leader of a group
of Crossroaders in Oldonyo Sambu,
Tanganyika. There they built an as
sembly hall at a Masai Christian
Leadership Center. The group work
ed with secondary school students
of the area and was able to finish
the project, then travel in four coun
tries of the East African Federation-
Tanganyika, Uganda, Kenya, and
Zanzibar. Some of the group attempt
ed to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, but Rev.
Rates decided to save this until next
time.
Joyce White, a senior this year,
was a member of the group assigned
to Bechuanaland, just north of the
Republic of South Africa. This group
also worked with secondary school
students to build a library. Joyce
noticed that she was quite often
exposed to questions on the race issue
which showed South African influ
ence. She was able to see some parts
of neighboring countries during the
travels of the group.
Sadye Beasley, also a senior this
year, spent her summer in Ethiopia
in the small town of Debre Deit. The
town, populated by the Ethiopian
Air Force, was thirty miles south of
Addis Ababa and overlooked Lake
Bishouftu. Sadye’s group built a
SSGA PRESIDENT
(Continued from page 2)
fortable, cushioned, and protected.
That which is ugly, raw, depressing
is not in our area of cognition. We
are not exposed to the plight of the
starved, the diseased, the filthy, the
criminal. Yet these constitute com
ponents of the real world.
The goal of education should be to
teach people to think. This idea has
been expressed through the ages by
many great people, and I doubt if
anyone can substitute a nobler aim.
So what do we think about? Every
thing—the good, the true, the beauti
ful, the bad, the false, the ugly. It
is while thinking about everything
that we find the answer to some
thing. And if lucky, we find the key
to a meaningful life.
I doubt very seriously if one finds
the essence of life in a bridge game
or while planning a tea party. These
things are important yet they must
not delude us into thinking that they
are requisites for living. That which
is most important is to be sensitive to
“The Experiment in International
Living” is a private, non-profit or
ganization based on the proposition
that significant advances toward world
peace can be made at the individual
level, by introducing the people of
one country to the people of another
country through the basic social struc
ture of the family. In order to attain
this degree of familiarity, the experi
menter spends one month living as
a member of a foreign family.
Among the qualifications for this
program, emphasis is placed upon
the background material and personal
references each applicant is required
to submit. From these, the Admis
sions Committee determines, so far
as is possible, whether an applicant
has a genuine interest in people,
whether he can adapt gracefully to
a variety of situations—including those
which may be physically or psy
chologically uncomfortable, whether
he can make the home-stay experience
as satisfying for his host as for him
self, and whether he has a sincere de-
three-room community center and did
their traveling within the country.
Eloise Stevens was a member of
the Crossroads group in Somalia and
was among the first American women
to go to this country with Crossroads.
The project was in Mogadiscio, Soma
lia, a Moslem territory and Eloise
found the completely different way
of life quite interesting. The group
catalogued books in a Police Library
and helped in the construction of a
residence hall for police women. The
group traveled within the country
and in Kenya, Zanzibar, and Tan
ganyika.
Barbara Douglas was assigned to
(Continued on page 4)
our fellowman’s needs and to render
service.
If matriculation in college equips
us only for membership in the elite
group, then something is wrong. If
matriculation in college deludes us
into believing that we have a legiti
mate right to “snob” our less fortunate
brothers and sisters, then something
is wrong. If matriculation in college
helps us abstract ourselves from the
struggles, then something is wrong.
If college helps us to lose the com
mon touch, then eventually the world
will be cluttered with a group of peo
ple who know all of the right things
to do, and to say—yet these “intel
lectual snobs” have no one with whom
to communicate. They do not speak
the language of the real world.
So let us fight to keep our feet on
the ground, our noses out of the air,
and our hearts saturated with humili
ty. Let us seek truth (Let us not pre
fer the comforts of illusion.) and a
useful place in this society that is now
rapidly being transformed. It is truly
an exciting time to be alive, if we are
involved with life.
Betty Stevens
sire to contribute personally to inter
national friendship and understanding.
Therefore, any applicant should be
one who shows evidence of initiative
and curiosity as well as of leadership
in extracurricular activities, who dem
onstrates a faculty for getting along
well with others, and who has achiev
ed a satisfactory academic record.
If anyone is interested in participat
ing in this program, please contact
Mrs. Jane Moore, Placement Office,
Rockefeller Hall. She will provide
additional information concerning this
program and the application pro
cedure.
WE ARE AS ONE
The Spelman College Student Body,
in reality, consists of two major types
of students—the commuters, common
ly called the Day Students, and the
boarders, commonly called the campus
students. Although neither of the two
types desires it, there seems to be a
a clear line of demarcation, or a dis
tinct separation between the campus
and city students. There are many
reasons for this, all of which can be
alleviated and which must be allevi
ated if there is to be an ever-present
atmosphere of love and sisterhood
on the campus. For we, as sisters, are
connected by the common bond of
interest, love, and by mutual goals
that make any group of people one.
Why are we so distant? What makes
the separation so distinct? Boarding
students, don’t blame your city sisters.
City students, don’t blame your cam
pus sisters; the fault is one for which
we are both responsible. Yes, city stu
dents, you do live in the city, and
because of this there is the problem
of really getting to know the campus
students. However, what about that
break between classes? Why not uti
lize this time through the week to
visit your sisters in the dormitories?
But, fellow-sisters in the dormitories,
do you invite and make your city-
sister welcome, or do you create
an atmosphere of hostility when she
enters your room, by greeting her and
introducing her to your roommate as
“Oh roommate, this is Sally Day-
Student; she lives in the city? This
type of statement automatically gives
the city-student the feeling of an in
truder or an outsider. City students,
do you ever invite your campus sis
ters to the lounge for a card game?
No, because you know you can hard
ly wade through the garbage to find
a seat for yourself. City students, do
you ever visit the college dining hall?
This would be an excellent oppor
tunity to get to know the campus
students. One of your major faults,
city students, is the fact that you
never take advantage of the cultural
activities that the college offers. You
must begin to participate, to become
active in the life of the college, for
you are certainly an integral part of it.
You must remove from yourselves the
casual, carefree attitude you have tow
ard the activities of the college. You
must attend meetings, read bulletin
boards, and realize that your talents
and abilities are vitally important.
However, before you attend other
meetings, please support your campus
organization, the Day Students’ Or
ganization. It cannot function without
you. Campus students, become in
terested in the welfare of your city-
sisters; include them in your plans
and activities, for they want to be
long, to become a part of the majes
tic pattern of the whole.
Within the very near future, we
should be able to say that there is no
distinct separation between the city
and campus students, but this achieve
ment will depend largely upon the
projectivity of the city students. Pro
ject yourselves, demand your place
in the life of the college, through ac
tive participation and sincere interest.
Vividly demonstrate the love that you
have for your campus sisters. Campus
sisters, accept that love, and return
it in equal measures. The Spelman
College student body must be a fami
ly of sincere and profound “together
ness”, for we are as one.
Judy Tillman
WATCH THIS SPOT
FOR EXCITING
STORY
NEXT ISSUE
Sadye and Kitchen Crew in Ethiopia