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Page 2 THE SPELMAN SPOTLIGHT April, 1967 The Spelman Spotlight Published monthly by the students of Spelman College Cynthia Smith, Henrietta Turnquest, Guest Editors Anna B. Porter, Editor-in-Chief Andrea Williams, Associate Editor Henrietta Turnquest, Business Manager Melody McDowell, Yvette Savwoir, Feature Editors Cynthia Smith, Literary Editor Margaret Mills, Cartoonist Joyce Akridge, Berdie Ricks, Photographers Layout Staff: Yvonne Jackson, Marjorie Rich, Eileen Bass, Joyce Young Advertising Staff: Eileen Bass, Luella Nichols, Phyllis Johnson Poet-in-Residence: Joan Gaillard Contributors: Marilyn Hunt, Janice Holloway, Ruth Baety, Jane Smith, Lillie K. Walker, Alice Graham News Editor: Chris Singleton Dr. Richard Carroll, Faculty Advisor EDITORIAL POLICY The Spelman Spotlight is published monthly by students of Spelman College. We welcome articles and letters to the editor from our entire reading public. These letters and articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Spotlight Staff or the majority of Spelman students. We also welcome advertisements, but do not necessarily support the views of our advertisers. Monthly deadlines will be posted. Reflections on Founders’ Day Spelman’s 86th anniversary was commemorated on April 11, 1967. What did this mean to the seniors, who for the first time, donned their caps and gowns symbolizing the culmina tion of four years of hard work and/or getting by? As I sat in Sisters Chapel with my fellow classmates, I asked myself what Founders’ Day meant to me after four years at Spelman. I thought about the instructors who supported me in say ing that Founders’ Day was a waste of time or that it was another useless tradition imposed on the new Spelman woman by the college administration. Is Founders’ Day really an empty meaningless tradition? In order to place the present in the proper perspective isn’t it necessary to appreciate the forces that have lead an institution to its present situation? I don’t know if Miss Packard and Miss Giles founded Spelman Seminary out of purely Christian motives or out of an attempt to alleviate their guilt. Nevertheless, Spelman was founded. The Rockefellers may well have used money made with the labor of our black brothers to endow Spelman College. I regret the injustices my people suffered so that this college might be financed. Spelman may have graduated “freaks,” but Spelman has also graduated many outstanding women. Founders’ Day is a commemoration of Spelman’s develop ment. It challenges, not only the faculty and administration, but each student to make Spelman College a good black col lege which encourages black women to take part in and help create a brave new world. Founders’ Day, in a sense, should bridge the gap between Spelman’s past and its future. by Alice Graham Eighty-Six Years— HOW MANY MORE? The predominately Negro college has recently been buf feted about in conversation and thoroughly criticized in so ciological studies. Some view these institutions as fossils left from a bygone era when Negroes just couldn’t do any better. Others (Reisman and Jencks, Harvard Educational Review) have called them an “academic disaster area.” If we believe the studies, the Negro college is certainly doomed and either must change into something unrecognizable or close its doors. Spelman College has survived eighty-six years in the midst of war and social upheaval. Can we exist for eighty-six more? Despite the cries of the prophets of doom, there is a need for small colleges such as Spelman, Morehouse, Clark, and Morris Brown. All students cannot enroll in the huge state and pri vately endowed universities. These students, whatever their color, must look to the small college for their education. There are several things, however, that the smaller colleges in general and Spelman in particular must do to stay alive. These colleges must realize that as they improve their physical surroundings, the excellence of the faculty and students who work in those buildings is what matters. The small college has more of an opportunity to devote attention to its gifted stu dents. There can be high potential-low achievers in college as well as secondary school. These students should not be neg lected. There should be a kind of cohesiveness between adminis tration, faculty, and student body in the small college. All must work together to achieve a measure of excellence. Keepers of Tradition? On April 2, Atlanta University opened its 26th Annual Exhibition of painting, sculpture and prints by Negro artists. Congratulations are certainly in order for those Spelman stu dents whose work was accepted in the show. The Annual Exhibition was originally started as a national Negro art competition, and the most outstanding Negro artists from all over the country sent their work to be a part of this competition. In recent years, however, there has been growing concern about the prestige of the art show. Because of the tradition behind it, Atlanta University’s Annual Exhibition ought to be one of the most outstanding competitions in the art world. There are several factors, however, which have had the effect of limiting its influence. First of all the competition prizes are not very large, and the University employs a policy whereby all of the prize-win ning work in the various categories become the property of Atlanta University’s art collection. This would be a wonderful thing if the gallery had a wider outreach and drew more art admirers, but located as it is in the basement of Trevor Arnett library it draws few people, and many students are not even aware of its existence. Another factor is that the judges of the competition are usually regional judges who are conditioned perhaps by certain ideas of what Negro art ought to be. In recent years there has never been a Negro involved in the judging, and certainly there are qualified Negro art experts who would be equally able to judge the quality of the work submitted. Because the outreach of the show is limited and because of the lack of an integrated panel of judges who have national rather than regional points of view and also because of the purchase prize policy, many of the more outstanding Negro artists do not send their work to the Annual Exhibition be cause they prefer the larger prizes and larger critical audience they can get in other places. It is regrettable that our students do not get to see in this show the work of such prominent artists as Hale Woodruff or the work of some of the prominent younger artists and sculptors like Norman Lewis, Jacob Law rence, Richard Dempsey, John Rhoden, Geraldine McCul lough, and Richard Hunt. There was a time when the Annual Exhibition was the only outlet for Negroes’ artistic talent and the University is to be praised for its encouragement of Negro art during those crucial years. Today, however, Negro artists are no longer limited in this way and many opportunities are now open for them to move into areas that were formerly closed to them. Since Negro artists have these opportunities there are those who would argue that the Exhibition should not remain a Negro exhibition and that the University should not worry about maintaining its prestige among Negro artists. For every race, however, there ought to be some institutions that will serve as keepers of tradition, as keepers of the cultural heritage of that race. The Atlanta University art collection ought to be one of the best known collections of the best of Negro art not only of the past but also of the present, and the Annual Ex hibition ought to be a gathering place for the work of the top- ranking Negro artists in the country. More publicity ought to be given to the art collection so that it might be one of the main attractions in the center. If a revision in policy would secure these ends, such a revision is well worth making. —Cynthia Smith CONGRA TULA T/ONS To The Teachers of the Year DR. GRACE SMITH Acting Chairman, Music Dept. DR. VINCENT HARDING Chairman, History Dept. Letter to The Editor Dear Editor: Upon contemplating the na ture of the average Spelman woman, I became disquieted by the lack of individuality, for it seems to me that certain faults we Spelman women have stem from an acute case of “Follow the Leader.” We cannot venture above the norm of pierced ears, perma nents, tent dresses, and Kool cigarettes. Nothing’s more im portant than the trivialities of Seventeen, Gordon Road and U.P.A. parties . . . except maybe outsmarting teachers and parents. Why is bid whist a pastime and giggling a habit? Why is marriage a goal and a ring cast aside each weekend? What is of value? . . . What everybody else does? The Spelman woman and every other woman is falling from her pedestal and wad dling in the dirt. We have no individual sense of values, no individual goals, no personal ideals. We have brains that we can’t see through our make-up . . . our vanity . . . our pride, or lack of real pride. We have more apathy and superficiality than we have individuality and yet women everywhere pattern after us. Yes, we are apathet ic. We don’t really care about morals, humanity, war, death, or God. Yes, we are super ficial. Take away our fine clothes, good looks, and pres tige and we are nothing, ex cept potential going to waste. Good minds are rusting away. We don’t use our heads; we act on impulse and think with our hearts. So what, the More house men still love us . . . don't they? We at Spelman must set a new pace for ourselves and other women. We must get out of the age old rat race to the top of the social ladder, get out of the bag of apathy, get from behind the “Max Factor” and show our beautiful minds, and get out of the group to save our individuality. Our poise, charm, and beauty are not enough . . . they are some what superficial anyway! What you see in the mirror is not really you, but what others see — unless you can show the world that there’s more to you than “Ambush” and short dresses; than super ficial thinking, superficial charm, and superficial love. Let it be known that you are a unique, progressive, clear- thinking INDIVIDUAL. DO YOU REALLY, REALLY KNOW YOURSELF? WILL YOU EVER REALLY CARE? —Marilyn Hunt