Newspaper Page Text
Page 2
THE SPELMAN SPOTLIGHT
May, 1967
The Spelman Spotlight
Published monthly
by the students of Spelman College
Melody McDowell, Guest Editor
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 Holoway, Ruth Baety, Alice Graham, Eileen
Williams, Frances Burnette, Cynthia Knight, LaNelle Daughtry,
Johnetta Cross
News Editors: 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 read
ing 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.
WHAT GRADUATION MEANS
Settlors at last at old Spelman College
Seniors at last with a bit of knowledge
The first two lines of our senior class song express the
joy and relief which every senior woman experiences as she
nears the end of her college career. We have faced many
difficulties: classes, instructors, grades, study, rules, head
residents, deans, presidents, sex, men, and dates. Gratefully,
the senior class will breathe a sigh of relief as we say goodbye
and close the chapter in our lives.
Spelman was study; the world is the test.
Many of us are afraid and apprehensive as we try to de
cide upon the course our future will take. We have gotten
the degree. What will we do with it? Will there be more edu
cation to prepare for that career? Or will we plunge into
the working world. No doubt marriage is the next major step
for many of us. No matter what the plans of the class of
1967, Graduation signals the end of an era and the begin
ning of a new one. Ready or not we will be ammeised into the
complexities and intelligibilities of life. How many of us are
prepared for the best of life? How many of us are ready to
withstand its cruelties and discover its beauty? As college
graduates, there are numerous demands and obligations heap
ed upon us. Dr. Howard Thurman challenged the Spelman
and Morehouse juniors and seniors to help create a brave
new world for our children. Dean Chivers, in a talk to the
Spelman seniors, could only promise us chaos in our life after
Spelman. Betty Stevens spokq of the responsibilities of the
Black “educated” to our Black brothers and sisters. One of
our classmates, (Sylvia Cordy), most emphatically told us what
Goethe meant when he said life was for the living.
In responding to these ideas one can begin to understand
what graduation means. Life is not a card game. Life does
not conform to rules and regulations. The world has many
people in it who may not love us or like us. Ugliness and
beauty pervade in all areas of life. Graduation begins the
confrontation with this world and with life.
Through our personal response to this confrontation each
of us will define graduation. In varying degrees, some of my
classmates will ostrich out, burying themselves in the ex
ternals of life, partying, marrying, growing babies, and dying.
These will miss living altogether and consequently life, nor
graduation, will have a meaning. Others in another form
ostriching will inflict no good or harm upon society. These
will just exist and die. As in all generations, there will be those
who will respond creatively to the confrontation with life.
COMMENCEMENT CALENDAR
May 1967
Saturday, May 13, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 21, 10:00 a.m.
Thursday, May 25 1:00 p.m.
Friday, May 26, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, May 26, 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 27, 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 28, 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 28, 4:30 p.m.
Monday, May 29, 10:30 a.m.
Junior Senior Prom
Senior Brunch
Senion Luncheon
Reunion Class of ’57 in
charge of Chapel Service.
Alumnae Dinner
Class Day
Atlanta .University-S p e 1-
man-Morehouse Bacca-
laurreate
President’s reception to
seniors, faculty, friends,
and parents
Sjelman Commencement
The Year That Was
This school year, for better or for worse, has ended and
what’s done, good or bad, is done. At the end of every school
year it’s good to take stock of the year’s happenings and de
termine their value and whether they ought to be done again.
In most respects this was a good year for Spelman College.
We had an extremely capable and diligent student body
president who ought to receive a dozen long stemmed roses
form every Spelman student. Miss Barbara Pyatt brought imag
ination, integrity, and a concern for the welfare of the Spelman
family to her office. She was candid and honest in her dealings
with administration and student body. Her social chairman,
Madelyn Nix, also worked diligently to provide exciting and
different week-end entertainment for the Spelman campus.
Our clubs were reactivated this year. The Social Science
Club provided some of the most stimulating discussions heard
on this campus for many years. They tried to break the isolation
experienced by many college students and titillate our minds
with new and different ideas.
This was the year of Black Power and Stokely Carmichael;
of Centennial Celebrations; of Howard Thurman and Mar
garet Walker and George Romney.
Betty Stevens Walker spoke in Vespers. We gave her a
standing ovation. We might not have agreed with everything
she said but she had the courage to state her opinions about
the role of black women in the black community with convic
tion and dignity. We saw what a Spelman woman can become
—• an individual who has faith in her convictions, who has a
clear goal towards which she is working, who must give expres
sion to the best that is within her. We wondered how many
such women graduate from Spelman and whether we will ever
be such women.
This was the year of the block boys and the barricades, of
the diaper dance for babies in Viet Nam, of Focus Magazine.
This was the year Miss Maroon and White got crowned with
a pillow but laughed about it. This was the year when people
lived in basements, in study rooms, and laundry rooms. Better
luck next year, kids. This was the year when Spelman College
gave a fabulous formal spring dance. Twenty-five people came.
All things considei%d the year could have been worse.
Good luck on next year!!!
The Year 1967-68 in Retrospect
The Year To Become Aware
The academic year, 1967-68, launched a new program of
thought for the Spelman women. She began asking questions
and refusing to accept traditional answers; she began looking
at the color of her skin and refusing to acknowledge the fact
that this darker complexion was a barrier to progress; she be
gan looking at her body and questioning others with her prob
lems concerning sex; she began to read the disastrous news
about the effects of the war and, consequently, she became
interested in the war in Viet Nam.
The lecture of Dr. Nichols on Morehouse’s campus,
sparked the fire for the subsequent lectures on sex. For over
a month, sex was discussed and pondered through lectures
on either campus. Craig Finley momentarily upset the Spel
man population with his article which seemed to degrade the
Spelman woman. Juniors became more resentful about the
Junior physical exams.
The Negro movement was also felt on the Spelman col
lege campus. Stokely Carmichael’s lecture was well-attended.
“We” began to acquire a “black conscious” in all aspects of
our life. When Thompson Boland Lee shoe stores declared
that theye were not interested in hiring Negroes, Spelman
women and Morehouse men retaliated and formed a Try-In
— eventually forcing the stores to close for the day. When
Ellis Arnold was being opposed by Lester Maddox, known
racist, in the Democratic primaries, we responded — and
when this response failed, Mrs. Moreland sponsored, at Spel
man, a Write-In for Ellis Arnall. “We” felt that we could
not vote for either Lester Maddox or “Bo” Callaway.
When our Morehouse brothers formed a Conscientious
Objector Movement instead of going to Viet Nam, Spelman
responded with a petition which was signed by a vast majority
of the Spelman women. We were concerned and we were
aware.
Yes, the academic year 1967-68 shall be remembered
always; but mostly because this year represented the match
which would spark off the action which will be followed in
future years.
Laura Burton
Statement From
The President
A doubt has been expressed
as to whether Spelman girls
are concerned about anything
worthwhile. As we prepare
to move ahead into the 1967-
68 school year, let us do so
with a revitalized sense of
concern and interest. Let’s re
move this doubt so that it
may become known that we
aren’t apathetic as we often
appear to be. It’s time for us
to become active, for we’ve
been passive too long. Become
interested in the happenings
around you, take a stand and
voice your opinions. Don’t be
afraid of becoming involved.
Just remember to be open and
receptive to others and their
opinions.
Spelman Sister, as your
newly elected President for
1967-68, I hope that I will
have your total support in my
effort to provide qualitative
leadership for you. Let’s all
work together to make next
year the best yet.
Laura J. Burton
TRY-IN TRIED
On May 5, students from
Spelman and Morehouse ven
tured to the Thompson-Bo-
land Lee shoe stores in West
End and on Peachtree Street
to commence a try-in. The
complaint arose from the
statement by an employer at
Thompson-Boland Lee that
they would never have a
Negro fitting shoes for a white
person.
That day, two busloads of
students went to these stores
and tried on shoes all day.
Instead of buying shoes, how
ever, they continually haras
sed (psychologically) the em
ployees by continually trying
on shoes and refusing to buy
them.
Dwight Jackson, represent
ative of the Southern Chris-
tion Leadership Conference,
was the leader in this move
ment. So successful was the
May 5 Try-In that the stores
were forced to close six hours
before scheduled closing time.
As an advocator of this
movement, I beg that every
one will show that he/she has
a black conscience and par
ticipate in the Try-In.