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For Those Who Missed It
Stewart’sOpeningConvocationSpeech
President Donald M. Stewart
It is a pleasure to welcome
the Spelman family to the All-
College Convocation as we
open our 1977-78 academic-
year. I have seen from the
program that I am giving an
address entitled “The
Challenge before Us.” I do
want to discuss what I think
are the challenges before us,
but I want to change the
format a bit and make my
remarks relatively brief. Then,
I want to have a group dis
cussion, because I think this is
a time for us within the
Spelman family to he talking
to one another about who we
are and where we are going as
an institution. In part, I am in
fluenced by the title in last
year’s yearbook, Reflections,
which developed the theme “A
Search for Identity.” I think
this year in the College, we will
be asking about a number of
things that will help us in the.
questioning that we are
currently undergoing in the
search for our “identity.”
I am looking forward to this
year. It should be an exciting
one. We are filled to the rafters.
We have approximately 1300
students. About 400 new
students are entering this year
either as freshmen or readmits
or transfer students. I am
particularly pleased to
welcome our Centennial Class,
which we have been talking
about a great deal. It is a very
interesting class - - one that is
very diverse geographically
and in terms of interests. Half
of the students are from the
South. A good number is from
the northeast, and the rest
come from across the United
States. The largest number of
this entering class seems to be
determined to go into the
natural sciences, with the
social sciences running a good
second. I had planned to say a
bit more about the class, but
perhaps we should get into the
points that I would hope we
Continued on page 7
SPELMAN
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THE VOICE
OF BLACK WOMANHOOD
SPO TLIGHT
Yol. 31 No. 2
Atlanta, Georgia
October 1977
Ms. Iris Little, A Song For You
By Robyn Mahone
On October 21, 1977, when
Ms. Iris Little is crowned Ms.
Maroon and White 1977-1978,
a song, written and produced
especially for Ms. Little, will be
heard. This is the Spelman
woman that the Morehouse
men stood up for when she
walked into the room where
contestants for the title of Ms.
Maroon and White were
gathered.
“I’ve met a lot of good people
through Morehouse,” Ms. Lit
tle said, “My first contact with
Morehouse was through the
glee club back in 1972. They
sang in Harrisburg, Pa. They
were a very impressive group.”
Ms. Little is a junior and a
drama major here at Spelman.
Her hometown is Harrisburg,
Pa. and it is also the home of
her parents, Dr. and Mrs.
George Little. She is the third
of three children and was born
the only girl-child.
“We have a tight family,”
Ms. Little said describing her
family’s relationship. “We are
very close. I think that being
the only girl makes it easy for
me to communicate with men
and is probably why I get
along with the brothers at
Morehouse.”
Ms. Little appears to be a
very direct person. As she sat
in the yearbook office where
she had
been visiting her friend La
Gretta Stebbins, a sense of
down to earthiness was
emitted by this student, this
queen designate.
Her hair was a bit mussed, it
has been a long school day.
She took out a cigarette, lit it,
and inspected her nails. She
was Ms. Kappa Alpha Psi last
year.
“My experience with the
brothers of Kappa was very
rewarding. The goal of Kappa
is achievement and this goal
has been achieved in a lot of
my goals.”
Ms. Little rushes on to say,
“My relationship (with
Morehouse men) is not one
that is flighty and loose, noth
ing that I’d be ashamed of. It’s
not about dating Jo Blow this
week and so and so next week,
it’s not about that,” she said.
She says, “Being Ms.
Maroon and White means that
I have the respect of the entire
student body and that my
personality reflects the quality
of the men at Morehouse.”
When asked why, of all the
other Spelman women, she
was chosen to be Ms. Marron
and White Ms. Little replied, “I
could answer that in two ways.
Number one, I have the respect
of a lot of the men at
Morehouse. Number two, not
only did I have the support, but
I wanted to win, I wanted to
run. I think that those two
forces, together, made it
inevitable.”
Queen designate—Ms. Iris Little
(Photo by Terrance V. Smith)
Ms. Little is fair skinned.
Her complexion is what some
folks call “high yallar.” Her
hair is what some folks call
that “good” hair. She is very
attractive in her own right.
Very human. A small pimple
on her chin makes her even
more so.
She advises Ms. Maroon and
Whites of the future, “don’t trip
on your looks, your God given
shade of blackness or the
grade of your hair, be
yourself.”
She said that lightness of
skin and grade of hair was a
big deal when the nominations
were announced. Some folks
even chided her because she
cut her hair.
“In my heart I don’t believe
that’s why I was nominated.
It’s a sad stereo-type. I Believe
and hope that we’re all grow
ing out of that,” she said. She
added assuredly, “I never
apologize for the way I look
because there is a lot more to
me than meets the eye.”
There is certainly more to
Ms. Little than meets the eye.
Many of you may remember
her for her role of Dolly in the
play “Hello Dolly” performed
by the Morehouse-Spelman
players. She was highly ac
claimed by many. Or perhaps
you may remember her in the
role of the mother-in-law in the
Spanish classic “Blood Wed
ding,” performed by the
Proposition Theater. Or
“Ophreus Decending” in
which she played the role of
Sister Temple. The memory of
that role causes Ms. Little to
laugh.
“She (Sister Temple) was an
old woman. It was the first
speaking part I had at
Spelman. I laugh because she
was such a wild character. She
was a nosey old lady. I laugh
because she was such a con
trast to myself.”
Ms. Little is very excited
about her upcoming role in the
play “Seagull” which will be
performed by the Proposition
Theater. She sees the role as a
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