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VOL. XXXIII, NO. 6
Dr. Donald M. Stewart
Spelman's President Elected To
ACE's Board of Directors
Donald M. Stewart, president
of Spelman College, was elected
to serve on the board of directors
of the American Council on
Education (ACE). The Council is
based in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Stewart, formerly a
program officer of the Ford
Foundation specializing in
Africa, has been president of
Spelman since 1976.
J. W. Peltason, ACE’s
president, announced Dr.
Stewart’s election, by saying, “I
am delighted that a man of Dr.
Stewart’s ability and expertise
will give our board and officers
the benefit of his advise and
counsel as we move into the
1980’s. The problems faced by
higher education are immense
and will require creative
solutions. Dr. Stewart will help us
find those solutions.”
The American Council on
Education, comprising more than
1,600 higher education in
stitutions and national and
regional education associations,
is the nation’s principal, in
dependent nonprofit coor
dinating body for postsecondary
education. The Council serves
higher education administrators,
students, and faculty members by
providing national leadership for
strengthening educational stan
dards, policies, and programs.
Spelman Students March In Greensboro
By Melony Matthews
Over 7,000 protesters partici
pated in the February 2, 1980
Greensboro Anti-Klan Rally, in
Greensboro, North Carolina.
There was a representation of
more than 50 colleges, including
students from the Atlanta Uni
versity Center, and 400 different
organizations. The Atlanta
Chapter of the February 2nd
Mobilization Committee and the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference sponsored buses for
200 Atlanta citizens to attend
the rally.
The purpose of the march was
to peacefully counter-act Klan
harassment. Many of the dem
onstrators brought that spirit of
a nonviolence protest, but
others, in the case of the Com
munist Workers Party (CWP),
marched to avenge the murder
of the five CWP comrades on
November 3,1979.
The march commenced Sat
urday 12:00 p.m. at the World
War Memorial Stadium, ending
at 3:00 pm with the rally in the
See GREENSBORO p. 7
Atlanta, Georgia
February 25,1980
A First At Spelman
Black Woman Heads Board
Atlanta, Ga. -- January 17,
1980 -- Making another first,
Marian Wright Edelman is the
first black woman to Chair the
Board of Trustees of Spelman
College, Atlanta, Georgia. Mrs.
Edelman, 40, an attorney and
director of the Children’s De
fense Fund, a child advocacy
group based in Washington,
D.C., has a history of firsts.
In 1960, she graduated first in
her class from Spelman having
been a Merrill Scholar for a
year’s study at the University of
Paris and Geneva, Switzerland,
during her junior year. A
graduate of the Yale Law School
(Ll.B. 1963), where she had a
John Hay Whitney Fellowship, at
26, she was the first and only
black woman ever to pass the
Mississippi State Bar Exam and
to be elected to the Yale Univer
sity Corporation She was one of
the First Crusaders when she
headed the NAACP’s Legal
Defense Team in Mississippi. A
native of Bennetsville, South
Carolina, Mrs. Edelman decided
to go to Mississippi in 1963 after
graduating from Spelman and
Yale for the simple reason
“There were nine hundred
thousand blacks there and three
black lawyers.”
In 1968, she joined the Poor
People’s Campaign in
Washington and later began the
Washington Research Project, a
public-interest law firm. Former
director of the Center for Law
and Education at Harvard
University, Mrs.Edelman foun
ded the non-profit CDF out of the
Washington Research Project as
a way of providing systematic and
long-range advocacy for
children.
Mrs.Edelman is married to
Peter Benjamin Edelman, an at
torney with Foley, Lardner,
Hollabaugh, and J acobs. The
Edelman’s have three
sons—J oshua, J onah, and Ezra.
In addition to Spelman’s board
membership where she has ser
ved since 1972, Mrs. Edelman is a
member of The Board of
See BOARD p. 7
Michelle Wallace Visits Spelman
By Angela Cumberlander
The audience, male and female
anxiously awaited the approach
of Michelle Wallace to the
podium at Sister’s Chapel. Was
this anxiety caused by the con
troversies of her book, Black
Macho and the Myth of the Super
Woman? Perhaps many expected
to hear heated debates on some
of the issues covered in the
book. Many seemed to be waiting
for a forceful feministic speech.
What was received, however,
was a mild toned, informative
explanation concerning the birth
of Black Macho and the Myth
of Superwoman.
Ms. Wallace’s mannerisms pro
jected an ‘Tm tired of defending
my book” image. Her book
contains this quote, “I am saying
...there is profound distrust, if
not hatred, between black men
and black women that has been
nursed along largely by white
racism but also by an almost
deliberate ignorance on the part
of blacks about the sexual poli
tics of their experience in this
country.” She stated that she was
not complaining about the criti
cism of her book, just ex
plaining. She said she knew
when she began that her book
would not be complete, but some
one had to start somewhere.
Among her explanations were
her reasons for writing the book.
A primary reason was the
fact that most Black people
don’t realize that sexism is
indeed a major problem. Ms.
Wallace expressed the impor
tance of recognizing that a prob
lem exists so that it can be
conquered.
The majority of Michelle Wal
lace’s presentation consisted
of excerpts from her book. She
did not relate on a personal level
until afterwards when she was
questioned by inquisitive stu
dents:
Student: The problem that
exists between us (male and
female) is a result of sexism and
facism; what is the solution?
Ms. Wallace: Strong self-
image, a strong sense of culture
and one’s role will help to pre
pare us to deal with this oppres
sion; but not exactly cure it.
Student: You said that the
reception of the book disrupted
your life. Will you elaborate?
Ms. Wallace: 1) Complete
ly disrupted my life maybe be
cause it was unstable in the first
place.
2) I lost most of my friends;
I no longer associate with the
same people, or live in the same
place. My friends, especially
female, felt that the only
way they could be my friends
would be that they had to agree
with me. All of these things have
been forced upon me.
3) The book has invaded my
life—I cannot be a closet femi
nist anymore.
4) My whole life has been
publicized, (she implied that it
still is.)
Student: Has the white media
used what you’ve done to further
See WALLACE p. 7
Michelle Wallace
