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Page 4 Spelman Spotlight During Five Years As President... September 1981 STEWART ADDS DIME< In 1980, Dr. Donald Stewart celebrated his fifth anniversary as Spelman College's president. As the new academic year begins and Dr. Stewart enters his sixth year of presidency, the Spotlight asked that he pause momentarily from his hectic schedule and reflect back upon his ac complishments, concerns, and anticipations for Spelman. Dr. Stewart moved to Atlanta from Philadelphia, where he served on the faculty for six years at the University of Pennsylvania. His positions there were as executive assistant to the president, Professor of the City Planning Department and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Before going to the University of Pennsylvania, he worked for the Ford Foundation for seven years in the Inter national Division, serving in various capacities including Program Director in the Middle East Africa Foundation in Egypt and Tunisia, and before that. Assistant to the Director of the Ford Foundation in Nigeria. He attended Crinnell College in I see Spelman emerging as one of the strongest colleges in America. Spotlight: Referring back to your projected plans for Spelman five years ago, you expressed an interest in advancing Spelman in “international education.” Could you elaborate on that interest? Dr. Stewart: Well, I hope many students will take advantage of the new curricular offers we have ... we have a new inter national affairs minor . . . international speakers' program, increased opportunities for in ternational travels for students.. . We’ve expanded the Merrill Scholarship, for example, to include faculty as well as students. We are trying to find additional monies for inter national travel opportunities, we are hoping to establish relationships with schools overseas, and we’re pushing more and more of our students to take advantage of oppor tunities already existing. I would hope that we would soon have a Crinnell, Iowa where he ma jored in political science and took a bachelor's degree. He went for a master’s at Yale University and did some further doctorate work from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Spotlight: Dr. Stewart, back in 1976 when you were selected as Spelman's President there was of course a lot of turmoil concer ning the issue of whether or not Spelman needed a Black female president. At that time, you explained in an interview with the Spotlight that although Spelman was selecting someone as president who was neither female nor a graduate of a predominantly black institution,that you did not feel a lack of fortification or a lack of experience. You believed you could, “bring to Spelman a set of experiences Spelman could utilize to its own interest as a Black institution . . . and because my past history is so different from at least the current perception of Spelman, I add a dimension”. As you sit here today, Dr. Stewart, five years and many Spelman experiences later, could you expound upon that "dimension" that you spoke of at the onset of your presidency? Dr. Stewart: Let me begin by saying I welcome the opportuni ty to reflect upon the past five years and look backwards and forwards as we think about what has passed and what I hope might be the future as long as I’m at Spelman. I felt in 1976 that I came with the experience of working in a foundation world and felt that would be helpful in trying to raise money for Spelman. Secondly, I came with ex perience in philanthropy and higher education from the Un iversity of Penn, and that ex perience would help the sur rounding students and faculty because my orientation was very much toward scholarship. Hopefully, I could be helpful particularly for Spelman graduates as they thought about what they wanted after graduating from school. Much of my experience has been inter national, and I continue to believe that . . . the future of Spelman students will be caught up with the interdependent parts of this world, that my own sense of a world culture and universal value would be helpful to students as they prepare themselves for their future. Through curricular changes, speakers who you bring to Spelman, etc., you would broaden opportunities for Spelman graduates. That was my orientation and it’s still my orientation. And I find happily that it is shared by many faculty and students and helpful in igniting and kindling an interest. .. I found at Spelman very fertile ground. So, I brought to Spelman, though not a Black woman, but hopefully a strong Black male - a Black male com mitted to the kind of education that Spelman seems to offer and certainly dedicated to serving the Black women of Spelman College. And, I brought fund raising experience, experience in universal research and a set of values. . . Spotlight: That brings me to my next question. Do you foresee a time in the near future when it would be necessary, or shall we say, more feasible for Spelman to have that Black female presi dent? Dr. Stewart: It's coming . . . Spotlight: Do you feel there's a need for that? Dr. Stewart: I think it'll be very good. It’s just a question of time. ... I have an agenda I would like finish at Spelman that’s now in its second phase ... I hope that by attracting strong Black women to Spelman I'll be giving to the college the kind of role model it needs. Rhodes scholar... So what we’re trying to do is just open up a variety of opportunities and just expose the many opportunities for travel where the college doesn't provide them, but which the students can find out about through the college. Spotlight: The new minor sounds excellent. It’s unfor tunate that many of us will not be able to participate before leaving Spelman. Dr. Stewart: It should be a very good one ... In addition, we have now a very special program with the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Dr. Yanuck is heading that program. Again, it adds a dimension. Something else that’s a major breakthrough for Spelman as a Black women's college is our new Women's Resource Center. We’ve been able to establish a Women's Resource Center headed by Mrs. Beverly Sheftall. Here’s another dimension of the college that hopefully will be reinforcing psychologically for Black women . . . which should really make a difference in terms of Spelman’s research agenda and its relationship with other women’scolleges;and help make Spelman a part of the recent networking in American women’s colleges... and I think it will make an impact on curriculum as well. Spotlight: Will the resources be right on Spelman's campus? Ste - i|k:- i ;• ante- fl If lot, : fa' - # cfc fat Sen fa,:.: ven- :bo- #' it Pit-: V3f!. ,L: . ™ ■’ stior : : yot litt.- >oi- certs: t*ti' H it relic.;: i let m nittb L tier,; ■. Set.