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Spelman Spotlight
September 1981
Miss Black America of Atlanta
Page 10
She Walks In Beauty
Past Spelman Grads...
by Kimberly Harding
Reporter
How does one define a queen?
According to the city of Atlanta,
a queen is Arienne Battiste. She is
the reigning Miss Black America
of Atlanta. Being an attractive
woman, Arienne’s lightly
applied make-up establishes a
look of radiance upon her
golden brown complexion and
the soft, curly appearance of her
long, dark hair is a vision in itself.
As beautiful a person inside as
she is outside, Arienne was a bit
nervous for her first interview,
but a warm and friendly quality
radiated from her voice
nevertheless.
As a nineteen year old drama
major; Miss Battiste describes
herself as having two different
personalities. “One is having fun
or being assertive and the other
is the stay home and do quiet
things type of person,” she said.
Born in Germany, Arienne has
established ten years residency
in Atlanta with her mother and
father, Mr. and Mrs. Alfonzo
Battiste. The youngest of four
children this young lady feels
that her family has been her
moral support and motivation
throughout her experiences. “I
found that if you don’t have your
family in this world you are kind
of lost unless you have a whole
lot of inner strength ... a whole
lot."
When asked about the
pronunciation of her “very
French name” (pronounced ARI
- YEN BAT - TIST) she replied, “I
have heard so many versions of
my name, I asked, ‘Mom why did
you give me such a hard name? I
wish I could have been named
Jane or something like that.’”
Entering Spelman as a musical
theatre minor, this aspiring
entertainer has not ventured
onto Spelman's stage. However,
she plans to do so during this
season. Thus far, the extent of
her drama career has been
attending a drama workshop at
Boston University the summer
before her Freshman year.
Life upon the stage for
Arienne is most comfortably
spent working with monologues,
comedy, or Shakespeare, but
when the curtain is down you
will find her taking care of her
horse, playing the piano, writing
poetry, reading, or "doing a lot
of homework.”
The Miss Black America of
Atlanta Pageant, directed by Pat
Upshaw, was held May 17th at
Symphony Hall. The pageant was
sponsored by the Miss Black
America franchise, which means
that the winner of the local
pageant went on to compete for
Miss Black America.
Mr. Peabo Bryson entertained
the, twenty contestants ranging
from the ages of eighteen to
twenty-five. Being one of the
two youngest to compete, the
queen admitted having a little
trouble maintaining a “big"
smile throughout the night, but
during the interview she showed
no sign of quivering jaw muscles
as she lavishly flashed a grin.
From the event, many prizes
were received. “One of my
prizes was a scholarship to attend
Austins, a modeling school and
agency. There were other
various gifts donated by stores
and companies,” says the queen,
who claims that participating in
the contest was the farthest thing
from her mind. “A friend talked
me into it,” she said.
Reflecting upon the pageant's
events, the talented young lady
mentions one of her most
humorous moments. “After the
five finalists were picked, the
judges chose the person who
they felt was most talented. I
by Daphne Ward
reporter
As you may know, many
Spelman graduates are never
heard from again once they take
that memorable walk through
Spelman’s gates, but we think all
Spelman alumna deserve
recognition, especially from
their Spelman sisters.
To start this series dedicated to
past Spelman graduates, the
Spotlight is focusing on
Reverend Yulonde Herron,
better known as Yulonde while
attending Spelman.
Rev. Herron came to Spelman
from Minneapolis, Minnesota as
a freshman in 1973 and decided
upon Psychology as her major.
During her Sophomore year, she
was elected corresponding
secretary for the Spelman Stu
dent Government Association.
“Dr. Eagleson was one of my
favorite instructors during my
sophomore year. He really gave a
lot of encouragement when I
needed it.”
During Rev. Herron's junior
year, she participated in the
exchange program at Wellesley
College, i located in Boston,
Massachusetts. Rev. Herron
stated, “While I was attending
Wellesley, I noticed that they
had a female minister. I have
always been a religious person,
but seeing this female minister at
Wellesley really lifted me
because I hadn’t seen too many
received that honor and was
really happy about that because I
had never been given any
recognition for my talent. I felt,
‘oh, this is great' Standing up
there holding the trophy, I was
just thinking, 'o.k. let’s go home
— my feet hurt.’ The runner-ups
were called and I looked at the
girl next to me and con
gratulated her because I was sure
she had won. I wasn’t even
listening when my name was
called. I was asking, ‘who?’, and
everybody was turning towards
me hugging and saying con
gratulations. I wasn’t sure it was
me because I didn’t really hear.”
"Scared to death,” she manag
ed to survive her first television
interview with Walt Elder and
then was off to Stroudberg,
Pennsylvania to compete in the
National Miss Black America
Pageant. Life in Philadelphia was
all work and no play as they spent
approximately ten hours a day
taping. When asked whether or
not she would do it again,
hestitantly she answered, "After
the national competition was
over, I was not going to do
anything else like it, but now I
haven’t totally ruled it out."
Miss Battiste extends many
thanks to Mr. R.A. Banks, a
Morehouse alumnas, who spon
sored her during the pageant.
Being in the pageant has
helped Arienne’s world to open
a little bit more than if she had
not participated, and "maybe
the image of a Spelman woman
has been helped a little. “Keep a
good attitude, be prepared for a
lot of rehearsals, a lot of work,
and a lot of fun," she advises the
Spelmanites who are interested
in a similar contest. "Dothingsat
the best of your ability or don’t
do them at all,” she stated.
After hearing Arienne speak of
the pageant, a young lady ap
proached her saying, “I thought
that was you!” Shyly, Miss Black
America of Atlanta admitted that
she was indeed the one who had
been seen on television in the
Miss Black America Pageant this
summer. She had successfully
kept her secret from us, but not
anymore. Keep an eye out for
her at the 1981 coronation, and
let us support her because Black
is beautiful and Arienne is in
every sense of the word.
female ministers. I think this
encouraged me to become a
minister.”
Rev. Herron was elected presi
dent of the StudentGovernment
Association in her senior year at
Spelman and worked very
diligently while in office. "I
always wanted the student body
to be more unified and that's
what I concentrated on.”
She graduated in 1976 and
went on to pursue her career.
She attended Union Theological
Seminary and became licensed
to preach in August of 1976.
Upon graduation from Union
Theological Seminary, she
received a Masters in Divinity
and was ordained in 1979.
Rev. Herron has since been
assistant pastor at Convent
Avenue Baptist Church in New
York City. Just recently, she
spoke at First Missionary Baptist
Church in Anniston, Alabama
and decided to visit her old alma
mater.
"I always like to visit Spelman
and see what’s going on around
campus.” Rev. Herron returned
to Spelman last spring to join in
celebrating its 100th birthday.
She led the prayer for the
Centennial luncheon and made
a tribute to the deceased
Spelman alumna.
Asked if she had noticed any
changes in Spelman since she
was a student here, Rev. Herron
replied, "Yes, the students are
more friendly now than when I
was here. It’s more of a family
type atmosphere."
This young woman has con
tributed many of her services to
Spelman and we want to let her
know that her Spelman sisters
recognize her accomplishments
and we congratulate her.