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Spelman Spotlight
November 6, 1981
Sammy Davis Jr.
Receives A.U.’s Honorary Degree
by Karen Burroughs
News Editor
On October 16, 1981, Atlanta
University celebrated its 114th
anniversary of receiving its
charter. The celebration of this
event was held in Spelman’s
Sisters Chapel and hosted such
guests as author and scholar,
John Hope Franklin, and enter
tainer, Sammy Davis Jr.
Seventy-two days following
the end of the Civil War, Atlanta
University was founded to
provide educational oppor
tunities for the recently freed
slaves and refugees of the war.
Since 1865, steady growth and
development have been
characteristic of this institution.
The program opened with an
invocation by Father Issac Miller,
chaplain of Canterbury House.
Following the invocation,
Jonathan Smith, Chairman of the
University Board of Trustees,
told the audience of the occa
sion being celebrated and in
formed them of the history of
Atlanta University and the Atlan
ta University Center. “The Un
iversity’s motto, ‘I’ll find a way or
make one,”' Smith explained,
“has never waivered in its pur
pose of educating for leadership
and faithfully pursuing its mis
sion of teaching, research, and
service.
The speaker for the program,
John Hope Franklin, was in
troduced by Dr. Cleveland Leon
Dennard, President of Atlanta
University. “We are indeed
fortunate to have as our speaker
one of America’s foremost
scholars and one of the greatest
thinkers of the world,” he said.
In his opening statement, John
Hope Franklin, who graduated
magna cum laude from Fisk
University and received his
masters and doctorate from
Harvard University, told the
students, “I am delighted to be
here, for this is a very special
occasion. Any university that has
survived for over a century
deserves to be celebrated.”
Franklin told the audience that
Atlanta University has three main
objectives: the first, being to
offer quality education to
provide leadership for blacks;
the second, to provide racial
equality, and the third, to create
a climate of academic freedom.
"AU shapes its curriculum and
programs to realize its objec
tives,” he said. “Atlanta Universi
ty is a proud university, proud of
its tradition and its heritage.”
“Even in a joyous occasion,
one must be sober,” Franklin
told the audience. “Atlanta
University is being threatened by
those who neither value nor
respect the independence of the
university.”
Following the address by Dr.
Franklin, Dr. Cleveland Dennard
presented honorary degrees to
Dr. Franklin, John Spencer, a
former administrator of AU, and
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr., a performer
for most of his life, was described
as being “one of the most
versatile performers of all time.”
Dr. Dennard informed the
audience that Davis was the first
Black American to have a prime
time variety show on television,
the first American to play a
command performance in Bri
tain for two straight years, and
has been a leader for blacks and
others in the performing arts.
Mr. Davis was presented with an
Honorary Doctor of Literature
degree.
“I am beyond words,” Davis
said in his acceptance speech. “I
have never had the pleasure or
the thrill of receiving a formal
education, and I will try never to
do anything to embarass my
people, my country, and this
honor.”
A special award was given to
Grace Towns Hamilton, the first
Black woman in the Georgia
General Assembly. She was also
the head of the Atlanta Urban
League from 1946 to 1960 and
received the award for her
“remarkable contributions to
the city, the state, and Atlanta
University.”
Following the presentations,
the Atlanta University Alma
Mater was sung by those in
attendance.
Southern Institute of Black Studies
Holds Training Session
by Veronica Peggy Green
Contributing Writer
Mr. Jesse Taylor, of the
Southern Carolina Black Voting
Rights Campaign, spoke about
the significance of the Voting
Rights Act. Mr. Taylor was in
volved in obtaining a petition
signed by some 17,000 blacks in
support of the Voting Rights Act.
In essence, the Voting Rights Act
protects our constitutional right
to vote, and it will expire in
August of 1982 unless an exten
sion is passed by Congress. Mr.
Taylor stated that, “Mr. Reagan
takes strong positions on some
issues, and other issues he waits
to see how the tide is flowing.
Therefore, a lot depends on what
we do.”
Mr. Danny Boston, of the
United League Support Com
mittee, held a workshop entitled
'Struggling Against
Reaganomics.’ He defined
Reagonomics as simply
“economics of poverty” which
deals with the crisis state of the
U.S. economy. He noted three
irregularities: Recessions are
occurring more often; there is
no full recovery from one reces
sion to the next; and prices are
high. Mr. Boston stated that this
was a well designed and
engineered recession. It was
designed to put a check on
prices. However, the prices are
continuing to increase. The
reasoning behind Reagan’s tax
cuts to the rich lies in the idea
that they have the opportunity to
re - invest their money. On the
contrary, the money is going into
their pockets.
Fay Bellmany, from the
National Anti - Klan Network,
was present to lead a workshop
on 'Organizing the Community
to Resist the Klan and Repres
sion.’The National Anti - Klan is a
"loose grouping of
organizations that have come
together because of their com
mon concern about the
resurgence of the Klu Klux Klan
and other racist groups in
America.” It is made up of legal,
religious, labor, and com
munications task forces, and its
headquarters are located here in
Atlanta.
The Anti - Klan Network and
the NAACP united in September
of 1980 to file a lawsuit when a
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