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“Spelman is like a physically attractive individual
who has absolutely no substance—Lynn Davis
Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice:
The Education of Black Girls
by Iris Fawzia Rafi
Spelman College is unique in that its student body comprises two of the world's most
oppressed people — blacks and women. There is a thought among some educators and
students alike that black people are not being educated to think critically about their
role in American society and are, in fact, being miseducated. I support this assertion
and endeavor to take the idea one step further: Spelman students are not only being
miseducated as black women, but are in speculation, being educated as black girls.
Granted, there are many who cannot distinguish or discern a difference between
women and girls. This ignorance, while not acceptable, is understandable. Very few
rational people would think to refer to black males of late teen-age years as “boys." The
historical and social ramification surrounding the word are mandate which prevent
this. Looked at in a wider scope, the entire male population above teen-age years are
generally referred to as men. There is, then, a conscious difference that most people
recognize which distinguishes men from boys. When referring to females, however, it
is not uncommon to hear women of ages upwards of thirty to be referred to as “girls.”
The issue in itself seems quite trite until examined in asocial perspective. If women, and
black women in particular, are to ever realize their total potential and participate fully
in matters which pertain to the economic, social and political world they must begin to
understand the spoken and unspoken connotations that accompany words and terms;
in this respect, the term “girl.” The experience of black men is comparable to the issue
of the use of terms to oppress and subjugate a group of people. Black males have
successfully instituted a reaction totheterm"boy”thatindicatestheirawarenessofthe
term as one that carries with it a negative connotation of suppression, irrelevance and
denial of importance. The term “girl” then, describes one who is ineffectual,
unimportant and immature in matters concerning adult society. Women, however, as
adult females, comprise a group of people with whom to be reckoned. Their
intelligence, potential and scope of responsibility cannot be subjugated or taken for
granted. A critical examination of Spelman’s administration, faculty and student body
presents vital points which lend validity to my thesis.
The resolution of Sophie B. Packard and Harriet Giles, founders of Spelman, was to
educate black women to conform to and become acceptable to white America.
Consequently, Spelman students of the earlier eras were given much the same training
as their white counterparts. This training was geared to the development and refining
of homemaking and domestic concerns. The founders adopted what they thought was
a platform that would serve the advancement of the social status of black people. The
two women were white, the time was the late 19th century, and black people were
neonates to freedom. The times, however, have changed, the women are long since
dead, and although black women are no longer neonates to slavery, a serious debate
could develop as to the extent of progress made by black people. Since Packard and
Giles' time, there have been six presidents at Spelman and as many administrations. An
examination of the current administration lends an interesting note to the theme of the
miseducation of Spelman students.
In speaking with recent graduates of Spelman and alumni of the 1%0’s, it became
apparent that many of them feel that the trend away from the image of Spelman
students as "rich little socialities preoccupied with procuring Morehosue mates” is in
fact returning. At the time of my matriculation at Spelman, the issue of the gender of
Spelman's sixth president was being hotly debated by all factions, This issue is seen by
the aforementioned alumni as the turning point that precluded the trend back to the
Spelman image. The consensus of those desiring an appointment of a female president
revolved from this point: If Spelman’s major purpose was, and is, to educate black
women to take an active role in American society, how then is it justifiable to select as
president a male whose most advertised credentials were those of a fund-raiser? It is an
ominous sign for Spelman students to be told that, on the one hand, they are being
educated to take a decisive and didactic role in contemporary society and, on the other,
to choose for them a male whose qualifications could be easily equalled and just as
easily surpassed by any number of black women.
It is the administration that controls the larger portion of the tangible machinery of
Spelman College. So, in a situation such as the one involving Stewart and the election
process, the administration's attitude and manner of intercourse with the students
reflects its principles and foundation. It was this attitude which expressed to the student
body a tone which reflected an unwillingness on the administration’s behalf to take the
student body seriously. The fact that the administration was so arrogant as to exclude
the entire student body (and much of the fauclty), from the election process exhibits a
disrespect for and ignorance of the student body make-up.
Since the issue involving Stewart and his appointment to President, the ad
ministration's tangible attitude has appeared to have changed. There is now a student
representative on the Board of Trustees and there is at least an attempted respect and
acknowledgement of students’ rights and wishes. Hopefully, as Spelman moves further
into the vanguard of educating black women, the administration will also move with it
and a more functional relationship will develop between the greater part of the
administration and the student body.
The fauclty of an educational institution plays an irreplaceable part. For the faculty is
the medium through which knowledge is transferred to the student. Spelman’s faculty
runs the gamut from conscious and conscientiously effective instructors to those who
are only a fraction of an inch removed from senility.
In examining the faculty and its attitude, I encountered several students who
expressed a disdain for what they saw as an irrelevancy in the types of courses offered.
This observation prompts a viable question: Are the courses offered pertinent to the
Continued on page 15
Spelman Spotlight
Profiles On
Education i
“Profiles on Education at Spelman was provided to give you some i
Spotlight hopes that these profiles will assist you in form ulating you
they assist you in understanding some very important issues at Spert
and some that will come up in the future. — The Editor
0 !?■■■
I
Education as it Related
"Our Whole Schoflfo
by Rev. Norman Bates
College Minister
The school motto: "Our
Whole School for Christ” and its
relationship to education must
viewed from three perspectives:
the past, the present, and the
future. Each perspective,
however, wears many faces.
In 1881, when the school was
founded as the Atlanta Baptist
Female Seminary, there was no
doubt that the Christian religion
was an important factor in its
birth and purposes. Sophia B.
Packard and Harriet E. Giles were
the nearest things to female
saints to their contemporaries,
some less than twenty years out
of slavery. And these two New
England spinsters had brought
with them those Christian virtues
and credentials that were un
deniably bolstered by their
dependence on a Power above
and beyond their own-God.
Therfore, they were not only
embued with the desire to life
young Negro women and girls
out of the mire of ignorance, but
their eligious convictions thrust
them into the arena of combat
with sin. Their charges were to
equate a well-rounded educa
tion with well grounded
religious principles. Thus,
religion and the acquisition of
knowledge went hand in hand.
When our two founders came
upon Father Quarles of
Friendship Baptist Church on his
knees praying for such a visit as
theirs, then this blended the
quest for secular education and
religious maturity into a happy
marriage. And Spelman’s foun
ding was of such a nature that
there was no distinction
between the sacred and the
secular. Thus, our school was
wholly and totally for Christ and
Christian principles, as reflected
in the curriculum, in worship, in
study, in work, and in play. Every
segment of the college was
deeply submerged into the
Christian way of life. Every
student who crossed the
threshold of the seminary was
here for specific reasons deeply
rooted in their Christian convic
tions. Every teacher was actually
or potentially endowed with a
Christian mission. Every class
opened with prayer. Every meal
began wtih prayer. Every day
closed with prayer. Every student
had a religious calling - to serve
in whatever capacity later in life
as a servant of the Lord. Religion
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