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Spelman Spotlight
February, 1986
A Starbound Spelmanite
by Debbie Marable
Move over Patti Labelle and
Jennifer Holiday! A new female
vocalist is preparing to take the
entertainment industry by
storm!
"I've been singing since I was 5
years old. 1 started out as a third
of a trio that was formed to sing
in an Easter program,” said
Cassandra Davis.
“Since that night I’ve never
stopped.” She paused, then
continued. "As a matter of fact
the only time I don’tsing is when
I’ve talked too much and my
voice hurts,” she added with a
resounding laugh.
Of those humble beginnings
at the Asbury United Methodist
Church in her hometown of
Holly Springs, Ms. Cassandra
said, "That was almost 14 years
ago. Until now everything I’ve
done has been a rehearsal, but
now I’m ready to perform to
show the world my stuff.”
And show her stuff she has!
Last semester Cassandra Davis
was the top winner in the female
vocalist category in a talent
search competition sponsored
by the SOS Band.
“Some of my friends saw a
poster about the talent search
and submitted my name. I didn’t
even know about it until after the
fact,” she said with a smile. "I’d*
almost forgotten about it when I
was contacted by an SOS
representative and asked to
come for an interview.”
About a week after the inter
views, which were conducted by
the members of the SOS Band
and some local performers,
Davis was notified that she had
been selected for the competi
tion.
There were three rounds of
competition. The first round
took place last November which
was followed by the other two in
December.
"The first was an elimination
round. About 45 local singers
competed and out of that
number was selected one female
vocalist, one male vocalist and
one group, Davis explained.
“I remember being very ner
vous, but I wasn’t really
worried,” she condnued, “I
wasn’t worried because I had at
least two advantages. I was a
college student with two years
formal training."
"In the first round Davis was
beat out of the number one spot
by a Morris Brown student. But
in the final two rounds she
bounced back taking first place
both nights.
On the first night I sang ‘I am
Changing’ from the Broadway
production Dreamgirls, on the
other two nights I changed to
‘And I am Telling You’ also by
Jennifer Holiday from the same
production,” she said.
“I chose those songs because
Jennifer Holiday is one of my
favorite performers and because
with those particular selections I
was able to demonstrate my
range.” .
Davis has a range that spreads
from the A below middle C to E
above high C, which is "well
above average.
“I enjoy the music of Jennifer
Holiday, Patti Labelle and Gladys
Knight, but she also likes con
temporary gospel and classical.
Over the years I’ve learned to
appreciate different kinds of
music,” said the sophomore
vocal performance major.
Recently, Cassandra decided
to “shoot for the stars” and
submit a video to st-." search. On
Jan. 24, she’ll join the SOS Band
in the recording studio to begin
work on a video. Davis has also
been given the option to sign a
recording contract with Solar
records which she says she is still
contemplating.
Although she confesses that
her first love is music she said,
"acting is a primary secondary.”
Many students will remember
Davis’ performance in several
campus productions, including
one of her favorite roles of that
Sister Johnson, in "Martin.”
“Sister Johnson is chairman of
usher board number 2. I love
playing her because she reminds
me of all of those ladies who act
just like her in the Baptist church.
Everybody knows someone like
her and that’s what makes her so
mach fun to play.” Cassandra has
also worked with several corona
tion productions.
So what’s next for this multi
talented singer/actress? "After
finishing school, I think I’d like to
become a contemporary gospel
singer and maybe do a show on
Broadway.
Spelmanite Wins Scholarship
by Lori Boyer
As the expenses associated
with a college education es
calate, students are working
harder to help meet those costs.
The numbers of students who
havejobs in thecommunity, who
participate in a college work-
study program and who com
pete for various scholarships
increase every year.
Again this year the Atlanta
Association of Black Journalists
sponsored an essay contest with
the prize of an academic
scholarship for the winner to aid
in curbing the high cost of
college. The winner was a
Spelman student who put her
various talents and creative ef
forts into action.
Marie Roberts, a senior jour
nalism student from Oakland.
Calif., penned the winning essay
titled, "Why I Want A Career In
Journalism.”
Roberts learned of the contest
through a listing in the MAC
Journal, a mass communications
newsletter produced at Clark
College informing students of
scholarship opportunities,
summer internship positions,
permanent job offers and other
pertinent information.
Although Roberts never
enrolled in any mass com
munications classes offered by
Clark College, she said she
practically lived in the mass
communications department
because she was involved in so
many of its activities. She former
ly produced a football half-time
radio show from station WCLK.
She performed as a production
assistant for the cable news
program, "News Capsule 35,”
and spent the spare moments
preparing for her countless
other organizational respon
sibilities.
This past summer was a very
busy one for Roberts. Instead of
relaxing on the California
beaches or learning how to surf,
Roberts worked in three
capacities to further her jour
nalism career. She served as a
reporter for the Oakland (Calif)
Post newspaper, participated in a
6-week program at
Northwestern University in
Evanston, III., Chicago suburb,
and she had a short internship at
the Atlanta Constitution as a staff
writer.
Roberts said she considered
these experiences important
because they increase her
marketability as a journalist.
Although most of her time is
occupied with writing for various
publications, Roberts manages
to find time to be active in many
organizations. She is a member
of the National Association of
Black Journalists (NABJ), the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC), sports
editor for Spelman College’s
newspaper and also general
news writer for the Spotlight.
Roberts always keeps a Isit of
the tasks she needs to complete,
appointments she must keep and
other items that would slip her
mind if she did not make a list.
The list, she said, keeps her
organized.
"How else do you think I’m
going to get anywhere?” she
asked.
She explained that part of the
reason she makes progress in her
daily life and in her career is
because she is able to look at the
list of activities and accurately
monitor her progress.
One item on her list is to send
resumes to potential employers.
"I’m going to send about 50
applications to newspapers
across the country,” she said.
Roberts said she would like to
begin at a small newspaper
where she would be allowed
more opportunities to develop
as a writer instead of at a larger
paper where the competition
would be tremendous.
“If I go to a larger paper, I
might flop,” Roberts said. "But if
I go to a smaller paper I can be
dynamic, because I consider
myself a good writer.”
One misconception some
people hold about female sports
writers is they only occupy those
jobs to meet men. Roberts said
she does not need to use her
press pass to meet young
athletes.
"I don’t need to Write sports to
meet guys,” she said. “Believe
me.”
Roberts said her introduction
to sports was a little different
from other young ladies.
“i have five sisters and one
brother,” she said. "I was kind of
elected as a second son.”
In school she competed in
every sport available-basketball,
soccer, volleyball, tennis, track
and she was responsible for
recording the playing statistics
for the only sports she did not
play — men’s football and
basketball. When the school
newspaper needed someone to
report on the sporting activities,
Roberts ususally did the job
because she would already be at
the event.
"Sometimes I would have five
stories in one paper,”shesaid."l
was the sports section.”
Roberts is so busy with spor
ting activities and club activities
that she rarely has a spare
moment to entertain herself.
"This is my social life,” she
said. "What's more social than
sports and (organized) clubs?”
Roberts’ job allows her to mix
business and pleasure. But ad
ding study time becomes more
difficult.
"Study?” she teased. "What’s
that?”
Roberts may tease about her
study habits, but her grade point
average tells the story. She is a
transfer student from San Jose
State University in California, a
predominately white college.
She arrived at Spelman with a 2.5
GPA, but now, after four
semesters, it is a 3.0. She said she
enjoys attending a Black college
because she is able to see and
interact with positive Black role
models. The teachers here, she
said, are more helpful, and more
serious.
"Nobody kisses behind
around here,” she said, “and
nobody gets anything free.”
Roberts is filled with self-
confidence. She has a grasp on
her strengths and tries to im
prove her weaknesses. She said
she could work in any environ
ment.
HEART ATTACK
DOESN’T WAIT
Be Ready
Know the
Signals & Actions
for
Heart Attack
Survival
American
Heart
Association
WERE FIGHTING FOR NOJR LIFE