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OTLIGHT
The Voice of African-American Womanhood
Volume XXXIII No.2
February/March 1990
The search is over: new provost is here
Dr. Ruth Simmons, New Provost
Photo courtesy of Princeton University
By Kimberly M. Gist
Sometime this month the Spelman fac
ulty and its students will be endowed with a
welcome addition to the family. Dr. Ruth
Simmons, formerly the Associate Dean at
Princeton University, will join our forces and
fill the position of provost at Spelman.
The search for Provost began last June.
The provost search committee consisted of
six faculty members and our own S SG A Presi
dent, Kandance Weems. Two-thousand let
ters were sent out to the college community
nationwide, and an ad was placed in the June
1989 edition of the Chronicle for Higher
Education. The Committee received sev
enty-seven responses; six persons were inter
viewed, and out of the six, one name was sub
mitted to Dr. Cole.
Dr. Lois B. Moreland, Chairperson for
the Social Sciences Division and Director of
the International Affairs Center at Spelman
College for the A.U.C., was also the Chair
person of the Search Committee for Provost.
She felt that all the committee members were
honored to have been chosen because “the
President could have made the decision on
her own, she (Dr. Cole) didn’t have to open it
to faculty and students.”
Dr. Simmons’ responsibilities in her new
position will be extensive. In essence, she
will be our President’s right-hand woman. As
Provost, she will be responsible for the for
mulation, implementation and overall review
of academic, economic, and structural poli
cies. Under the direction of the President, she
will be the chief administrative officer of the
college. She will supervise the divisional and
departmental chairs and other senior officers
of the institution. The Vice Presidents of
Student Affairs, Business and Financial Af
fairs and Development will continue to report
to Dr. Cole.
When Dr. Moreland was asked what
specific qualities the committee was looking
for in the candidates, she responded: “The
person who elicits maximum respect, abso
lute composure and will work well with our
President to provide an academic vision for
the campus.” Dr. Cole simply responded to
the same question: “the most competent and
dynamic person that we could find.” The new
position is expected to disperse the duties of
the staff a great deal. Dr. Cole feels that since
her road trips are increasing with her efforts to
find the resources necessary to maximize the
potential of the institution, someone is needed
on campus. She commented with a smile:
“academic progress is the center of who we
are.
Dr. Simmons is the youngest daughter of
twelve, and a native Texan. Her education
includes a B.A. from Dillard University, and
both an M.A., and a Ph.D. from Harvard
University. As a deputy dean for faculty
affairs at Princeton for three years, she has
had avid experience in the field of academic
planning and staffing. In her letter of intent,
Simmons comments that the most important
qualification she brings to the task is “a
commitment to the exceptional kind of educa
tion Spelman embodies.”
A woman of diversified abilities, Dr.
Simmons, is a welcome addition to an institu
tion of African-American women who are not
afraid of challenge. When Dr. Cole was asked
if she and the committee were looking spe
cifically for an African-American woman to
fill the vacancy, she replied “No”, and then
added with a wink “it’s a real plus that the
perfect candidate happened to be an African-
American woman.”
The Spotlight would like to thank Angela
Getter, Secretary to the Search Committeefor
Provost, for contributing to this article.
Acquaintance Rape: A hidden epidemic on many campuses
by Tayari A. Jones
Contrary to popular belief, rapists are not
usually crazed night-stalking strangers who
lurk in dark alleys at night, waiting for pretty
young college students to walk home from the
library alone. More often, the rapist is some
one you know. Though many colleges and
Universities are willing to openly discuss the
possibility and danger of stranger rape, the
more rampant incident of acquaintance rape
is seldom as candidly confronted. Because of
this, acquaintance rape can be accurately
described as a hidden epidemic.
Due to many victims’ failure to report the
crime, it is difficult to get an accurate count of
the number of rapes committed. According to
Black Issues in Higher Education, 6,000 rapes
are reported each year on college campuses
alone. However, according to Law Enforce
ment Administration estimates, for every rape
reported, 3 to 10 go unreported. Hence, it is
possible that 18,000 to 60.000 women are
raped each year on college campuses.
College students are considered to be a
high risk for rape. This is probably because of
their ages. Rape victimization rates for women
ages 16 through 24 is four times higher than
the average for all women.
Dr. Mary P. Koss, a professor of psychia
try at the University of Wisconsin, conducted
comprehensive studies of victimization and
sexual aggression among college students. A
book, I Never Called it Rape, is based on her
findings. Koss surveyed more than 6100
students at 32 four-year and two-year col
leges. Her findings demonstrated the preva
lence of acquaintance rape.
* One in six female college students had
experienced an attempted or completed rape.
* 84% of the women raped knew their
attacker.
* Only 27% of the women whose sexual
assault met the legal definition of rape consid
ered the incident to be rape.
* One in twelve male college students
said he had committed an act that met the legal
definition of rape, but none of them consid
ered themselves to be rapists.
Kross’ study represented a cross section
of college students. Seven percent of the stu
dents were African-American, 86% white,
3% Hispanic and 1% Native American.
Though there were no differences in the vic
timization among college students, Kross
found that there were distinct differences in
the way women of different races reacted to
rape. For example, Black women were less
likely to report a rape than white women.
However, Black women were three times as
likely to blame the perpetrator rather than
themselves for the crime. Even though Black
women are twice as likely as white women to
be victims of rape, it is difficult to find suffi
cient data on the rapes of Black women to
thoroughly explain these differences.
However, many scholars have formu
lated hypotheses which explain Kross’ find
ings. Dr. Gayle Wyatt, professor at the Uni
versity of California Los Angeles Neuropsy
chiatric Institute, as quoted in Black Issues in
Higher Education, says that socio-economic
status puts Black women more at risk. "Poor
people are less able to protect themselves
from the risks of the world.” She attributes
Black women’s failure to report rape to the
By Doreen Smith
Off campus students be very aware
of the real possibilities of being a victim
of a violent crime. Living off campus
increases students’ chances of being at
tacked, especially while in transit. Stu
dents must take heed to the dangers that
surround them and become more aware
of the possible threats of physical, emo
tional, and mental harm.
In today’s society, there seems to be
negative experiences many Black people have
had with interactions with the police.
Bell Hooks wrote in Zeta magazine that
“In a white supremacist sexist society, all
women’s bodies are devalued; but white
women’s bodies are valued more than those
of women of color.”
Although 90% of rapes are committed by
a rapist who is of the same race as the victim,
when there is a difference of race, 67% are
committed by white men raping Black women.
(continued on page 10)
one thing that cannot be avoided on tele
vision shows, in the news reports and on
our streets: violent crimes. We are re
minded time and time again about the
dangers we, especially women, can en
counter. One of our Spelman sisters
realized how serious those reminders
should be taken.
On November 2, 1989, around 6:00
p.m., a junior at Spelman, who lives off
(continued on page 9)
Off campus students: Beware!
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