Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

-tTy * ^6' 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! Sfiotliy&t Student f )*tve&Uyate& Sftotliy/tfo: (Za^etenia Sccfcuute *Durtca*t ‘DwtetUce Page 2 Page 5 Paefo 0 ?eeliay& s4&out Aoeiuy Awed Oue& Page 8 SfceCntan t%et& *7tac& Page 12