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Spelman Spotlight
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The Spelman Blue
By Angela Black
Many times Spelman College has
been dubbed "The Harvard of Black
Colleges". Although I don’t agree with
this comparison, I do agree that
Spelman College is a special place
from which emerge top leaders in a
large variety of fields.
Spelman is an institution which
accepts intelligent young ladies and,
through the "Spelman experience,"
molds and nurtures those young ladies
into strong, versatile women. I am
sure that Harvard University accepts
intelligent students and graduates some
leaders, too. However, one of the
many things Spelman has that Harvard
does not is the color of Spelman Blue.
I am sure there are a lot of other
students who have also realized that
the blue in Spelman’s colors of blue
and white helps describe some of the
melancholy "blue" moods encountered
here. My Spelman sisters, you are not
alone.
Did you ever get so angry with
some of the administrative offices here
at Spelman that you contemplated
transferring to another school, only to
realize that if you transferred, most of
your credits might not?
I, along with many others I have
spoken with, have gotten that angry.
My most recent brush with this anger
occurred just this past week. You
know, the dreaded housing lottery
week.
You see, some Spelman students
missed the lottery for (me reason or
another. Some people did not pay
their tuition or deposits on time, etc.
But, some people missed the lottery
because of the incompetence of some
of Spelman’s administrative members.
This was my case.
My parents work extremely hard to
send me to this school. They pay over
$12,000 a year for me to attend this
school that has been regarded as one of
the best institutions of higher learning
in America. It angers me that even
though my parents do an immense
amount of work to be able to pay that
immense sum of money to an
institution that has been immensely
admired, some of the administrative
offices (namely financial aid) have
done an immensely poor job with a lot
of student records here at Spelman.
I have suffered from the Spelman
blues more than once and I am sick of
it!
Last year, a friend of the family
was nice enough to send a check to
Spelman to help pay my outstanding
balance. One of Spelman’s careless
members of the bursar’s office "lost"
the check. The friend had to pay her
bank money to have a stop payment
put on the check while Spelman took
its time finding it. After a while, the
check was retrieved, but needless to
say, that friend won’t be sending any
more money here for me. It’s too
risky.
In February 1992, my balance was
completely paid and my housing
deposit was paid in early March. On
April 10, my parents received notice
that a state grant had been removed
from my account.
My parents began to worry about
how they were going to repay the
money to reinstate my zero balance.
After speaking with Financial Aid
members, I was notified that the grant
was removed on March 10 (one month
before my parents were notified) by an
unknown person, and for an unknown
reason.
The problem was fixed, but another
problem arose. The housing lottery had
already been completed.
As hard as my parents worked to
have my balance paid on time for the
lottery, I still missed it through
someone else’s mistake.
Now, I understand that nobody is
perfect and everyone makes mistakes.
But, we’re paying too much money for
these mistakes to happen so often.
Yes, it was an admitted mistake that
the grant was removed from my
account, but was it also a mistake that
my parents were not notified until one
month later?
I think not considering the fact that
with today’s technology my parents
could have been notified a number of
expedient ways.
Was it a mistake that one of the
head people in financial aid who
worked with me during this problem
did not apologize for her department’s
mistake? (I did get apologies from
other administrators and they are doing
the best they can to help me with my
problem. I thank them.)
As stated before, Spelman is a
special place and it has its faults just
like any other institution. I love
Spelman dearly and I know my blues
aren’t over because my senior year is
approaching and I am preparing myself
for more possible encounters.
I will remember the Spelman blue
many years after graduation. I will
also remember the Spelman hymn.
And, I wonder, after all the years
of toil and pain the incompetent
members of some of Spelman’s
administrative offices have put on our
students, just how long will these
dear walls remain?
There has got to be a change.
Somewhere.
Soon.
Introspection
By Kimberly Rice
As Family Weekend approached, I
noticed more and more rehearsals for
Celebration in Black. Even I, who did
not participate in the show, became
aware of the countless hours many
students donated to make everything
perfect. For the three years I have
been attending Spelman, I can honestly
say that this year’s performance was
the best ever. The writers, actors,
dancers, choir, crew, staff and
especially the directors and producers
did an excellent job. I was thoroughly
impressed.
I, as a young African-American
woman, felt the issues of this year’s
performance touched very close to
home. Although most people ignore
the presence of AIDS, date rape,
pregnancy and mutual disrespect, it is
more than prevalent on African-
American campuses. The issues of
abortion, male/female relationships,
peer pressure, religion and racial
tension were cleverly executed on
stage. There were parts so emotional
that I just wanted to break down and
cry. The show was very touching and
REAL! Most of the students who
attended had no intentions of learning
anything. Some came to enjoy good
talent and entertainment, others came
to meet a "hottie," while some came to
see their friends who participated in the
show, But, no one left Sisters Chapel
without a tremendous feeling of growth
and maturity toward life.
Most of the people in the audience
could honestly say they had
experienced at least one of those
incidents, if not known someone who
has (including me). Ibis is the sad
and crucially honest part. The one
way we can help change these statistics
is by giving back to the community,
our Black communities. You can help
in any way you feel comfortable.
Community service is the one way we
can help change things for the fiiture.
From volunteering at the Rape Crisis
Center to teaching sexually active high
school students about AIDS and
teenage pregnancy, you can make a
difference. But, before you even
attempt to make this difference in the
community, you must first take a good
look at yourself, "introspect," and make
that difference. For if you don’t
practice what you preach, you may
lead the congregation into a nonexisting
light.