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Monday, October 24, 2005 spelmanspotlight@spelman.edu PROFILES Spotlight on women in the news Meet activist Jane Fonda, author/poet Pearl Cleage and Hurricane Katrina survivor Alexandrea Rich. P3 ENTERTAINMENT Jaspects’ debut hits the AUC Jazz finds favor with younger audiences through this young band’s musicial stylings. P5 WELLNESS Black women... up in smoke? Wellness writer Ronalda Joseph explores the correlation between ethnicity and the dangers of smoking. New provost at Spelman Dr. Johnnella E. Butler sits down with the Spotlight and tells us about the upcoming year. PI LGHT Get to know your Spelman Jaguars ARTS ‘Speak Up’ The Poetry Corner features another install ment from one of Spelman’s own poets. Spelman College names building in honor of former President Johnnetta B. Cole Johnnetta B. Cole By TaRessa Stovall, Spelman College Atlanta—Spelman College is paying trib ute to its first Black woman president, nam ing a campus building in her honor. The Johnnetta Betsch Cole Living and Learning Center II will be dedicated on Oct. 19, at 4 p.m. on the Atlanta campus. "It was a joy and a privilege to serve as the president of Spelman College for 10 years," Dr. Cole said. "I appreciate the acknowl edgement of that service by the naming of the Living and Learning Center II in my honor." The Spelman College Living and Learning Center II is a $7.8 million multi purpose facility that houses students and administrative offices. It was designed by the architectural firm Nix Mann Viehman. "As we prepare to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Spelman College on April 11, 2006, we are honoring important institu tional milestones of the past," said President Beverly Daniel Tatum. "Dr. Cole’s historic appointment was a major milestone, and her leadership helped ensure the College’s long term viability as the nation’s oldest histori cally black college for women." Dr. Cole served as the seventh president of Spelman, and, as a career academic and renowned anthropologist, was its first schol ar-president. Her most recent publication is "Gender Talk: the Struggle for Women’s Equality in African American Communities," co-authored with Dr. Beverly Guy-Shehall, director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center and Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies at Spelman. During her 1987-1997 tenure, Dr. Cole boosted the College’s public profile and aca demic reputation, significantly increased its endowment, and established several ground breaking programs. She strengthened Spelman’s relationship with the business community by serving on several boards of directors including Home Depot and Merck & Co. Inc. She was the first woman elected to the board of Coca-Cola Enterprises. She also built strong bridges to Atlanta’s non profit, academic and corporate communi ties. "It is impossible to overstate the impor tance of Johnnetta Cole’s tenure at Spelman College. As our first Black woman presi dent, she made our dreams of female leader ship and empowerment a reality," said acclaimed author/playwright Pearl Cleage, a member of the Spelman Class of 1971, and the current Cosby Endowed Professor in Humanities. "Her work as an activist, administrator and feminist energized both see Former President on Pg 7 »> Homecoming Morehouse and Spelman Coronations, Screen on the Green, the Kick-Off Jam and more... P8 New provost has great plans for Spelman Anesha Williams Staff Writer Dr. Johnnella E. Butler, educator in black and ethnic studies, has assumed the position of provost and vice presi dent of academic affairs, in which she will work to enhance the academic needs of Spelman students. For some, the responsibilities of the provost are solely focused on the institu tional affairs. But for Butler, “this is an opportunity to work with a campus of young black women and staff to advance the mission of Spelman.” Butler plans to incorporate her repu tation as a leader and strive for curricu lum transformation through an interac tive circle among students and faculty. “I want to learn more about the stu dents of Spelman and I want them to get to know me as well,” said Butler. While placing great importance on student-faculty relations, Butler hopes to launch her luncheon program, Voices in Academia (VIA), which will encour age faculty to spend more time getting to know their students. “My mother and father, both of whom were teachers, taught me to value the voices of the students and balance them with the voices of the teachers,” said Butler. Butler’s love of education is not lim ited to the role of improving an institu tion’s system of higher education. For more than twenty years, Butler served as a staff member at the University of Washington, integrating the history, lit erature, sociology and politics of people historically excluded. In addition to ethnic studies, Butler specializes in the field of black literature Spelman’s new provost Dr. Johnnella E. Butler and women’s studies. Butler’s addition to Spelman College will allow her to contribute as a professor in the compar ative women’s studies department. “I hope next year to begin teaching a course in the department and get young Spelman women thinking because the world is theirs to explore and learn see Provost on Pg 7 »>