Pag* 2 Portland Obse'ver, June 3, 1987
Spelman Trustees Appoint First
_Black Woman President—
Dr. Jo hnnetta Cole, professor o f A n th ro p o lo g y and D irector o f The
Latin Am erican and Caribbean Studies program .
Dr. Johnnetta Cole, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Latin
American and Caribbean Studies Program at Hunter College of the City
University of New York, and former Associate Provost for Undergraduate
Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has been named
the seventh Piesident of Spelman College. She was selected after an ex­
tensive national search and succeeds Dr. Donald M. Stewart who is now
President of the College Entrance Examination Board.
Marian Wright Edelman, Chair of the Spelman Board of Trustees, ex­
pressed her excitement and confidence about Spelman's future under Dr.
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Cole's leadership. She stated that "Spelman trustees are committed to
strengthening the intellectual climate of Spelman College so as to enable it
to attract the best faculty and the best students. Our mission is to inspire
and educate future black women leaders who will be pacesetters in their
families, communities, and nation. Dr. Cole is an extraordinary teacher
and experienced academic with a deep understanding of the undergraduate
educational process. Her high intellectural standards, commitment to Spel­
man's traditions and values, academic leadership qualities, and vision for
the institution make her the right leader at this vital time of challenge for
black colleges, for women's colleges, for private liberal arts colleges, and
for higher education in general."
In a statement to the Spelman community. Dr. Cole stated her "hope
that in the coming decade, Spelman will achieve a special mixture of conti­
nuity and change. Maintaining those values, traditions, and standards
which have made Spelman the premier institution that it is, we must also
have the wisdom, the creativity, and the courage to introduce new and
different ideas and programs. We need to make the kinds of changes that
will strengthen Spelman's commitment to provide a quality education for
its students: the kind of education which contributes to the development of
sterling leaders in every discipline and profession; the kind of education that
helps women become socially responsible citizens; the kind of education
that helps prepare well-centered women who remain intellectually engaged
for the duration of their lives."
"I envision Spelman College in the coming decade as a renown center for
scholarship by and about Black women,” she said. Scholars, teachers,
artists, policy anaysts, and community leaders will turn to Spelman for
comprehensive information on the rich and diverse history, struggles, con­
ditions, and accomplishments of Black women. As a major source of
teaching and research, of archival holdings and artistic works on and about
Black women, Spelman's responsibility to offer a comprehensive liberal arts
education will be more fully honored. I trust that my own scholarship in the
area of Women's Studies will make a contribution to the growth of this
intellectual center," Cole continued.
"I envision the realizable dream of Spelman College as a place where
Black women leaders of the world are nurtured, trained and developed.
From Brazil, from Jamaica, Barbados, Martinique, from Panama, from
Ghana and Nigeria and other parts of the African continent, future women
leaders would come to Spelman in the 1990's as earlier generations of men
from those places went to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. From Oma­
ha, Nebraska, from Brooklyn, New York, from Oakland, California, from
Washington, D.C., and from Savannah, Georgia, Black women would con­
tinue to come to Spelman to experience and to confront all that is requiied
to be leaders in their families, their communities, and their nation "
Dr. Cole, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, began her higher education in
the Early Entrance program of Fisk University and completed her under­
graduate years at Oberlin College. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in an­
thropology at Northwestern University. After appointments at the Univer­
sity of California at Los Angeles and at Washington State University, Dr.
Cole joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
where she remained for thirteen years, becoming a tenured Professor of
Anthropology and Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education. In that
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position Dr. Cole was responsible for ensuring the quality of education in
all undergraduate programs and also led a faculty task force in the develop­
ment of a new General Education curriculum for the campus. Dr. Cole
went to Hunter College in 1983, first as Russell Sage Visiting Professor and
then as tenured Professor of Anthropology. She has also held visiting ap­
pointments at Oberlin and Williams Colleges.
Dr. Cole's scholarly research and writing have been in the areas of cul­
tural anthropology, Afro-American and Women s Studies. She is particu­
larly interested in systems of inequality based on race, gender and class,
and in the Pan-African world of the United States, the Caribbean and Afri­
ca. Dr. Cole has, published in scholarly journals as well as in magazines
for the general reader. Two collections of readings edited by Dr. Cole are
widely used as college texts: "A ll American Women: Lines that Divide,
Ties That Bind" and "Anthropology for the Eighties: Introductory Read­
ings." She is currently completing a new edition to be entitled "Anthro­
pology for the Nineties."
Her wide ranging field work includes research on female-headed house­
holds in New York City, the lives of Caribbean women, racial and gender
inequality in Cuba and economic issues in Liberia. Her most recent work
overseas was in Brazil, where she coordinated the City University s Sum­
mer seminar at the Pontifical Catholic University in Sao Paulo.
She is a former president of the Association of Black Anthropologists
and is currently the President of the International Women s Anthropology
Conference.
Dr. Cole, who is divorced, is the mother of three sons. The eldest is
working in New York after graduating from Williams College, the second is
a student at New York University, and the third is still living at home as a
high school junior.
Spelman College is a predominantly black, four-year liberal arts institu­
tion of higher learning for women in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1881 for
the purpose of educating black women, Spelman has become noted for its
high academic standards, as well as the leadership and accomplishments
of its students and alumnae. Spelman is one of seven institutions which
comprise the Atlanta University Center complex.
Jefferson High Reunion
Jefferson High School's class of 1957 will hold their 30th year reunion
August 14th and 15th at the Columbia River Red Lion Inn. All class mem
bers are asked to contact Jack Stacey, 235 8741, for further information
and to update the Class of 1957 mailing list.
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