Office of the President
Inaugural Speech Excerpts
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum was officially installed as the ninth President of Spelman College on Saturday, March 22, 2003. The theme of the inauguration was In Search of Social Justice: Liberal Arts Education in the 21st Century. Below are excerpts from Dr. Tatum's inaugural address titled, Spelman: The Next Generation.
EXCERPTS:
* ...Though I am a clinical psychologist by training, my most recent graduate degree is a master's degree in Religious Studies from Hartford Seminary. My adviser was the president of the seminary, Barbara Brown Zikmund. On the day I completed my degree requirements, she and I discussed my future plans. She asked me if I had considered becoming a college president. When I said I was thinking about the possibility, she told me, “You can’t be the president of just any college. You have to find one that you can truly love because the work is so demanding, you work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But, she said, “You will do a lot for your lover.” And in this first year, I have come to understand quite clearly what she meant. I love Spelman College, and I consider it a tremendous blessing to stand here before you today publicly accepting the call to serve as the ninth President of Spelman.
* From its earliest days, Spelman was a beacon of opportunity for Black women in an otherwise dark landscape. The power of the Spelman College education was demonstrated in the fact that over 37 percent of the graduates from 1928-1953 earned graduate and professional degrees, a remarkable achievement in an era marked by overt racial and gender discrimination.
* Spelman's mission:
An outstanding historically Black college for women, Spelman promotes
academic excellence in the liberal arts, and develops the intellectual, ethical, and leadership potential of its students. Spelman seeks to empower the total person, who appreciates the many cultures of the world and commits to positive social change.
That is a mission you can love. At the heart of this mission is the notion of leadership – a holistic understanding of leadership development that includes mind, body, and spirit – an understanding of leadership that includes the cultivation of wisdom and an understanding of social justice. The technological advances of the 21st century will provide unanticipated opportunities for all of our students. They will have access to ample information, but will they possess the wisdom to use it for the common good? At Spelman College, we want the answer to be yes. We seek to develop a clear sense of collective responsibility and ethical leadership to prepare our students for wise stewardship of their world. It is our heritage and our calling.
* As global conflict escalates, and we now are engaged in war, war that will disproportionately effect the communities of color who send their young people to the front lines, and whose needs will be neglected as the cost of war rises, the voices of Black women are needed now more than ever. Our mission calls us to be intentional about the cultivation of their leadership.
* What does this mean for Spelman College in practical terms – how will we focus our energies over the coming years? We have a five-point plan consonant with our mission.
Academic Excellence
Continual striving for academic excellence – through the recruitment and retention of the next generation of faculty committed to the residential liberal arts college model of excellence in teaching, continual growth in scholarship, and shared responsibility for service – and through the recruitment and retention of strong students, continually seeking to improve our capacity to provide financial support so that there will be no economic barriers for the best and the brightest to come to Spelman.
Leadership
Maintaining our focus on leadership development through civic engagement and community service – with the establishment of a leadership center as one avenue to bring together a number of leadership-related initiatives into a synergistic whole.
Improving Our Environment
Improving our environment – on campus and off – attending to our infrastructure (renovating buildings, and improving technology), but also working with our community partners to enhance our neighborhood and create new opportunities for the residents of the West End.
Increasing Our Visibility
Increasing our visibility – so that the accomplishments of our students, our faculty and staff, and our alumnae – are apparent to everyone. We do not want to hide our light under a bushel – we want to be a beacon in higher education. We have been in the past, and we want that light to shine even more brightly in the future.
Exemplary Customer Service
And finally, we want to be a model of exemplary customer service. The Spelman College motto, “Our whole school for Christ” hearkens to our founding by Christian missionaries, but it has continuing relevance today not because we expect everyone to be a Christian. We know we have a multicast community, and we celebrate that fact. Our motto still has relevance because at the core of Christian teachings is the principle of “hospitality” – welcoming the stranger. Treating others the way you want to be treated. At Spelman College our definition of excellence should include a pervasive sense of hospitality and generosity of spirit for each other and everyone who passes through our gates.
Academic Excellence
Leadership Development
Improving our Environment
Visibility of our Achievements
Exemplary Customer Service
Spelman ALIVE – strong, vital, and productive well into the 21st century – that is our goal.
...We don’t know what the future holds, but we do know Spelman women will help shape the future. We want to be sure that they are ready and that Spelman remains ALIVE – a strong and vital learning community.
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Wednesday, August 3rd 2005 at 12:44PM
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