July 6: Spelman Announces Fall 2020 Reopening Plans

Spelman Announces Fall 2020 Reopening Plans

After two months of research and planning, Spelman College announced its phased plan for the upcoming school year. The plan, Spelman College: A Plan for the 2020-2021 Academic Year, was approved by the Board of Trustees and announced on Wednesday, July 1, 2020.
More than 50 members of the College community served on the Task Force on the Spelman College Academic Year 2020-2021, convened by Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., to develop the plan for a low density-hybrid model beginning in August.
The plan is based on protecting the health and safety of Spelman students and workforce, and a commitment to maintaining Spelman’s academic excellence and the College’s fiscal sustainability, said Dr. Campbell in her letter to the community.
"Despite all of the meticulous planning, we realize that we are managing our way through uncertain times. We know that if the virus changes course abruptly or, if the rate of infection surges, we may have to change our carefully developed plan, abruptly."
Members of the Spelman community are invited to join a town hall discussion regarding plans for Spelman’s Path Forward at 5 p.m. EST, Tuesday, July 7. The full plan is accessible for review here: Spelman College: A Plan for the 2020-2021 Academic Year (PDF).

Anjanette Levert Accepted Into the Southern Producers Lab

Anjanette Levert, documentary filmmaking lecturer in the Department of Art & Visual Culture, will join the third cohort of the Southern Producers Lab.
Designed to bring together 10 emerging, diverse producers from around the South, the lab includes a series of workshops, panels, one-on-one mentoring sessions and community-building opportunities over the course of three convenings throughout the year.
"I’m humbled, inspired and appreciative to be a part of this lab," said Levert. "My fellow producers are intelligent, talented storytellers committed to bringing to the world nuanced, authentic projects about the American South."
Throughout the year, the Southern Producers Lab will address aspects of the industry that stifle emerging producers, including funding and financing, sales and distribution, story development, contracts, tax credits, rights and licensing, budgets and festival strategy. Levert, who is currently producing a feature documentary titled "The Only Doctor," said her first experience working with fellow producers was affirming.
"I finished the first convening, not just inspired, but affirmed and in action," she said.
As a filmmaker Levert has created two short films, "Shake It Up and Shake It Down" about Freaknik, the Black college spring break celebration held in Atlanta. Her second film, "The Wedding Proposal," not only earned her a masters of fine arts in documentary film from the City College of New York, but it also won awards and played in more than 20 film festivals.

Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi Wins Silver INDIES Book of the Year Award

"Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi," a catalogue published to accompany a original exhibition of the same title installed at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, earned the 2019 Art (Adult Nonfiction) silver award from "Foreword Reviews."
Each year, "Foreword Reviews," book review journal focusing on independently published books, holds the INDIES Book of the Year Awards to recognize the best books published in from small, indie and university presses, as well by self-published authors.
Edited by Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., director of the Museum, the catalogue features a contribution from Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Ph.D., founder of the College’s Women’s Research and Resource Center, and a foreword by President Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D.
The catalogue is the first major publication on Deborah Roberts' work and includes some of her early creations as well as her more recent collages and text-based images.

Alumna Joins Newsroom Focused on Gender and Politics Journalism

Ko Bragg, C’2015, will take on a new role as a general assignment reporter for The 19th News, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom reporting at the intersection of gender, politics and policy.
An investigative reporter with a focus on justice and the Deep South, Bragg has served as the lead reporter for the PBS series Frontline, where she led a multimedia, interactive documentary project focused on exploring cold cases from the Civil Rights Movement. Most recently, she was a staff reporter for The Appeal.
Her experience at Spelman laid the foundation for a successful career, she said. "Spelman gave me the best lesson I could've learned –make the best of what you've got and excel anyway," she said.