June 15: Sophomore Becomes Second Spelman Student to Earn Fredrick Douglas Global Fellowship

Sophomore Becomes Second Spelman Student to Earn Fredrick Douglass Global Fellowship
Nichole Ciara Johnson, C’2023, a psychology major with a mental health concentration, was one of 10 students from across the county selected to earn the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship. Johnson is the College’s second student selected to receive the prestigious award.
The Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship affords 10 outstanding students from minority-serving institutions the opportunity to participate in a customized summer study abroad program focused on leadership and intercultural communication. Fellows are selected based on their academic achievement, communication skills and commitment to social justice — qualities representative of the award’s namesake.
"Being named a Frederick Douglass Global fellow is an honor that brings to life for me excitement and a little bit of anxiety. Being selected means that I have a chance to spread awareness and develop more appreciation for the African culture," said Johnson. "Having the opportunity to study abroad, learn about different people and cultures, and develop myself as a global leader is a privilege. I am excited to share what I learn with other potential leaders in my cohort and within my community."
Due to the coronavirus global pandemic, the 2020 Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship program, which was originally scheduled for July 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa, will be postponed until 2021.

New Career Training Program Available for Current and Recent Graduates
Spelman will partner with a national career development company to offer a new program designed to make sure recent graduates land a job worthy of their degrees. Members of the graduating classes of 2018-2020 are eligible for the Braven Career Booster, a virtual boot camp designed to help recent alumnae brush-up on their job readiness skills.
The online program will consist of a two-week virtual training focused on resume development, networking, interviewing, the application process and contingency planning. The core of the Braven Booster program consists of two online modules and two interactive webinars.
As participants complete courses, they are rewarded with bonuses that include access to Braven’s national network and 1:1 coaching sessions with high performing professionals.  Sessions begin mid-June and will be accessible through November. For more information on the program visit the Braven Career Booster registration portal.

Recent Graduate and Professor Set to Co-direct Alliance Production

Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, in association with Spelman, will produce "HANDS UP: 7 PLAYWRIGHTS, 7 TESTAMENTS," a series of theatrical shorts that reflect the realities of Black America from the perspective of varying genders, sexual orientations, skin tones and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The production, which is slated to stage this fall at the Alliance Theatre, will be co-directed by Alexis Woodard, C’2020, and Keith Arthur Bolden, assistant professor of theater and performance.

"I have yet to see a show that engages with the Black American experience in a way that is as raw and demanding of the artists and audience as HANDS UP," said Woodard. "This is a piece that everybody needs to experience.  I want to believe when we are confronted with the pain of another human’s experience, it is our natural reaction to respond with empathy and love."

Alumna Overcomes, Achieves Dream by Enrolling in Yale Medical School

As a homeless youth, Chelsea Fearce, C’2017, always dreamed of attending Yale Medical School. Now, not only is Fearce a first-year student at Yale Medical School, she is also pursuing a Ph.D. "I just tried my best to focus on the future and what I had to do," Fearce told Urban News Service
"I also truly believed that education was the most suitable and attainable way for me to get out of a life of poverty." Before enrolling at Spelman, Fearce and her mother moved around Atlanta, sometimes home was an extended-stay hotel, more often it was her mother’s car. Following Spelman, she worked at the National Institutes for Health, researching drugs for neurological and psychiatric disorders. "Attending Spelman was the was the best decision I ever made," said Fearce who aspires to become a child psychologist. "Spelman shaped my life, gave me my best friends and some of the best memories."