March 22: Spelman Remembers One of Its Greatest Treasures, Danny Flanigan Jr.

Spelman Remembers One of Its Greatest Treasures, Danny Flanigan Jr.

The Spelman College community celebrates the life and legacy of Robert "Danny" Flanigan Jr., who passed away on Wednesday, March 17, 2021.

The funeral services for Flanigan will be held at 11 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, at Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Home. The service will also be available by live stream on the Levett website and through Vimeo.

For 50 years, Flanigan served Spelman faithfully. He began his tenure at the College in 1970 as assistant to the business manager. During his career he served six Spelman presidents and progressed rapidly from assistant to the business manager to treasurer. At the time of his death, he had risen to the level of Spelman’s executive vice president, treasurer and chief investment officer.

Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., reflected on what Flanigan meant to the College in a letter to the community.

"Over the years, I found that I could bring any problem to his doorstep. Danny was one of my most trusted advisors," Dr. Campbell wrote. "Spelman has been fortunate to have had a string of successful presidents. And each and every one of us knows that none of us could have succeeded to the extent that we did without Danny’s wisdom, guidance and ability to tell it to us straight, with infinite love for the institution he served so well."

Tributes for Flanigan are being collected and shared on Spelman.edu.

Spelman’s Next ‘Courageous Conversations’ to feature Alumna Stacey Abrams

Stacey Abrams, C'95, will be the featured speaker of the next Spelman virtual series, "Courageous Conversations: Black in the C-Suite."

A political leader, voting rights activist and New York Times best-selling author, Abrams will join Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 1 p.m. EDT, to discuss her professional and personal journey.

After serving for 11 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, and seven as Democratic Leader, Abrams became the first Black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States, and she was the first Black woman and first Georgian to deliver a Response to the State of the Union. Abrams launched Fair Fight to ensure every American has a voice in our election system through programs such as Fair Fight 2020, an initiative to fund and train voter protection teams in 20 battleground states.

Abrams received Spelman's 2018-19 Local Community Service Award and an honorary degree from the College in 2017. The author of eight novels under the pen name Selena Montgomery, her latest novel, "While Justice Sleeps," will be released in May 2021.

To register, or for more information, visit Spelman.edu.

Spelman Joins in Launch of Taskforce on Higher Education and Opportunity

Spelman’s President Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., recently joined higher education leaders from across the country to launch the Taskforce on Higher Education and Opportunity.

Made up of leaders from public, private, two-year and four-year institutions, the Taskforce intends to address challenges that disproportionately impact students of color, including the coronavirus pandemic, income inequality, the changing nature of work and the rise of unemployment among recent college graduates.

"As an institution born out of the will to create a space for Black women to access education, Spelman is proud to join in the effort to develop solutions to the inequities that could hinder the success of our graduates," said Dr. Campbell. "Statistically, Spelman students have exceeded the national six-year graduation rate for Black students by 30 percent. Through this task we have been able to work collectively to identify a range of strategies that will help them reach their fullest potential, while disrupting the trends that seek to postpone their progress."

Members of the Taskforce will focus on three key goals: ensuring student success despite the recession, partnering with local communities and reimagining how higher education is delivered.

To learn more about the Taskforce and member institutions, visit taskforceonhighered.org.

Department of Psychology Hosts Second Successful Regional Conference

Spelman’s psychology department recently sponsored the Southeastern Teaching of Psychology conference for the second year.

Established in 1989 by Kennesaw State University’s Department of Psychology, SETOP provides faculty the opportunity to share scholarship and innovative pedagogies, network with colleagues committed to high-quality teaching and re-charge their teaching efforts.

Rihana Mason C’99, chair of the Committee on the Equality of Professional Opportunity, a subcommittee of the Southeastern Psychological Association, was among the conference keynote speakers.

This year, the Butler Poster Award, named for B. LaConyea Butler, Ph.D., Spelman psychology professor emerita, was presented to Kayoung Kim, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Tennessee State University.

Spelman Alumna Featured on Nasdaq Tower

Lybra Clemons, C'95, the first chief diversity, inclusion and belonging officer at Twillo, joined 13 women leaders on the New York Times Square Nasdaq Tower in recongnition of International Women's Day.

The feature was part of Pledge 1%'s effort to promote its #WomenWhoLead campaign, a series celebrating women who are paving the way for the next generation.

Clemons has 15 years of experience in diversity and inclusion. She is highly recognized for advising global organizations on diversity and inclusion programs, implementing corporate strategies that result in stronger retention and higher engagement, and building high-performance teams.

Prior to joining Twillo, a leading cloud communications platform, Clemons was the global head of diversity and inclusion at PayPal, where she was responsible for overseeing and managing all global diversity initiatives, including developing a framework for diversity talent analytics, engagement and recruitment. She has also held senior-level diversity and inclusion roles at Morgan Stanley and American Express.