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Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell Announces Virtual Founders Day Celebrations
The College’s transition to a virtual learning environment in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic will not halt annual Founders Day celebrations. During a virtual town hall, Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., Spelman president, announced that plans are underway for the College to host virtual festivities on April 11, the College’s 139th anniversary. Plans for the celebration include a virtual convocation, a virtual tea party and other events. The town hall was the first in a series of efforts by Dr. Campbell and members of senior leadership to ensure ongoing connectivity with the community. Topics discussed included the impact of the College's transition to online learning on students and faculty, as well as updates on refunds for tuition, fees and room and board. More than 800 members of the Spelman community including faculty, students, staff, alumnae and parents attended the event, which was recorded and can be viewed on Spelman.edu. Please continue to visit the Coronavirus Update and FAQs page for more information.

Spelman Technology Services Helps Community Make the Virtual Learning Transition
Had it not been for the guidance of members of the Spelman Technology Services staff, transitioning to remote learning would have been almost impossible for Soraya M. Mekerta, Ph.D., associate professor of French and Francophone Studies. After more than two hours of training from Spelman’s technology instructor, Brian Williamson, Dr. Mekerta developed the confidence she needed to teach her classes, which include African Diaspora and the World, Intermediate French, and a cinema class focused on revolutionary strategies and violent resistance. After the first day of online instruction, Dr. Mekerta shared the joy she and her students felt interacting again. "In a true spirit of togetherness, we agreed to help each other out, to check on each other, to teach one another, to learn from one another and to work together," she said. "Our ultimate goal was/is to leave no one behind and for all to succeed." To date, the Instructional Technology and Design group has formally trained about 110 professors through virtual Zoom sessions. In addition, Williamson trained an additional 15 professors during the first week of distance learning. For most professors, teaching online is new and so is the concept of hosting a Zoom meeting, said Williamson. However, while there have been a few hiccups, Spelman’s response has overshadowed them all. "Through this COVID shutdown, all I have seen here at Spelman is everyone showing each other love and giving each other support. To see the love and support that everyone at Spelman has given each other has truly been something to behold," he said. "I have seen teachers give support to other teachers, students give support to other students and students help technology challenged professors through their Zoom sessions. To me, that says more than anything."

Campus Highlights
Spelman Remembers the Lives and Legacies of Community Members and Influencers
Spelman remembers the lives and legacies of civil rights champion and Spelman National Community Service Award recipient the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, Ph.D., Spelman alumna Ernestine Mann, C’57, and artist David Driskell. Called the "Dean of the Civil Rights Movement," Dr. Lowery, 98, died on Friday, March 27. He was a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with the Rev. Martin Luther King. Mann, recipient of the 2017 Spelman College Founders Spirit Award, was a retired educator and past NAASC Atlanta Chapter president. She died Sunday, March 29 at the age of 84. Driskell, whose innovative art and scholarship centered African American art history and changed the discipline forever, was founder of the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland. He died Wednesday, April 1, at the age of 88.

Alumnae Highlights
Alumna Leads San Diego County in COVID-19 Response
As San Diego County’s Public Health Officer, Dr. Wilma Wooten, C’78, has been responsible for developing countywide policies and guidance in response to COVID-19. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considered COVID-19 a serious public health threat in early March, and the risk to the general public low, Dr. Wooten assessed that a change could happen at any time, and that the coronavirus was a global issue that would remain fluid. From banning mass gatherings of more than 250 people as defined by the state of California, to advising local business owners and operators on March 12, Dr. Wooten helped lead a calculated and organized response to the virus. "The virus inevitably will continue to spread for some time. We must be prepared for an imminent outbreak," she wrote in a memo to area business owners. "We are all in this together with one singular mission, to protect the public and prevent the spread of this virus."

Events
 


Virtual Town Hall

April 10
Good Friday

April 11
Virtual Founders Day

April 12
Easter

Spelman Scenes
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