Class of 2001 (15th reunion) (L-R) Row 1: Yanira Chevere-Ralston, Tonya Parker, Brandy Morris Kirkwood Row 2: Jessica Drexler, Stacey Burton, Abbie Smoak Lacienski, Melissa Spradley-Slaughter
Wesleyan Celebrates Black History Month The Wesleyan community participated in a monthlong series of events in February celebrating Black History Month, where students had opportunities to engage in special film screenings, musical programs, convocations, group and panel discussions, and offcampus trips to the King Center in Atlanta and to the Harriet Tubman Museum in Macon. The Black Student Alliance sponsored Black History Month activities and partnered with the offices of institutional advancement and alumnae affairs to connect students with alumnae during two convocation events. Wesleyan Trustee Bryndis Roberts ’78, an attorney and partner in the law firm of Jenkins & Roberts LLC in Atlanta, shared life and career lessons with students during a convocation on Black Women in Business. Bryndis is a graduate of the Joseph H. Lumpkin School of Law, University of Georgia.
An interactive alumnae panel discussion focused on Early Days of Integration and gave students a better understanding of the challenges our society and Wesleyan students faced during the time of integration. Panelists included Sonya Tomlinson Holland ’72 and Carolyn McClinton Woodard ’72 of Wesleyan’s First Five. Other panelists included Adriane Kelly Wood ’73, Gail Bacon Ford ’79, Rev. Felecia Pearson Smith ’74, and current Alumna Trustee Dr. Beverly F. Mitchell ’68, a former Wesleyan professor, who served as moderator.
Trustee Bryndis Roberts ’78 gives career advice to students.
Paving the Way.
During Black History Month the College unveiled a plaque honoring Wesleyan’s First Five African-American students from the Class of 1972: Christine Everett, Sonya Tomlinson Holland, Marvette Baldwin Jenkins, Dyleane Tolbert Taylor, and Carolyn McClinton Woodard. The plaque hangs outside the entrance to the Hurdle Café. From left: Alumnae panelists Adriane Wood ’73, Sonya Holland ’72, Carolyn Woodard ’72, Felecia Smith ’74, and Gail Ford ’79 at the unveiling of the First Five plaque.
Wesleyan Magazine Summer 2016