Dr. Tatum was perfectly content with just being a Psychology professor. Then she became a department chair, a dean, a vice president for student affairs and then a college president — twice.
President emerita and psychologist Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum held her first event for her new book, “Perils of Promise”, at Spelman College, where she served as the institution’s ninth president from 2002 to 2015. In a conversation with WABE’s award-winning journalist Rose Scott, she revisited her former campus to discuss the book.
As she brainstormed ideas for a writing project, two ideas emerged: an update on her New York Times bestseller “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” and an inside account of her experience leading a college. She attempted to start writing the book twice, first in 2015, after leaving Spelman and again before the COVID-19 pandemic struck the nation.
In her third attempt, in the fall of 2023, amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Dr. Tatum noted that she received calls from people who were uncertain about navigating the situation. Dr. Tatum, in turn, thought people needed what she thought of as an “insider’s guide to higher education.” Her audience, however, wouldn’t just be for prospective leaders of these institutions, but parents, faculty and students alike.
“If you’re sitting at home thinking, where should my high school senior be thinking about school, how are we going to pay for it? How does financial aid work? Why does college cost so much? — Those are some of the questions I answered,” Tatum said.
Dr. Tatum emphasized the need for conscious leadership in times like the current ones.
“Think about the state of our democracy at this rule. We need people who have an understanding of history, who recognize history while it’s repeating, who are able to think critically about the social challenges that are part of our democratic moment,” she said.
Throughout “Perils of Promise”, Dr. Tatum reimagines the future of institutional leadership and encourages leading with courage and imagination. In this context, she pulls references from President Truman’s post-World War II plan for higher education.
The conversation wrapped with a segment on joy, in which Dr. Tatum shared powerful advice given to her: “The job is hard, and yet you will do a lot for your lover.”
In some of the experiences she shares, she tells this sentiment to be true. As a self-proclaimed “naturally introverted person,” she had to get creative with ways to connect with students. She would invite seniors over on Sundays for cookies and had once requested a student who worked for the Communications department to teach her how to “do Twitter.”
“I didn’t want to be shaking hands with strangers,” she said.
In closing, Dr. Tatum shared what ultimately called her to lead Spelman College upon learning about her presidential nomination, starting when a consultant asked her to consider the role.
“How could I even think about it if I’ve never been there?” she said.
Dr. Tatum landed in Atlanta on a sunny Friday afternoon in January. Upon arrival on campus —“which was very lively,” she added— the first thing she did was stick her head into Sisters Chapel and was immediately invited by a warm sense of peace. However, that was not what sold her.
“Then I went to the admissions office and asked for a brochure, and on the back of this brochure, there was a description of what happens to Spelman women when they come to Spelman. How they’re transformed by the educational experience and then how they step on the Oval, then through the arch as alumni entering the wider world to really make a difference,” Tatum said.
She took the brochure home and showed it to her husband, who, upon reading it, told her that it sounded like something she wrote, and if she didn’t pursue it, she’d always regret it. The brochure ultimately sealed the deal.
“So the presidential burden of responsibility was offset by the joy of shared accomplishment and the knowledge that Spelman was, and still is, a strong beacon of opportunity for the next generation of powerful women [in her novel],” Tatum said.
As Dr. Tatum predicts, the challenges may remain the same, but in shaping leaders of these institutions, there are many reasons for joy.
“Life will give you, every day, a means for concern. That describes a president’s job, for sure. But each day, there are reasons for joy, and if you can find them, you can maintain your own spirit and that spirit of those around you as well,” she said.
