April 27, 1999		Noted Anthropologist and Author Johnnetta Cole to Deliver Oberlin's Baccalaureate Address Media Contact: Marci Janas
	Sunday, May 30 2 p.m. Finney Chapel (corner of Professor and Lorain streets) Free public event Sponsored by the Oberlin College Office of Chaplains For more information , call the Oberlin College Office of Chaplains at (440) 775-8103		OBERLIN, OHIO--Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole OC '57, former president of Spelman College and nationally acclaimed educator, will present the 1999 baccalaureate address at Oberlin College. The title of her talk, which is based on I Corinthians 13, is ". . . . And the Greatest of These is Love." During Dr. Cole's more than 30 years as an anthropologist, professor, administrator, author, researcher and lecturer, she has been an advocate for people of color and women throughout the world. In 1987 she became the first African-American woman to serve as president of Spelman College since its founding in 1881. During her presidency, Spelman became the first historically black college to receive a number one rating in U.S. News and World Report's annual college issue. In 1997 Dr. Cole joined the faculty of Emory University as Presidential Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Women's Studies and African-American Studies. Dr. Cole majored in sociology at Oberlin and received her A.B. in 1957. She earned the M.A. (1959) and Ph.D. (1967) in anthropology from Northwestern University. She subsequently taught at Washington State University, where she was named Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year; at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst; and at Hunter College, where she was professor of anthropology and director of the Latin American and Caribbean studies program. Her most recent book is Dream the Boldest Dreams (Longstreet Press, 1997). Other books written or edited by Dr. Cole include Conversations: Straight Talk With America's Sister President (1993), Anthropology for the Nineties: Introductory Readings (1988)--used in college and university classrooms throughout the United States--and All American Women: Lines that Divide, Ties That Bind (1986). Her many published articles are reprinted in academic and popular journals. In 1992, Dr. Cole served as a member of President-Elect Bill Clinton's transition team as Cluster Coordinator for Education, Labor and the Arts and Humanities. In 1998, she was appointed by President Clinton to an 11-member commission on the celebration of women in American history. Dr. Cole is an active participant with numerous community, civic and corporate boards and organizations, including The Carter Center of Emory University and The United Way of Metro Atlanta. She is a trustee of Gallaudet University and the Rockefeller Foundation, and also serves on the board of The Center for Research on Women at Wellesley College. Dr. Cole is a director on the corporate boards of Coca-Cola Enterprises, Merck & Co., Inc., and Management and Training Corporation. She has received dozens of honors and awards, the most recent of which are the Eleanor Roosevelt Education Achievement Award, given by the Women's National Democratic Club, the TransAfrica Forum Global Public Service Award and the Dorothy I. Height Dreammaker Award, presented by The National Council of Negro Women. In 1998, the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta renamed one of its Leadership Giving Societies "The Johnnetta B. Cole Society." Forty-one colleges and universities, including Oberlin, have conferred honorary degrees upon her. Dr. Cole is married to Arthur J. Robinson, Jr., She is the mother of three sons and two stepsons.