AAMA's Ten Year Anniversary

Sankofa is part of the West African Akan language, which, translated literally, means: It is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot.

Sankofa teaches us that we must go back to our roots to move forward. We reach back, gather the best of what our past has to teach us, to achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, preserved, and perpetuated.

Sankofa is expressed as a mythic bird that flies forward while looking backward with an egg (symbolizing the future) in its mouth.

Read testimonials and see pictures from the 10 year anniversary.

In 2006 Mary Baldwin College celebrated the 10th successful year of African-American and Multicultural Affairs (AAMA). In one decade, this office created and expanded programming which celebrates all cultures, including signature programs like Ida B. Wells Society, Umoja House, SOAR, and many student clubs and organizations. Under the direction of the Reverend Andrea Cornett-Scott, associate vice president of student affairs, AAMA has witnessed growth in campus diversity and student excellence in all areas of campus life. In fall 1996, 18.3% of our students were African American, Asian American, Hispanic, Native American, or from other countries. In fall 2005, that collective number was 35.2%. In the 1980s and through the mid 1990s, our African-American student population was less than 3%, and in 2005, it represented 23.1% of all students.

In 2005 , our campus community — Mary Baldwin College’s Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, and students — put our commitment in the form of this pledge:

“We, the community of Mary Baldwin College, strive to celebrate humanity in all its wondrous and complex variation. Because we value diversity, it is our mission to sustain a community where all may flourish. We are safe to embrace our shared experiences and our differences. To this end, we treat all with respect and compassion.”

The theme for the 10th year — A Great Cloud of Witnesses — acknowledged in words, pictures, and events the extraordinary voices of current students and alumnae, as well as those many teachers and friends, who have shared stories and life experiences with our students, to motivate and engage them.