Meet the Spelman Seven: These women will make history as valedictorians together

By Sneha Dhandapani, CNN

Atlanta (CNN) — When one begins to cry, the others move in synchrony. A few shed tears of their own, the rest reach for tissues tucked in purses.

“It’s an emotional time,” Nia-Sarai Perry told CNN. Five years ago, Perry didn’t know if her mother, a breast cancer survivor, would see her graduate. Now, she’s been crowned co-valedictorian.

On Sunday she’ll walk across the stage at Spelman College’s graduation with six women sharing the same title: Aiyana Ringo, Alyssa Richardson, Cori’Anna White, Sophia Davis, Mariama Diallo and Alexis Sims. The Spelman Seven have broken the school’s record for the greatest number of valedictorians in a graduating class, the historically Black college said.

“I love the fact that I don’t have to do this alone,” Perry said. “I hate doing things alone. So of course, I’m not valedictorian alone.”

Walking for those who walked before them

Seated side by side, each graduate proclaims how they’ll jump to the defense of another. It may seem rehearsed, but they haven’t had much time to practice. The Spelman Seven only formed a few weeks ago, but their achievement and sisterhood lay root years ago.

Davis, for one, entered Spelman with a goal of becoming the best, even if she didn’t quite know what that meant to her yet. Ringo wanted to take advantage of her full-ride scholarship. Sims wrote “4.0 GPA” on a color-coded Excel spreadsheet beside a checkbox on a wish list.

Sims didn’t want to put that pressure on herself, she said. One exam, any assignment could jeopardize becoming a valedictorian.

Throughout the four years, Davis wrote her own definition of what it means to be the best: to know when to take time to pour into the people who have poured into her. Similarly, when she graduates Sunday, the group won’t stand on that stage alone, Davis said. They’ll stand for hundreds – their mothers, fathers, siblings, and ancestors.

“It is all of the people that have poured into us,” Davis said. “This is all of the forces, all of the love, all of the companionship that has gotten us to this moment.”

Davis is pursuing research in music, art and the environment. Sims, who finally checked off that box, aspires to be a lawyer. Richardson is a prospective doctor. White, who will begin law school this fall, described the valedictorians’ budding success as a celebration of Black excellence.

“Especially in a time in which we as Black women are facing so much plight … we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams and that we’re making the difference and choice to change the world.”

Empowerment in sisterhood

Sims said she divulges her troubles to Perry when the two “hold court,” whether it’s in a parking lot or the school cafeteria. Once, at the end of her junior year, Perry told Sims about an A minus, which would break her 4.0 record.

“I was just done,” Perry said. “Just get me across the stage.”

Sims reminded Perry of how hard she’d worked for the past three years.

“‘Nia, this small little finish, like you are so, so close to something that is so meaningful,’” Sims said.

She encouraged Perry to retake the class she’d earned a 93 in – a move that decided her valedictorian status.

Over the years, the valedictorians described how they’ve received glimpses of one another across campus. Diallo said White once unknowingly cheered her on through a creative rut. That night, Diallo went home and cried about how White gave her the “energy” she needed, she said.

This week, the valedictorians have showered one another with flowers and praise.

“I can’t wait until we’re future lawyers, future executives, future musicians, future directors, future doctors, in which we’re able to call each other, go to each other’s weddings, each other’s baby showers, because this is a lifelong commitment,” White said.

A decade ago, Diallo and Davis took the bus together in Brooklyn, New York. They were two of the only Black girls at an academically rigorous middle school.

This week, the girls traced how challenging it had been to be “young people that didn’t quite always fit into these environments that we were growing up in,” Davis said. When Davis was asked if she was surprised to see Diallo become valedictorian beside her, the Spelman Seven all laughed in unison.

“I was not surprised,” Davis said. “This was a long time coming.”

The competitiveness and achievement of this graduating class is no surprise to Chelsea Holley, Spelman’s director of admissions. When they applied to the all-women’s college, the number of applicants shot up, resulting in an acceptance rate that dropped from 50% to 28%, she said.

“Some of the top HBCUs around the country are really seeing increased applications, increased visibility,” Holley said. She added that former Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to attend Howard University also helped raise interest in HBCUs.

The sisterhood within the Spelman Seven is what Richardson wanted when she applied to Spelman, she said.

“What I experienced was not a one-off, that Spelman can repeat this over and over and over again, that we can continue to be this machine that pushes out changemakers in the world,” Richardson said. “Future sisters, break our record. I want more and more and more.”

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