Michelle Hite, Ph.D

Program Director

Office | 404-270-5664
Fax | 404-270-5666
Email | MHite@spelman.edu

Michelle S. Hite, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of English at Spelman College, where she also directs the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program and prestigious international fellowships.  Her teaching and research interests in death and mourning in African American Culture, Southern Studies, and Toni Morrison support the Literary and Textual Studies concentration in the major.

Dr. Hite’s most recent publications use Beyonce and rapper Andre Benjamin to explore death and mourning in African American culture. Her most recent meditation on Toni Morrison appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the author’s passing. She can also be heard discussing the cultural impact of Morrison’s loss in conversation with NPR’s Rose Scott. Dr. Hite’s manuscript, Toni Morrison and Portraits of Human Richness is currently under contract with McFarland Press.

Ariana Benson, M.F.A.

Assistant Program Director

Office | 404-270-5664
Fax | 404-270-5666
Email | arianabenson@spelman.edu

Ariana Benson (she/they) is a southern Black poet born in Norfolk, Virginia. Their debut collection, Black Pastoral (University of Georgia Press, 2023), won the 2022 Cave Canem Poetry Prize.

Benson has received the Furious Flower Poetry Prize, the Porter House Review Poetry Prize, and the 2021 Graybeal-Gowen Prize for Virginia Poets. Benson is the winner of a 2023 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship. Her poems and essays appear or are forthcoming in Poetry magazine, Ploughshares, Poem-a-Day, The Yale Review, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere.

Benson is a proud alumna of Spelman College, where she facilitates creative writing and storytelling workshops for HBCU students. She strives to fashion vignettes of Blackness that speak to its infinite depth and richness in her writing.

Cynthia Cooke

Program Coordinator

Office | 404-270-5665
Fax | 404-270-5666
Email | ccooke@spelman.edu

Cynthia Cooke has been an employee of Spelman College since 1992. She has given excellent service to the Honors Program since 2006, first as the Senior Administrative Assistant and now as the Program Coordinator. Before that, she was instrumental in the creation of one of the College’s core requirements, African Diaspora and the World. Also during her years here, she worked with the Spelman College Nursery. Working with the Honors students has become a major source of pride for her. Seeing the young ladies come in as fledgling seekers and leaving as independent scholars have provided her with continuous fulfillment. Cynthia has a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Georgia State University.

 

The 2025-2026 E-Board

Mackenzie Hickson

President

Mackenzie Hickson is a 4th-year Health Science major, Comparative Women’s Studies minor, from Austin, Texas! This is Mackenzie’s 4th year on the Executive Board, previously serving as the Co-Community Service Chair and First Year Liaison. 

 

 

Catherine Omeh

Vice President

 

 

Gabi Harris

Secretary

Gabi Harris is a 4th-year Comparative Women’s Studies and Political Science major from Richmond, Virginia. This is Gabi’s 3rd year on the Executive Board.

 

 

 

Jayda Harris

Co-Publicity Chair

Jayda Harris is a 4th-year Health Science major from Baltimore, Maryland. This is Jayda’s 2nd year on the Executive Board.

 

 

 

Logan Smith

Co-Publicity Chair

Logan Smith is a 4th-year Health Science major from Anderson, South Carolina. This is Logan’s 2nd year on the Executive Board.

 

 

 

Eniola Omogbai

Publicity Intern

Eniola Omogbai! Eniola is a 3rd-year Biology major, Public Health minor, from Lagos, Nigeria. This is Eniola’s 1st year on the Executive Board.

 

 

 

Micah Fleming

Co-Community Service Chair

Micah Fleming is a 2nd-year Political Science major, English minor, from Inglewood, California. This is Micah’s 1st year on the Executive Board.

 

 

 

Skylar Codie

Co-Community Service Chair

Skylar Codie is a 1st-year Biology major, Psychology minor, from Atlanta, Georgia. This is Skylar’s 1st year on the Executive Board.

 

 

 

Blair Moore

Co-Social Chair

 Blair Moore is a 3rd-year English major, Dance Choreography & Entrepreneurship minor, from Oakland, California. This is Blair’s 2nd year on the Executive Board.

 

 

 

Sophia Wade

Co-Social Chair

Sophia Wade is a 2nd-year Political Science major, Spanish minor, from Portland, Oregon. This is Sophia’s 2nd year on the Executive Board, previously serving as the First-Year Liason.

 

 

 

Jayda Hendrickson

Archives Chair

Jayda Hendrickson is a 4th- year International Studies major, Food Studies & Comparative Women’s Studies minor, from McDonough, Georgia. This is Jayda’s 2nd year on the Executive Board, previously serving as the Co-Social Chair.

 

 

Adrianna Morton

Archives Intern

Adrianna Morton is a 3rd-year Sociology major, Public Health & Writing minor, from Prince George’s County, Maryland. This is Adrianna’s 1st year on the Executive Board.

 

 

 

Jordyn Smalls

Upperclasswoman Liaison 

Jordyn Smalls is a 4th-year Biology major from Atlanta, Georgia. This is Jordyn’s 2nd year on the Executive Board.

 

 

 

Flora Clampet

First-Year Liaison

Flora Clampet is a 1st-year Political Science major, History minor, from Hoboken, New Jersey. This is Flora’s 1st year on the Executive Board.