Source: Spelman College website
Amani R. Holder, '18, of Saint Petersburg, Florida, has earned the title of salutatorian for the class of 2018. And, Kimya Loder, a sociology and international studies major, was one of Spelman's class of 2018 top 10 graduates. Both will be entering doctoral programs next year.
Amani Holder, Spelman '18
Amani Holder was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as a junior and serves as the 2017-2018 vice president of the Spelman College chapter of Psi Chi International Honor Society for psychology. As part of the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program, she has completed an honors thesis and presented her research at local and national conferences. Holder was awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Fellowship and Rachel Robinson International Fellowship to study abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. She also received the Gordon-Zeto & Gates Scholarship to study in Cuenca, Ecuador.
As a Bonner Scholar, Holder served the West End community and beyond completing more than 1,600 hours of service including interning with AmeriCorps, KIPP Strive Academy, Congressman John Lewis, the Behavioral Health Unit of the Fulton County Juvenile Justice Center, and the Center for Black Women’s Wellness.
Holder is also active on campus as the curriculum coordinator for the Insight Initiative, an organization that mentors and teaches life skills to 3rd-5th-grade students at Dunbar Elementary School in Atlanta. Furthermore, she serves as the service event coordinator for Children’s Village Market which works to combat childhood food insecurity in the West End.
Upon graduation, Holder will attend Indiana University to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
Kimya Loder, Spelman '18
Kimya Loder, a Birmingham, Alabama native, chose to attend Spelman because she knew that as a Black woman, there was no other place on earth that could train her to be the socially conscious, global-minded citizen that she aspired to become.
As a Bonner Scholar and Social Justice Fellow who maintained a cumulative 3.89 grade point average, Loder's academic experience has been enhanced by a commitment to social justice and civic engagement. She worked as an advocacy intern for the Atlanta Community Food Bank and a human rights program intern for The Carter Center. After receiving her certification in philanthropic management, Loder advanced her journey in sustainable development and founded Children’s Village Market, which is a student organization dedicated to tackling the issue of child hunger in the West End community of Atlanta.
“I ultimately hope to use my creativity, research, and leadership skills to develop innovative ways to teach the 21st century student to be civically engaged and tackle 21st century problems.
Kimya Loder, Bonner Scholar ‘18”
Loder has received a number of honors and awards including being a member of the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors program, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Beta Delta, and designation as a Bonner Scholar, WEL Scholar and Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow. After graduation, she will plans to purse her Ph.D. in sociology at Stanford University.
She is broadly interested in race, youth, civic engagement, and social movements. Last summer, her research examined the contributions of Black youth activists to the democratic transition of Tunisia, post-Tunisian Revolution of 2010.