Young, Gifted & Black Series
By Taki S. Raton
Kristie and Kirstie Bronner
Spelman College in Atlanta is known in published reports for producing magnificent and extraordinary African American women. So to be a valedictorian at Spelman, as noted in the “Naturally Moi” May 9, 2013 posting, “you have to be the best of the best.”
They are young, gifted, and Black. Kristie and Kirstie Bronner are identical twins who reflect this exemplary profile of the magnificent and extraordinaire. They both emerged in this year’s Spelman’s 126th Commencement exercise held May 19, 2013 at the Georgia International Convention Center as co-valedictorians of their senior graduating class.
“There isn’t much that can separate Kristie and Kirstie,” writes Blayne Alexander in her May 10, 2013 “11 Alive” article. The Bronner sisters “dress alike, share many of the same interest, have an amazing gift for music, and perform with the Spelman College Glee Club.” They are so similar, adds Alexander, that “they even have a few family members who can’t tell them apart.”
The twins, as shared in Alexander’s article, grew up very close. They were home schooled and spent time volunteering in their father’s church. As further revealed in the “11 Alive” posting, “we like the same foods, we like the same movies. It’s easy to choose the same school because we both wanted to come to Spelman,” said Kirstie.
But that almost did not happen. Maureen Downey in “ajc.com” reveals that the Atlanta duo is, in fact, third-generation Spelman graduates.
In their youth, they looked up to their mother, Nina Cobb Bronner, a Spelman ’85 grad and their grandmother, Dorothy Gibson Cobb of Spelman’s 1956 class. The twins, therefore, naturally aspired to continue this Spelman family tradition.
Kirstie, however, changed her mind in high school and wanted to attend a campus with more diversity. Her perspective was favorably influenced towards the Atlanta college when the twins participated in a National Society of High School Scholars campus tour of Spelman during their senior year.
As cited by Downey, “When I heard the whole idea behind Spelman’s mission as ‘a choice to change the world,’ I realized Spelman was the place for me,” said Kirstie. She adds in Downey :
“The experience of being here and hearing that Spelman emphasized leadership, community service, legacy, and changing the world was an affirmation because those things had been instilled in us throughout our lives. It clicked with who I was and made me realize this was a place I needed to be.”
And becoming covaledictorians, “just kind of happened,” said Kristie. “It wasn’t anything where we came together and said ‘we’re going to work towards being valedictorians.’ It was just more so taking it day by day and saying we’re gonna do our best.”
As it turns out, writes Alexander, “their best became exceptional.” Both declared music as their majors. The twins henceforth began to travel every step of their Spelman career together.
“We both have the same drive,” comments Kristie in a May 14, 2013 http://www.atlantablackstar.com/ posting. “We didn’t want to do the same things everybody else did. People would invite us out on school days and we would always say no. We only hung out on the weekends because during the week was the time we just did our work.”
Pushing themselves towards and over the limit began to have its consequences. Ruth Manuel- Logan in “News one for Black America” cites that when Kirstie and Kristie began their freshman year at Spelman, they pushed themselves to the limit to maintain excellent grades, even to the point of making themselves physically ill. Learning quickly from their mistakes, they self-corrected, re-directed, and began to manage their college workload differently in a way that would not negatively affect their health.
“We learned how to have a balance to life and then to be able to appreciate the journey of college and be more healthy and be more happy,” said Kristie.
She additionally shares in Downey that, “We prayed before every homework assignment and before every exam. We can sum up our progress with the saying, ‘Work like it’s all up to you and pray like it’s all up to God.’ Prayer accounts for things you can’t do. What you are able to take responsibility for, do it. Don’t act like God is suppose to do it all for you.”
Kirstie said in “Naturally Moi” that every semester, “we learned something new about life, things we could apply to life, things we could apply to school,” Their relentless, but now balanced work ethic coupled with an uncompromised determination to reach their goals at any cost culminated in the consistent maintenance – by both – of a 4.0 grade point average throughout their college career while juggling Spelman’s College Glee Club and volunteering at their father’s church, Work of Faith Family Worship Cathedral.
The twins also believe as noted in “Naturally Moi” that, “what you know is not as important as how determined you are when it comes to succeeding in both life and academics.”
Quoting their father, Bishop Dale Bronner in Marjua Estevez’s May 13, 2013 ConcreteLoop.com post: “I am extremely proud of them. They have gotten that particular status the old fashion way. Their greatest asset is their discipline. They got their balance from their mother, but they got their discipline from their father.”
In addition to the “Old School” nurturing of their parents, the twins, as described by Estevez, also attribute their success and achievement at Spelman to their dual relationship.
During their junior year, the Bronner twins studied music abroad in Milan, Italy.
Sponsored by the Institute for the International Education of Students, this opportunity, according to Kristie, became “one of the more enriching semesters of my life.” By their senior year, each earned a leadership role with Spelman’s Glee Club – Kirstie as a section leader and student conductor and Kristie as a section leader and chaplain.
“Spelman has emphasized not just the academic side, but the development of the overall person,” said Kristie in Downey. “There is a nurturing environment here that establishes a foundation on which you can stand. It’s been a nurturing environment for my overall growth as a Black woman.”
Their plans now after graduation, citing published reports, are to join the youth ministry of their father’s church and complete a contemporary youth gospel album.
“You don’t have to be the smartest. You don’t have to be the one who came in with the prior knowledge to be the one to succeed,” said Kristie in “Naturally Moi.” “It’s a great testimony and it’s also fun to be able to share it with one another. I don’t think we would want it any other way.”
Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, the campus became Spelman College 89 years ago in 1924.
Spelman has since held the distinction of being America ’s oldest historically Black college for women. Today a global leader in the education of women of African descent, Spelman’s student body is comprised of more than 2,100 students from 41 states and 15 foreign countries.
Noting Web comments, the school empowers women to engage the many cultures of the world and inspires a commitment to positive social change through service.
Spelman is dedicated to academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and the intellectual, creative, ethical and leadership development of their students.
Their highly respected worldwide network upon commencement provides “connections and helping hands” to graduates has they begin on their path of national and global vocations.