Reignite Nylah's Journey at Spelman College

My name is Nylah DeCohen, an upcoming third year Photography Major with a minor in Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the Illustrious Spelman College.

On August 1st, I released a

letter explaining my drop of registration from Spelman College due to financial difficulties. The letter explains exactly how difficult this process has been for me & my family due to a lack of organization on the Spelman College Administration’s part & that due to a lack of time & finances, I would be unable to continue my education at this institution.

After receiving many messages from other students & particularly meeting with a student about the situation, I have decided to raise money to try to re-admit before classes start on August 21st, & the late registration deadline of August 30th.

During my matriculation at Spelman College I have dealt with a number of hardships. These hardships are included but not limited to:

Freshman year: Cafeteria Disorganization & lack of cleanliness (bugs/hair in food, improper labeling, lack of diversity in alternative food options)

Sophomore year: Housing Problems (Over admittance of incoming students, off campus housing in high crime areas with bad management)

While I do understand the lack of time, Spelman is not a dream that I can give up easily due to a couple of “no’s”.

Coming from a place where no’s have never stopped me, I will not allow the administration's inability to take care of their beloved students stop me from doing exactly what God brought me to do.

I will attach the letter in full as well to provide more context & I do hope that I can get as much support as possible, thank you.

Letter Details : “

I do apologize for my mini social media abscence this past week, for unfortunately it was filled some unfortunate events.

Over the past month my mother & I have been fighting the uphill battle of figuring out how I would continue my college education at the illustrious Spelman College. As some of you may know I was accepted into 20 different schools with over 30,000 dollars in scholarships combined. Even with multiple schools back home promising little to no debt if I chose to attend, I chose Spelman College because of the entity that it is. Not knowing much about the engulfing presence that are HBCU’s, when I started my college search I longed for the feeling of being apart of something greater than me. I had heard of all these schools that were good at one thing but never heard much of anything else.

Growing up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, I went to school with the same people from kindergarten to the 12th grade. The only sky scrapers in the city were in our Town Center & the night life only existed in our neighboring cities like Norfolk. Life was simple & quiet & the same every day. For some people this was perfect, it was a calm, & secure life.

For me, I was restless & bored & in search of something much much more. School had always been easy, my goals were always growing, I did 50+ hours of community service a year, while having a part time job, being a student athlete & maintaining a 3.5+ GPA. I was the overachieving golden child who always had something going for her & yet I was bored.

I spent my free time watching college move ins, hbcu tours, day in the lives & any other video on youtube that could give me an idea of what the life of an hbcu student looked like. I involuntarily spent my weekends watching my father relive band camp rehearsals & reminisce on his days playing with Jackson State University while noticing the undeniable feeling that he’d never be able to do it again after dropping out due to the cost.

These years of watching & watching only grew what felt like the necessity of going to an hbcu. Needing to be moved with memories the way my father was, needing the academic challenge it seemed I could never get, needing the network & the intellectual stimulation that came from conversing with people from places I’d never been too, needing to make a difference in others lives in a way I didn’t even know was possible.

It was my biggest dream & goal & I achieved it. I got in to Spelman around January of 2022 while at work & ran around the entire grocery store to tell everyone. I was a kid on christmas who got the gift they prayed to santa for. It showed me that I could do whatever I put my mind to, whatever I dreamed I could make it a reality.

It is my very unfortunate & sad reality that I had to give that dream up. Going into my Junior year at Spelman with a plan on how I would make this year my year. Going into the year coming out of the shadows to stamp my name & my presence on campus. Going into the year with a job &y first apartment & my first car after spending months house hopping with my best friend & walking to work & scraping up whatever dollars I could to eat & buy school supplies. This was going to be my year.

The feeling creeped up on me at first & as the days melted into each other, the deadline to have tuition paid jumped in front of my face. The loans were denied & between the academic deans, financial aid & student accounts we had an email thread that spanned over a month. We exhausted every possible resource & outlet other gofundme, in which by the time we realized we could do it, it was too late.

I want you to say thank you in advance to all the kind words & support, for this is not the end but rather the turning of a new leaf & a reminder to hold HBCUs accountable for the hardships they bring their students.”