Big Girlz Slumber Party
As a child in Harlem, Paula Williams Madison ’74 never hosted a slumber party in the two-bedroom apartment she shared with her mother and two brothers. Now, as an NBC/Los Angeles television executive, she hosts a “bonding” weekend complete with massages, poolside chats, and free-flowing apple martinis for some of her closest friends.
The annual Big Girlz Slumber Party, or, as the participants also call it, “Spa Madison,” has been held almost every Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend since 1991. While the event includes plenty of girls-night fun, like pajama-clad dancing to the likes of James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and Earth, Wind & Fire, the guests are arguably some of the nation’s most powerful African-American women. Last year’s party of two dozen included Vassar alumnae such as Donna Knight ’74, Sherry Calhoun Sherrell ’74, Pat James Jordan ’72, Al-lyce James ’73, Rachelle Lee Scott ’73, Gwen Salley ’81, Yolanda Sabio ’73 and her daughter Tamar Tate ’95, and Monica Stewart ’75 via telephone from South Africa.
The group recently drew the attention of Real Simple magazine, netting a feature article in the December/January issue. In January, NBC’s Today Show invited the friends to have a slumber party with Katie Couric and share how they’ve maintained their friendships through the years. Jordan was one of the Big Girlz in Studio 1A that morning. She said: “For a couple of hours before the show, we enjoyed hanging out in the famous ‘Green Room,’ and we had a wonderful time with our new friends in the makeup and wardrobe departments—our pajamas were ‘touched up’ as needed! Our appearance allowed us to reflect on our precious relationships and to share our story with viewers around the world. Maybe we’ll induct Katie Couric and have future slumber parties on her set!”
l to r: (back row) NBC’s Katie Couric, Pat James Jordan ’72, NBC’s Ann Curry, Al-lyce James ’73, Maritza Myers; (front row) Donna Knight ’74, Lisa White, Yolanda Sabio ’73, Sherry Bellamy
But the media attention and team of professional masseurs are minor perks compared to the weekend’s grander purpose: Sisterhood. As Madison said in the Real Simple article, “I don’t think there’s an experience that’s deeper or stronger than staying up nights with friends, talking and crying and laughing.” The difficulty of keeping in touch with old friends across the country amidst graduations, job changes, cross-country moves, and divorces was the motivating force behind Madison’s decision to gather her friends at least once a year. This year, in a departure from tradition, the women packed their bags for a 10-day excursion in South Africa to celebrate their reunion, with Stewart serving as host. “I urge everyone,” Madison said, “to get your best friends together and have no agenda but to be there for each other and laugh and talk and cry on each other’s shoulders if you need to. It’s good for your soul.”
Photo credit: Real Simple photo: Thayer Allyson Gowdy; Today Show photo: Courtesy of Pat James Jordan ’72