‘Dr. and Mrs. Bill’ Give $20 Million to Atlanta College

--In a serious moment, comedian Bill Cosby and his wife, Camille, have given $20 million to Spelman College, a predominantly black women’s college in Atlanta. The largest single contribution ever to a black college was announced during installation ceremonies for new Spelman President Dr. Johnetta B. Cole, the first black woman to hold the post at the 107-year-old liberal arts college. “Mrs. Cosby and I wanted this woman (Cole) to know how much we love this school,” said Cosby, who has a doctorate in education. About $12 million of the donation will be used to build an academic center that will double the college’s existing classroom space. The new building also will house a women’s research center. The remaining $8 million will go to the college’s endowment and be used to establish teaching chairs. Cole said: “Our gratitude to Dr. Bill and Sister Camille is not going to be demonstrated with the words we say now, but with the care in which we handle this trust.” One of the Cosbys’ daughters attended Spelman, where episodes of the TV series “The Cosby Show” have been filmed.

--Britain’s legal Establishment is willing to forgive and forget. The late Indian independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi has been reinstated as a lawyer by the Inner Temple, one of the four Inns of Court with exclusive right to call lawyers to the English Bar, which disbarred him in 1922. Gandhi, who protested British colonial rule with passive resistance, was imprisoned in India several times in the 1920s and was disbarred. “I believe people weren’t used to the idea of the revolting dominions, colonies, seeking their independence in that way,” Patrick Sheehan of the legal society said. Gandhi died in 1948.

--Christmas cards found in the Paris mansion of the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor counter reports of a continuing feud between the British royal family and the couple. Queen Mother Elizabeth sought to heal the rift caused by the abdication of King Edward VIII, who became the Duke of Windsor, Britain’s Press Association reported. Correspondent Tom Corby, who examined the cards, said that before the duke’s death in 1972 there appeared to be a reconciliation. He cited a 1968 card in which the Queen Mother sent her “best wishes . . . with my love.”