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Hearing from 3 of our first five during Alumnae Weekend

Alumnae Weekend provided a perfect venue for a panel discussion featuring three of Wesleyan’s First Five Black graduates from the Class of 1972 as they celebrated their 50th class reunion. Christine Everett, Sonya Tomlinson Holland, and Dyleane Tolbert Taylor were overwhelmed with the tremendous turnout they received from alumnae and friends.

A new award for students who self-identify as Black and/or of Black descent was created by Sisters of the First Five (SOFF), an affinity group for Black alumnae. During the Annual Meeting, Najah Yasin Webb ’13, SOFF interim president, announced the establishment of the new award honoring the First Five. Jan Lawrence, president of the Wesleyan College Alumnae Association, also announced a gift from the Association to the new award. The WCAA presented these courageous women who integrated Wesleyan College in 1968 with a piece of Wesleyan china. The First Five Black women to graduate from Wesleyan were not only trailblazers, they were changemakers. Amid the racism and inequity of the 60s and 70s, they integrated Wesleyan, founded the first Black Student Alliance chapter on campus, and built bridges between people of color at Mercer University and surrounding Middle Georgia schools.

Today Wesleyan has one of the most diverse student bodies in the country and that is one of our greatest treasures. Not in attendance: Marvette Baldwin Jenkins and Carolyn McClinton Woodard.

 

 

SOFF Announces new student award in honor of Wesleyan's First Five

Alumnae Weekend provided a perfect venue for a panel discussion featuring three of Wesleyan’s First Five Black graduates from the Class of 1972 as they celebrated their 50th class reunion. Christine Everett, Sonya Tomlinson Holland, and Dyleane Tolbert Taylor were overwhelmed with the tremendous turnout they received from alumnae and friends.

Afterward, Christine hosted a book signing for her book Prayers of Praise, and contributed all proceeds from sales to a new award for students who self-identify as Black and/or of Black descent created by Sisters of the First Five (SOFF), an affinity group for Black alumnae. During the Annual Meeting, Najah Yasin Webb ’13, SOFF interim president, announced the establishment of the new award honoring the First Five. Jan Lawrence, president of the Wesleyan College Alumnae Association, also announced a gift from the Association to the new award. The WCAA presented these courageous women who integrated Wesleyan College in 1968 with a piece of Wesleyan china. The First Five Black women to graduate from Wesleyan were not only trailblazers, they were changemakers. Amid the racism and inequity of the 60s and 70s, they integrated Wesleyan, founded the first Black Student Alliance chapter on campus, and built bridges between people of color at Mercer University and surrounding Middle Georgia schools.

Today Wesleyan has one of the most diverse student bodies in the country and that is one of our greatest treasures. Not in attendance: Marvette Baldwin Jenkins and Carolyn McClinton Woodard.

                

 

How I Became One of the First of Five Black Americans to Graduate from Wesleyan College

BY SONYA TOMLINSON HOLLAND, Class of 1972

One of the former music staff members at Wesleyan College was a well-respected friend of my mother’s family. My mother was from Macon, and she was very familiar with the Wesleyan campus. Marvette Baldwin and I were classmates at Henry McNeil Turner High School and we participated in the Governor’s Honors program which took place on the campus of Wesleyan College. After our experience in Governor’s Honors, we each received music scholarships to return to Wesleyan. Marvette was the daughter of Betty Baldwin Pleasure, one of the first members of the Atlanta Symphony Chorale, directed by the late Robert Shaw. Marvette was blessed with a four-octave range. She inherited that singing talent from her mother who had a beautiful voice. Both of us were in the Atlanta Public School system Chorale and auditioned in our senior year of high school. We both participated in the Turner High School chorus. I recall the beautiful Wesleyan College campus from our Governors Honors program experience. My mother’s family friend, Dr. Jelks, encouraged me to return to Wesleyan College to matriculate as a music student. I fondly recall a graduation gift from Dr. Jelks - a beautiful China set with a picture of the old Wesleyan College campus printed on it. I treasure it to this day.

I have some memories from my time on campus – specifically, that my education classes and the Modern Dance instructor were my favorites. My most memorable moment still lives in my memory every time I pass the Fountain. I have very pleasant memories of that fountain because when we were at the Governor’s Honors program, we had to shake the hand of then-sitting Governor Lester Maddox. I will never forget that occasion.

The Caucasian students in the program were very bright; many of them were future MENSA students and had extremely high IQ’s. They felt sorry for the 14 Black students that we had to endure the insult of shaking the Governor’s hand. The evening after we shook his hand, hundreds of our sympathetic peers gathered around the fountain, surrounding us Black students, for a “cleansing of the hands” ceremony. So, every time I pass the marble Fountain today, I smile. It is a very pleasant memory for me. On campus, when we had our Black Student Alliance photo taken for the yearbook, I suggested that we pose around the marble fountain. The younger students were unaware of why I selected that location for the photo.

A lot of the students don’t realize that the original name of the “Sisters of the First Five” was the Black Student Alliance and why it was formed. The Mercer University students came over to our campus upset because they heard that Wesleyan was also experiencing “Old South Day.” They had the same event on their campus. They realized that students had come over on the Wesleyan Campus dressed in Confederate soldier uniforms, carrying sabers to pick up their Wesleyan Belles, wearing full antebellum hoop skirts and carrying parasols. They locked their arms and walked as couples under the arched sabers. This was shocking to me - very shocking to the Black students. We were upset, but we didn’t know how to deal with it. Our Mercer peers came over when they found out it happened. Fortunately, the Black students could talk to Dr. Strickland. So, in all his wisdom, Dr. Strickland and the president of Mercer joined forces and banned that activity on both campuses. This was very wise on both Presidents and helped to keep the conflict down. To this day, “Old South Day” is not campus-sanctioned on either campus.

If I could give the current students at Wesleyan College any advice, I would say to them to be very careful of your words and your thoughts, because you never can tell how - 50 years from now - they’ll come back and haunt you.