This is what Shirley Wilcher said to the newly minted alumane
Address to the Graduates of Mount Holyoke College, Class of 2018
To the trustees, President Stephens, Leader Pelosi, faculty,
fellow honorees and dear graduates: thank you for inviting me back to this
wonderful campus. I am humbly and deeply
honored to be among such outstanding and accomplished individuals. I can’t believe I am here.
In the fall of 1969, I began my college career at Mount
Holyoke, choosing to come here instead of other outstanding women’s colleges
because the students and administrators were genuinely welcoming and the campus
was beautiful. Being a student here also
enabled me to pursue my love of language and philosophy as well as to
participate in the Chamber Singers, where we spent the summer of 1972 on a
European tour! What an opportunity!
The late 1960s was a time of explosive turmoil after the
assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It was a time of student unrest and takeovers. At that time African American students across
the nation called for black studies and a house where we could support each
other. In the spring of 1970 there was even
more unrest against the Vietnam War and colleges and universities nationwide observed
a moratorium to reflect on the implications of this war.
At Mount Holyoke my class boasted one of the largest numbers
of African American students. We came
from Roxbury/Dorchester, Southside Chicago, Washington, DC; Brooklyn, Memphis
and Los Angeles. We were bright and
capable and intellectually curious and we were good. And as I told Senator Nancy Kassebaum years
later, many of us are now physicians and lawyers. In the audience today are three of my
“sisters”: Deborah Northcross ’73; Mindy Lewis ’75 (MHC Trustee); and Judge
Rhynette Northcross ’71 (MHC Trustee). That
is what giving a group of young people, many of whom were unfamiliar with the
bucolic landscape and more privileged community in South Hadley an invitation. I knew nothing about demitasse and milk and
cookies was not part of my evening routine.
I am after all, the daughter of jazz musicians and was raised until the
age of 12 by a grandmother whose life choices were limited by being black,
female and having only a second-grade education. She had to leave school to take care of her
13 brothers and sisters. But she was brilliant in her own unique way and she
supported my love of school – an opportunity she was denied.
It was during my first semester senior year in Paris that I
made the decision to pursue a career in civil rights. France has many political parties. We learned literature and philosophy from a
French perspective and we were shaken from our complacency about life in the
USA. We learned that the American world
view was not universally held. We also learned that there was much work to be
done at home to make our nation what it could be.
So, while my parents were jazz musicians, I chose to be an
activist and follow the footsteps of my Uncle who changed his name to Marcus
Garvey Wilcher. Civil rights was my passion, my mission and my career. After attending graduate school and law
school, I went to Washington, DC to work for the National Women’s Law Center,
which was on the cutting edge of Title IX litigation. In my career in Washington, I have worked in
the executive branch, the legislative branch and the fifth estate: the advocacy
organizations.
One of the highlights of my career was receiving the key to
the city of Birmingham, Alabama, at the Civil Rights Museum when I worked for
the Department of Labor. My grandmother
migrated to Akron, Ohio from Alabama, and I often think if she was watching
when her little girl was receiving the key to the city. I hope she is here now.
You need more than youthful enthusiasm to succeed in this
world. You need to understand power, not
only political power, i.e., the power of coalitions and the power of the vote,
but also the power of relationships, both in the workplace and beyond. Most importantly, you need to understand the
power within yourself.
You need to have a vision and the strength to achieve that
vision through hard work. You must also have
an unshakable faith in yourself.
You need to know that you share with the Creator an ability
to create your reality. Where there are
obstacles, just say no, as Nancy
Reagan once said. Be undeterred. Fight against personal oppression as well as
systemic, societal oppression. To a
great extent, remember that you control your life and you control your
future. Believe that.
We have entered an era where standards of decency have been
upended and the rights we fought so hard to establish are being dismantled. We
are at a crossroads; we will be either destroyed by the fear of change and of
“the other” or we will rise stronger together as a society and a civilization
because of our diversity.
I believe that you were born at this time to challenge us to
take the latter path. You are shaking
the culture of sexism and racism, the tolerance of sexual assault and
homophobia, and the hate and bias that is infecting our college campuses and
our workplaces. You are standing for a
future that rejects tribalism and oppression, religious intolerance and the
freedom to simply be your beautiful selves.
When I look out at you I am assured that one day we will be a human race.
In addressing a group of students in the Youth March to
Integrate the Schools, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. said:
As June approaches, with its
graduation ceremonies and speeches, a thought suggests itself. You will hear
much about careers, security, and prosperity. I will leave the discussion of
such matters to your deans, your principals, and your valedictorians. But I do
have a graduation thought to pass along to you. Whatever career you may choose
for yourself—doctor, lawyer, teacher—let me propose an avocation to be pursued
along with it. Become a dedicated
fighter for civil rights. Make it a central part of your life.
It will make you a better doctor, a
better lawyer, a better teacher. It will enrich your spirit as nothing else
possibly can.... Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle
for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater Nation
of your country, and a finer world to live in[1]
I believe in you. I salute you. I wish you all the
best.
I thank you.
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