Irma R. Willson

Sometime between 1965-1966, Irma Willson (second from right) tried to enroll at George Mason College (GMC). Her initial effort was unsuccessful. Rather than retreat she pressed forward.

Irma Willson's journey to higher education began in the 1930s, when she graduated from high school in Ohio. She married and moved to the Northern Virginia region, settling in Centreville, where she was an active member of Mount Olive Baptist Church.  Although Wilson qualified for acceptance to GMC, the admissions office forced her to take supplementary steps.  Willson was asked to present a copy of her high school transcript. GMC claimed to have never received the document,  so Wilson drove to her high school in Ohio to physically transport her records back to Virginia.  College administrators handling her application also told Irma Willson that she needed to take two extra classes at the Northern Virginia Extension Center, which did not count towards her degree. These obstacles did not deter her.  Willson persevered and eventually gained admission. In Spring 1967, she became a first-year student and one of two Black undergraduates admitted to George Mason College that year.[1]

Majoring in Social Welfare, Willson was committed to improving life on her campus. She regularly called attention to the implied and outright discrimination that she experienced in her application process. Willson brought her concerns to GMC leaders, who dismissed her.  She then turned to the Broadside, the student newspaper, which published an expose (interview) on the prejudiced administrative decisions she endured.  Willson was a tireless social justice campaigner.  Wilson attended a meeting in March 1971 called by GMC Chancellor Lorin Thompson.  He had invited current Black students to discuss how the college might recruit more "Negroes." Wilson also agreed to testify before an April 1971 public forum on race relations at GMC hosted by the Virginia State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and  Willson took this opportunity to convey the details of her racial harassment in campus dining facilities.  Her words of protest were published, without attribution, in the Virginia State Advisory Committee’s final report entitled George Mason College: For All the People?[2]

Willson also contibuted to the wider Fairfax community. In the Spring of 1972, as part of her coursework for George Mason College Professor of Social Welfare John Hughes, Wilson helped administer a survey to surrounding “poor communities” in partnership with the Fairfax Community Action Plan, Inc. Wilson and her classmates completed additional survey work after the semester finished.[3]

 

Larry D. Pinkney

Larry Pinkney lived in Arlington, Virginia.  The yearbook photograph depicts him as a senior in 1972.  He majored in law enforcement. During the Spring semester of 1971, Pinkney attended the meeting of GMC Black students with Chancellor Thompson and spoke at the April 13, 1971 public forum on race relations organized by the Virginia State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. In a 1972 interview published in the Broadside, Pinkney noted that the “lack of cohesiveness among the student body here [at GMC] hurts all the students, black and white.”[4]

 

Pauline P. Newman

Pauline Newman (second from left) lived in Delaplane, Virginia.  The yearbook photograph depicts her as senior in 1972.  Newman was a sociology major and probably began GMC in 1969. She participated in the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson and addressed the April 13, 1971 forum called by the Virginia State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. In a 1972 interview published in the Broadside, Newman criticized GMC’s opposition to a Black student union and the Upward Bound Program, a federal initiative purposed to help disadvantaged students succeed in college.[5]

 

John (Johnny) J. White

Johnny White (third from left) lived in Falls Church, Virginia. The 1972 yearbook image shows him as a sophomore at George Mason College. White majored in engineering. He, too, attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson. In a 1972 interview published in the Broadside, White expressed his desire for a “meeting place” because he did not “know half the black students at Mason.” White also suggested the college could take a more active role in integrating Black students and supporting campus social life by featuring “some soul bands at the dances.”[6]

 

Patricia M. Harbour

Patricia Harbour lived in Reston, Virginia.  She was a graduate student at George Mason College from 1970 to 1971. She received a Masters in Education in 1971. The Masters of Education was a popular degree program for Black graduate students at GMC. At the conclusion of the 1973-1974 academic year, “around” seven Black graduate students received their Masters degrees, all of them in the field of education. While at Mason, Harbour participated in the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson. Harbour went on to earn a Doctorate in Education in 1979 from Vanderbilt University. During the 1970s, she worked as an elementary school principal in Fairfax County schools.  In addition, Harbour held the position of Adjunct Professor at Howard University.  She was also the Executive Director of the H.E.W. Secretariat for the International Year of the Child. [7]

 

Steven W. Benefield

Steven Benefield (first on left) lived in Alexandria, Virginia. Benefield attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson and was a member of the GMC basketball team during the 1972-1973 season.[8]

 

Mulugeta M. Andualem

Mulugeta Andualem lived in Arlington, Virginia.  She attended George Mason College from 1970 to 1971. Andualem participated in the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson.[9]

 

Omar M. Oteyza

Omar Oteyza lived in Sterling, Virginia.  He was an undegraduate at George Mason College from 1970 to 1971. Oteyza attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson.[10]

 

Joyce C. Carter

Joyce Carter lived in Alexandria, Virginia, and was a student at George Mason College from 1970-1971. Carter attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson.[11]

 

Carolyn L. Lykes

Carolyn Lykes (first on right) lived in McLean, Virginia, and was a student at George Mason College from 1969-1971. Lykes attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson.[12]

 

Phyllis W. Mayock

Phyllis Mayock lived in Annandale, Virginia, and was a student at George Mason College from 1970-1971. Mayock attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson.[13]

 

Juliette F. Middleton

Juliette Middleton (third from left) lived in Annandale, Virginia, and was a student at George Mason College from 1970-1971. Middleton attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson.[14]

 

Marilyn F. Quinn

Marilyn Quinn lived in Manassas, Virginia, and was a student at George Mason College from 1970-1971. Quinn attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson.[15]

 

Karen A. Wheeler

Karen Wheeler lived in Annandale, Virginia.  She was an undergraduate at GMC from 1970 to 1971. Wheeler participated in the March 1971 meeting between Black students and Chancellor Thompson and testified at the April 13, 1971 forum organized by the Virginia State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights.[16]

 

Cornelia L. Martin

Cornelia Martin lived in Falls Church, Virginia, and was a student at George Mason College from 1970-1971. Martin attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson.[17]

 

Margaret T. Byrd

Margaret Bryd lived in Warrenton, Virginia, and was a student at George Mason College from 1970-1971.  Byrd attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Thompson.[18]

 

Edward O. Thompson

Edward Thompson lived in Falls Church, Virginia, and was a graduate student at George Mason College from 1970-1971. Thompson attended the March 1971 meeting between GMC Black students and Chancellor Lorin Thompson.[19]

 

By Anne Dobberteen & Anthony Guidone

 

[1] George Mason College Admissions Committee Meeting Minutes, 28 May 1970, 5 June 1970, 18 November 1970, 9 December 1970, George Mason University Office of the President records, Collection #R0019, Series 3: Lorin A. Thompson, Box 1, Folder 7, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries; Office of the President records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 13, Folder 6, GMU. For more on Irma Wilson, see Veronica Mata, "The Women Whistleblowers of George Mason," Center for Mason Legacies: Black Lives Next Door Omeka exhibit, http://silverbox.gmu.edu/legacy/s/blnd/page/the-women-whistleblowers-of-george-mason.

[2] Broadside vol. 10, March 13, 1972, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries; Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 14, Folder 8, GMU; Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, GMU; Virginia State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, George Mason College: For All the People? (US Commission on Civil Rights: July 1971), 14.

[3] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson Papers, Box 14, Folder 2, GMU.

[4] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 14, Folder 8, GMU; Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, GMU; Broadside vol. 10, March 13, 1972; Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[5] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, GMU; Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 14, Folder 8, GMU; George Mason University Yearbook collection, Collection #R0002, 1970, 77; Broadside vol. 10, March 13, 1972, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[6] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, GMU; Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 14, Folder 8, GMU; Broadside vol. 10, March 13, 1972, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[7] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, GMU; Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 6, Folder 15, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[8]Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, GMU; George Mason University Yearbook collection, 1972, 86; Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries..

[9] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[10] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[11] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[12] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, GMU; George Mason University Yearbook collection, 1970, 90; Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[13] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[14] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[15] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[16] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, GMU; Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 14, Folder 8; Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[17] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[18] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

[19] Office of the President Records, Series 3: Thompson, Box 10, Folder 11, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.