Here’s to the Women Who Impacted Members of the GW Community Part 2

Jeanette Maund, my great aunt, changed my mother, Amelia’s, life, and thus mine. Born in 1910, one of four siblings, she lost both parents at a young age and spent time in a New York orphanage. Raised by her aunt and uncle in Massachusetts, the young Black girl was destined to end up either as a domestic or in an industrial job. Refusing to accept this as her fate, Jeanette saved up and in her late 20s entered Hampton Institute as a first-year student.

Jeanette is noted as the first African American woman hired by Pepsi-Cola Company in 1940. Her job was to market Pepsi to Black consumers. She pursued a master’s degree in social work at Columbia University, becoming a role model for my mother. Jeanette inspired my mother to aim high. Amelia attended Boston University and at the age of 56 got her Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University, becoming a professor at the College of New Jersey, where for 14 years she taught and supervised aspiring teachers in the Department of Special Education. It is self-evident why Jeanette Maund and Amelia Blyden are my inspiration. They taught me perseverance against the odds.

My mother, Darline Cheers, is a faithful and fierce fighter. After being diagnosed with Lupus and chronic lung disease in 1990, she was determined, dedicated and dutiful in her pursuit of a holistic healing. Darline exemplified graceful gratitude in everything she accomplished. From her early years as a social worker in her hometown of St. Louis to her time as an educational equity and equality advocate in Johannesburg, South Africa, my mother was passionate in her purpose. She loves her children and grandson, Isaiah, above all else, and it is an honor to pay her homage. I love you mom, thank you!

I want to highlight Sylvia Galen. I have known Sylvia for nearly my entire 10 years working at GW—we both started in Development and Alumni Relations in 2012. In that time, we have done lots of projects together and taught and learned a lot. But the moments where Sylvia changed my personal life were in 2017. I was facing a personal trauma, and Sylvia was then my manager (we have had lots of different working relationships in our decade together) and she showed up.

Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant's book "Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy" was not out yet, but everything I read in that book on how to show up for someone grieving and going through pain, I had learned from Sylvia. After one call home from the hospital, she showed up on my doorstep with bags of my favorite healthy foods. She provided a listening ear always. She and two others took me to lunch my first official day back, and during the conversation, I realized I was not alone in my loss. She was able to help me find healthy professional boundaries when my family needed more of me than usual. Because of her, I can say I felt fully supported by my GW family in that terrible time. Sylvia set the bar for me on how to be a professional and always show care—but particularly when a team member is going through a traumatic moment in their lives. Because of her, I'm a better leader. In our family and in my book, she is truly the Greatest of All Time.

My great-grandma, Zelma Henderson, is a woman I must honor for Women’s History Month. Zelma Henderson was the last surviving plaintiff in the historic Brown vs. Board of Education class-action suit. She was one of seven parents, along with Oliver Brown—Linda Brown’s father—who sued the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education so their children could go to what had been an all-white elementary school. In 1954, the case made it all the way to the Supreme Court where a unanimous verdict against school segregation was issued, as it was determined to be “inherently unequal.”

Despite the existing Jim Crow Laws during that time and real possibility of death, Zelma risked it all to fight for my right, and that of millions of other Black and brown children, to have a fair chance at receiving the adequate education we were once denied. Because of her bravery and tenacity, I will be graduating with a master’s degree in 2023 from a historically predominantly white university. I will forever be grateful to her and the many other civil rights activists for their determination in making sure I remain a free person.

Cynthia Deitch is an absolutely amazing woman. She came to GW in 1989 and totally transformed the Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program. Because of her, thousands of students have gone on to influence public policy in feminist and anti-racist ways that have had lasting effects.

But more personally, Professor Deitch has been my guiding light here at GW. She is kind and generous, and she also has an unshakable commitment to social justice. Every time I talk with her or sit in a meeting with her, I learn something I hadn't thought of before. She literally helps me think. She has supported me just like she has supported so many feminists who have come through this university, and I am enormously grateful for her influence!