“I know a lot more about the African American men who have influenced this campus than the women,” Delaney Bland, a sophomore computer science major, said.
Influential Black men such as James Meredith, the first student to integrate the University of Mississippi, have become household names. However, several Black women have made outstanding strides to change the university during their time at UM and years after.
The beginning of this legacy is Verna Bailey, the first Black woman to attend the university in 1964.
“When Verna Bailey walked into her first-year biology class, she sat front and center in the auditorium,” Lewis & Clark Magazine explained in a 2007 feature issue on Bailey. “Her peers— more than 100 of them — gave her a wide berth, leaving her entirely alone in the first three rows.”
While others who attended UM at the time, such as former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, described it as “a very pleasant experience,” Bailey painted the opposite picture to The Seattle Times.
“I just saw this mass of anger; anger and hostility,” Bailey said. “I thought my life was going to end.”
Bailey’s strength was not overlooked by the university. A $100,000 scholarship was established in her name in 2001, and she was inducted into the Ole Miss Alumni Hall of Fame in 2005.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology in three years, she moved to Portland, Ore., where she continued her education at Lewis & Clark College and eventually served as the principal for multiple elementary and middle schools.
“Her enrollment inspired more Black students, specifically Black women, to enroll at this institution,” Samantha Case, a junior history major, said.
Another African American woman who made her mark at UM is Dottie “Quaye” Chapman Reed, the first Black admissions counselor.
As an admissions counselor from 1974 to 1977, Reed helped raise African American enrollment and helped students by explaining the admissions process and steps to receive financial aid.
“Ms. Chapman Reed has worked tirelessly to transform the University of Mississippi through different phases of her affiliation here: first as a student, later as the first African American admissions counselor on this campus and continuing as an alumna,” Gregory Johnson, head of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, said.
Chapman Reed’s full story is laid out in an Ole Miss News release, in which she explained how the Black students at the university were a close group.
“We wanted everyone to succeed and got excited with the breakdown of each racial barrier,” Chapman Reed said.
After leaving the university, she donated her clippings from old copies of The Spectator, Soul Force and The Daily Mississippian to UM’s Department of Archives and Special Collections, documenting Black students’ accomplishments throughout the years.
“All of us in archives and special collections are honored to house her gift of the Dorothye Quaye Chapman Reed Collection, containing materials documenting University of Mississippi Black student experiences, (the) history of the university and Dottie’s own significant contributions as author and historian,” Johnson said.
Chapman Reed, however, is just one of the Black women who made a lasting impact on UM.
“The first person that comes to mind is Rose Jackson Flenorl,” Jim Urbanek, associate director of alumni affairs, said when asked about influential Black women in UM’s history.
Flenorl, a student from 1975 to 1979, is a past president of the Ole Miss Alumni Association and is currently the manager for global citizenship and diversity, equity and inclusion at FedEx.
Among the first Black women to be inducted into the Ole Miss Student Hall of Fame, she was also the first African American to be named a campus favorite, the first Black woman to run for Miss Ole Miss and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s Top 10 College Women in the United States.
Will Norton Jr., previous dean of UM’s School of Journalism and New Media, explained to Meek Magazine in 2015 how Flenorl impacted UM.
“I know James Meredith legally integrated Ole Miss,” Norton said, “but I watched (Flenorl) integrate it de facto.”
She is the recipient of many awards, including the Ole Miss Athletics Nathaniel Northington Trailblazer Award, the Black Student Union Legacy Award, the Black Alumni Achievement Award, the School of Education Hall of Fame and the Pillars of Fraternity and Sorority Life Award.
“Her longstanding commitment to Ole Miss and the generous giving of her time and talents have made the university a better place for decades,” Urbanek said.
In 2023, Flenorl won the Alumni Service Award for her accomplishments.
“Ole Miss made a tremendous investment in me,” Flenorl told the alumni association. “It is an investment that I have always been committed to paying forward.”
While these previous women helped pave the path at UM, this next Black woman is still on campus and continues to inspire change and progress.
Valeria Ross, a native of New Albany, Miss., is the project manager for diversity, equity and inclusion in the College of Liberal Arts.
“I have often said that if you see a program focused on expanding access to higher education or expanding educational opportunities that foster a better understanding of the conditions necessary for full inclusion and equitable treatment of students, faculty and staff, they have usually started in some way with an idea from Val Ross,” Kirsten Dellinger, associate dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the College of Liberal Arts, said.
Ross has been working on expanding access to higher education at Ole Miss for the past 25 years. She created the CLA James Meredith Changemaker Award, which honors liberal arts students who have worked to make education more accessible to underrepresented groups. Ross has also played a major part in the recruitment of faculty and teachers from diverse groups.
During her tenure as assistant dean of the Division of Student Affairs, her office served as a sanctuary for students seeking safety and support, particularly African American students maneuvering through a predominantly white university.
“That work opened the door for me to work in several capacities during which I developed several opportunities (and) initiatives and supported student leadership and development for all students,” Ross said.
Many students — now alumni — that Ross interacted with remain in contact with her.
“She is a true mentor and friend to them,” Dellinger said. “And she is a true friend and colleague to me.”
Ross continues to work toward a world that provides opportunities for higher education to anyone who wishes to pursue it, no matter their background.
“My work with students has most certainly been the most rewarding,” said Ross. “I have been graced with the opportunity to support students from all backgrounds and races through their undergraduate journey, see them face and overcome curricular and extracurricular challenges, achieve leadership awards and successfully complete degrees and move on to become productive and successful individuals in all areas of society.”
Dellinger described just how impactful Ross has been to the university.
“She has been knocking down barriers and working with others to create a more just world, often behind the scenes, and against all odds. We are so lucky that she has chosen to spend her life, her talents and her energies transforming this university,” Dellinger said.
