Civil rights icon honored

Grand Valley paid tribute to Helen Claytor, a lifelong champion of civil rights, by naming its minority scholarship fund for her. President Mark Murray presented the honor to Claytor in a special ceremony last week attended by about 150 guests and community leaders.

'I have plaques to hang on the wall and things to put on the shelf that tell what I have done and what I have cared about,' said Claytor, 95, 'but to have these minority scholarships carry my name is something that will go on and on and will enrich the lives of students for years to come. I thank Grand Valley so much for this honor.'

Among her many career and community service highlights, Claytor was elected board president of the Grand Rapids YWCA in 1949 and went on to serve as president of the National YWCA ¿ the first black woman to hold both leadership positions. She is credited with leading the charge for adoption of the National YWCA's One Imperative: 'The elimination of racism wherever it exists and by any means necessary.'

'This scholarship [in her name] is so appropriate to who she is and what she has done,' said Claytor's son Roger Wilkins, who was the keynote speaker at the ceremony. 'She taught us that education was the key to everything.'

Wilkins, a professor at George Mason University, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for coverage of Watergate for the Washington Post and is author of the highly acclaimed A Man's Life and Jefferson's Pillow: The Founding Fathers and the Dilemma of Black Patriotism.

The Creston High School graduate is also currently a member of the Washington, D.C., school board, a commitment that he said puts him in touch with the most urgent issue facing America: educating our poorest children.

'The education of poor, inner-city children bears the same moral weight in our society today that voting rights in Mississippi did 40 years ago -- except this is harder,' he said.

His mother, who was valedictorian of her class at the University of Minnesota, was often the only African American in her schools, Wilkins said. Years later, when he attended the University of Michigan, there was a dearth of black role models.

'I was never assigned a book, a play, an essay, or a poem written by a black person or even suggesting than any black person in the history of the world has done anything of significant value,' he recalled. 'That kind of education has served us badly over the years.'

Diversity in education, he said, is 'imperative' for all students because it prepares them for the global world of the 21st century.

'We live in a world that is so much more globalized than it was 53 years ago when I left Creston High School,' he said. 'We'd better get smart quick about who we all are on this planet, despite what we look like and where we come from.'

Grand Valley's Helen Claytor Minority Scholarship totals more than $1 million to be used to advance the education of minority students.

'As long as this institution exists, there will be students coming here¿and they will be taking advantage of their education because there was a Helen Claytor scholarship available for them,' Murray said when presenting Claytor with the honor. 'We're thrilled that you are part of the Grand Valley community and that your name will be on this scholarship.'

Murray also lauded former Grand Valley Minority Affairs Dean Don Williams for his substantial contributions in building the university's enrollment of students of color and in raising funds for the minority scholarship.