Bennett College for Women News January 9, 2015 Bennett Alumna will be Honored for Her Contribution to the Sit-In Movement When Roslyn Smith arrived on the campus of Bennett College in 1957, she knew Bennett would prepare her for her lifelong interest - working to promote the general welfare of the community. So, when she joined the NAACP on campus, she became passionately involved in the planning and protests carried out at the lunch counter at F.W. Woolworth. Her contributions to the Sit-In Movement will be recognized at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum's Annual Gala Celebrating the 55th Anniversary of the Sit-Ins, Saturday, January 31, 2015. She will receive the Sit-In Participant Award. In reference to the Sit-In Movement in Greensboro, Smith said, "We [Bennett students] were in on the planning from the beginning. We started meeting during the 1958/1959 school year under the leadership of Rev. John Hatchett, College Chaplain. We met every week to discuss strategies to stop racial injustice. At some point, the guys from North Carolina A&T were brought in on the discussions. Dr. Willa Player, our president, felt that if we were going to proceed, then we needed the protection of the males. During Thanksgiving break in 1959, we shared our plans with Dr. Player who advised us to push our date back to February 1960 since our Christmas recess was coming up and she wondered who would sustain the momentum until we returned. After returning, we continued to meet to finalize our strategy for the boycott and set our date for the first week in February. It was the evening of February 1, 1960 that we learned that the four young men from North Carolina A&T proceeded without us. I went downtown the third day. We had made our picket signs on campus. We were trained on how to behave. I didn't tell my mother until the summer. The Greensboro movement changed my life and my thinking." After graduating from Bennett in 1961 with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and further study at the School of Social Work at Hunter College, Smith began her 34-year career as a social worker with the New York City Human Resources Administration. Never forgetting her passion for social justice, she was actively involved in her community and received numerous meritorious and leadership recognitions. Since returning to Greensboro, Smith has continued her relationship with the College. She serves as a mentor to first-year students and is a past president of the Greensboro Chapter of the National Alumnae Association. As chair of the planning committee for the Class of 1961, she was instrumental in the College receiving the largest class contribution in its history. Marking their 50th reunion, the class had an initial goal of $150,000. By the end of the fiscal year 2011, the class' contribution totaled $165,163. Smith said she continues to live by her abiding philosophy, "We must remain committed to the struggle if we are to eliminate the constant threats to our freedom." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.