William Jewell honors first African American female student with renaming classroom
William Jewell College honors the first African American female student
By Ryan Hennessy
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LIBERTY, Missouri (KCTV) — William Jewell College is not ignoring its troubled history. Part of the school was built by slaves, and the founders of the institution upheld the oppressive behavior. Current President Dr. Elizabeth MacLeod Walls is committed to acknowledging that history.
However, there have also been moments of triumph, case and point; Audrey June Burgette, the first African American woman to graduate from the college in 1966 accomplished it while also raising four children at home.
“She touched the lives of thousands of students,” Walls said. “She was a community leader and look at the incredible family that she has raised.”
Four of Burgette’s children were present, two were foster sons; Kirk Faulkner and Crit Walker and son John Stapleton and daughter Carrie Stapleton.
“That made us tremendously proud,” John Stapleton said. “We knew that this was a great honor.”
Burgette was a second grade teacher and counselor for the Kansas City Public Schools for more than 26 years. Burgette also earned her Master of Arts in Education from Kansas City University (formerly UMKC) in 1972.
Cecelia Robinson is the first fully tenured African American Professor at William Jewell and she called the progress being made by renaming the room after Burgette, “wonderful.”
“We can look back on what we have done in the past, so we don’t make the same mistakes in the future,” Robinson said. “It’s like a people without knowledge of their history is like a tree without roots.”
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