- We have heard the chapel
bells ring in celebration and now let our hearts sing as we pray. Oh God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come, you have blessed this
university throughout the years, so much so that we pause under the canopy of your creative beauty to say thank you. If we had 10,000 tongues,
it would not be enough to express our gratitude
for this historical moment when a building built in
1931 is dedicated in 2021 in honor of your faithful child and witness Wilhelmina Reuben-Cooke. We thank you for how her
regal name was matched by her dignified life and work. We give you thanks for
her luminous legacy; for the gift of her life; for the love she received from
you and shared with so many; for her wise, gentle, gracious, generous, and courageous leadership at Duke and across various sectors of society; for her deep commitment to and expertise in higher education; for her undying dedication to serving rather than being served; for being a trailblazer, a door opener, a truth teller, a justice seeker, a hope bearer, and a reconciler, desiring equity for all of your children, especially the least, the
last, and the left out. Thank you for her devotion to her family and to all whom she loved
represented here today. Thank you for how she was a bouquet of blessing to the world
and just as she refreshed us like this refreshing fall weather, may those who enter this
building in her name be refreshed in mind, body, and spirit. Let her name on this physical structure with its laboratories of learning, be an architectural clarion
call to the campus for justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, excellence, and a hope that we might
embody a true beloved community every day as human beings and holy dust. May her glorious name and the deep river of her legacy stamped on this building be like a crown placed over our heads that, for the rest of our lives, we are trying to grow tall enough to wear. With humble and grateful hearts, open and holding to your
unchanging hand, we say, amen. - Good afternoon, everyone and thank you for joining us to celebrate the naming of this sociology/psychology building in honor of Wilhelmina Reuben-Cooke, Trinity College Class of 1967. I'm very, very pleased to welcome a few special
guests who are with us: Wilhelmina's husband Ed; her daughters, Wilhelmina Nilaja and Shawnee; her siblings and several
generations of her family. I'm so delighted to
officially greet you all as members of the Duke University family. I want to recognize Wilhelmina's
classmate, Gene Kendall, who will speak in a few moments and representatives of the families of the other first five
African-American undergraduates at Duke: Mary Mitchell Harris, Cassandra Smith Rush,
and Nathaniel B. White. Also with us today are Chair of the Duke University Board
of Trustees, Laurene Sperling; Chair of the Duke Endowment
Board of Trustees, Minor Shaw; and university leaders,
including representatives of other institutions supported
by the Duke Endowment, President Clarence Armbruster of Johnson C. Smith University,
and associate vice president Stephanie Glaser of Davidson College. I also welcome representatives of two institutions where Wilhelmina was a long-time faculty member:
Professor Phillip Lee of the University of the
District of Columbia Law School and associate vice-president Rachel Vassel of Syracuse University. Welcome all of you and
welcome to the many colleagues and students, alumni and
faculty, who have joined us. Now, in the rhythm and the
routine of a university calendar, there are few events that
we can truly call historic, that will be remembered and celebrated long after we are gone. Today is one such celebration. As we gather here on Davison Quad to perform two relatively simple acts, formally naming a building
and unveiling a portrait, there is meaning behind
what we're doing here, behind naming this physical space, behind the legacy it
will forever celebrate. For four decades after
this building opened, only White students
could take classes here. Only White students passed
through this doorway and into these halls. That changed in 1963,
when Wilhelmina Reuben and four black undergraduate
classmates arrived at Duke to join a handful of graduate and professional students
who had arrived before them. Wilhelmina left her mark on Duke as a campus civil rights organizer, a student leader, and a
member of Phi Beta Kappa. She then went on to an
extraordinary career. As an attorney, she argued
before the Supreme Court, testified before Congress, and advocated for equitable policies for
marginalized communities. As a scholar of telecommunications law, she was provost and
professor of law at UDC and professor and associate Dean of the Law School at Syracuse University. And as a committed member
of the Duke community, she served on the Duke
University Board of Trustees for 12 years and, for many years, as a trustee of the Duke Endowment. She leaves, I think you will
agree, a tremendous legacy and today, as we name the
building behind me in her honor, her legacy is made all the more lasting and tangible at Duke. It's made more tangible to the students who will
pass through these hallways in decades to come,
students who might pause for a moment in front of
the beautiful portrait of Wilhelmina painted by Mario
Moore, who is with us today, or students who will spend some time reading the permanent exhibit on her life, organized and designed
by a wonderful team: Tobias Rose of Complex Creative and our exhibits librarian, Meg Brown, working with Lawrence Klutz in my office. I hope that those students
and indeed all of us might have an opportunity to reflect on Wilhelmina's leadership
and bravery in coming here, in the heavy doors that
she opened along the way, and the example that she set for all of us in living a life of equal
principle and purpose. We're so very grateful. Today, we'll hear from a
wonderful lineup of speakers, including Wilhelmina's husband, Ed Cooke; her sister, Lucy Reuben;
her classmate, Gene Kendall; Minor Shaw of the Duke
Endowment; and Laurene Sperling of the Duke University Board of Trustees. And, with that, I will turn
the podium over to Ed Cooke and in doing so I'm thrilled
to welcome all of you for the first time to the
Reuben-Cooke Building. (audience applauds) - It's unusual and almost a gift to have a podium that's this tall. I am grateful for Duke for
that for certain to be sure. Chairman Sperling, President Price, the Duke University Board of Trustees, the Duke Foundation Board of Trustees, the families of the first five, the Reuben-Cooke family, students, faculty, administrators, and friends, please know how much I
and Wilhelmina's family appreciate your presence
here this afternoon. I am particularly grateful to welcome President Clarence Armbruster of Johnson C. Smith University, associate vice-president Stephanie Glaser from Davidson College,
associate vice president Rachel Vassel of Syracuse University, and a friend, Professor Phillip Lee, representing the University
of the District of Columbia and its law school. As a footnote, Professor Lee is a graduate of Duke University. Traveling the distance
many of you have come is no small endeavor in this time of COVID. For this and many other reasons, the dedication that we
celebrate this afternoon must have special meaning
and importance today and in the turbulent times we will likely encounter in future days. Wilhelmina was a remarkable woman. I cannot begin to describe
in the brief time allotted to me this afternoon what it was like to live with such a delightful, compassionate, caring, and brilliant clone of Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod
Bethune and Barbara Jordan with just a bit of Eleanor Roosevelt and Margaret Thatcher
thrown in for good measure. (audience laughs) While she stood only five
feet, six inches tall, as many of you know, she perceived herself to be my height, six
feet, five inches tall, and carried herself consistent
with that perception. It is not well known that not
only was she uncommonly tall, but she was also bossy or as one of my daughters
t-shirts proclaims, she simply had outstanding
leadership skills. Early in our marriage, I came to realize that I was not destined
to win many arguments. As the very new wife of a young
Air Force First Lieutenant, she responded to the tone and content of an unwise attempt on my part at guiding her behavior with,
"I am not one of your airmen." She knew who she was and
patiently allowed me, family, friends, and
colleagues to get to know her. Fortunately, I was a fast learner. Wilhelmina spoke often of the
four young African-American, then Negro, students with
whom she enrolled at Duke. Her words reflected a fondness,
protectiveness, respect, and a private knowing among them that we may not fully appreciate as we gather to honor them today. As I listened to her talk about them, I sense that a bonding had
occurred between the five of them that ran deeper than we might perceive. When Wilhelmina and Nathaniel
Buddy White were together or engaged on the telephone,
I learned to leave them to their very old conversation. Watching Buddy, Gene Kendall,
and Wilhelmina interact at the 50th anniversary
celebrating their admission to Duke was for me a
mixture of pain and joy. It was clearer as they
conversed and spoke on panels, that they recalled both the fear and the challenges that
they had encountered and had to overcome, but also the fun and comradery that they experienced then, and now celebrated their successes and their freedom to remember. And celebrate they did.
It was wonderful to watch. They laughed, joked, shared
their stories among themselves, but also for Cassandra and
Mary, their deceased classmates. Wilhelmina also valued very much the special friends she met here at Duke who supported her and walked
with her on her novel journey. Wilhelmina brought a quiet
competence to her endeavors. Her words were always carefully crafted to enrich the discourse
in which she was engaged. She shared her rich wisdom and intellect through both
her words and her actions. She lived and modeled integrity, empathy, compassion, and
boundless generosity. She rarely raised her voice, but the thoughts and wisdom she shared wherever and whenever she spoke were almost always heard,
valued, and respected. She was very much about
bringing people together and inspiring them to see
each other, hear each other, be their best selves and pursue
helpful and just objectives. She tried to foster environments in which people would love
and respect each other and that would yield good
and positive outcomes. Wilhelmina's deeply spiritual
background provided her with a solid foundation that guided and sustained her throughout her life. While clearing some files, I came across a paper written
by professor and judge, Harry T. Edwards, presented at
the 1993 Michigan Law School Minority Alumni Weekend titled, "Professional Reflections on 30 Years of Legal Education for Minority Students." Professor Edwards, as we knew him, was the first
African-American law professor at the University of Michigan Law School. He subsequently served
as judge and chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. As I read through his
paper, its content struck me as having real meaning for this occasion. In that paper, Judge
Edwards recognized several of Michigan Law School's
minority graduates, who, as he wrote, had made
a mark on the profession. Among that impressive list of individuals was
Wilhelmina Reuben-Cooke, a professor of law and Associate Dean of Syracuse Law School. I mention the article here
in part for that reason, but also and more importantly, because of his concluding remarks in which he listed four lessons
learned from his grandfather and from civil rights icon,
Marian Wright Edelman, who he described as one of his heroes. The first three lessons articulate values that I believe guided Wilhelmina's life. Lesson number one: No person has a right to feel entitled to anything
for which he has not worked. Lesson number two: Never work for money. Money does not give satisfaction, nor does it prove personal worth. Lesson number three: Do not be afraid of taking risks or of being criticized, especially in defense of goodness
or in pursuit of justice. We see these three values
reflected in her student, her personal, and her professional life. And, as important as the values stated in those three lessons are, it
was lesson four I most wanted to share with you and that I believe to be truly germane to
what we do here today. For lesson four, Judge Edward
writes, and I quote in part: "In a decent society, the
fellowship of human beings is more important than the fellowship of race, class and gender. This moral precept was
a principle teaching of Dr. Martin Luther King." In his further discussion of this lesson, he expands on a sense of the important, consequential obligations
of the professionals to whom he spoke and, in my mind, the obligation of every individual given the gift of education. He wrote, "We must find ways
to offer real opportunities and with them real hope for the truly disadvantaged
of our society. We must educate, protect,
and love our children and teach them to love one another. We must find a way to restore
civility in our society. We must promote the
fellowship of human beings and learn to live as a community of one." Wilhelmina lived lesson four. As a student here at Duke,
throughout her professional life, and in her community she
was first and foremost about promoting the
fellowship of human beings and she earnestly believed
that we could learn to live as a community
of one and she worked to make that potentiality a reality. In Wilhelmina's office, there
was a large art optic made to look like a wooden plank
and on that wooden plank were three words taken from
the Bible of 1 Peter 1:22. All who entered her office,
students, faculty, colleagues, administrative staff, visitors, all saw the object I described leaning prominently prominently
against her office window inscribed with just three words, three words that speak to her
life and, in her own voice, give us the rationale and purpose
for what we do here today, give us the essence of her legacy, and speak to the message she sought to communicate wherever she served. These three words tell us
what her life was about; why she came to Duke; why she
pursued challenging careers; why she modeled excellence; why she quietly fostered understanding and brought people together;
and, why she cared so intensely about the people that she
encountered along her journey; three words that I believe to
be her most important legacy. On that wooden plank is carved the words, "Love one another." It is my hope that this building that we dedicate to her today can be a place where people
come seeking understanding as well as knowledge and are reminded of the importance of civility, the importance of promoting
the fellowship of human beings, and the need to love one another. This is Wilhelmina's legacy,
a legacy worth celebrating, a legacy worth preserving. That is what we do here today. Thank you. (audience applauds) - Good afternoon. Adding to previously established protocol, I acknowledged my Pastor, triple Dukie, the Reverend Dr. William C. Turner Jr. of Mount Level Missionary
Baptist Church here in Durham, also Dr. Jacqueline Bowman
of the University of Michigan and law professor Jamillah Bowman from Georgetown University,
both institutions along Wilhelmina Matilda
Reuben-Cooke's journey. On behalf of the Reuben
and Daniels families and recognizing our Cooke
and Coralee families, it is my privilege to contribute
to this memorable occasion. I lovingly acknowledge
my remaining siblings, Anna Marie Ruben, Odell
Richardson Ruben Jr., and the twins: Dr. Jane S.
Reuben and Janice S. Reuben. Our sister, Wilhelmina
Matilda Reuben-Cooke, was fearfully and wonderfully made. Although absolutely unique,
she was deeply rooted in and a product of her heritage, family, and community culture. Named Wilhelmina for our
maternal grandmother, the third Wilhelmina of our family, she was the firstborn of our
generation of Daniels cousins. Named Matilda for our
paternal grandmother, for more than a decade
prior to her transition, Wilhelmina Matilda was the eldest of the Ruben and Daniels cousins. Wilhelmina reflected the unflappable poise and acuity of our mother, the gentle charm and
affability of our father, as well as a steely perseverance
in pursuit of excellence and commitment to Christian
service of both parents. To be sure, Wilhelmina
entered Duke in the footsteps of Odell Richardson
Reuben, Sr., O.R. Reuben, the first African-American
to earn the doctoral degree at Duke Divinity School and, as I'm told, the second African-American to
earn any PhD degree at Duke. In a June 1965 sermon, Jay Schoenberg Setser preached that, although he entered Duke Divinity School as an ardent racial segregationist, he became impressed by Dr. Odell Reuben, President of Morris College. Setser testified that he was led by God to befriend O.R. Reuben. "I was delighted to discover, during the next two years of Duke, the riches of spirit in a
colored brother in Christ who became a close and admired friend." The performance and persona of O.R. Reuben led Duke officials, especially the late professor Waldo Beach, to inquire about O.R. Reuben's daughter who was nearing college age. Thus, Wilhelmina Matilda
Reuben was the only one of the first five black undergraduates who was not from North Carolina. Born in our grandfather's
house in Georgetown, Wilhelmina was raised on the campus of Morris College in
Sumter, South Carolina and there are a Morris College alumni and friends in this audience. She attended the then segregated
public schools of Sumter and there are Sumterites in this audience. Wilhelmina was a proud graduate of the Mathers School in
Beaufort, South Carolina, founded in 1867 to educate the descendants of enslaved people and
there are representatives of the Mathers School
National Alumni Association in this audience this afternoon. Most of all, Wilhelmina was
our beloved family member, sister, aunt, cousin,
great aunt, and more. As the eldest, Mimi was
an ever present role model and standard bearer, a loving
mentor and a guiding spirit, a confidant and consoler, our beloved. When Mamie married Ed, Ed's
sister Judy became our sister, Ed's parents became Mom
Cooke and Dad Cooke to us and Ed's cousins, Barbara
and Tom, became our cousins. When each of our parents
died at an early age, our mother here at Duke hospital, Wilhelmina became our sister mother. When Mimi and Ed went to
the University of Michigan, we followed, resulting
in four graduate degrees, one undergraduate degree,
one post-doctorate, and one staff career.
(audience applauds) When Ed and Mimi lived in
Washington, DC, we followed. At one point all six
siblings living within about a square mile of each other. As lawyers, Mimi and Ed
routinely counseled us on employment negotiations
and other legal matters and, when she deemed it in order, Mimi offered her advice and direction with the reminder that, after
all, she was the oldest. We siblings, cousins, and
more have always known that we could call upon one another. For many years, we gathered
at Ed and Mimi's home with our families to spend major holidays. Some memories, even
grandchildren can still recall. Mimi was a marvelous cook
and enjoyed preparing meals for family and friends, especially the holiday
oyster dressing dish handed down from Dad Cooke. I have precious memories of
Mimi and my husband, John Cole, in the kitchen admiring each
other's delicious creations and precious memories of
many other family occasions, especially our all too
few sisters' road trips. Finally, I wistfully recall what she and I did not know would be
our last visit home together. With our husbands and
my granddaughter Kenya, we visited Morris College, where Wilhelmina carefully
examined and called our attention to a stone monument on the campus, a stone monument predating our existence, a stone monument that had
always been just yards from the house in which
we grew up on the campus. Hitherto, we had paid
very little attention to that stone monument. Now, standing just a few feet in front of the O.R. Reuben
Chapel, a stone monument, heralding the founding
of Morris College in 1908 and seven painstakingly erected
buildings from 1913 to 1930 by the sons and daughters of slaves, sons, daughters, and grandsons, and granddaughters of slaves, determined to provide Christian education for their community, a
community scarred by slavery, the post reconstruction era,
and continuing discrimination. As though seeing that stone monument for the very first time,
Wilhelmina poignantly repeated the culminating words on that monument: "We have done our best." We have done our best. She took a picture of that stone monument and asked my husband to take a picture of her beside that monument, that monument to founders and builders of educational opportunities for many who were otherwise deprived
and dispossessed by society, founders and builders
who could earnestly say, "We have done our best." By then, Wilhelmina Matilda
Reuben-Cooke could already be counted among those who can
say, "We have done our best." Wilhelmina Matilda
Reuben-Cooke did her best and made a positive impact on
her beloved Duke University and on whomever she touched. Wilhelmina Matilda Reuben-Cooke
had a charge to keep. She kept her charge to her
family and to her community and, in so doing, she glorified God. Wilhelmina Matilda Reuben-Cooke,
you have done your best. May each of us live from this day forward so that, like Wilhelmina
Matilda Reuben-Cooke, each of us can one day
say, "I have done my best." Thank you.
(audience applauds) - My name is Gene Kendall
and I stand before you with a deep sense of humility and absolute pride to be here. My wife and a very good
friend who is also present worried me to death for a while wondering what my speech would be and I did scratch some notes out. But, I need to confess to you that, when we pulled into the parking lot and I got off the bus and I saw the sign that looked just like the one behind us, that speech was no good anyway. So, if you will permit me the two minutes that President Price allotted,
(audience laughs) I will try to share a
lifetime of remembrance about a dear friend and classmate, but actually about three
other dear friends, as well. And I realize that the
story is about Wilhelmina, but she would have it no other way, but to mention Nathaniel Buddy White. Actually, Nathaniel Bradshaw White. We call him Buddy and we
all had nicknames, I think. Wilhelmina quickly became Mimi. She endured it, though
I found out years later that she hated it. Didn't matter, she was our little sister and that's the way it went. We arrived that summer. None of us knew anybody
associated with that, save Buddy and Mary, who had matriculated from Hillside High, but the rest of us, we weren't even aware of each other's existence
until orientation. And so, from Clock Tower Court, York Hall, I guess it's called now, after that orientation,
Buddy and I had a pact. Mary was already engaged, so we didn't have to worry about her. But, the other two young ladies, we said, "We got to make sure they have dates and escorts all the time" 'cause we just did not know what was up. And so our track and dates version, and we didn't have very much
money, so dates were simple. You walked to the football
game, you walked back, okay? But, that spirit, that bond,
that grew as a result of that lasted for so many years that there has to be a story in that. Now, you heard a sibling
story and you hear the story from a devoted and accomplished husband. But, I asked his permission
to say what it was like among our group and, in
particular, about Wilhelmina because she, after all, is
the heroine of the story. I told this once. It's still true, okay? And we went off, I came
and money was tight and seeing the athletes
at the training table and I saw that these guys got
pretty good food all the time. And so I said, "Hey, I
used to run pretty fast." And so I went down and
fabricated a few things and the next thing you knew,
I was on the track team and that was working pretty well. I actually was pretty fast at one point. But, there was one time
when, Buddy went home a lot, and there was a Sunday and I asked Mimi, she wanted go to a movie. We went to a movie. In those days you had to
sign the young ladies out and the house mothers,
they were pretty tough. And there we were. And coming back, we saw that, "Hey, we may not make it back before her curfew" and she would go on social prob
and once she saw her watch, she began running to get to the gate, shoes came off, whatever. I picked the shoes up
and I was a sprinter. She beat me to the gate, okay? (audience laughs) And that's when I realized
that my future in track, it wasn't going to be very
good if a sprinter was beaten in a hundred yard dash by
a co-ed wearing stockings. And, I said, "Okay, let me just turn this stuff in and be on." But, I tell you that story because it was about determination. She was not going to be in a position where there was a question, end
of story, end of that story. I'll finish. I just wanted you
to know, I'm not a comedian. I'm not going to try to be.
But, Mimi was the real deal. She was the superstar
among us. We knew that. She didn't tell us that. We
knew this lady was special. The only time that we were terrified, or I was terrified,
was when, I don't know, three weeks into the school year, Mimi told us that her father who was at the Divinity School
wanted to meet Buddy and me and I was terrified, first of all. When I went to the chapel,
we sat toward the back and that was quite a ways. I didn't even know her father was there and he just sat and looked
at us the whole time and then dropped us off, but that was quite an experience for me. It was, as Dean Perry
would would say, I mean, that's a long ways up in that top of that. Okay, enough story. In Julius Caesar, the tragicomedy, Marc Anthony's soliloquy
talks about the person. The words were "The evil that men do lives on long after them. The good is oft interred
with their bones." And so that part from the speech that I was going to do is still real. There was a side bar to that I would add and we see that very, very well described in the life of, as you've
heard so many times, Wilhelmina Matilda Reuben-Cooke, Mimi for short. Mimi was an example, a
hero, and reflects very well on the notion that what you would like to have on your tombstone,
your head stone, should be reflected in
how you actually live. As you go through this
magnificent building and you look at the lobby
and look at the pictures and see the words and so forth, you see a bright, beautiful young lady who got it all right. The good that she did
will be interred forever. She achieved the immortality
that those of us wish for. Her headstone, that plaque, ensures it. Wilhelmina Matilda Reuben-Cooke, Mimi, will never be forgotten. I thank God for that. Thank you very much. (audience applauds) - Thank you so much, Mr.
Kendall, Ed, and Lucy for those wonderful comments
and memories of Wilhelmina and thank you President
Price for inviting me to deliver remarks on behalf
of the Duke Endowment. A number of our trustees and
staff are also here today and we are all so pleased to
be at this special event today honoring Wilhelmina Matilda Ruben-Cooke. The Duke Endowment is a
philanthropic foundation, established in 1924 by James B. Duke and we are so fortunate that Wilhelmina's extraordinary
legacy included serving on our Board of Trustees. From the time she was
elected as a trustee in 2007, her fellow trustees, along
with the Endowment's staff and grantees, valued her voice, her opinions, and her guidance. Her expertise and her leadership as Chair of the Committee
on Educational Institutions helped us navigate through many new and complex challenges
in higher education, as did her willingness to listen patiently and then pose the thoughtful questions that would move us forward. She was deeply committed to the people of North Carolina and South Carolina and she wanted our philanthropy
at the Duke Endowment to open and strengthen
opportunities for all. As in other facets of her life and career, her impact in this work was far reaching. I know I speak for all of the trustees and the staff of the Duke Endowment when I say how grateful
we are to have known and to have worked with Wilhelmina. Dedicating this building
in her honor is meaningful not just to all of us who were privileged to share a part of her life, but to everyone who has
yet to hear her story and be inspired by the trails she blazed. Thank you so much.
(audience applauds) - Good afternoon. I am Laurene Sperling and, as chair of the Duke
University Board of Trustees, I'm really delighted to
be with you all today to mark this historic moment in history. Last year, when President
Price came to the board with his proposal to name this building in Wilhelmina Matilda Ruben-Cooke's honor, my fellow trustees and I were thrilled to provide our full support. Vince noted Wilhelmina provided
extraordinary leadership and counsel throughout her 12 years as a member of the Board of Trustees. She was also a trusted
friend and valued counselor to her colleagues on the board and to several Duke presidents. This is a fittingly historic recognition of those accomplishments and her many contributions
to our university. Hers is already a towering legacy at Duke and the other institutions and
communities that she served. Today, we ensure that her
legacy has a physical space on our campus here at the center of the Duke University community. We're so very proud to call Wilhelmina
Reuben-Cooke a Duke graduate and trustee emerita and
I'm particularly honored to share the congratulations
and well-wishes of the Board of Trustees
with the Cooke family and Wilhelmina's many
colleagues and friends. Thank you so much.
(audience applauds) - Let me thank you again for
being with us this afternoon and let me express my appreciation for those fabulous remarks. If you would like now to spend some time visiting Wilhelmina's history,
her legacy on this campus, please, I invite you to come
through the doors behind me to see the exhibit that will
walk you through her time at Duke and enjoy the beautiful
portrait by Mario Moore. And, with that, again, my deepest thanks to all of you for sharing
this special moment with us. Thank you.
(audience applauds)
