Penny Saffoe
July 6, 2020

THIS MAN CHANGED MY LIFE.

i am an elder now, but I was once a young girl with no place to go. I grew up in the newly developed projects of the 1950s. I had no idea what I expected of life nor any idea of what life would bring me. I did not come from a rich family. I did not consider myself to be an intellectual.

I had no special talent. The best I could hope for was to marry a man who could take care of me. That would change when the new minister at our church, Rev. Edwin R. Edmonds, began to challenge me to apply to attend college after graduating high school.

Rev. Edmonds had previously taught sociology at Bennett College, and presented me with an application to attend this prestigious all female historically black college in North Carolina. He would accept no excuse no matter how many I offered. He armed me with Student Loan applications, Scholarship Applications, Job Applications; and in the summer of 1961 I found my self standing on the beautiful campus of Bennett College. This was the day of my rebirth.

During my four years at Bennett I began to see the world open up to me. We “Belles” were nurtured, strengthened, challenged, and groomed to excel. My history (the history of my ancestors) was instilled into me and I learned about the contributions of African Americans like Frederick Douglas, Harriett Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Dubois, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright and so many more.

I was introduced to world travel and in 1964 found myself taking my first airplane trip to Brazil for a summer exchange.

I will forever be grateful to Reverend Edmonds and to Bennett College for taking this little girl with low self esteem and molding her into this woman who is not afraid of a challenge and for teaching her that the most important thing in life is to know yourself and to believe in yourself.

Cleo (Penny) Walker Saffoe. Class of ’66.