Oral History Center University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Del Anderson Handy Del Anderson Handy, a Consummate Educator: From a Childhood in the Rural South to the Chancellorship of San Francisco City College Interviews conducted by Caroline Crawford In 2015 Copyright © 2016 by The Regents of the University of California ii Since 1954 the Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library, formerly the Regional Oral History Office, has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Del Anderson Handy dated December 12, 2016. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/cite.html It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Del Anderson Handy, “Del Anderson Handy, a Consummate Educator: From a Childhood in the Rural South to the Chancellorship of San Francisco City College” conducted by Caroline Crawford in 2015, Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2016. iii Del Anderson Handy iv TABLE OF CONTENTS—DEL ANDERSON HANDY Introduction by Caroline Crawford vi Interview 1: September 25, 2014 1 Audio File 1 Early years in Mississippi, 1937-1955 — Parents Emma Grissom and James Neely — Great-grandmother Emma Grissom: plantation forewoman — Sharecropping on a Southern plantation and indebtedness — DNA studies to determine ancestral history — Maternal Siblings: Thelma Drayton, Joe Louis Drayton, Belvia Williams — Paternal Siblings: Viola Neely, Janet Neely, Barbara Neely, Delilah Neely, James “Ron” Neely, Jr., Mack Henry Neely, Steven Neely, Christopher Neely — Segregated schools: A kindergarten teacher and learning to farm — The Holly Grove Baptist Church — Mother’s work and an after-school job at age eleven — High school and preparation for college — Enrolling at Alcorn College, a colored co-ed public college, 1955-57 Audio File 2 Joining a protest movement at Alcorn; leaving college — Race relations in the South; common-law marriages — Admission to University of California, Berkeley, and San Francisco State — Classes at San Francisco State– nights, mid-day and summers — Classes at University of San Francisco—evenings — A GS-2 civil service job at the VA Hospital — A self-improvement program at the John Robert Powers Modeling School — Winning third place in the Miss San Francisco Pageant — Touring with the Ebony Fashion Fair, 1962, segregation in the South Interview 2: October 30, 2015 37 Audio Files 3 and 4 Finishing the BA degree at San Diego State: Human Development and Family Life Education — Graduate school at San Diego State: MSW degree in School of Social Work, 1965-67 — Curriculum geared toward a social justice philosophy — Top secret clearance for work with Navy Electronics Laboratory — Interracial dating — Marriage to Fred Anderson and a move to Hollywood — A job in the L.A. department of adoptions, working with Head Start, 1967-70 — Joining the faculty in the School of Social Work, San Diego State, 1969-1972 — Supporters Glenn and Joann Haworth and others — Teaching at SDS: Marriage and Family and Introduction to Social Work — Campus turmoil at SDS: “A real cauldron” — Grossmont College in El Cajon: A counseling position, 1972 — Assistant Director and medical social worker, Wadsworth VA Hospital, Westwood, 1973-1976 — Back to Grossmont for a year as counselor, then Dean of Guidance Services, 1977 — Going to a computer camp for children — Recruited for the position of Vice-President of Student Services, Los Angeles Harbor College, 1981-86 — Passport program to help African-Americans and Hispanics gain admission to four-year colleges in Los Angeles v Interview 3: April 10, 2015 72 Audio File 5 Meeting John Handy, 1989 — Vice-President at Skyline College, 1986-91 — Serving as president at San Jose City College: 12,000 students, 1991-95 — Recruited for the Chancellorship at City College of San Francisco: 85,000 students, 1995-98 — Fighting poor governance, complex union situation — A successful campaign with San Francisco Unified to raise 150 million dollars for City College and the Unified District; for City College two new campuses, new child care center, upgrades in facilities and technology Audio File 6 Thoughts about size, complexity and organizational culture at City College — Unions, management issues — Faculty and power issues — Working with Mayor Willie Brown on labor stalemate: “A political dance” — More about fund-raising — Thoughts about retirement, 1998 — Launching a start-up: CampusWorksInc, 1999 — Serving on boards: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1997-2006 — Thoughts about the SF JAZZ Center, Board of Trustees, 1996-2015 [End of Interview] Several lengthy written additions have been made to this transcript of the recorded interview, as noted in the transcript. vi Del Anderson Handy, a Consummate Educator: From a Childhood in the Rural South to the Chancellorship of San Francisco City College Del Anderson Handy was invited by the Oral History Center to undertake her oral history several years after her husband, famous saxophonist John Handy, had been interviewed for our jazz series. She didn’t hesitate, as she was writing a memoir at the time, documenting her early years in Mississippi and her meteoric rise through several academic positions to lead a college of 80,000 students. Del Handy was born in a small town near Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1937. Her maternal great- grandmother, a forewoman on a plantation, was a major influence in her early years, “the only black person nearby who knew how to read and write, a midwife too.” Emma Grissom taught her how to take care of the animals on the farm and plant and can fruits and vegetables, among other tasks. It was a hard life of sharecropping in which everyone including children labored in the fields in order to pay off their debts to the plantation owner. By the time Del Handy reached high school, a segregated school in her hometown, she excelled academically and in sports and student theatricals, an indication of the talent, versatility and drive that would later mark her professional life. Selected by the principal to assist in the administrative office, she also worked part-time for the wife of the local district attorney, earning enough to purchase school clothes and supplies. The high school principal arranged for her to attend Alcorn College, a black co-ed public college about an hour from her home. She was the first in her family to finish high school. Enrolled at Alcorn, she enjoyed college life for almost two years until a student protest against a professor who gave aid and comfort to white segregationists by advocating that all black people in the United States should return to Africa. The student protest closed down the school in 1957; she wrote the letter of protest that lead to the closure. She was now on her own in search of another college. Early on she knew she would leave the South because of racial discrimination, and at age nineteen she decided to move to California, where her father lived. She was accepted at San Francisco State and UC Berkeley, enrolled at San Francisco State and took one class per semester while working full-time at the VA Hospital. She also signed up for a few classes at the University of San Francisco and attended and graduated from the John Robert Powers Modeling School. In 1962 she took a break to tour with the Ebony Fashion Fair, during which time she was photographed with President Kennedy at the White House but denied entrance to restaurants and hotels in the South. After living in the Bay Area for six years, she decided to continue her studies at San Diego State, where she protested the working conditions of Mexican migrant workers and corporate hiring practices. She finished her BA there in 1965 with a degree in human development and family life education and two years later earned a master’s in social work on full scholarship. For the first time in her life, there was no need for Del Handy to find full-time work. vii After graduation, married to a classmate and working in the adoptions department in Los Angeles, she was surprised by a call from the dean in her department at San Diego State offering her a faculty position. She accepted, and became the third African-American on the tenure track in a university of that size.