*Headline image: Western Michigan University honored the legacy of their alumna, Dr. Merze Tate, with the naming of a college in her honor. From left: Sonya Bernard-Hollins, founder of the Merze Tate Explorers, Lynn Chen-Zhang, WMU Board of Directors Chair, WMU Provost and VP for Academic Affairs Jennifer Bott, and Dr. Deveta Gardner, associate dean of the new Merze Tate College.

BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN WMU COLLEGE OF AVIATION – On September 17th, the Western Michigan University Board of Directors approved the Merze Tate College. This historic announcement makes Dr. Merze Tate the first African American woman to have a college named for her on a predominately white college campus. The unanimous vote was held in WMU’s new School of Aviation campus in Battle Creek among dozens of faculty, staff, and students of the university.

“This tribute at this place is fitting,” said Sonya Bernard-Hollins at the event. “She graduated from high school here in Battle Creek and her desire to fly to the moon on the first passenger flight (which never happened) shows the sky was the limit for her.”

The concept for the college naming came after months of consulting on a new college for the more than 120-year-old campus. When staff member Natifha Sligh mentioned Merze Tate, the administration moved forward to honor their prestigious alumna. Deveta Gardner, Ph.D., is the associate dean of the new college and has much in common with Dr. Tate who retired as a history professor at Howard University where Gardner also earned her bachelor’s degree. In addition, Tate was a legendary member of Alpha Phi Alpha Sorority, Inc., of which Gardner also is a member.

An official ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for October 8, 2021, at Ellsworth Hall, the building that will honor Tate’s legacy. According to Provost Jen Bott, the school also plans a birthday celebration on February 6th for Tate which will allow more of an official unveiling.

Tate was born in Blanchard, Michigan in 1905. Her family were among the first Negro Settlers of Mecosta County, Michigan whose pioneer spirit was in the fabric of Tate’s being. Tate’s high school graduated students in 10th grade and she, the only African American in her class, was named valedictorian. However, she wanted to attend college and needed two more years of high school to earn the credits needed to apply. Her mother agreed to her move to Battle Creek, Michigan, hours from her home, to work as a maid to earn room and board to attend Battle Creek Central High School. After winning an oratorical contest at the high school and graduating with all A’s in 1922, she eventually was sponsored by her employer to attend Western State Teacher’s College; now Western Michigan University.

After working to save money for college and completing student teaching in Cassopolis, Michigan, she completed a degree in education in three years. Although she had the school’s highest academic record to that date, she could not secure a job as a secondary education teacher in her own state due to Jim Crow practices. Administrators at WMU took her case, even college President Dwight Waldo, to help her secure employment at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, Ind. She became the first history teacher at the all-Black school founded in 1927; the year she graduated from college.

Her own passion for travel and history came forth in her class as she brought history to life for her students. Her passion for travel led to her sponsoring 40 students from Crispus Attucks to visit Washington D.C. in 1932. It was the photograph of Tate and those students that inspired Bernard-Hollins to form the Merze Tate Explorers in 2008. The all-girls career exploration organization inspires girls to dream as they travel the world and meet phenomenal women in their community and beyond.

Tate went on to become the first African American graduate of Oxford University (1935), the first African American female to earn a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard’s Radcliff College (1941), A Fulbright Scholar in India (1950), and more. The international author and scholar traveled the world twice, could bid in Bridge in five languages, and became a Bridge champion, among many other amazing accomplishments.

Upon her death, Tate left more than $1 million to WMU and other institutions. A Medallion Scholarship is presented to a student each year at WMU as a full-ride scholarship, and the college’s Grant Center also bears her name.

“I have beat the drum of Tate’s legacy for more than a decade,” said Bernard-Hollins. “The girls who have gone on to do amazing things in her footsteps and the many people who have been inspired by her story now have a new reason to be proud. I commend WMU for taking this bold step in honoring Tate not only as a woman of color but as a woman whose life is an inspiration to the world.”