By Ashlyn Beck | Staff Writer
Dr. Vivienne Malone-Mayes, the first Black professor at Baylor, is a selfless activist, a model of forgiveness and a devoted advocate, according to university archivist Elizabeth Rivera.
“Forgiveness is something we all have to repeatedly learn: to forgive and then to accept forgiveness,” Rivera said. “She does both so beautifully. I think that’s another way that she’s an example for us even today.”
After receiving a rejection letter from Baylor in 1961 on the basis of race, Malone-Mayes attended the University of Texas at Austin to earn her Ph.D. in mathematics.
According to Dr. Lance Littlejohn, professor of mathematics, the letter was “almost an apology.”
“We have not yet taken down the racial barrier here, although I have been hopeful that it would be done eventually,” Alton Lee, registrar and director of admissions at the time, wrote in his letter to Malone-Mayes. “I sincerely wish that it were possible for me to process your application for admission to Baylor University
as a student.”
According to Littlejohn, Malone-Mayes kept the rejection letter and later became the first Black professor at Baylor. While Baylor integrated in 1963, Malone-Mayes joined the mathematics department in 1966.Assistant librarian and archivist Sylvia Hernandez said she thinks keeping the rejection letter was a statement of sorts for Malone-Mayes — perhaps similar to the idea of a vision board.
“The dynamics of the time and her personal trauma of being rejected, that [made] her make that statement,” Hernandez said. “To her, the university would always see her as Black. It doesn’t matter what her achievements or accomplishments were.”
Five years into her tenure at Baylor, Malone-Mayes was awarded Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year by Baylor Student Congress.
Rivera and Hernandez both said Malone-Mayes’ accomplishments at Baylor show she paved the way for women and the Black community. She died in 1995 at 63 years old.
“She was one of those people that those other students of color were gravitating to because she was a waymaker,” Hernandez said. “She was saying, ‘No, you belong here. And look, with this accomplishment, I belong here too.’”
Hernandez said Malone-Mayes was not only a devoted teacher but also involved in community outreach, specifically working with students
with disabilities.
“I think that’s another part of it: It’s not about [her] but what [she] can do for others,” Hernandez said. “I think her mentality was very much that because she [was] a teacher.”
According to Rivera and Hernandez, Malone-Mayes was attentive to minorities around her because she had experienced discrimination herself.
As a result, she was a fierce activist and advocate for those who could not stand up for themselves.
“Vivienne was an excellent mathematics teacher who changed and influenced the lives of many Baylor students,” Littlejohn said at the 2019 unveiling of her statue in the Sid Richardson Building. “She dealt with rejection and racism throughout her life, but her grace, determination and courage would remain undaunted. I am in full awe of all that she accomplished.”
