DR. GLORIA J. POLLARD • dr_gloriap@hotmail.com
EDUCATOR AND PUBLIC SPEAKER
CIVIL RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY ADVOCATE
P. O. Box 374, Spencer, OK 73084
Cell Phone: 405-210-4152
Home: (405) 771-3316
My professional career includes more than thirty-five years as a public school teacher, higher education instructor, and career specialist for a state agency. I am currently working with the Diversity Council at a state agency to develop a plan which will help communities recognize the department’s efforts to be inclusive of diverse groups of workers.
As a youth, I encountered numerous situations which I did not recognize as racism and was unprepared for methods of responding to them. I was fortunate enough to attend Dunjee School, an all Black school. While there in my junior high years, I was placed under the tutelage of Mrs. Clara S. Luper. Not only did she teach me social studies, but she opened my eyes to the evils of discrimination and involved me in the Sit-In Movement of the 1950’s. I even had the opportunity to travel to New York City and participate in the NAACP Youth Council’s presentation of BROTHER PRESIDENT, Mrs. Luper’s original drama depicting the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As we constantly practiced the play on the bus to New York, I became aware of the difficulty of being a non-violent person. I also respected this non-violent stance because I had been raised to believe that violence was just as evil as racism.
As was typical during my secondary school years, we were supplied with books discarded by the school district's White students. Fortunately, we had excellent faculty and administrators who saw in us a strong economic and social future. Not only did they teach us academics, but they also prepared us for the task of combating issues of diversity.
In my youth I had several encounters with racism, but that was a way of life in Oklahoma. I was a victim of an illness that required me to remain hospitalized for my seventh grade year. During that time, I observed the ugliness of racism along with strong nurturing by health professionals. My hospital stays placed me in a diverse situation: children of various races were in wards together. Perhaps this was the beginning of some sense of integration. Mrs. Luper and my class encouraged me with regular letters of well-wishing. Little did they know that I was fighting a battle with adults (and winning).
After my high school graduation, I became one of three African American students to enter Oklahoma Christian College (now Oklahoma Christian University of Arts and Sciences). A story lies in that year, as well as in my educational ventures through University of Central Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma, and San Francisco State University. Students with whom I have interacted as a peer and as a professional have represented many cultures, races, and socio-economic levels.
Great leaders in my life-my parents, relatives, teachers, neighbors, and business persons-have contributed to my respect for those who have suffered from discrimination. These influences in my life have helped instill in me a desire to help those who have supported efforts to overcome disparities in ways individuals are treated .
I have been a recipient of the Oklahoma Association of Minorities in Career and Technology Education (OAMCTE) President’s Award (left photo) and The Golden Torch Award (right photo) for helping promote diversity in the organization’s Leadership Conferences.
Other Offerings
Writing Workshops for Adults and Teens
Personal Story Telling
Family Reunion Planning
Program Planning
Availability
Evenings and weekends by arrangement
Fee
Negotiable
