Release date: Sept. 12, 2005
Contact: Beverly Cox Clark at 404-712-8780 or beverly.clark@emory.edu

Two Alumni to Receive Emory Medals

Two of Emory University's most distinguished alumni will be honored during the university's annual Homecoming Weekend when they are presented the Emory Medal. Designed and first cast in 1987, the medal is Emory's highest alumni honor.

The two medalists for 2005 are: Verdelle B. Bellamy, a 1963 graduate of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and the first African-American to graduate from Emory; and Charles C. Haynes III, senior scholar and director at the First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va. He graduated from Emory College in 1971 and earned his doctorate from Emory in 1985.

Emory President James Wagner will present the medals during a special ceremony at 8 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29, at the Miller-Ward Alumni House, 815 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta. Honorees are recognized for their accomplishments in at least one of the following areas: distinguished service to Emory, the Association of Emory Alumni or a constituent alumni association; distinguished community or public service; or distinguished achievement in business, the arts, government, education or other professions.

The recognition of distinguished alumni began in 1946 with the predecessor of the Emory Medal — the Alumni Association Award of Honor. Since that time, more than 150 alumni have been honored.

Bellamy has been a leader in the field of nursing and health care since earning her master's degree from Emory, where as a young student she was one of the first two African-American students to enroll in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. In 1963 Bellamy became the first black student to graduate from Emory. She came to the university after graduating from Tuskegee Institute (now University) in 1958.

After graduation Bellamy sought a job at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Atlanta, but despite vacancies within the Veterans Administration (VA) and her previous experience at the VA center in Tuskegee, she was told no positions were available. Persisting, Bellamy eventually was hired as coordinator of medical services and surgical services at the Atlanta VA Center. While at the VA, Bellamy designed and implemented policies and procedures for the 120-bed long-term care unit that ultimately became a model for VA centers throughout the nation.

She rose to the rank of associate chief of nursing services as the first black employee to be appointed to an administrative position at the Atlanta center. Other firsts include the first black to be elected to the executive committee of the Georgia Nurses Association (1971), the first to receive a gubernatorial appointment to the Georgia Board of Nursing (1974), and the first to be elected president of the Georgia Board of Nursing (1978).

Bellamy also served from 1973–1977 as national president of Chi Eta Phi Sorority, a professional association for registered professional nurses and students, and was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1993. Among her many other honors are receipt of the Alumni Merit Award from Tuskegee in 1981, Outstanding Performance Awards from the Veterans Administration in 1977 and 1979, the NAACP's Freedom Hall of Fame Award, and two citations in the U.S. Congressional Record.

While southern regional director of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority from 1982–1986, Bellamy chartered Emory's Omicron Xi chapter. In 2001 she worked with nursing school Dean Marla Salmon to diversify the school's population. By 2004, one-third of its incoming class represented minority groups. Bellamy and her husband, Monroe, live in Atlanta (30314), and have a son, Michael, who lives in Salt Lake City.

Haynes is best known for his work on First Amendment issues in schools and communities throughout the nation. Now senior scholar and director of education programs at the First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va., Haynes has been the principal organizer and drafter of a series of consensus guidelines on religious liberty in public education. These guidelines have been endorsed by a broad range of civil liberties and education organizations, and were adopted in part by the Clinton administration.

Haynes is the author or co-author of six books, including "Religion in American Life: Living with Our Deepest Differences" and "Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools." His syndicated newspaper column, "Inside the First Amendment," appears nationwide, and he is a frequent guest on television and radio programs such as "News Hour with Jim Lehrer" and the "Today" show. A founding board member of the Character Education Partnership, his latest project seeks to create "laboratories of democratic freedom" in model schools throughout the nation.

Haynes' journey to preeminent First Amendment scholar began as an Emory undergraduate, where he studied under religion scholars and theologians such as Thomas Altizer, Jack Boozer and Will Beardslee, all of whom he credits with developing his social conscience and setting him on the path that has culminated in a pursuit of religious liberty in schools and communities.

After receiving a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School, he obtained his doctorate from Emory and later taught at Randolph-Macon College, Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University. As an undergraduate, Haynes was a member of Alpha Psi Omega (dramatic arts), Phi Delta Epsilon (journalism), and DVS honor societies. Elected Student Government Association president as a sophomore, he received the Marion Luther Britton Service Award at graduation, the university's highest student honor. Haynes lives with his partner, Christopher Wilson, in Alexandria (22314). He has a sister, Wendy Haynes Connor, who graduated from Emory's Oxford College in 1971, and a brother, John Barry Haynes of Charleston, S.C.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For nearly two decades Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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