Third-Floor Wheatley Divas celebrate 50-plus years of sisterhood

By Kelvin Childs

The 1970s were an exciting time for Shermane Townshend Sealey (’74, B.A.). The 16-year-old was away from her Detroit home for the adventure of a lifetime, going to Howard University and moving into Wheatley Hall in the Harriet Tubman Quadrangle. But she found more than a place to stay; she helped establish a sisterhood.

A cohort of first-year students, plus a sophomore, became the Third-Floor Wheatley Divas (Determined, Inspired, Victorious, Always Appreciative). They came from the Northeast, the Midwest and the South, seeking not just a quality education, but that something extra HBCUs provide: constant affirmation of their Black excellence and an environment where they could thrive. This sisterhood has lasted across five decades, uniting its members through graduations, career successes, marriages, deaths, and travel around the country – including welcome returns to Washington for Howard’s Homecoming celebrations. 

“There is no finer group than Third-Floor Wheatley Divas and I thought I would do it for a little bit, and it runs through your blood now,” said Jennifer Bing (’73, B.S.).

Several of the members recalled integrating schools in the South, like Mary Ann Foster-Cornish, who is from Virginia. “The experience from that was like none other and I KNEW that I had to be surrounded by people like me for my higher education,” she said.

Yet early education in the North wasn’t always a picnic. Carmen Davis Dye (’74, B.S.), left Harlem to experience being below the Mason-Dixon Line. “Being in D.C. allowed me to explore for a, let's say, diverse culture in the South, being a part of the Underground Railroad and all of that. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it,” she said.

From the start, Verdell “Cookie” Saxon Kersey (’74, B.A), convened a floor meeting where each of the girls learned where the others were from, Sealey recalled. “We really created an instant bond at that time.” 

Being new students, they had University meal plans but often instead ate at nearby Freedmen’s Hospital at least three nights a week, Sealey said. “The food was great; the price was right,” she said.

And when sophomore year rolled around, freshmen were expected to move out of Wheatley, and many students wanted to go to the then-new Bethune Hall. But instead, the group appealed to the dean in charge of housing and made the unprecedented request not only to return to Wheatley but also to be reassigned to their same rooms. They did so again in junior year as well.

“Senior year is when we all decided, OK, we should probably select at least new housing in other areas,” such as Bethune Hall, Meridian Hall, or off-campus housing, Sealey said. “But we were all still close.”

It is from that bond that the women support the students who came after them and live in those rooms. Over the years as a group, they have donated to the alumni scholarship fund and purchased bricks in Founders Walk to commemorate their 40th year together. 

“I think that at some point in time you reach a stage in your life where you get so much pleasure from giving, because you have been rewarded generously. It's very easy to do that. It also demonstrates to the younger people out there is hope out there,” said Janice Foster Burgess (’73, B.A.).

Davis Dye spoke of their plan to develop a fund dedicated to today’s students rooming in Wheatley Hall on the third floor, to help resolve accounts and ensure they graduate. This stems from what Wheatley gave to them. 

“I don't expect each and every person to do what I do, but if any of us truly have gratitude and then we give what we can. Because we want to make sure that those who are coming behind us get to experience, to know what it looks like to pay it forward.”

The Third-Floor Wheatley Divas are:

• Jennifer McDonald Bing (’73, B.S.), West Palm Beach, Fla.
• Sharon Alexander Bordeaux (’74, B.S.), New Haven, Conn.
• Janice Foster Burgess (’73, B.A.), Mathews, Va. (cousin to Maryann Foster?)
• Opal Byrd, (’74, B.A.), Columbus, Ohio (deceased)
• Carmen Davis Dye (’74, B.S.), New York, N.Y.
• Rennett Edney Johnson (’74, B.S.), Sharon Hill, Pa.
• Maryann Foster Cornish ('75, B.A.), Mathews, Va.
• Verna Miller, Bronx, N.Y.
• Wanda Perry (’74, B.S.), New York, N.Y. (deceased) 
• Wanda (Brunson) Rasheed, (’74, B.A.), New Haven, Conn.
• Verdell “Cookie” Saxon Kersey (’74, B.A), Philadelphia, Pa.
• Marsha Smith (’75, B.S.), Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Shermane Sealey-Townshend (’74, B.A.), Detroit, Mich.
• Barbara Stith (’74, B.A.), New York, N.Y.
• Donna Suber (’73, B.S.), Detroit, Mich.