Michelle Gray Haywood, WC ’75, was honored with the Golden Trailblazer award following her speech in September at the annual GOLD Speaker Series, hosted by The Women’s College at Brenau University. The program brings an empowering speaker to campus to highlight an element of that year’s theme. The theme for 2024-25 was the “O” year, focusing on ownership of personal responsibility and civic engagement.
Gray Haywood is the last living member of the “First Four” – the first four Black students to enroll at The Women’s College. She, alongside her roommate Lois Green Harris, WC ’75, and suitemates Belinda Harrison Sims, WC ’75, and Natalie Roberts, broke Brenau’s color barrier as freshmen in 1972. The four stayed in touch throughout their lives.
“We were then just suitemates in Yonah Hall, but I stand here to tell you just as you will see – if you haven’t already – you’re forming and making relationships with the people who will help you when need to rise to the surface for air, and assist in navigating the depths of life’s many mysteries,” Gray Haywood said. “They became my sisters.”
Dean of The Women’s College Debra Dobkins, Ph. D., presented Gray Haywood with the Golden Trailblazer award at the end of her speech. The award recognizes an alumni speaker who has transcended barriers in their career.
Learning to ‘swim’
After earning a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and broadcasting, Gray Haywood went on to work in radio broadcasting. She was a founding member of Augusta Mini Theatre, and remains on the board. She earned her Master of Science in management, and worked for the federal government as one of the first Black women in a male-dominated field.
During her speech, Gray Haywood impressed upon students to keep their faith, hope and courage no matter what they face in life, relating to the challenges they will experience to an ocean and the importance of learning how to “swim.”
“For me, my resilience has come in the form of my strength but more times than not, it has come through in my lightness, stillness and patience,” Gray Haywood said. “When you are out there, in the waters of life… you must tread, but even this will tire the strongest of us, so then what? What is one thing we can do, while out there in the seas of life… well, when we calm ourselves, and hold still, we float.”
Dive deep and resurface
Brenau was not Gray Haywood’s first choice, but it was her mother’s. Gray Haywood earned a scholarship and completed her degree in three years, but opted not to walk at her graduation ceremony in 1975. She hadn’t returned to campus until Alumni Reunion Weekend in 2024.
“For the last 49 years, I have done a combination of deep diving, swimming, treading and floating,” she said. “Brenau wasn’t my first choice, nor my second, but at that time in my life, I was still being guided out to sea, not yet fully aware that in these moments I just needed to float, as the journey I was embarking on would help smooth the seas for countless others.”
During her speech, Gray Haywood described Brenau as a port in the storm. She decided to return to Brenau in April 2024 for Alumni Reunion Weekend, along with her daughter, Amira Gray, for the first time since she graduated.
“It was time,” Gray Haywood said. “It was time for healing.”
The two described Brenau’s student body as authentic. She spoke directly to the students who “don’t and never will check a box” – deep divers – during her speech.
“Don’t try to hold your breath forever, don’t always fight against the tide,” Gray Haywood said. ”In this port, the sacred walls of Brenau, hope and light shines through in ways it might not once you leave and that is okay. In those moments, in those places where the sunlight can’t reach, hold still, let go, and allow yourself to float…back to the surface, back to your source of air.”
Fighting the current
As a student, Gray Haywood and her friends-turned-sisters went to college administration to request things they wanted and needed on campus. The list wasn’t composed of physical things, though it was interpreted as such at the time.
“Really, we just wanted to be heard, seen and respected,” she said.
In hindsight, the stressors the First Four faced are obvious. The First Four navigated uncharted waters. Living that experience required bravery, courage and resilience.
“After the first year, I just wanted to survive. I kept my head up and worked to get out in three years,” Gray Haywood said.
Floating forward
As the First Four worked through their studies, more Black students enrolled, including Marilyn Bell Dixon, WC ’76, Jacqueline Moorehead Drake, WC ’75, and Phyllis Hawks-Brewer, WC ’78.
During the Q&A portion, Margie Gill, BU ’10, associate professor of psychology, said Gray Haywood and the First Four’s resilience directly impacted her.
“As a Brenau alumna and a Black woman, I am grateful to these pioneers, trailblazers and modern-day influencers,” Gill said. “These women courageously fought racial segregation and I would not be standing here today if they didn’t set the foundation.”
Gray Haywood and her daughter also visited with students during a tea hosted by the Black Student Association and during a brunch with communications students.
“As a Black woman stepping into a male-dominated industry, I sometimes doubt whether I have what it takes to reach my goals,” Jayla Johnson, a mass communication student said. “However, meeting and speaking with Ms. Haywood was a powerful reminder not to let those doubts or challenges hold me back. Despite the difficulties she faced, seeing her impact at Brenau reassures me that making a difference in the world is possible, no matter what someone else may think.”
