William Carey University awarded a lifetime membership in its alumni association to Vermester Bester during a private ceremony on Nov. 10.
Bester was one of the first African-American students to attend what was then William Carey College in 1965. She was admitted with her friend and fellow Rowan High School honor graduate, Linda Williams Cross.
“I had already been accepted at Southern Illinois University. I was on my way out of town. But Dr. Noonkester, who was president of William Carey back then, talked to my high school principal and asked him to recommend students for Carey. He recommended me and Linda Williams,” Bester said.
“So, I discussed it with my parents. They thought going to William Carey was a good idea – but that it was my decision. I chose Carey.”
William Carey was the first college in Mississippi and the first Baptist college in the Deep South to proactively admit African-American students. Bester graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.
Pam Shearer is WCU’s director of alumni relations.
“Ms. Bester comes to many of our alumni and university events. I look forward to seeing her. She’s just a joy to be around and I learn something new every time I talk to her,” Shearer said.
“She taught in the public school system for more than 40 years. Thirty-five of those years were at Hattiesburg High School. But even as a retired teacher, she’s still working. She’s tutoring a William Carey student right now in calculus.”
In May 2019, Bester received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from William Carey University and delivered the keynote address at commencement.
For more about the WCU Alumni Association, contact Pam Shearer at
pshearer@wmcarey.edu.
In the photo:Vermester Bester receives a lifetime membership in the WCU Alumni Association. Pictured in front, from left: Barbara Hamilton, WCU executive assistant to the president, and Vermester Bester, Class of 1969. In back are WCU President Ben Burnett and Pam Shearer, WCU’s director of alumni relations.
