Harold Haizlip, Class of 1957, R.I.P.

The following email was originally posted on July 17, 2018

Received the Amherst magazine yesterday.  In the In Memory section, I read of the passing of Harold C. Haizlip, Class of 1957.  The segment reads:

Harold C. Haizlip '57

Harold's father, a Pullman porter, died when Harold was 10.  That same year Harold's grade school teacher, the sister of Dr. Charles Drew (Amherst '26 and for whom the Phi Alpha Psi house was renamed) told Harold to think about Amherst.  And he did.

Class valedictorian at the all-black Dunbar High School in Washington, D. C., Harold was one of two black students in the class of '57 and one of only eight black undergraduates.  

At Phi Psi he gave many of us insight into the black experience in America -- with compassion and, often, forgiveness.  

He graduated cum laude in Greek and Latin.  A Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Harvard, he earned a master's in classics and education and a doctorate in education policy and management.

His life was devoted to helping youjng people realize their full potential -- particularly the marginalized.  He was a teacher and educator, working with schools and foundations on both coasts. For eight years he was commissioner of education in the U.S. Virgin Islands,. Retired, Harold organized a free after-school arts program for more than 50,000 lower income Los Angeles students -- and was named a Purpose Prize fellow, "a MacArthur genius award for retirees."

Harold married Shirlee Taylor, Wellesley '59 -- very much Harold's equal.  She was an author (including of The Sweeter the Juice, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year), a teacher and an arts administrator.  Daughters Deirdre and Melissa sadly chose Yale.

In our 50th reunion book, Harold wrote "At some future time I will think seriously about retiring. But not today, not this week, not this month.  I have too much yet to do.  And so does America." 

Harold died of heart failure, in his sleep, on Jan. 31, 2018.  He was 82.

***

I had the pleasure of meeting Harold and Shirlee at the Black Alumni Weekend in 2011 and I led a discussion of Shirlee's book The Sweeter the Juice.  In a future email, I hope to be able to say more, but for now I, with sadness, note this passing and say "Thank You, Harold, for a life well lived."

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins