Don Evans: The Memories
Tribute To "Da Don"Dr. Gloria Harper Dickinson African American Studies Department The College of New Jersey When the men of my father's generation wanted to bestow the highest accolade to one of their peers, I often heard them call that person "A gentleman and a scholar." And indeed, that is how we would have to begin our description of Don Evans. We worked together for 30 years, each having transferred to African American Studies from another department, with me, in fact, having refused to transfer until Don became the new chair. Don came to Trenton State College as special assistant to then president Clayton Brower. He soon became Director of the newly-established Minority Executive Council which in its early years had a paid full-time director. When Don took the chairmanship of African American Studies, he juggled the administrative responsibilities of MEC and AFAM, while he simultaneously taught at TCNJ and Princeton, wrote what would become internationally acclaimed award-winning plays, and directed campus and community theater groups. His commitment to black theater was unwavering, and he infused it into all that he did. Whether in the classroom, the boardroom, or onstage, neither his vision nor his focus wavered. Don and I switched roles throughout the past three decades. Sometimes he was the chair, and other times it became my turn. Let's just say that over time, the word we most frequently attached to that chairmanship was reluctant. But, we had the support of student leaders like Pam and Chico Chambers, FT and Sheila Coates Thomas, Allen Smith, Maxine and Lenny Sample, Midge Mitchell, Butter Allen, Butter Tyson, Keith West, Monique Landrum, Bert Campfield, Arnetta Stockton, Robert Alston, Dorri Scott, Vincent Eades, and student workers like Joyce Brown, Alnetta Price, Richard Smith, Ed Gittens, Denise Anderson, Leroy Thomas, LaTisha Parsons and the countless others who made our work of advising all of our "adoptees," and teaching four classes without graduate assistants and running the department with only a part-time secretary "do-able." In fact, many of you who are here today never realized that even though you were students, through the best and the worst of times, YOU gave us the "people-power" and support that we needed to keep African American Studies alive. And so because Don would have wanted me to, I'd like to say Thanks. Without your support, and Don, there would have been no Trenton State College Jampoogie, those now legendary nights of poetry, music and art. Who can forget Bill Cook, Ed Bullins, Avery Brooks, Ntozake Shange, and the many Jazz artists, including most recently Don's son Orrin, who performed in the Rat, the "relocatables," Decker Main, TW, Allen Drawing Room, the new Music building auditorium, and many other campus venues. Without Don (and of course Miss Carrie), we never would have had the Friday Fish-Frys, or the post-Commencement barbecues, for which Lake House became known. Without Don, and Moses' spectacular cuisine, we never would have had "Family Night," when parents, students, faculty and staff came together for fun, food, and the arts. Without Don there would have been no trips to the Village Vanguard, or the Blue Note. Students who attended their first on or off-Broadway productions did so because of Don. Indeed, without Don, there would have been no Langston Hughes Players, no Fire II Literary Magazine , no Utimme Umana La Voz Oculta black student newspaper, no advisor to Phi Beta Sigma and no courses on Black Film, Black Theater, Black Music or The Harlem Renaissance. Even when the theater program was abolished, Don remained vigilant, mounting shows whenever he could find a way, thereby keeping theater, and particularly black theater, alive on our campus. Over the years, as Don, Dr. Chukumba and I watched our resources and faculty shrink, we were constantly trying to figure out how to secure funds to keep alive the quality of co-curricular programming and instruction that we felt that our students deserved. So, when nobody else had field trips, African American Studies had field trips. And today, when we go to Ortliebs Jazz Haus, it will be in testament to Don's undying commitment to his student's experiencing the wonder of live jazz, even during the years when he had to foot the bill himself. During the past three years, Don was energized as we watched our faculty and course offerings begin to grow again. First, with the addition of Dr. Christopher Fisher as a full time historian, then with the addition of historian Dr. Karl Johnson and sociologist Dr. Winnie Glaude as part-timers who augmented the work that Professors Kim Pearson and Lorna Johnson did teaching courses on DuBois and Black film. Most recently, we welcomed Dr. Piper Kendrix Williams whose specialty is African and Diaspora literature. And Don was proud. Proud of the young scholars who he felt would sustain and grow the department that had often been held together by bubble-gum and spit. Meanwhile, Pat was happy because she had additional troops to remind Don about the pending appointment or class for which he was going to be late. Don's love for music, and theater, had only one superceding rival - his family. And that is indeed the thing about him that I'll always remember. Whether it was in the early years when as the family's only driver he left campus to attend the children's school programs, or pick up groceries, or, run the daily errands common to any family with three children, or in more recent times, when he drove to Willingboro for his grandchildren's activities and then came back to campus to teach another class, Don ALWAYS put his family first. His between-class trips to Philadelphia to check on his mother, aunt and other family and neighborhood elders were legendary. And yet did we marvel. __________________________________ Eulogy delivered at Homegoing Service, October 24, 2003 |
This website is sponsored by the Department of African American Studie shttp://afamstud.intrasun.tcnj.edu at The Colllege of New Jersey http://www.tcnj.edu. Last updated on November 7, 2003. For further infomation contact the African American Studies Department at afamstud@tcnj.edu.