ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of Mary Berry, who recognizes the importance of role models for students—black, women, or both. She frequently is asked which minority classification has the greater impact. "It's an unfair question," she observes, "because no matter how the author answers it, it may prove offensive to blacks or to women. The women's movement was not particularly vocal when Mary Berry was a young student applying for admission to graduate school. While qualified women have fewer problems today, vestiges of sexism remain on all levels of the academic ladder. Her relaxed approach to alternative lifestyles characterizes Mary Berry's easy identification with the feminist movement on campus. She is a member of the Women's Caucus, comprised of faculty, graduate students, and a few undergraduates. Southern gentility and neo-Georgian architecture notwithstanding, a black woman who is a chief academic administrative officer may come up with some new answers.
