Metro English professor takes pride in heritage

By Tim Fields
The Metropolitan

ãNothing is impossible to a willing heart.ä
- John Heywood

The best of the best.

Excellence in leadership personifies Gwendolyn Thomas. A teacher and mentor to many on campus, she continues to educate and inspire.

From the mid Î60s to the present, she continues to be a key figure in the ongoing creation of a unified community. A major focus of her teachings is to celebrate our diversity.

ãSociety shouldnât be color blind, for color is a distinguishing feature of individuality, but not as a liability.ä she said.

Thomas was the first at Metro to teach an African American literature course, and stresses the importance of studying the past. To fully comprehend the entire American experience, one must see the African American viewpoint, she said.

Taking great pride in her heritage, the emphasis of her leadership is in the cultivation of self-empowerment. By teaching the history of African Americans, she embeds in her students a reality of achievement beyond the chains of society.
 

ãWe have so much to give because of the sacrifices of the past,ä she said.
 

Along with Thomasâ service for the American Civil Liberties Union and Colorado Civil Rights Commission, she chaired the Urban League board for 10 years. There will always be a great need for mentors and positive role models in society, she said.

In the early Î60s, her family members were the first African Americans in Chamber Heights in Aurora. There she founded an activist organization called Concerned Citizens About Minorities in Aurora. This organization still is a valuble link in that community.

In 1980, she took the position as dean of community and human studies. She then served as assistant vice president of institutional advancement, and eventually as vice president of student affairs.
Thomas continues in her teachings of African American Literature at Metro and  remains a key figure in community leadership.
 

ãThe African American community has survived many difficulties, yet here we are, the best of the best,ä she said.