Jamaican American Violet Edwards will become the oldest African-American to receive a university degree at 96 years and 263 days old. Mercy College, New York, will be conferring the degree to Violet on Saturday, June 25, at 11:00 am. In addition to being the oldest African American, Violet is the 5th most senior person in the world to receive a degree. Indeed, she is the oldest person in Florida to obtain a degree.
Violet Edwards was born on October 5, 1925, in Kensington in the parish of Portland, Jamaica. She was the youngest of 3 children; she was always an avid reader, who excelled in school, and became the first in her village to attend Happy Grove High School on a full academic scholarship. During World War II, she remembers many sacrifices to obtain basic school supplies. She went on to pass her Senior Cambridge exams, now known as Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate, which was necessary to continue to higher education. This was before the Internet era, and exams had to be shipped to England for grading; as you can imagine, students worried that the ship carrying these exams would become a casualty of war. Fortunately, Violet’s exam made it safely to England and back, bringing the good news that she was successful.
Violet devoted much of her time to volunteering in Jamaica and the U.S.A. In Jamaica, she was active in the Portland Festival Committee and Disaster Preparedness Committee and helped to start a credit union that is still in existence today. In the U.S.A., she started and was President of a neighborhood block association in N.Y.C. that was recognized by the then Mayor of the City for its accomplishments. She was and continues to be a force to reckon with. She gives generously of her time and still enjoys baking and cooking for friends and family.
However, money was not available to pursue higher education, so Violet entered the workforce. She made a successful career in the Jamaica Postal Service. She quickly climbed the ranks to become the first appointed Female Regional Inspector. This position put her in a supervisory role in charge of a portion of the island’s post offices. She retired from the position and moved her family to the U.S.A. to pursue better opportunities.
Violet focused on family and getting her daughter through medical school. Violet Edwards’ daughter is Christine Edwards, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., Medical Director, Florida Perinatal Center, L.L.C. Once that goal was accomplished, she decided to go to college to pursue her degree while working full time. Again, financial roadblocks intervened, and she was not able to complete her goals, reluctantly leaving school one year shy of obtaining her dream of a bachelor’s degree. She spent the intervening years helping her daughter establish her medical practice, helping to raise her grandchildren, and recently opted to return to college to accomplish her goal before she celebrates her centennial. One phone call, however, revealed that her primary school, The College of New Rochelle, had gone out of business just the year before. Mercy College in New York had become the custodian of the student records. So off to Mercy she went after being accepted as a transfer student. Unfortunately, of her 84 credits earned at the College of New Rochelle, Violet was unable to transfer all her prior college credits. Consequently, she had to settle for an Associate of Science degree, which she earned from Mercy College, New York, with the highest honors with a 4.0-grade point average.
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