|
On Scholarship: From an Empty Room at Princeton by Gerald L. Cooper
A Review by Britt Novitch
 Gerald Cooper's story begins in the small southern town of Lancaster Courthouse, Virginia. Along the way, his tale weaves around the state of Virginia and to North Carolina, with his career winding and turning much like the hilly back roads found in the South. His book, On Scholarship: From an Empty Room at Princeton chronicles his early life, education, and forty-three year career as a teacher and administrator in private schools, two colleges, and other nonprofits. His story traces the roots of his family, but more, how both those roots and his experiences along the way influenced his own ideas on the importance of education, equality, and tolerance. In On Scholarship, readers will embark on a journey from a rural southern town to a life-long career based on the belief that education is the gateway to a better life and the ability to provide help to others.
A glimpse into Cooper's family history reveals why education is so important to him. His grandfather sent several of his children to college in the time of economic devastation following the Civil War. His mother, who was a teacher for thirteen years prior to Gerald's birth, stressed that this was her father’s greatest accomplishment. She followed in his footsteps, struggling to make ends meet so Gerald could attend the college-preparatory Christchurch School. Gerald's father and uncle exhausted their savings to attend Virginia Polytechnic Institute. His uncle married one of the five Stoneham daughters, who all went to college and became public school teachers. Education was a ubiquitous family value.
Along with the importance of achieving education, Cooper's mother stressed that, “Those who attained higher education had a duty to help others, especially those who lacked finances.” Upon entering his dorm room at Princeton he realized how being poor set him apart from his peers, as he could not even afford to furnish his room. He drew from his own struggles and from the teachings of Thomas Jefferson and concluded that status should be based on achievement and not on wealth. It is this insight that is at the heart of Cooper's memoirs, as he applied this belief throughout his career.
While venerating the values of history and rural life, Cooper shares the wisdom he has gained by drawing from the past and moving ahead into a better future. Cooper recalls all of the mentors that enabled him to, “step beyond the shadow of the confederate monument across from [his] home in Lancaster and begin to see life in a new light.”
This “new light” included ideas that many of his generation struggled to accept. Cooper credits his time spent in the Navy for initially motivating him to oppose racial discrimination, which later led him to become an active proponent for racial integration in the schools he served. During his time at Woodberry Forest School he worked to make the previously aristocratic school more inclusive by setting up an Advisory Council that welcomed non-alumni parents and friends to join, along with the spouses of members. This led to the first strong representation of females in an official organization at the male-dominated school. He explains that his biggest areas of concern included extending educational opportunity to all and seeking attention for the underdog, and that helping others learn and grow was the most satisfying goal he achieved. He wanted to give back the same mentoring he received, and was rewarded by seeing the students he helped give back at different levels.
Gerald Cooper's On Scholarship: From an Empty Room at Princeton is especially important to those who wish to create change or wish to gain insight into how change occurs at an institutional level. Cooper dutifully records his personal account while making connections between historical figures and his peers and between the past and the present, to indicate the importance of valuing history to protect the future. He demonstrates how he was able to draw from leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin to create and form his own vision. On Scholarship is a testament to the many people who inspired and enabled him to foster change in the world around him; reading like a roadmap through the unseen personal history of Virginia's small towns, private schools, and local heroes. Just as the Founding Fathers provided a written history that could empower and affect those who would follow in their footsteps , Cooper allows the reader to take a look at well-known local landmarks and dig deeper to find the rich backstory that many never would have had the opportunity to explore.
Copies of On Scholarship are available for $18 each (cost), plus s&h of $3 or $5. If you would like to order a copy, please send Gerry your mailing address and a check for $18 plus s&h, payable to Gerald L. Cooper at 1307 Westover Ave., Norfolk, VA 23507-1025.
|
locations
Comments