Oral History Project
Candler School of Theology
Sample Life Stories
KAREN GREEN 97T—Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Muhlenberg College
Presentation on 30 March 2000, Candler School of Theology, Women in Theology and Ministry event—part of Candler's Homecoming and Emory University's Celebration of Women's History Month [Narrative is lightly edited for a written manuscript.]
"You know, there's nothing like God's grace. Being African American and woman in American society had always been very difficult for me and it begins to take its toll on you. I had been many firsts—a 'first' this, a 'first' that, a trailblazer. I know those were blessings, but the flipside is that it can also be a curse. It was at seminary that I understood how my story was being informed by the story of Esther and how Esther, a young Jewish girl, found herself in this Gentile palace. On many occasions, I was this outsider, this person of color in this sea of white, you know, the fly in the buttermilk so to speak. And I thought, 'Here I am again; I'm coming to seminary and I don't want to have to teach people how to teach me and talk to me because I'm black.'
"But, once again, grace prevails and I met folks like Helen Pearson and Roberta Bondi and Bill Mallard, who, for the first time in my life, taught me for who I was and didn't see just my color. That was so affirming and then I was able to grow and to learn."