By: Arielle Pare, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2021, International Studies, French, Bloomington
Edited by: Ellie Kaverman and Bre Ann Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistants
In the last 60 years, many colleges across the country have created programs to help equalize access and completion of higher education. One such program created at Indiana University, the Groups Scholars Program, was created in 1968 to increase enrollment among underrepresented, first-generation, or low-income individuals.
LaVerta L. Terry was active in shaping Groups from its infancy. Before Terry served as assistant director for the Groups Program, she helped Rozelle Boyd, founder and first Groups Program director, design the initiative. In 1970, Terry accepted the position of assistant director, which she served as until 1983 when she was promoted to director. She led the program until 1996.[1]] LaVerta T. Terry dedicated more than a quarter of a century to making Indiana University more accessible to students of all backgrounds.
Terry was an indispensable mentor to students in Groups, as well as a visible role model for students of color at the university. In 2006, she was honored by the Monroe County community as a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for her diligent work to achieve racial equality.[2]
Childhood and Education
LaVerta Lorene Terry (née Buckner) was born in f 1926 in Brazil, Indiana and graduated from Greencastle High School in 1944.[3] Terry grew up in a low-income family and later attributed her success to her parents’ high aspirations for their children:
“When I was a young child in Greencastle, my father and mother, neither of whom had a high school education, would tell my four siblings and I of their dreams for us to finish high school and college. At the time I thought it was hilarious that they could talk about college when our next meal was not a certainty. But our parents’ faith and loving support led us to accept and reach for their dreams. We learned not to let obstacles deter us in our quest.”[4]
In 1944 Terry received a scholarship to the Indiana University School of Music. However, she was denied entry into the university dorms due to her race, resulting in her choice to attend Tuskegee College in Alabama for a time, earning its “outstanding student award.”[5]
She earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology and a teaching license at Jarvis Christian College in Texas.[6] After her studies, Terry taught in the Texas and Mississippi school systems.[7]
Terry returned to Bloomington in the late 1940s and got married to Henry Terry. Once in Bloomington, she applied for a teaching position at the local school district but was not hired.[8] In 1963, 14 years after her initial application, she became the first African-American teacher in the Monroe County Community School Corporation.[9] It was during these 14 years that Terry worked at an RCA plant, raised her three children, and completed a master’s degree in education at Indiana University.[10]
Setting the Stage
In 1968, Terry was hired to be the dean’s assistant of the Junior Division (now the University Division) at IU. Her duties included “counseling students, and visiting high schools in the state as part of the University Division’s Educational Opportunities Program for disadvantaged students.”[11] She worked under Rozelle Boyd, the Assistant Dean of the University Division.[12] Boyd was the first Black council member on the Indianapolis City-County Council.[13]
The civil rights era and the unrest of the late 1960s was the backdrop for Terry’s later accomplishments at IU. As student protests for racial equality intensified, IU became increasingly under pressure to provide more opportunities for disadvantaged students.[14] This resulted in the formation of the Groups Special Services Program (now the Groups Scholars Program), which was intended to provide academic and financial aid to underprivileged freshmen and sophomores until they could “catch up” to other students.[15]
In 1968, Terry worked closely with Boyd to create an inclusive program that would more include more than just test scores and GPAs.[[16]]
Although some limited assistance existed before the Groups Program, including the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid (OSFA), the Groups Program was one of the first initiatives at IU to break down the economic, social, and racial barriers on campus.[17]
Facing Challenges
Many of the students entering the Groups Program were unprepared for college life, especially as first-generation college students.[18] As a result, the graduation rate of its students was initially low. From the beginning, Terry was a staunch defender of the program, arguing for its continuation despite various struggles. However, by 1978, Groups had two medical students and a Broadway actor among its alumni.19] Terry and Boyd suggested that Groups students who failed to graduate were not failures themselves and the students still benefited from the resources that the program offered.[20]
Terry and Boyd often dispelled assumptions that the Groups Program “funneled” students for an “easy” academic experience.[21] Boyd and Terry were clear in insisting that Groups was not a free ride, despite the significant financial aid it offered to its students.[22] Together, Terry and Boyd negotiated ways to avoid economically segregated housing on campus and to reach a mutually agreeable definition of “disadvantaged.”[23]
Terry’s Influence
Under Terry’s leadership, Groups grew in quality and quantity. In 1968, the program had 43 students but by 1990 the program boasted 325 students.[24] By 1990, Groups had enrolled over 6,000 students throughout its 22 years.[25] The program also started a newsletter called “Groups Gab” with art, poetry, and even critiques and suggestions for the program itself.[26]
An important Groups milestone was the implementation of mentoring groups and resources. By the late 1980s, Groups offered individual tutoring, personal counseling, and specialized academic advising for its members. Terry believed that this personal mentoring was vital to the Groups Program’s mission.
Terry’s initiatives at Groups set the stage for other successful institutions to help minorities at IU. The Minority Achievers Program, later renamed the Hudson and Holland Scholars Program, focused heavily on a mentorship program after Groups proved it was a successful strategy.[27]
In 1990, towards the end of Terry’s career at Groups, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Terry used this opportunity to expand the program to address the needs of students with disabilities.[28]
The Groups Program received funding from the TRIO grant, a federally funded initiative designed to give aid to low-income and physically disabled students. Terry included the program’s services for students with disabilities in her speeches for decades, indicating her dedication to all types of people to IU.[29]
In 1996, LaVerta Terry retired from Indiana University.[30]
Other Achievements
Outside of the Groups Program and her brief position as the Assistant Dean of Women in 1977, Terry led a life filled with community activism and engagement.[31] She was a founding member of the Kappa Tau Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a Greek-lettered sorority for African-American women.[32] She was a member of a number of national groups such as the National Education Association, the Indiana State Teachers Association, the International Reading Association, and the American Association for University Women.
In 1990, she received a plaque from former Indiana Senator Richard Lugar after he recognized her work and entered the recognition into the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record describes Terry as having a “rare combination of talents that inspire, motivate, challenge, and encourage.”[33] She was awarded Bloomington’s “Lifetime Contribution Award” award in 2006.[34] Her leadership is remembered by the Indiana TRIO Association’s annual LaVerta L. Terry Outstanding Service Award.[35] She died on February 18, 2016.[36]
Today, more than fifty years after LaVerta Terry helped found Groups, more than 13,000 IU students have been served by the program. Certainly, those students have Terry’s “rare combination of talents” to thank for the program’s focus and vision.
Notes
[1] Groups Student Support Services records, 1967-1993, bulk 1970-1983, Administrative History.
[2] “2006 Women of the Year Selected.” City of Bloomington, Indiana, February 27, 2006.
[3] “Memorial Resolution for LaVerta Terry” Indiana University Bloomington Faculty Council Minutes, 17 October 2017; “LaVerta Buckner Terry.” Obituariesus, February 22, 2016.
[4] “Education Notebook.” Indianapolis Recorder,Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 January 1990, p. 15.
[5] “Memorial Resolution for LaVerta Terry” Indiana University Bloomington Faculty Council Minutes, 17 October 2017; “Mrs. LaVerta Terry Receives I.U. Post.” The Indianapolis Recorder, December 28, 1968, p. 4.
[6] “Teacher Named I.U. Dean’s Aide.” The Indianapolis Star, November 29, 1968; “Memorial Resolution for LaVerta Terry” Indiana University Bloomington Faculty Council Minutes, 17 October 2017;
[7] “Mrs. LaVerta Terry Receives I.U. Post.” The Indianapolis Recorder, December 28, 1968, p. 4.
[8] “Bloomingtonians Who Broke the Color Barrier.” Bloom Magazine, July 25, 2018.
[9] Ibid.
[10] “Memorial Resolution for LaVerta Terry” Bloomington Faculty Council Minutes, October 17, 2017.
[11] “Mrs. Laverta Terry Receives I.U. Post.”
[12] Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 07 June 1968.
[13] “Rozelle Boyd Outstanding Achievement Award.” Indiana Trio, http://www.indianatrio.org/Awards/Rozelle-Boyd-Outstanding-Achievement.
[14] Historical Context 1967-1969, Groups Student Support Services records, Collection C309, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[15] “About.” Groups Scholars Program Website, Indiana University Bloomington.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Historical Context 1967-1969, Groups Student Support Services records, Collection C309, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[18] Historical Context 1967-1969, Groups Student Support Services records, Collection C309, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[19] “Broadway Actor, Medical Students Alumni of Special Indiana University Program.” Kokomo Tribune, June 26, 1978, p. 8.
[20] Program Descriptions 1971-1992, Groups Student Support Services records, Collection C309, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[21] Speeches and Miscellaneous Correspondence, Groups Student Support Services records, Collection C309, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[22] Program Descriptions 1971-1992, Groups Student Support Services records, Collection C309, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[23] Historical Context 1967-1969, Groups Student Support Services records, Collection C309, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[24] Minorities 1990, Indiana University President’s Office records, Collection C501, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[25] “Panel Gathers Testimony on IU Racial Problems.” The Star Press (Muncie, Indiana), April 16, 1989.
[26] Groups Gab (student newsletter) 1970-1992, Groups Student Support Services records, Collection C309, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[27] Minorities, Indiana University President’s Office records, Collection C501, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[28] Speeches and Miscellaneous Correspondence, Groups Student Support Services records, Collection C309, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Groups Student Support Services records, 1967-1993, bulk 1970-1983, Administrative History.
[31] “IU Dean to Speak.” Muncie Evening Press, March 7, 1977, p. 12.
[32] “About Kappa Tau Omega.” Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated Kappa Tau Omega Chapter https://www.akaktomega.org/about-us
[33] Senate Congressional Record, February 22, 1990, p. 2453.
[34] “LaVerta L. Terry Outstanding Service Award.” Indiana TRIO, 2019.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Ibid.