the university and its students.
Besides her paid work on
campus, Stone volunteered and
worked for the rights of students,
faculty and others at UNC-CH
While at the University, Stone
served on various advisory panels,
such as the Recruitment of Black
Faculty and the Campus Y advisory
board. She was also an adviser for
the UNC Collegiate Black Caucus,
the African-American Studies Club
from 1974-1980, and the
Leadership Development Advisory
Committee.
Aside from this strenuous
work. Stone served as a source of
inspiration and leadership to every
student on campus and to her peers.
Stone was an inspiration to many of
the people that she met, mentored
and taught. She succeeded in
teaching these people to respect and
to appreciate the history, experi
ences and contributions of persons
of African descent. Stone also
served and dedicated many hours to
the Black Cultural Center Planning
Committee. Stone served as a
founding BCC member and
believed that Blacks on a predomi
nantly white campus needed a place
of their own.
On Tuesday, Aug. 6, 1991,
Stone was found unconscious in her
Durham home by her son Robert
Stone. After being rushed to Duke
University Medical Center, she was
diagnosed as having suffered a
massive aneurysm in her brain. She
lay in a coma in intensive care for
days and was finally pronounced
brain dead. Although her family
and friends hoped for a miracle that
would revitalize the dynamic
woman, she died Saturday, Aug. 10,
at about 1:15 p.m.
After the passing of Stone,
there was a memorial service and
two weeks of activities that paid
tribute to her career. Students felt
this was an insult to Stone’s contri
bution to the University because
they thought that she was more than
a scholar. Former Black Student
Movement president Michelle
Thomas said, “Through her, stu
dents were introduced to the beauty
of black culture. When she passed,
we reflected on what was important
to her because she was important to
us.” Their reflections soon came to
focus on the BCC, and they set out
to rename the existing BCC in her
honor and to erect a freestanding
Black Cultural Center. After numer
ous rallies and petitions, UNC offi
cials finally allowed a name change
to the Sonja Haynes Stone Black
Cultural Center in March 1992.
In everything that I have dis
covered about Sonja Haynes Stone,
it has truly made me proud to be a
young African American woman.
Despite the fact that I did not per
sonally know her, I am touched by
the spirit that she has left behind on
this campus. I can understand how it
was impossible to know this “stun
ningly beautiful, dynamic, charis
matic” woman and not to love her.
May Stone’s legacy and beliefs live
on with the Sonja Haynes Stone
Black Cultural Center.
She succeeded in teaching
these people to respect and to
appreciate the history, expe
riences and contributions of
persons of African descent.
Black Ink
17