When Hershell N. Proctor-Walden was a graduate student at North Carolina A&T State University, she was taught by Dr. Pamela Hunter, a Livingstone College graduate.

 

She also met Livingstone alums Da’Tarvia Parrish and Nichole DeRouseau while at A&T.

 

“They were two of the most intelligent women in my program, so I figured if Livingstone College produced them, I needed to be at Livingstone, too,” Proctor-Walden recently recalled.

 

Today, Proctor-Walden is an Assistant Professor of English at Livingstone, where she teaches Freshman Composition I, African-American Literature I & II, Literary Criticism, Drama and American Novel.

 

She has taught at Livingstone for six years. She has a bachelor’s degree in professional English, another bachelor’s degree in romance languages and Spanish and a master’s degree in English and African-American literature – all from A&T. She is a Ph.D. candidate in English with a concentration in Literature and Criticism at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pa.

 

Proctor-Walden, in her second term as President of The Faculty Senate, said she feels empowered by the support she receives from colleagues and Livingstone’s administration. She spearheaded and designed the college-wide writing initiative that’s being implemented this academic year.

 

“There’s a strong sense of camaraderie among Livingstone College faculty members, who truly work well together,” Proctor-Walden said. “However, what keeps me coming back every year is the fact that my students are beautifully black. I’ve had the opportunity to enhance their self esteem, and they keep me informed of the issues that concern them the most. This exchange of information enables me to re-evaluate my instruction in order to reach the 21^st Century learners.”

 

Proctor-Walden was influenced to go into teaching by members of her family who are educators, but her ninth grade English teacher, Mildred Sneed at E. B. Aycock Jr. High School in Greenville, N.C., made her want to pursue English as her content area, she said. For two years Proctor-Walden taught Spanish to high school students as part of an Upward Bound Program on A&T’s campus. She has been instructing at the collegiate level since 2001.

 

Here at Livingstone, Proctor-Walden focuses on African-American literature, African-American drama in the Diaspora, Avant-Garde theory, Critical Race theory, Post-Colonial theory, the Black Arts Movement and the Black Aesthetic.

 

She describes her teaching style as “passionate and rigorous; firm, but fair.”

 

When she’s not working at Livingstone, Proctor-Walden enjoys spending time with her husband, Kenya Walden, and children Kristin, 19, Alexis, 17 and Kevone, 15.

 

She also enjoys reading, shopping for shoes and participating in various community service projects including “team mom,” for recreation league sports coached by her husband. Likewise, she enjoys participating in fund-raising events for her children’s high school athletic programs, and volunteering for foundations supporting Lupus and Multiple Sclerosis. Additionally, she has been instrumental in developing reading programs at various churches in the Triad area, an important feat to say the least.

 

If you know Proctor-Walden even remotely well, you probably know the following five things about her:

 

She is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.

 

She has a really, warm smile.

 

She always wears heels.

 

She believes in crediting God for her blessings.

 

And she is an absolute, bar-none, diehard Dallas Cowboys fan. There’s no doubt this time of the year on Sundays there probably aren’t many things she enjoys more than watching the team famous for its star logo competing on the gridiron.

 

Livingstone College salutes Hershell N. Proctor-Walden.