In 1967, John U. Monro, dean of the college at Harvard, left his
twenty-year administrative career at that prestigious university for a
teaching position at Miles College -- an unaccredited historically black
college on the outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama. This unconventional
move was a natural continuation of Monro's life-long commitment to equal
opportunity in education. A champion of the underprivileged, Monro
embodied both the virtues of the Greatest Generation and the idealism of
the civil rights era. His teaching career spanned more than four
decades, and, as biographer Toni-Lee Capossela demonstrates, his
influence reached well beyond his lifetime. In addition to being a
talented administrator, Monro was a World War II veteran, a crusading
journalist, a civil rights proponent, and a spokesman for the fledgling
Peace Corps. His dedication to social justice outlasted the fervor of
the 1960s and fueled bold initiatives in higher education. While at
Harvard he developed a financial aid formula that became the national
template for needs-based scholarships and earned him the title "The
Father of Modern Financial Aid." During his decade at Miles College he
spearheaded a satellite freshman program in the economically depressed
Greene County, then went on to help design a literacy program, a senior
research requirement, and a writing-across-the-curriculum program at
Tougaloo College. When hearing and memory loss drove him from the
classroom, he moved his base of operations to Tougaloo's Writing Center,
working with students in a collaborative relationship that suited his
personality and teaching style. Only in 1996, after struggling with the
symptoms of Alzheimer's for several years, did he retire with great
reluctance.
John U. Monro: Uncommon Educator is a tribute to this passionate teacher
and an affirmation of how one person can inspire many to initiate
positive and lasting change.
