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Helen A. NevilleRosie Phillips Bingham: On Becoming

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The Counseling Psychologist

40(3) 443-472

The Author(s) 2012

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1University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois USA

Corresponding Author:

Helen A. Neville, Department of Educational Psychology, 1310 S. Sixth St.,Champaign, IL 61820.

Email: [email protected]

Rosie Phillips Bingham:

On Becoming

Helen A. Neville1

Abstract

Rosie Phillips Bingham has contributed to the field of counseling psychologyand the broader discipline of psychology in myriad ways. She is nationally rec-ognized for her innovation, leadership skills, and fundraising capabilities. She isalso known for her commitment to student development and her caring men-toring approach. In this life narrative, the multiple factors influencing Rosiesprofessional development are uncovered, as is her journey in becoming a self-assured psychologist who is committed to social justice and who has made asignificant difference in individuals lives and in the profession.

Keywords

life narrative, professional issues, social justice

Rosie is one of the most respected psychologists in the nation. She is without

peer in her ability to effectively lead. She has always been in the forefront of

visionary changes in the field, able to get different groups to collaborate with one

another, been gifted in building consensus even among competing groups, andhas ably moved the profession to confront important issues of the future.

Derald Wing Sue

Past president of the Society of Counseling Psychology (SCP), Derald Wing

Sue, captures the essence of Rosie Phillips Binghams leadership style and

Legacies and Traditions Forum

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444 The Counseling Psychologist40(3)

professional contributions in the opening quote. Rosie is widely recognized

for her wise counsel, generous mentoring style, creative problem-solving,

fundraising capabilities, and implementation of inclusive excellence. One of

Rosies unique talents is the ability to bridge boundaries. She is able to mediate

between groups from different cultural and ideological backgrounds to facili-

tate change. Elaborating on her bridging skills, past SCP president Puncky

Heppner observes that Rosies vision and ability to get everyone involved in a

community of inclusion is both remarkable and enlightening. He continues by

noting that Rosies values, vision, leadership, diplomacy, poise, interpersonal

style, and humor represent a phenomenal combination of skills that have

greatly impacted many peoples lives.

With such leadership skills, it is not surprising that Rosie has made wide-ranging contributions to the field of counseling psychology and the broader

discipline of psychology. Rosie is the first of manythe first in her family to

attend college, the first African American to serve as president of the SCP,

the first African American woman to run for president of the American

Psychological Association (APA), and so forth. At the same time, she is more

than the firstshe is a woman of courage who has had a transformative influ-

ence on multiple systems, even as a graduate student. For example, toward the

end of her graduate school career, Rosie assisted Ohio Dominican University inestablishing an Academic Effectiveness Center for which she served as the first

director. After graduating from The Ohio State University, she secured a psy-

chologist position at the University of Florida counseling center, and within

several years she was associate director. Rosie returned to her roots in Memphis

and for the past 25 years has served in leadership positions at the University of

Memphis, including her current role as Vice President for Student Affairs. Prior

positions included Director of the Center for Student Development and the

Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs. Over the years she has helped tomake institutional changes at the University of Memphis, including working

with others to establish an APA-approved pre-doctoral psychology internship,

develop a retention program for academically talented Black students, rescue

and grow a financially threatened student health center, and secure funds to

build a new $51 million state-of-the-art student center facility. Her professional

and community contributions are too numerous to detail here. Highlights include

being one of the four founders and initial organizers of the National Multicultural

Conference and Summit and co-founding the philanthropic group Womens

Foundation for A Greater Memphis.

Rosie identified the process of becoming self-assured as a journey from

inferiority to being a human being; a journey from being this person who

felt little self-value to knowing that its okay and good enough. Rosies

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Neville 445

development represents the process of challenging internalized representa-

tions of self primarily because of poverty, color, and race to accepting that she

is complete and whole with many talents. The title thus reflects Rosies journey

and her process of becoming a person, mother, friend, mentor, and profes-

sional. Rosies story is unique to her life experiences. Her story also reflects

the experiences of many girls and women in America, particularly African

American girls coming of age at the cusp of the modern Civil Rights and

Black Power movements. Thus, at critical junctures, I place her narrative

within a historical backdrop.

What I hope is captured in this narrative is Rosies authenticity and genu-

ine warmth. It is difficult to fully represent the multidimensional nature of an

individual in one short life narrative. I wish everyone had an opportunity tolisten to the taped interviews with Rosie. What strikes me most about the series

of conversations is the honesty in which she talked about her life. Rosie

placed her narrative within context and did not shy away from the complexities

of real life. I had a similar reaction as did Valene A. Whitaker, a counseling

psychology doctoral student who assisted with transcribing the nearly 6 hours

of tape. In her process notes, Valene underscored the inspirational nature of

Rosies story and the influence she has on others:

When I think back over the entire interview as a whole, I am perhaps

most profoundly affected by the fact that transcribing this conversation

allowed me to really get a sense of why Dr. Bingham is so well-regarded

in the field of psychology as a whole, and why she means so much to

so many psychologists and future psychologists! Listening to the inter-

view gave me such a clear sense of her authenticity as a Black woman,

and as someone who found success in her career, even after a few

professional and personal setbacks. As she spoke, it was evident to methat this was a woman who did not seem to feel as if she had to sacrifice

loving her husband and son or connecting with and finding support

from close friends and colleagues, in order to advance her career. It is

encouraging for me to look to her as an example of a psychologist who

has achieved so much in life, while still staying true to her goals and

aspirations, and maintaining her sense of self.

This life narrative consists of quotations based on excerpts from my con-

versations with Rosie. We talked about her early life, critical incidents in her

development as a person and as a professional, and peak and nadir experi-

ences. I read and reread the transcribed conversations. Through my close read

of the text, I decided the best way to represent Rosies story in this article was



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Table 1.Selected Educational and Professional Experiences and Achievements ofRosie Phillips Bingham

1971 B.A. in Sociology/Education, Elmhurst College1971-1972 Assistant Manager, Illinois Bell Telephone

1973 M.A. in Counseling and Guidance, The Ohio State University

1976-1978 Director, Academic Development Center and Assistant Professorof Psychology, Ohio Dominican College

1977 Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, The Ohio State University

1978-1983 Psychologist, University of Counseling Center, University ofFlorida

1983-1985 Associate Director, Counseling Center, University of Florida

1985-1993 Director, Center for Student Development, University ofMemphis

1985-Present Professor, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology &Research and Department of Psychology

1988-1989 Chair, Association for University and College Counseling CenterDirectors

1993-2003 Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, University ofMemphis

1994 President, International Association of Counseling Center Service

1994 American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) Diplomate1996 Pioneering African American Woman Award

1998-1999 President, APA Division 17

1999-2001 National Multicultural Conference and Summit, Host &Co-Organizer

2000 Academy of Counseling Psychology Distinguished Service Award

2001-2007 APA, Council of Representatives

2002 Honorary Ph.D., American Council of Education NationalLeadership Forum Phillips Graduate Institute

2003-Present Vice President for Student Affairs, University of Memphis

2004 Woman of the Year, APA, Division 17, Section for theAdvancement of Women

2004 Charles and Shirley Thomas Award, APA Division 45

2004-2006 Chair, Womens Foundation for a Greater Memphis

2006 APA Presidential Candidate

2007 Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring, APA Division 17

2007 Dalmas A. Taylor Award for leadership, scholarship, and advocacy

for racial and ethnic minorities in psychology and highereducation, The National Multicultural Conference

2008 APA, Board of Educational Affairs

2008 Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship, TeachersCollege

2009-2011 APA, Board of Directors



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Neville 447

to highlight key dimensions related to her development as a professional. In

this article, I briefly identify key childhood experiences as a way to contextu-

alize her later undergraduate and college student experiences. This informa-

tion also provides the backdrop for understanding Rosies commitment to

creating inclusive environments and her dedication to social justice. From

these discussions, we can see Rosies strengths and the incredible obstacles

Table 2.Selected Publications of Rosie Phillips Bingham

Bingham, R. P., & Walsh, W. B. (1978). Concurrent validity of Hollands theory for

college-degreed black women.Journal of Vocational Behavior, 13, 242-250.Walsh, W. B., Horton, J., & Bingham, R. P. (1979). A comparison of the concurrentvalidity of Hollands theory with college-degreed Black women and college-degreed White women.Journal of Vocational Behavior, 13, 217-223.

Bingham, R. P., & Tucker, C. M. (1981). The counseling center practitioner asresearcher. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 59, 531-536.

Bingham, R. P., Fukuyama, M., Suchman, D., & Parker, W. M. (1984). Ethnic studentwalk-in: Expanding the scope.Journal of College Student Personnel, 25, 168-169.

Sheffey, M. A., Bingham, R. P., & Walsh, W. B. (1986). Concurrent validity of Hollands

theory for college educated black men.Journal of Multicultural Counseling andDevelopment, 64, 437-439.

Walsh, W. B., Bingham, R. P., & Sheffey, M. (1986). Hollands theory and collegeeducated black men and women.Journal of Vocational Behavior, 29, 194-200.

Ward, C. M., & Bingham, R. P. (1993). Career assessment of ethnic minoritywomen.Journal of Career Assessment, 1, 246-257.

Fouad, N., & Bingham, R. P. (1995). Career counseling with racial/ethnic minorities.In W. B. Walsh & S. H. Osipow (Eds.), Handbook of vocational psychology(2nd ed.,pp. 331-366). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bingham, R. P., & Ward, C. M. (1997). Theory into assessment: A model for womenof color.Journal of Career Assessment, 5, 403-418.

Sue, D. W., Bingham, R. P., Porch-Burke, L., & Vasquez, M. (1999). The diversificationof psychology: A multicultural revolution.American Psychologist, 54, 1061-1069.

Walsh, W. B., Bingham, R. P., Brown, M., & Ward, C. M. (Eds.). (2001). Careercounseling for African Americans.Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bingham, R. P. (2003). Fostering human strength: A counseling psychologyperspective. In W. B. Walsh (Ed.), Counseling psychology and optimal humanfunctioning(pp. 279-296). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bingham, R. P., Ward, C. M., & McGhee, M. (2006). Career counseling with AfricanAmerican women. In W. B. Walsh & M. J. Heppner (Eds.), Career counseling withwomen(2nd ed., pp.165-195). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bingham, R. P. (2009). My life is a balance between. . . In J. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas,L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling(3rd ed.,pp. 19-24). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.



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Rosie has overcome in her life, including the intense racial oppression in the

Jim Crow era and extreme poverty. We also get a glimpse of Rosie as a pre-

cocious youth with a vivid imagination. Later, I outline Rosies professional

development and accomplishments. Because Rosie is involved in a wide

range of professional and community organizations, I focus on her contribu-

tions to the university settings in which she has worked and the American

Psychological Association, especially Division 17. What emerge in these sum-

maries are Rosies resourcefulness and imaginative leadership style and

effectiveness. I include brief discussions of the role of family and faith in her

life to acknowledge their importance in her life story. I conclude with Rosies

words of wisdom to emerging professionals; this seemed fitting given her com-

mitment to the development of students and professionals.

Contextualizing a Life of Becoming

Rosie was born in Scott, Mississippi, in the heart of the Delta region on April

12, 1949, as the first child of Jake and Savanah Phillips. Eight siblings were to

follow. Rosie has at least four older siblings from her parents previous relation-

ships: two from her mother and two or more from her father. Thus, Rosie is one

of at least 12 children. Like many African American families living in Mississippiin the 1940s, Rosies family sharecropped and lived on a plantation called

Fallback. As sharecroppers, the Phillips family lived on and cultivated a plot on

Fallback. The family was required to give a large percentage of the profits they

earned from crops, such as cotton to the owners of the plantation.

Rosie grew up in an era and a place in which everyone worked hard and each

family member had a job and place. Rosie described her early life before the

age of 5 as being filled with hard work and one of childhood mischief:

On Fallback plantation we lived in what was referred to as a shotgun

house. As sharecroppers we worked the cotton field; we chopped cotton

[i.e., hoeing the cotton in the summer] and picked cotton [i.e., plucking

the blossoms in the fall]. We lived in a place that conjures images of the

country store where you would buy red soda pop, and peanuts, and mix

it together and drink. My family grew vegetables in the garden near the

house, like yams and butterbeans. Everybody had to work. As a kid I was

also assigned work. I vividly remember one particular incident. Like

many kids, I was mischievous. A neighbor down the road did something

to me; I forget what happened. But I do remember turning around patting

my butt [a sassy gesture in African American culture]. The neighbor told

my sister Georgia, who was working in the field, that she was going to



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Neville 449

tell my mother. Georgia and I plotted how we were going to kill the lady.

We were going to feed her some ants. I remember when my mother

returned from the fields; she was sitting outside and I was in the kitchen

sweeping. I heard the neighbor telling my mother what I did. I knew I

was in trouble. My mother called me out, turned me across her lap and

spanked me. What I remember about that story is the fact that I was

actually cleaning; I was four or five years old. The point of the story is

that in some ways children are so different now; when I was growing up

children worked in some capacity.

Rosies life was filled with the love of family that countered many of the

harsh realities of racialized poverty and Jim Crow policies. These realities arecaptured in the following story about being critically ill as a child:

I remember going to the hospital when my brother and I were very ill

with typhoid fever. We got sick from drinking the water that was deliv-

ered to our house in barrels. I was sick first; my brother was later ill. I

remember the hospital was divided into the colored section and the white

section. My mother was very good to us and took very good care of us.

And my father gave me a blood transfusion.

Rosies family moved to Memphis when she was 5 years old, after her illness

with typhoid fever. The move took place at a time in which farm mechaniza-

tion increased and consequently sharecropping as a mode of production was

becoming obsolete. The Phillips family became part of the Second Great

Migration in which African Americans from the Deep South fled racism and

sought increased economic opportunities in more industrialized cities. The

Phillips family did not migrate to a northern city such as Chicago, like themajority of African American Mississippians during this time. Instead, they

migrated to Memphis to be close to family.

Overcoming Oppressions, Uncovering Strengths

The Phillips family moved to Memphis to live with Rosies paternal grand-

mother. Memphis was not a bed of roses, however. Rosie endured colorism

(or the preferences for light complexioned people) within and outside of the

family. The type of colorism Rosie experienced is part of a larger system of

White supremacy and is not uncommon within the African American commu-

nity from slavery until present day. Color stratification exists as reflected in the

on-average greater educational attainment, annual income, and perceived



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attractiveness of lighter complexioned African Americans (women in par-

ticular) compared to their darker counterparts (see Russell, Wilson, &

Hall, 1993). Racism structured Rosies larger social world in terms of the

economic exploitation of her family and the inferior services provided to

African Americans in the South. Colorism and sexism intersected to influ-

ence Rosies direct experiences of discrimination as a Black girl. Within the

family, the lighter grandchildren were given preferences, and outside of the

home, she was taunted with names such as Black and ugly. Poverty also

played a role in Rosies development. The majority of African Americans in

segregated Memphis in the 1950s were poor. Rosies family were the poor

among the poorthe church mice poor. Although her familys social condi-

tion was a source of embarrassment, it served as the impetus to achieve inschool and later in life.

Rosie was resilient and actively challenged the external representations

of her. She relied on internal resources such as her imagination to redefine

the color and class discrimination to survive the torments and thrive in

school:

Learning to cope with color issues outside of the home was a critical

incident for me growing up. I dealt with being teased by learning to usemy imagination. One way I used my imagination was to think to myself,

Every time somebody calls me ugly, Im going to pretend I have a dol-

lar, and Im going to buy stuff that I want. In addition to learning to use

my imagination, I learned how to reframe a negative situation into a

positive situation to make it more bearable.

Rosie learned to read at an early age, before starting school. Reading also

served as a resource for her as she dealt with colorism and poverty throughouther childhood and adolescence. Reading fueled her imagination and enhanced

her self-esteem:

Reading allowed me to escape. Reading allowed me to have a bigger

vision for what my life could be. Reading also contributed to my vivid

imagination. My imagination in turn enabled me to create things in my

head. For example, as a child I imagined myself living in New York

wearing a sophisticated suit and meeting the love of my life. Through

reading I was able to imagine a different world. The fact that reading

has the potential to expand ones world is fundamental, especially to

children who are in an oppressed situation in which their world experi-

ences are restricted.



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Neville 451

Rosie attended Manassas High School, founded in 1900 and one of the cen-

ters of pride of Black Memphians (Jenkins, 2009). In the mid-1960s, Memphis

tried to integrate the public schools, but the Black students, including Rosie,

refused to attend the new integrated high school. It was not that they opposed

attending school with White youths; they had nothing against Whites, as they

had very few interactions with them. These students identified with and were

attached to their high school; they wanted to graduate from Manassas, a place

they loved! Even today, graduates of Manassas get together regularly for activ-

ities such as monthly luncheons.

In high school, Rosie found acceptance and a sense of community with

other smart and talented youths. Yet this acceptance came at a cost:

When I was in ninth grade, I was selected to be in the tenth grade club

called the Deburetts. This club had about 20 or more members. I never

thought I would be selected to be a member, but I was thrilled to be part

of the group. The senior elitist club was the Double Ten Society.

Members of the Double Ten were considered the smart kids, and many

were lighter and were part of the middle-class. Although I was neither

light nor middle class, I was selected to be a part of the group in large

part because I was smart. Since I was bright, I was tracked with kidswith more advantages. My friends who lived in my neighborhood were

not in the same track. This means I had two sets of friends. I had my

friends in the neighborhood who were my walk around the block

friends, and my friends whom I spent most of my time with in school.

I began to resent that my friends at home were not good enough. The

various clubs would sponsor parties. Club members turned in a list of

students to invite to the party. Inevitably, not one person from my neigh-

borhood was perceived as good enough by the advisors to invite to theparty. I did not like that kind of exclusion.

In reflecting on her childhood and adolescent experiences, Rosie identifies

the poverty, perception of her neighborhood friends as not being good

enough, and her familys internal dynamics as helping her to be an accepting

person of a wide range of people later in life. She also views the acceptance of

others as an essential piece of her own self-acceptance.

Going to College and Coming Into Her Own

Rosie entered college in 1967 at a moment in which the country was undergo-

ing transformation. The United States was changing rapidly in the mid-to-late



12/32


1960s. It was a time of protests against a war and injustices on the home

front. During his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson initiated a series of legisla-

tions designed to end poverty and racial injustices under the vision of the

Great Society. The Higher Education Act of 1965 was part of these programs;

the act increased access to higher education to racial minorities, and poor and

working-class Whites. Thus, bright and talented students such as Rosie who

would have been excluded from college previously were admitted and pro-

vided financial assistance.

Rosies strong academic record provided her with many college options to

consider. She was accepted to a number of colleges; she ultimately decided to

attend Elmhurst College, a small liberal arts college outside of Chicago. In

high school, Rosie was relatively quiet, conservative, and tried to conform tothe status quo. Rosie blossomed at Elmhurst. Like so many youth of her gen-

eration, Rosies social consciousness was awakened during her college years.

Also during this time, the seeds of leadership that were planted in Rosies high

school years as part of the Deburetts sprouted as she assumed a number of

leadership positions in college:

I received scholarships to Mount Holyoke, University of Chicago,

Vanderbilt, Cornell, Ithaca, and a number of other schools. I didnt tellanyone that I was scared to attend some of the schools. My biggest fear

was social. I was afraid that I would be isolated. I didnt voice my con-

cerns to anyone. Instead, I chose not to act on the scholarship offers.

I ultimately decided to attend Elmhurst College. One of the recruiters

came to our high school and recruited three of us. I received a full ride.

Elmhurst, Illinois, is a middle-class suburb outside of Chicago. The

school is a beautiful, little school. In my class, there were about 23African Americans. At the time I attended college, the campus was

maybe 3,000 students. By the time I graduated from college, there were

perhaps 150 African American students.

I had a great time in college, though. I began to participate in peace

marches and other types of protests. I was very conservative in high

school. I preferred Martin Luther King to Malcolm X. I believed in

the domino theory of communism [the belief that if one country fell to

communism then so would neighbor counties] and in the Vietnam War.

These were values and beliefs that were reinforced by my high school

teachers that I internalized. I began to challenge these beliefs in college.

I came out against the war and I became active pretty early on.



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Neville 453

I was a Resident Advisor in the dorm. I was president of the Association

of Womens Students. And I co-chaired the Black Leaders Organized

and Consolidated. As part of the BLOC, we invited speakers like Betty

Shabazz and singers like the Delfonics and the Dells. Black Panthers like

Fred Hampton also spoke on campus. By the second semester of my

freshman year, I began to develop a Black consciousness and embraced

the slogan of the day: Im Black and Im proud.

We were also involved in campus politics. When the football players

were going on strike because of perceived racism on campus, the Black

students crafted a list of demands they wanted the administration to

address. We enticed the president and the football coach to meet withthe football players to discuss the concerns. They met in the Chapel. As

they met with the football players, over 100 Black Students, my friend

Tony and I as co-chairs of Black Leaders Organized and Consolidated,

marched over to the Chapel; we would not allow the president or the

coach to leave. We joined hands and we were not going to let them

leave until they addressed the demands. We were so organized. The

White students were outside of the Chapel; although I was not outside,

I was told that they were protesting our actions. We were focused andwe were scared. The police also came and were outside. We had a great

president of that college. The president handled the situation perfectly;

he calmly helped us to talk through what we wanted, among which was

more Black faculty. The president must have worked behind the scenes

because none of us went to jail. He helped us schedule a meeting with

the Board of Trustees. I appreciated what he did.

This civil disobedience incident was a pivotal point for Rosie. In reflectingon the experience, Rosie and the other student leaders received very little

guidance from their Black faculty advisors: The faculty believed they were

doing the right thing in not telling us what to do, but instead letting us arrive at

our own conclusions. Rosie wanted more from them than what they were able

to provide. This is one reason Rosie actively provides students with direct and

hands-on support; she provides students space to talk through issues, even

controversial ones.

A number of social events happened in Rosies first year of college that

significantly influenced the world around her. The 1968 Memphis Sanitation

Strike took place in her second semester. During this strike, her father, who

was a sanitation worker, marched with others to protest poor and dangerous

working conditions and the lack of union rights and protection. Consistent with



14/32


the racial stratification in most jobs during this time, the Black sanitation work-

ers completed the dirtiest and lowest paying jobs. Rosie remembers hearing

stories about Black workers being forced to eat meals outside of the truck

near the maggot infested garbage. Martin Luther King, Jr., actively partici-

pated in these protest activities and was assassinated in Memphis toward the

end of the 2-month strike:

When the strike began in Memphis, I began to send money home to

help out with the expenses. I had two jobs. One job was a desk job at

the university, which paid me a dollar an hour. I made more money at

my other job; I cleaned the home of a nice White lady. She wanted her

floors scrubbed. That meant I had to get on my hands and knees andscrub her floor. That was challenging. However, I learned how to

clean from that woman.

I remember it was a critical incident when Dr. King was killed. The

women students at Elmhurst were in the midst of trying to form a

sorority. Elmhurst did not have sororities on campus at that time. The

Black and White women who were interested in forming a sorority

joined efforts. Without our knowledge, the White women that werepart of this joint effort formed their own sorority. We were in the music

listening room of the student center talking to these same White

women students when my girlfriend Shirley slammed the door open

and yelled, Talking to these White people about having a sorority, and

they shot Dr. King. The death of Martin Luther King, Jr., created

havoc on campus. This was an interesting time. As students, we talked;

there was a lot of crying. We engaged in difficult dialogues. It was

pretty amazing.

In following up with the story about the sororities, Rosie noted:

We never talked with the White women students about it again. Some

African American women students joined city chapters of sororities in

Chicago. Most of the students did not join sororities at that time. I

joined Delta Sigma Theta [a historically African American sorority]

in graduate school.

Rosie excelled in all aspects of college. She received good grades, was

a student leader committed to social change, and worked. Her only academic



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Neville 455

difficulty was identifying an intellectually engaging major. Although Rosie did

not major in psychology as an undergraduate, she stumbled onto counselor

education as a masters student where she was then introduced to the field of

counseling psychology:

I had difficulty trying to figure out a major. I was bored in the general

psychology classes. Im amazed that Im a psychologist. I wanted to be

a history major. I was advised that history teachers are a dime a dozen.

Since I told my advisor that I wanted to help people, he recommended

that I major in sociology. He never suggested psychology. I followed his

advice and I was disappointed in my major. This is why I believe if

students have a passion, they should follow it.

Transitioning to the Real World

A Year of Reflection and Preparation

Rosie took a year off between undergraduate and graduate schools. The year

provided her an opportunity to reflect on the nature of work and her ideas about

social transformation she developed in college. She worked for the telephone

company Illinois Bell, one of the largest employers of African Americanwomen at that time in Chicago:

As a sociology major, I knew I needed to obtain a graduate degree to

move forward in a career. My first intent was to return to Memphis after

graduating from Elmhurst to become a teacher. I went back and they

were not hiring Black teachers to teach in my areas of interest. I returned

to Chicago and worked for Illinois Bell, the phone company. That was

a very good experience for me. I worked at Bell from the end of May1971 until September 1972, when I entered graduate school. This expe-

rience prompted a shift in my thinking. As college students we talked

about rebelling and the formation of a Black state. At Bell, I began to

realize that working women were not going to strike for some of these

causes because they had children to feed. It was a good growing up

experience for me; it provided me space to question some of the assump-

tions I developed in college. Working helped me to become more of a

practical realist; it helped me to put race relations in a little different

perspective than when I was in college. It probably helped that my boss

was an African American woman because I was able to see an African

American woman who was responsible for a large office.



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Finding Counseling PsychologyThe Graduate School Years

Similar to many working-class students, Rosie did not have people in her com-

munity who modeled the range of career possibilities for college graduates,

with the exception of teaching. She also attended college prior to the imple-

mentation of many of the formal mentoring programs to help underrepresented

students navigate graduate school options. As a consequence, applying for

graduate school was an unfamiliar process:

When I applied to graduate school I was not 100% sure what I was doing.

I didnt have a plan. I implemented a chaos theory of career development.

I applied for and was accepted into graduate school at The Ohio StateUniversity. I loved being there. I was accepted in the M.A. counselor

education program. My advisor was an African American faculty mem-

ber named (Richard) Moriba Kelsey. I learned a lot about hard work

from him; he would not allow me to take an incomplete and conse-

quently I never took an incomplete throughout my graduate studies.

I found psychology as a Student Personnel Assistant (SPA). The SPA

students were graduate assistants and held various jobs around campus.

As a SPA you could take classes in three tracksthe student personneltrack, which trains you to be an administrator such as a dean of students;

the counselor education track; and the psychology track. I dont know

why I chose the psychology track, but I chose that set of courses. Taking

these courses brought me into contact with the counseling psychology

faculty. Dave Shaw was the Director of Admission for the counseling

psychology program. He told me, You know, I think that you would be

great in the counseling psychology program, and that you should get a

doctorate. I chair the admissions committee, why dont you have yourfolder sent over from the College of Education. I arranged for my

folder to be sent over. And later, I received a letter indicating contin-

gent upon finishing your masters, youre admitted into the counseling

psychology Ph.D. program.

Rosie established a strong and supportive circle of friends in graduate school,

many of whom she remains close to today, particularly Alvenia Rhea Albright

and Barbara Henley. These were the friends who were more like sisters; when

things got tough, they were there to support and bolster me. In addition

to the social support she received from her sister-friends, Rosie found a sup-

portive advisor and lifelong mentor in Bruce Walsh while at The Ohio

State University. Bruce provided her with instrumental support throughout her



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Neville 457

graduate years. For example, he helped her study for qualifying examinations

by teaching her how to respond to questions on the basis of her knowledge. He

also assisted her in navigating the political terrain of graduate school, and he

continued to support her professional development through writing and other

activities. She began to really appreciate Bruces support and guidance when

deciding on who she wanted to place on her oral qualifying examination com-

mittee and then later when working on her dissertation:

As an eager and motivated graduate student, I wanted to prove that I

was bright and capable. As part of these efforts, I decided to put on my

oral examining committee themost difficult men on the faculty. Bruce

approached me and said, Rosie, didnt you and so and so have a littledisagreement? I replied, No, he was complimentary of me. Bruce

briefly responded, Well, didnt the two of you have. . .. I later reflected

on my conversation with Bruce and decided to follow his advice and

remove the person from the oral committee. The entire faculty graded

students written examinations at Ohio State. I did well on the written

examination, with the exception of one set of low scores. Bruce com-

mented, You have one low set, but we called that one.

I think a part of what cemented Bruces place in my life so firmly was his

assistance and support throughout the dissertation process. We used cards

to run data analyses when I was in graduate school. When I was ready to

analyze my data, Bruce offered to meet me early in the morning and to

stay with me as long as it took to complete the analyses. This turned into

a day-long activity. I completed the analysis in the computer lab and

returned to Bruces office. We reviewed the printout together, worked out

problems, and identified the next steps. I returned to the computer lab andwe repeated this process. Bruce also helped to pay for my materials.

Rosies dissertation built on Bruces vocational interest research in a num-

ber of important ways. Specifically, Rosie was interested in examining the

applicability of career theories with Black women. There were very few arti-

cles on career issues with Black women at the time Rosie was working on her

dissertation. A PsycInfo search yielded three articles published between 1973

and 1977 in this general area. Thus Rosies work validating two operational-

izations of Hollands Theory with college-educated Black women was

groundbreaking. She spent a year collecting data on nearly 100 Black women

with college degrees; findings from her study provide initial support of com-

mon assessments of Hollands theory with this population.



18/32


After completing the dissertation, Bruce encouraged her to write a manu-

script on the basis of the findings: He was the first person to say to me, I think

we ought to publish an article. In fact, Rosie received her degree in 1977, and

the following year she was the lead author on a Journal of Vocational

Behaviorarticle reporting findings from the dissertation. Bruce continued to

encourage Rosie to publish research in general: He asked me if I wanted to

write a book chapter with him on career counseling with African American

women, and so Dr. Connie Ward and I wrote the chapter. Subsequently,

Rosie co-authored a few other articles with Bruce, including the 2001 co-

edited book Career Counseling With African Americans (Walsh, Bingham,

Brown, & Ward, 2001). Rosie also established an independent line of research.

She and her colleagues helped to articulate a model of conceptualizing andassessing career theory for women of color. For example, in her 1997Journal

of Career Assessmentarticle with Connie Ward, they built on her earlier work

and outlined four areas relevant for career assessment with racial and ethnic

minority women, including: cultural (e.g., identity, structural oppression), gen-

der (e.g., gender role socialization), self-efficacy (e.g., career), and traditional

career assessment variables (e.g., values, interests).

In addition to nurturing her research, Bruce has supported Rosie through-

out her professional career:

He is responsible for me being a fellow. One day he approached me

and said, Rosie, I think its time for you to be a fellow. At that time,

I was unaware of fellow status and its importance in the field. When I was

not awarded fellow after the first nomination, Bruce phoned me and

encouraged me to try again. Later in my career it was Bruce who gave me

the oath of office as Division 17 president. He was so proud.

On Becoming a Professional

Rosie experienced a number of developmental turns in her journey to becom-

ing a professional, including the in-between status of being all but dissertation

or A.B.D., and securing and beginning her first job as a newly minted Ph.D.

This period represents tremendous personal and professional growth:

When I was close to completing my doctorate I worked as a faculty

member at Ohio Dominican College (now University), a small liberal

arts school. I was offered an Associate Dean of Students position at

Oberlin College, but I decided to stay in Columbus until I finished my

degree; I was afraid of being an A.B.D. While at Ohio Dominican, I

wrote a proposal for them to establish an Academic Effectiveness Center,



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Neville 459

and to hire me as the full-time director. And to my surprise, they did.

When I finished my doctorate, they offered me a permanent Assistant

Professor position.

A couple of things mitigated me staying in Columbus, the most important

being an attractive job offer. My very good friend and peer David Cross

and I attended the American Personnel and Guidance Association, which

is now the American Counseling Association, in Washington, D.C. I

noticed that Max Parker was on the program. I told David I wanted to

meet him. David reminded me that everybody wants to talk to him.

I devised a plan to invite him to lunch at the end of the question-and-

answer period of his presentation. My plan was successful. Max Parkerand I went to lunch. During lunch he informed me about a job at the

University of Florida. That was how I interviewed for [and subsequently

received] the psychologist position at the University of Florida coun-

seling center.

Rosie quickly realized she made the right decision by moving to Florida.

She enjoyed the clinical work. She also established strong and supportive

relationships with a circle of women professionals in Florida. Jerrie Scott isone such friend; they remain close today. In fact, they are colleagues now

at the University of Memphis. When Rosie started the new position in

Florida, she proactively began to shape her career, letting others know one of

her goals was to become a director of a counseling center:

I loved Florida. I saw a ton of clientsbetween my groups and my indi-

vidual clients, I saw over 50 clients per week. I loved it! I facilitated a

Black womens self-enrichment group. In Florida, they really encouragedand supported my development as an emerging professional. Max Parker

is the person who told me to write about everything I did. He disavowed

me of the notion that I had to conduct a grand study and publish it; he

encouraged me to write about my evolving theoretical developments

and insights gained from my clinical work. I began to write and claim

the work that I was doing.

When I accepted the job in Florida, I employed my ownversion of career

development; I knew that I should begin preparing for the next job in

my career. And the next job I wanted was to be director of a counsel-

ing center. I told the directors that were at the counseling center during

my tenure at Florida of my interest. They facilitated my development by

having me substitute for them at meetings. There were two counseling



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Neville 461

training in assessment, which was rare at that time. The Center also created the

College: Getting Down to Basics program as an outreach effort to high school

students interested in attending college. Rosie and her staff also initiated a pro-

gram to promote Black student development. They formed Black Scholars

Unlimited, which remains active today. According to the mission state-

ment of the honor society, Black Scholars Unlimited is designed to promote

academic excellence, leadership, and service (see http://www.memphis.edu/

multiculturalaffairs/organizations.htm).

Shortly after V. Lane Rawlins became president of the University of Memphis

in 1991, he asked the Vice President, Donald K. Carson, to restructure student

affairs. Don restructured student affairs and subsequently created two assistant

vice president positions. Rosie was encouraged to apply for one of the posi-tions. Rosie accepted the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs/Student

Development position when it was offered to her.

Rosie was able to accomplish a lot during her 9 years as Assistant Vice

President for Student Affairs. In this position, Rosie was responsible for the

Health Center, the Center for Student Development, the Athletic Academic

Center, Student Disability Services, and the Career Center. The accomplish-

ments of her leadership team are extensive. I will briefly highlight a few.

First, Rosie was able to transform the culture such that the five units, insteadof working relatively independently, worked as a team. They identified the theme

Students First and were able to prioritize budget requests as a team. Thinking

outside of the box, Rosie and her team were able to revitalize and grow the Health

Center, which was in danger of being eliminated. She also worked with others

to increase the retention efforts of the university. This included (a) encourag-

ing the university to hire nationally recognized higher education consultants

to assist with recruitment and retention efforts, (b) influencing college efforts

such that every college within the university (such as the College of Engineering)developed a retention plan, (c) conducting research to identify predictors of

students success (they found that GPA was a better predictor than ACT score),

and (d) instituting the first freshmen Introduction to the University course.

When Don Carson retired in 2003, Rosies son was a freshman in college.

At this time, Rosie applied for the vacated position and also other positions

in the country. Rosie was offered and ultimately accepted the vice presidency

position. This new position increased her leverage to implement additional

changes on campus and to promote student learning and development. Rosie

was excited about the possibilities the Vice President for Student Affairs posi-

tion provided and she was acutely aware of the university hierarchy, which

many times devalues the contributions of student affairs. Rosie was also aware

of the way in which race and gender played a role in how others responded to



22/32


the leadership of women of color. Research shows that Rosies concerns were

grounded in reality. Black women leaders authority is often undermined, in

spite of the multiple ways in which their leadership as a group contributes to

resolving conflict and negotiating resolutions (see Parker, 2005):

. . . it is really difficult for women and persons of color to have credibil-

ity when they step through the door. When I got the job as Vice President,

I realized that everybody thought that they could tell me how to do my

job. No matter which area they were responsible for. I just capitalized

on that and used that to my advantage. I felt free to come into the meet-

ings and make controversial suggestions because I knew people would

dismiss me by saying, She just doesnt know any better. This providedour team an opportunity to confront some really difficult things. I was

able to turn a potential negative into a positive.

The previous passage highlights the ways in which racism, sexism, and their

intersections may influence others responses to Rosie and more importantly

Rosies refusal to be defined by these isms:

I want to keep on claiming my power. I have no interest in being a victimof sexism and racism. That is not to say that these two societal problems

do not and will not affect my life. It is to say that in my fight with them,

I want to use them to become stronger. (Bingham, 2009, p. 23)

There are a number of strategies Rosie used to enter the group of administra-

tors at this level:

In addition to asking questions, I accepted my team and other adminis-trators as full participants. I remained firm and clear about my position

and that of Student Affairs. I also made sure I had data to support my

observations and suggestions. What I found critical was to speak and

speak often. When a woman enters a group such as this, I believe she

must speak up because the group will interpret her silence as she does

not have anything to contribute to the discussion and may even think

that the woman is not fully competent. The group will then begin to

ignore the woman and devalue her contributions to the team. Women

must find their voice and speak. Part of the reason I continue to speak

up is to encourage my team and others to wonder What will Rosie

think about this? or What is the Student Affairs point of view? This



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Neville 463

is important because I advocate for the student point of view and I

encourage this perspective to be at the forefront of our decision making

whether I am in the room or not.

I work hard to attend all executive council meetingsto understand the

issues of the University, to be prepared and to offer critical and rele-

vant opinions on all important issues; I see myself as responsible for

the entire university. I use humor to help build and sustain relationships

as well as relieve tension in uncomfortable situations. I also work hard

to understand the needs of my colleagues and will do whatever I can to

help them achieve success. I try to go the extra mile to express caring

and concern if I know of difficulties in their lives and/or the lives of theirfamily members. I guess I work to use a full range of expressionsfirm

and fierce to soft and gentle. I use anger sparingly and laughter a lot.

The questions about Rosies leadership in her new role as vice president

quickly changed once those unfamiliar faces got to know Rosie and her tre-

mendous talent. Among the countless initiatives that Rosie has worked on in

student affairs over the past 7 years include: significantly growing the number

of living learning communities or theme-based residential hall communitiesdesigned to bridge academic, personal, and professional development (living

learning communities have been shown nationally to have improved educa-

tional outcomes for students; Pasque & Murphy, 2005), significantly increas-

ing revenue-generating ventures such as sponsoring a campus-wide housing

fair and identifying staff teams to apply for federal TRIO program grants

(which have been successful in securing nearly $4 million), and increasing

student input through activities such as monthly luncheon meetings with stu-

dents. The universitys Conference Planning and Operations Department wasalso moved under Student Affairs to become more profitable and is having

great success. One of Rosies favorite activities she worked on as Vice President

was establishing a scholarship in honor of her professional mentorthe

Donald K. Carson Leadership Scholarship. She and a group of internal and

external colleagues established the endowed scholarship. They were able to

raise $30,000 in several months, and today the endowment has grown to over

$100,000. Three students receive the award annually.

Among Rosies many leadership skills is the ability to reach across bound-

aries to find creative solutions to move forward. She uses this skill to create

positive changes on campus in terms of race relations and administration and

student relations. Two incidents in particular illustrate this point. Rosie inter-

vened in an institutional misstep in handling a racial incident in 1995 as



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Assistant Vice President; she also was involved in thwarting potential campus

outrage after a similar incident occurred in 2006, when she was Vice President.

Both incidents involved interracial interactions between Blacks and Whites at

a White fraternity party in which White fraternity members used racial epithets

and both incidents resulted in student concern on campus. The misstep in

1995 mainly resulted from the minimization of the seriousness of name call-

ing, lack of immediate action, and excluding multiple student voices in solving

the problem. The successful outcome of the 2006 incident was due in large part

because staff and administrators identified the problem as serious after hearing

about it, involved all groups on campus to assist in solving the problem, and

allowed the students to lead with support from the administrators.

Rosies training as a scientist-practitioner also contributes to her leadershipeffectiveness; making data-driven and supported decisions has helped her to

grow important campus initiatives:

My training as a scientist-practitioner influences the way I approach

and think about my work, even now in my job as a vice president. One

of my mentors was the previous vice president and he loved a program

called the Emerging Leaders Scholarship Program. He was afraid the

university would cut the program when he left. When I came on board,I was committed to saving the program. I began to gather the existing

retention and graduation data to determine if the program was effec-

tive. As we analyzed the data and compared it to other programs on

campus, we found that the rates for the Emerging Leaders Scholarship

Program were the best on campus. I was able to provide the president

and the provost data about the effectiveness of the program in increas-

ing retention. At that time it was a small program. The program worked

with about 20 new students each year. The president and provost imme-diately told me that I could have 10 additional scholarship students each

year. [Rosie and her staff have been able to more than double the size

of the incoming class; the program has grown from having 80 total

students on the 4-year scholarship to a total of 200 students.] I am now

working with the university to increase the stipend for that scholarship,

which I think I am going to be successful doing because I showed them

the numbers. I believe in evidence-based practice. My staff and I have

encouraged the university to consider the anticipated student outcomes

from the various programs within student affairs; we want to move

beyond the numbers to capture the benefits we hope students will gain.

I also worked to restructure a program and a position to hire a Director

of Student Learning and Assessment.



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Neville 465

The Emerging Leader Scholarship Program is successful and continues to

thrive. To date, the first-year retention figures range from 88% to 98%, the

overall grade point average is consistently above 3.3, and nearly all of the

graduates of the program are employed in their chosen careers or are attend-

ing graduate school.

Making a Difference in (Counseling)

Psychology and in Her Community

Rosie demonstrated leadership skills very early on. As an undergraduate stu-

dent she chaired the Association of Womens Students and co-chaired the

Black Student Union, and in graduate school, she helped create a new unit tosupport student development at Ohio Dominican University. Rosie has always

believed she has an obligation to make a difference. It seems this value

serves as the impetus for her working to make things better in the environments

around her. Rosie has assumed leadership positions in a number of organiza-

tions, including serving as president of the Association of University College

and Counseling Centers. As part of these efforts, she has made a huge differ-

ence in counseling psychology and the broader discipline of psychology

through her various leadership roles (e.g., president of SCP, APA CouncilRepresentative, APA Board of Directors), initiatives she has helped to create

(e.g., NMCS), and her historic bid for APA presidency. Below, Rosie discusses

her introduction to SCP and her leadership experiences within APA:

When I decided to be a part of Division 17, Rosemary Phelps and I

attended a meeting of the Ethnic Minority Committee. They were

involved in a heated discussion. They were so focused on what Division

17 was not providing. They did not take time to help those of us whowere really on the outside to try and be on the inside. Rosemary and I

later talked to Naomi Meara. Naomi was my supervisor at the very start

of my career, and she was going to be President of 17. She appointed us

to committees. And thus began my work in the Division.

Jan Birk was chair of the ethics committeeshe and I served together

on the ethics committee and she was running for President of 17. I think

because of her and because of this initial work that they nominated me

to run for Member at Large, and I lost. Jan let me know that I only lost by

a small number. The next time somebody asked me to run for Member

at Large, I agreed and won. While I was on the Executive Board, we



26/32


changed to our current vice-presidency structure. I served as the first

Vice President for Diversity and Public Interest. Around this time the

Executive Board also implemented additional changes within Division 17,

and we dedicated a Council Seat for a minority person.

After two terms when I was rotating off of the Executive Board some-

body asked me if I would run for President of 17. Initially I was not

interested in running for president, but I decided to run because I wanted

to help change the perception that people of color cannot be president.

When I won, I was so shocked that I didnt tell anybody for a week. I did

not expect to win. But then it became a seminal event for me because at

that time there was change in APA. Eight or nine people of color werepresidents of divisions. Melba Vasquez of Division 35 and Derald

Wing Sue of Division 45 were among those elected at the same time I

was elected.

Melba, Derald, and I had similar ideas about our leadership positions;

we wanted our presidencies to stand for something. The three of us and

Lisa Porch-Burke, who was the current President of 45 at that time,

had a conversation in DC about doing something meaningful. We dis-cussed the idea of developing the National Multicultural Conference

and Summit [NMCS].

These four visionary psychologists developed an influential and important

multicultural psychology conference, bringing together scholars, practitioners,

and trainees from various subfields in psychology. The inaugural NMCS con-

ference was held in Newport Beach, California, in 1999 and focused on the

mental health needs of marginalized groups in the United States. Althoughthe intent was not to create a long-standing conference, the first NMCS was

met with resounding success, so much so that a biennial conference was

established. Rosie again helped to convene Summit II, held in Santa

Barbara, California, in 2001. The goal of the second summit was to expand

and deepen the complexity of our understanding of human diversity to include

multiple forms of isms, power and oppression in treatment, research, and

practice. The conference is now sponsored by Divisions 17, 35, 44, and 45

and has grown exponentially over the last decade. Rosie served as a key-

note speaker at the 2007 Summit and received a standing ovation for her inspi-

rational speech. For more information about the founding of the NMCS and

the first two Summits, see Sue, Bingham, Porch-Burke, and Vasquez (1999)

and Bingham, Porch-Burke, James, Sue, and Vasquez (2002).



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Neville 467

After years of service to SCP and to APA as a counsel representative, Rosie

became aware of and was unsettled by the friction between scientists and

practitioners. At some point, a colleague encouraged her to run for the Board

of Directors of APA. She decided not to run for that position, but later had an

epiphany to run for president of APA:

I watched the 2006 Winter Olympics and was motivated to take action.

I wanted to challenge myself and go for the gold so to speak by run-

ning for president of APA. I was particularly interested in addressing the

scientist-practitioner split. At the 2006 February Council meeting, I

talked briefly with Ron Levant, who was past president at the time. He

informed me that it takes approximately $12,000 to run a competitivepresidential campaign. I was aware of what others had spent, but I did not

plan to spend that amount on my own campaign. He also reiterated that I

would be running against Alan Kazdin. I knew I had a slim chance of winning,

but it didnt matter to me. The point was to run and say my piece. Once

I started to campaign, so many people of color told me how important it

was that I ran. I realized after a while that it was much larger than I. You

never know how much people feel disenfranchised until you are out

there. And then it became important to me that I run the best campaignI could. I ran to win. Even though I didnt have a chance, I still wanted

to do the very best I could. It was a good run.

In addition to using her skills to make a difference in the field of psychol-

ogy, Rosie uses her leadership skills to better the larger community as well.

For example, in Memphis she helped to establish the Womens Foundation for

a Greater Memphis, for which she served on the board for 13 years. The goal

of the philanthropic foundation is to help girls and women reach their fullpotential, including helping women reach economic sufficiency. In 2002, she

became Chair-elect and served in that role for 2 years, and then she became

Chair for 2 years. During her time in a leadership position:

We raised nearly a million dollars that year. We also worked on

the Hope Six Grants offered by HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and

Urban Development]. These grants provided funds to tear down old hous-

ing projects and rebuild them to provide better housing for people.

Memphis was awarded one of the grants. However, the city did not include

provisions for social services to assist the residents in the transition

process. The city needed an organization to step up and raise the money

for the social services component. The Womens Foundation accepted



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the challenge. We were charged with raising over $7 million over the

course of 7 years. While I was Chair we were able to help the city obtain

two $20 million grants.

Family and Faith: Pillars of Strength in Her Life

Rosies family and her faith are priorities in her life. She is happily married to

John Davis, whom she describes as a wonderful person. Rosie and John cher-

ish their now adult son, Akil. Both of these relationships have been significant

in her life. Rosie nurtures these relationships by placing them above all else.

A symbolic gesture of this priority is her acceptance of calls from her son,

even if she is in an important meeting. This helps communicate to her son thathe is a priority and that he always has access to her. As a strong, independent,

but traditional career woman, she also finds ways to affirm and support her

husband:

There are things I learned from other women that have been useful to

me. Some of it has to do with how to have a good relationship with your

partner. Part of the secret is to understand the need that each person

brings to the relationship. For example, with me I have a really success-ful marriage and I think its because I have a great guy for a husband.

He is very supportive; he does all kind of work. I also try to understand

when he needs something and I try to give that to him.

Rosies faith also provides her with purpose and meaning. She described

two separate incidents highlighting the role of faith in her life:

The part of my life that is super-powerful, that its hard for people tounderstand who are not believers in God, is the power of God in my life.

I had an experience when I was out jogging, struggling with some things

such as the tragedies on our campus, and I heard the voice of God say,

Go home and read Matthew the 28thchapter; it will say Lo, I am with

you always, even until the end of the world. Of course, I was afraid to

go home, because I am not a Bible scholar or anything like that. I ran

home, opened the Bible, and there it was. I will periodically have dramatic

experiences like that and they carry me a long way.

Another such incident occurred in 2002 after attending a training meeting

in San Francisco:



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I have known Rosie for over 35 years as a friend, confidante, and col-

league. She is highly intelligent, vibrant, witty, wise, thought-provoking,

introspective, analytical, genuine, and caring. It is these qualities that

have attracted so many mentees to Rosie. She continues to give gener-

ously of herself, her time, and her knowledge. As a mentor, many stu-

dents and professionals have benefited immensely from their interactions

with her and have become better individuals and psychologists as a

result. Rosies impact is far-reaching and enduring. I am blessed to have

her as a true friend.

In celebration and recognition of her contributions to the development of

others, Rosie has received a number of awards, including the SCP LifetimeAchievement in Mentoring award, the Division 45 Charles and Shirley Thomas

Award for mentoring and contributions to African American students and

community, and the Teachers College/Columbia University Janet E. Helms

Award for Mentoring and Scholarship.

Moving Beyond Failure, Embracing Success:

Words of Wisdom to Emerging ProfessionalsStarting from humble beginnings, Rosie has become a strong, independent,

and confident psychologist and leader. Her story is one of hard work, integrity,

and persistence, and thus, it is no surprise that the advice she offers to gradu-

ate students and new professionals is to be tenacious and to not give up when

things dont go as you planned. That is because I think about how I became

a fellow and how I got my diplomate in psychology. After not receiving

fellow status in Division 17, Rosie worked with a team to put together a strong

package extolling her strengths and contributions:

Some people get discouraged after being turned down for something

they applied for or tried for; I was turned down for fellow of Division

17 more than once. I also applied for diplomate status more than once.

In the application materials, it stated that applicants should identify a

mentor to assist in the process. But I did not do that. I thought I could

figure out the application process myself. I was turned down on my first

try. I then decided to seek out help. I found some very critical people

who were already diplomates who might be able to give me construc-

tive feedback. I opened up my work to them so they could tell me where

my weaknesses were and what I needed to do differently. The applica-

tion required candidates to demonstrate their therapeutic approach. I

was asked to provide a transcribed therapy session that best represented



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my theoretical orientation. I was eclectic; I still am for that matter. One

of the people who I asked to help evaluate my work told me that I would

never pass the process if I claimed I was eclectic. He encouraged me to

pick another orientation. I decided to stick with my eclectic orientation

description. I believed that I shouldnt have the diplomate status if I

couldnt pass the examination based on what I do. At the end of the

process, the examiners told me that my application was one of the best

they had seen.

It was very nice because I was able to remain true to myself. But the

lesson in that for me was to be tenacious if you want to get something

and to not let failures define you. Some people will look at those ofus who have lived longer and have accomplishments and think, Wow,

I cant do that. And the fact of the matter is that sometimes the journey

is not a smooth straight path. There are deviations, and bumps, and

what not. It is important to know that the road has not been easy for

anyone. Failure is never forever; you can always turn that around.

And most importantly, you can succeed through hard work, faith, and

persistence!

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,

authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publica-

tion of this article.

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Sundiata K. Cha-Jua for his historical consultation, Amanda Long

and Valene A. Whitaker for transcribing the interviews, Meta C. Laab for helpful com-

ments on an earlier draft, and Rosie Bingham Phillips for sharing her life story and for

her support throughout the writing process.

References

Bingham, R. P. (2009). My life is a balance between. . . In J. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas,

L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling

(3rd ed., pp. 19-24). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Bingham, R. P., Porch-Burke, L., James, S., Sue, D. W., & Vasquez, M. J. T. (2002).

Introduction: A report on the national multicultural conference and summit II. Cul-

tural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 8, 75-87.



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