Doris Glymph Greene to receive Doctor of Humane Letters

Ecumenical University announced the presentation of the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa to Doris Glymph Greene at its 28th Annual Convocation on Sunday, May 19, 2024, at 4 PM at the Metropolitan Convention Center, 1101 Lincoln Street, Columbia, SC 29201.

Doris Glymph Greene: An unsung trailblazer, Doris Glymph Greene grew up in Columbia in a home where her parents—George Tobias Glymph, a licensed building contractor, and Francina Jeter Glymph, a consummate homemaker—drilled the importance of a good education. She was Student Council president at Booker T. Washington High School and graduated as valedictorian of the Class of 1959. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Benedict College in 1963 and earned a master’s degree in adult education from the University of South Carolina. She also studied at Clemson University and S.C. State University.

Mrs. Greene began teaching at C. A. Johnson High School in 1963. She taught English in Richland One for seven years before joining the faculty at Midlands Technical College, where she was the college’s first African-American English instructor and earned Teacher of the Year her second year there (1972). In 1974, upon the closing of the historic Booker T. Washington High School and with the support of the Columbia Pan-Hellenic Council, she wrote and implemented a proposal to establish the Booker T. Washington High School Foundation, whose purpose would be to preserve and perpetuate the history of the second Negro high school (1916) in the state, the first in Richland County. She served as the Foundation’s president for ten years and now is president emeritus. Through her vision, the Foundation awards scholarships annually to descendants of BTW graduates: 212 scholarships have been presented as the Foundation heads into its 48th year of continuing a legacy of educational excellence.

1977, Mrs. Greene returned to Richland One to establish the first community education program at Eau Claire High School. This intergenerational program, which brought more than 1,600 people to the campus during afternoon hours, was recognized nationally as an exemplary model and helped transform the school’s image. In 1978, Mrs. Greene was recruited and hired by the S.C. Department of Education as the first African-American woman to join the Office of Adult Education as an educational consultant, a position that men had traditionally held because of the nighttime travel requirement. She retired from the Department of Education in 1993 after making many noteworthy contributions, including producer and host of “Whistlestops,” a bi-monthly S.C. Educational Radio broadcast; assistant coordinator of the S.C. Teacher of the Year program; public relations specialist for the acclaimed S.C. Adult Literacy Campaign; and producer of in-service programs with S.C. Educational Television, a PBS affiliate. She also conducted in-house writing workshops, became a ghost writer for four supervisors, designed special awards presented by the State Board of Education, and introduced an annual Adult Education Expo showcasing adult education programs in the workplace. She was selected to become one of the Department’s first trainers for the statewide initiative Program for Effective Teaching (PET).

During her retirement, Mrs. Greene was an adjunct professor at Benedict College. She coordinated an intergenerational program at Alcorn and W. A. Perry middle schools under the auspices of Columbia College. Characteristically, she provided state and regional leadership to Census 2000 and Census 2010, supervising a team of 64 people. Because of her 2010 Census Partnership Team and funding from the SC General Assembly, South Carolina was the only state in the Charlotte region to gain a congressional seat. At age 76, Mrs. Greene recently reprised her role as S.C. Partnership Specialist for Census 2020, where she traveled the state connecting and educating governments, civic organizations, and trusted community leaders around their roles in shaping the future by leading people and resources to a complete census count. At the 2019 state-wide Community Action Partnerships conference, Majority Whip and U.S. Congressman (D-SC) James Clyburn publicly lauded Mrs. Greene, stating he had “learned more (today) about the census from Doris Greene” than he had ever known in his five decades of public service.

A 61-year lifetime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a public service organization of over 1,000 chapters. Greene served as president of the Columbia (SC) Alumnae Chapter for four years, bringing historic firsts and indelible programs to Richland One schools, the arts, civic engagement, and economic development in the Black community. The chapter was the first PanHellenic organization to adopt a school, become a member of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, train Laubach Literacy tutors, partner with Habitat for Humanity, and establish a Children’s Theatre. Columbia Alumnae celebrated its greatest number of members in chapter history to be trained and launched into leadership posts at both regional and national levels.

Equally significant, Mrs. Greene has been appointed by four national presidents to sit on the National Executive Board of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., an unprecedented achievement. While serving nationally, Mrs. Greene directed the building of 100 homes across the United States and 22 homes in Ghana in partnership with Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. and Habitat for Humanity International. As a result of her phenomenal work, she became the first African-American woman to sit on the Habitat for Humanity International Board of Directors, serving with renowned CEOs, statesmen, and humanitarians while traveling worldwide to build homes for those in need. She also represented the sorority in Cairo, Egypt, at the United Nations 1994 International Conference on Population and Development.

As National Chair of Housing and Properties, she spearheaded the fundraising for and renovation of the sorority’s National Headquarters in Washington, DC. At the sorority’s 75th Anniversary, she unveiled the life-size FOUNDERS portrait before an audience of 10,000+ members.

During her lifetime, Mrs. Greene has received many awards, provided leadership in countless civic endeavors, volunteered endless hours of community service, and affiliated with more than 25 community organizations. In 2009, she assumed the challenging responsibility of becoming the South Carolina state president of Church Women United after serving four years as the Celebrations Chair for the Columbia unit. She is a 50-year member of Northminster Presbyterian Church, where she has served as moderator of Presbyterian Women, ordained deacon, and ordained elder.

In 1991, she was one of four women in the state presented the Woman of Achievement Award by the South Carolina Commission on Women. Her most recent recognitions include Richland School District One Hall of Fame, Church Women United “Valiant Woman,” “Distinguished My Sister’s Keeper Education Award” (National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Columbia (SC) Chapter); and Census 2020 Outstanding Performance.

She has served as president of the Wisteria Garden Club, a founding member of Les Chapeaux Rouges of the Red Hat Society, a charter member of the Columbia Chapter of The Girl Friends, Inc., and a charter member of The Smart Set. Also, she is an avid gardener and bridge player.

Doris married her college sweetheart, the late Milton Bernard Greene, civil rights activist (Barr v. City of Columbia) and first African American Field Representative for U. S. Senator Fritz Hollings. They have three children—Colonel Kimberly Greene, U.S. Air Force, retired; Professor Wendy Greene, Drexel University School of Law and Founder/Leader of #FreeTheHair movement; and Milton B. F. Greene, a former art instructor and Benedict College Athletic Hall of Fame Honoree. She cherishes her four grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.

Global and Domestic Initiatives: Ecumenical Church and University continues to expand its global and domestic initiatives, including constructing schools and churches in Africa and Asia and establishing training camps and small community chapels across the Southern United States. These projects underscore the institution’s commitment to educational and spiritual leadership worldwide.

For more information or to register for the event, please visit our website or contact the event organizer directly.

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