Virginia Pallett

is honored with a Brick from Sandy Rupp.

"It's people that matter -- each individual counts."

That is what Virginia Stafford Pallett has worked all her life to express. Look into her eyes, full of merriment and optimism, that still sparkle as they did when she arrived at Wichita State. Listen to her describe her full and rewarding life and her fond memories of WSU, and realize how much this woman has accomplished. Although she has had cerebral palsy since the age of three, Virginia Pallett nevertheless fiercely strove for -- and achieved -- individuality, independence, and an education.

She established the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Fund in 1990 to thank the University for many happy years she spent here and to assist student majoring in the liberal arts and sciences. Preference in awarding the scholarship is given to African American students, a tribute to her father, a Virginia farmer who "lived without prejudice," she says proudly.

Virginia Pallett worked hard for her independence and her education. Although she credits an older sister, Mary, for some much-appreciated support and encouragement, it was Virginia herself who worked in a school for children with disabilities to save up the money for college. When she was 31 years old, she enrolled at Wichita Sate; she graduated in 1953 with a BA degree in journalism. She worked as a journalist for a while, but her worsening cerebral palsy forced her to find a less physical occupation.

She became the switchboard operator first at Brennan Hall, the men's residence hall, then, in 1973, at Grace Wilkie Hall, the women's dormitory, where she worked until her retirement in 1976. But to say that she was the switchboard operator is like saying that Mt. Kilimanjaro is a big hill. The words of one student portray Virginia Pallett best; calling her the "heart and spirit of Brennan," Steve Holtz wrote, "How do you thank someone who has added so much to our lives here at WSU? . . . We all love you, and we all have a little better attitude toward mankind because of you."

One of her happiest accomplishments was her marriage to Loren Pallett in 1960. He died in 1979. In addition to her marriage, her work, and the scholarship fund, Virginia Pallett counts the naming of Grace Wilkie Hall as one of her most satisfying accomplishments. She explains, "Harry Corbin, WSU president at the time, agreed with my suggestion that the women's dormitory should be named after Grace Wilkie. That was the first University building named after a person who was still living, and the only campus building to date named after a woman!"

Mrs. Pallett's scholarship fund has grown to more than $32,000. This year, two students are receiving $660 each in annual assistance from the fund. She encourages others who share her belief in the empowering values of education to contribute to the fund and remarks, "If one student -- only one -- who wants a college education as desperately as I did is able to achieve that through this scholarship, then I will regard my life as successful." Those countless residence hall students, fellow WSU staff members, and friends -- whose number increases daily -- know that she has been a winner all along!

June 7, 1999