Earlier this month, the Lynchburg Unit of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People honored a Randolph College
staff member for her service to the community.
Hermina Hendricks, the College’s multicultural student
services director and a music instructor, received the organization’s Citizen
Achievement Award, an annual award that recognizes people who have contributed
much to the community.
Hendricks said she was surprised to learn that she would
receive the award, but it recognized that she had met a long-held goal. “One
thing I always wanted to do was make a difference in my community,” she said.
Hendricks has served the community in numerous ways while
teaching music in the public schools, and working at the College since 1997.
She has served on grant review panels for the Virginia
Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. She has held
leadership positions in the Lynchburg Chapter of the Links, Project LEAD,
National Committee for Services to Youth, Lynch’s Landing, the Virginia Center
for Inclusive Communities, and more.
She recently conducted a choir for a holiday concert
benefitting the Dunbar High School Memorial Wall Committee. She is conducting
research on the life of Clarence Seay, who worked for 30 years as principal of
Dunbar, Lynchburg’s African American high school in the days of racial
segregation.
The endless service came naturally to Hendricks. “One thing
led to another. When I was asked to serve on a committee or board, I would just
say yes and try to give my time, my talent, my energy, or my voice, to whatever
the community needed,” she said.
At the College, Hendricks teaches music history classes,
such as jazz history and popular music in America. She also plans multicultural
programming and leads initiatives to strengthen diversity on campus.
A few years ago, she was one of the organizers of Lynchburg’s
first Get!Downtown Festival, an annual event that draws thousands of people,
including many local college students. She said the idea came about as she and
others were trying to help more people get to know Lynchburg.
“I wanted people to like the city and to see the city the
way I see it,” she said.
