Warner alumna honored with the University’s Hutchison Medal

Warner School alumna Alice Holloway Young ’57W (MEd), ’69W (EdD) is this year’s recipient of the Charles Force Hutchison and Marjorie Smith Hutchison Medal. The honor will be presented to Young at a later date following the University commencement ceremonies in May. 

The University’s Charles Force Hutchison and Marjorie Smith Hutchison Medal recognizes alumni for outstanding achievement and notable service. Young has called her life’s mission “breaking down barriers so that others may shine.” She is a groundbreaking educator, community leader, and children’s advocate.

Born in 1923 in North Carolina, she overcame the challenges of growing up in the Jim Crow South before starting her career with the Rochester City School District (RCSD) in 1952. She was among the first African American teachers in the district and the first African American to hold the titles of reading specialist, vice principal, and principal for RCSD. Additionally, she wrote and supervised the district’s first integration programs, including the Urban-Suburban program, the oldest voluntary desegregation program in the country. She retired from RCSD in 1985 as supervising director of elementary education.

Young also served as a founding trustee of Monroe Community College in 1961 and chaired the college’s Board of Trustees from 1978 to 1998. In March, she was presented with the 2021 Liberty Medal—the highest honor awarded by the New York State Senate. The award, given for lifetime achievement and exceptional community acts, recognized Young’s impact on education in Rochester and Monroe County spanning more than 50 years.

She has received numerous other awards and recognitions, including a 2019 Icon Success Leadership Award from the Rochester Business Journal; a 2018 Woman of Distinction honor from the New York State Assembly; the Anne M. Bushnell Memorial Award for Special Achievement, the highest honor conferred by the State University of New York Association of the Boards of Trustees of Community Colleges; and the Urban League of Rochester’s Distinguished Community Service Award, among several other accolades.