This December 12, 1977, oral history interview conducted by William Chafe with Willa Player primarily documents Ms. Player's recollections during her presidency of Bennett College from 1956 to 1966. Player describes how Dr. David Jones' leadership, the exchange program with traditionally white liberal arts colleges, and a focus on community involvement prepared Bennett students to join the local protest movement in 1960. Specific topics include her support of the sit-ins, the mass arrest of students in April 1960, enlisting the help of her faculty, support from the community, Governor Terry Sanford's actions, negotiating to have students released from jail without arraignment, student organization of and leadership in the protest activities, meeting with community leaders, and the response of Spencer Love. Other topics include the visits of Eleanor Roosevelt and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Bennett, the Homemaking Institute and Operation Door Knock voter registration drive, the controversial nature of professors Edwin Edmonds and Alice Jerome, Laura Cone's philanthropy of Bennett, and leadership in the 1963 protests.
