Nineteen fifty-five was a wonderful year for “Bonnie” Scruggs. She was named “Student of the Month,” was awarded the first “Women’s Student Government Cup” and was the first North Carolina College (NCCU) undergraduate to receive a Fulbright Fellowship to Rhenish Frederick William University in Bonn, Germany, to study political science. Yvonne “Bonnie” Scruggs amassed numerous awards and honors during her four years in college.

Little changed for Scruggs over the years. She has remained a high achiever. Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich, Ph.D., is a professor, author, public scholar, policy analyst, and community activist. Her on-line biography places her in the forefront of politics, working in the Carter administration, serving under former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and taking on the job of deputy mayor in the city of Philadelphia, Pa.

She was a professor at Howard University, George Washington University, the University of Pennsylvania, and at SUNY College of Buffalo, N.Y. Dr. Scruggs-Leftwich served as the head of the Black Leadership Forum for a decade. She has been a professor at the National Labor College in Maryland, since 2003.

This alumna returns to North Carolina Central University, November 12, 2009, as part of the Centennial Lyceum Lecture Series. Scruggs-Leftwich is scheduled to appear at the H.M. Michaux, Jr. School of Education at 3 p.m. The topic of her lecture is Barack Obama Legacy: Reality or Myth. She says the lecture will focus on her premise that "America is not in a post-racial era, nor are many middle class Americans entirely in a post-industrial age. Neither are most Americans of color – especially blacks – in a ‘New Age’ era.” Scruggs-Leftwich will seek to separate fact from fiction.

The event is free and open to the public.